Vintage Trailer Airbnb Goldmine

[Joshua Carvalho]

Investment Info:

Other other investment.

Purchase price: $3,000
Cash invested: $15,000

We bought a severely damaged 1955 Traveleze Trailer and fully restored and redesigned it as an Airbnb. It was parked in my business partner's backyard in Austin for two years and is now on my property in Waco area. Our total investment was $15,000. It brings in between $1400-$2200 a month. The average is $1800. No property tax, homeowners insurance, or mortgage. Owned free and clear, so it's all 100% profit. Maintenance is a reality, but the cost of maintenance is minimal compared to a house.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

In 2015, my wife and I were racking our brains on how we could do Airbnb without any capital or land. We came up with a business model, pitched it to some friends who had a sweet backyard in Pasadena, CA, they agreed to partner with us by giving us all the capital to buy and renovate the trailer and agreed to be the STR hosts with the trailer in their backyard. I had zero construction experience. Just raw grit. We completed it in 10 months and the rest is history. Now it's a cash cow.

How did you add value to the deal?

My wife is an incredible interior designer. She directed all the design decisions and my dad and I did all the work.

What was the outcome?

We now have a gorgeous vintage trailer that sits on our property and produces between $1400-$2200 a month in cashflow.

[Joshua Carvalho]

@Bonnie Low Sure. The trailer is 21 ft. long and has a built in full bathroom with a shower, toilet and sink. There's also a kitchennete with a double sink and the original 1955 gas stove/oven still works and looks pretty sweet. The trailer is in the backyard of my house, so we have a dedicated 30 amp plug and breaker solely for the trailer. We have a cleanout in the backyard. This specific trailer didn't have any holding tanks when I bought it. So the sewage goes directly from the trailer to the cleanout via built in plumbing and an extended sewage line. We have a ceiling A/C as most trailers do. It easily cools the trailer in about 30 minutes even in Texas heat. We have two small electric heaters for the winters that make the trailer nice and toasty. We have a team of cleaners who clean it every time a guest checks out and I have a couple maintenance guys who work on it if need be or I just do the work myself. Since I restored it myself I'm pretty confident at maintaining it for the most part.