Where are the best and friendliest Airbnb cities?

[Andres Triveno]

Where are the best and friendliest cities to invest/buy real estate for a short term/vacation rental business (Airbnb, VRBO)?

[Bruce Woodruff]

Do a search. This gets asked  a lot.....They are generally going to be in the Red states.....

[John Underwood]

East coast and southern red states.

Southern states have longer peak seasons too.

[Michael Baum]

Smaller towns with some kind of draw. Like here in North Idaho. Most of the towns here don't regulate vacation rentals and want the tourism dollars.

[Gerald Pitts]

Towns with tourist driven economies. Read Avery Carl's book!

[Bruce Woodruff]

Yes, tourist towns and ones with an all year draw....

[Jimmy Woodard]

@Andres Triveno here are some examples:

• Smoky Mountains
• Florida Panhandle
• Miami
• Kissimmee
• Tampa Bay Area
• Phoenix/Scottsdale
• Columbus
• Alabama Gulf Coast
• Galveston
• Blue Ridge Mountains

[Cliff H.]

Fargo

[Andres Triveno]

Originally posted by @Gerald Pitts:

Towns with tourist driven economies. Read Avery Carl's book!

Right but not all of these have friendly laws, thats the obstacle

[Alex S.]

Regs are constantly changing.  Best to call the city planning department as step 1 and get the ground truth data!

[Andres Triveno]

Originally posted by @John Underwood:

East coast and southern red states.

Southern states have longer peak seasons too.

That doesnt help much, was looking for names of cities

[Andres Triveno]

Originally posted by @Jimmy Woodard:

@Andres Triveno here are some examples:

• Smoky Mountains
• Florida Panhandle
• Miami
• Kissimmee
• Tampa Bay Area
• Phoenix/Scottsdale
• Columbus
• Alabama Gulf Coast
• Galveston
• Blue Ridge Mountains

Amazing thank you!

[Bruce Woodruff]

Originally posted by @Andres Triveno:

Originally posted by @John Underwood:

East coast and southern red states.Southern states have longer peak seasons too.

That doesnt help much, was looking for names of cities

We can't do everything for you. Do some research. We may know the names of cities but not want to share them for obvious reasons.

[Tim Bonner]

Andres,

Poconos, Pennsylvania was recently voted one of the hottest STR markets in the country. I can guide you to the best areas that are STR-friendly. Let me know.

Tim

[Gerald Pitts]

Originally posted by @Andres Triveno:

Originally posted by @Gerald Pitts:

Towns with tourist driven economies. Read Avery Carl's book!

Right but not all of these have friendly laws, that's the obstacle

 Yeah, JS it's a good place to start.  you're gonna want to research that city's laws. 

[Peter Castrianni]

Originally posted by @Tim Bonner:

Andres,

Poconos, Pennsylvania was recently voted one of the hottest STR markets in the country. I can guide you to the best areas that are STR-friendly. Let me know.

Tim

I am looking at the Poconos now but all the new and upcoming regulations worries me.  

[Tim Bonner]

@Peter 

@Peter Castrianni Understood. That's why you need a local agent in the area to thread that needle. I have extensive knowledge of the townships and HOA rules in the Poconos. That said, anywhere you AirBnB can change in the future. I have several STR investors from NYC, who have large investments that no longer are profitable because the AirBnB rules are much tougher now than when they purchased there.

The key strategy that I always advise my investors to follow is to make sure you don't over-extend when purchasing so you can make the money back as quickly as possible - thus, if ordinances look like they're changing, it's time to sell, and you've made your money back already. 

[Jayson Cain]

In theory, as long as there's a hotel within 10mi radius, you can set up a short term rental. 

In practice, I would recommend investing in areas where there is already an established ordinance for Short term rentals that are lenient. 

When buy properties that I turn into short term rentals, one criteria I have is that the numbers need to work as long term rentals as well. 

[Peter Castrianni]

Tim would it be a good idea to buy in a commercial zone in the Poconos to protect from regulations?

[Andres Triveno]

Originally posted by @Bruce Woodruff:

Originally posted by @Andres Triveno:

Originally posted by @John Underwood:

East coast and southern red states.Southern states have longer peak seasons too.

That doesnt help much, was looking for names of cities

We can't do everything for you. Do some research. We may know the names of cities but not want to share them for obvious reasons.

Isnt that the point of this forum to help each other out?  

[Bruce Woodruff]

Originally posted by @Andres Triveno:

That doesnt help much, was looking for names of cities

I was referring to this post of yours. Sounds a little entitled....

[Marcus Johnson]

@Andres Triveno

Southwest Minnesota 54 lakes region. Le Suerer county is all for short term rentals and the money is good, especially if you live close by and own several at 250k a piece. Rents per night can easily reach $125 a night for a 2 bedroom one bath on the lake.

[Gerald Pitts]

Originally posted by @Marcus Johnson:

@Andres Triveno

Southwest Minnesota 54 lakes region. Le Suerer county is all for short term rentals and the money is good, especially if you live close by and own several at 250k a piece. Rents per night can easily reach $125 a night for a 2 bedroom one bath on the lake.

Hi Marcus, what is the average yearly occupancy? Is it pretty seasonal there?

[Tim Bonner]

Originally posted by @Peter Castrianni:

Tim would it be a good idea to buy in a commercial zone in the Poconos to protect from regulations?

Hi Peter,

It's a good thought in theory...

In a few townships in the Poconos, STR is ONLY allowed in C-1 (commercial zones) like Mt. Pocono Borough. That said, commercial zones are not necessarily where people want to escape to the mountains because the homes are usually surrounded by businesses (garages, convenient stores, gas stations) and are usually in close proximity to busy roads - that is because homes in C-1 have typically been grandfathered into the C-1 zone as the area has built up around it. Thus, they are not the best for STR because of the environment around the property.

From my experience, proximity to amenities are key, so that is why communities with HOAs offer the most bang for your buck. Yes, there is always the chance that the homeowners can vote to change the rules, but if there are many rentals already in the community, most likely, the non-STR owners wouldn't get a quorum vote (66% against STR) if it's profitable for many of the homeowners - If managed properly, STR keeps property values higher than in the non-STR communities.

Best, Tim

[Bonnie Low]

@Marcus Johnson 

@Marcus Johnson are the LeSeurer county properties you mentioned summer season rentals only given the cold Minnesota winters or do you find people renting them year round? I'm curious how you run your numbers for that area.

[Marcus Johnson]

@Gerald Pitts  Let me be very clear, I would only advise purchasing out short term rentals in this area if you are within 20 minutes of these properties for management and turnover routines, you won't make any money if you have to distribute these duties.  My point was that there would be quite a nice niche for someone who enjoys the lake areas and wants to be part of the community, long distance landlording wouldn't be profitable.   We bought the lake property in 2018 with original intent to convert the property to 4 season cabin which would be value add and sell it in a couple of years.  What we found is that we stopped using the cabin frequently and started advertising on Airbnb and found a ton of interest of tourist from Iowa, South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin.   It took me about a year to figure out exactly what the right prices are for each season or holiday of the year.  For example ice fisherman and hunters love the area from October until March, bullhead days in Waterville, MN, you could upcharge per nights to around $250 to $300.    Christmas was very popular, brining in $125 a night.  Spring and Summer brings in the boaters and fisherman, I started getting repeat business from the same customers and they were reserving 6 months in advance.  In 2019, we brought in $15,000, which could have been much higher, this was the year I was learning the systems, once you gain popularity and are 5 star hosts on Airbnb, like we were 8 times over, people flocked in.  In 2020 right before Covid, we rented to 4 metal workers doing a big job in Waseca for $6,000.  We finally sold in May of 2020, because I was tired of driving an hour to do change overs and we no longer wanted a cabin anymore, because we missed camping with a travel trailer.  It's really to bad, because we were running an awesome business and the customers were repeats.   There is definetely a market for someone down there if you live in the area and like to get your hands dirty, if you are a long distance landlord, this probably isn't your lifestyle.