New to Real Estate · Oakland, CA · Member since 2014 · 19 posts · 18 votes
I'm analyzing a property two different ways to understand the differences between renting out a property to a long-term tenant as opposed to renting it out on a short-term basis on AirBnb. I'm particularly interested in variable expenses such as maintenance and CapEx. Let's say I can rent it out for $1,500 per month for a long term tenant vs pulling in $3,000 per month on AirBnb. In this scenario, if I set aside 10% of the rental income for maintenance, and 10% for CapEx, I will be saving twice as much for each if I go the AirBnb route as I would for the long-term rental route. But, it's the same house right? Will I really be spending twice as much on maintenance and CapEx just because I'm renting it out on AirBnb? It makes sense that the vacancy and management fees will differ, but I'm less sure that maintenance and CapEx will. Does anybody have experience with this? Do houses rented on AirBnb have more maintenance and CapEx costs than one with a long-term tenant?
I dont have many of your answers but I can possibly give you a little insight into airbnb, and maintenance.
In our experiences bar a couple bad guests (we have had around 180-200 at this point), the wear and tear on the house is far less then if you were to have a long term renter.
Our STR guests do not have access to the basement, attic, back stairwell (its a double with separate front doors) ect. They typically do not move furniture, most do not cook. Our typical guest checks in and spends most of the time outside of the unit as they are in town to do something, not hang in our apartment. Them not having access to our washer dryer will also probably prolong the life another 5 years.
Also - you are cleaning the unit after every stay. If there is an issue you will spot it before it becomes a large issue. Guests will also typically be more vocal about if there is a leak, ect "hey just wanted to let you know..."
The issues we had with tenants in the past are non starters on airbnb. YMMV
Kyle, That's an interesting take that I hadn't thought of before but really good to know. Out of curiosity, where is property and what is your occupancy rate?