@Mackal Smith, there are quite a few here at BP doing the vacation rental game with AirBNB. Are there homes in your area for rent if you go on the site? Rule of thumb that seems to work with vacation rentals when running the numbers is to assume a 20% vacancy rate for the month as a minimum and then go from there to see if the numbers would work.

@Wei Jie Yang I manage the property myself. I would be happy to provide insight if you have any questions.

We are Airbnbers. We started to use it to fill in offseason months in Florida for our vacation rental home. We were very surprised at the demand. We are currently booked all of June and July. We are now cash flowing in the offseason. It is free to post your place on Airbnb. so give it a try. You may be surprised by the demand.Mike

I've never done it because our zoning board cracks down on it. They search (and neighbors report it) and can pretty easily figure out the house. The two other issues are whether your mortgage terms allows it (most don't) and whether your insurance allows it (most don't).

It is very common to gross significantly more by leasing short-term on Airbnb vs. traditional annual rentals. In my home market of South Florida, I own and manage properties on Airbnb that are earning as much as 2x the going annual rental rate. Granted, there is more work and coordination involved, however with the right processes in place it can be very lucrative. There are businesses that handle much of the work involved, depending on how active you wish to remain in the operations.

@Tishon Greene I hire in house cleaners that I train personally. It is important to have a standardized approach to cleaning and re-stocking. I also provide checklists for each home to make sure things don’t missed. At the end of the day it’s not possible to be perfect so if there is an issue you have to be responsive. Quickly respond to the guest, take responsibility and work quickly to resolve any issues. A guest can be upset about things but how you handle it and how quickly can change their experience from bad to good. Having a successful Airbnb does take work. It’s not a set it and forget it type of investment, however, it can be very lucrative if you are willing to put in the work.

I'd throw it up on the site and see what happens. Worst case scenario you get no interest.

I have invested in an Airbnb in Kansas City and absolutely love it. I have been a property manager for 18+ years and was very skeptical but once I ran the numbers I had to give it a try. It has been a great investment for me although it does take a lot of work to manage, but I would definitely recommend if you have the right manager.

@Mackal Smith @Travis Rasmussen I'm interested in the same question as Travis. I'm a new investor scoping out where I should make my first move on an investment property once I've saved enough capital (go-go Uber side hustle!)I'm super interested in the AirBnB angle because it seems like you can generate significantly more cash flow than a traditional rental if willing to take on the extra management. The big hurdle seems to be the zoning laws that are changing... with some areas frowning on AirBnB activities.

@Mackal Smith While most have a positive experience with AirBnB there has been a recent surge in scam on the site. Basically scammers create a website identical to AirBnB so it looks the same when the tenant is paying for their deposit. One way to retrieve money lost this way may be to pay with a Mastercard, though the process of being reimbursed is lengthy and sometimes scam vicitms have their claims declined alltogether due to negligence.

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Mackal SmithPoster

Investor
Ballwin, MO

St. Louis Real Estate Forum

Airbnb?

Mackal SmithPoster

Investor
Ballwin, MO

Posted December 18, 2015 08:00

Has anyone used one of your properties for airbnb (and if so what was your experience)? I'm interested because I have had a primary residence on the market for 6 months with no offers. (I know... but it's in the 500K range and that market is not moving like the 150K to 250K market).

Anyway, it is in West county 4 bdrm, 4 bath on an acre in Meadowbrook Country Club. With airbnb I'm thinking I could easily get 1,000 to 1,200/week. Before you ask, I'm sure I could not get positive cash flow leasing it longer term and airbnb appeals to me because I could still have it listed and shown other than the times it is rented.

Feedback?

Saint Louis, Missouri

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