Filling in Vacancies with STR Guests

[Brian Malavsky]

Hey all,

Last summer I transitioned from a LTR to MTR in my house-hacked duplex. Got my first tenants (traveling medical) and they have renewed 3! Great tenants and will hate to see them leave but they must move on due to tax laws of working in a state for more than 1 year.

I'm asking what is everyone's experience with trying to squeeze in STR guests in between MTR tenants. Is the juice worth the squeeze?

I don’t anticipate there being trouble with finding another MTR tenant but in case there is a lag, I would like to limit vacancies.

Thoughts?

[Colleen F.]

@Brian Malavsky in some locations it is not worth the extra trouble. Rental registration and tax registration for only a few days in between. It is also hard to predict timing if mid-term rentals will extend. Now if you have a place that is short term say in summer and mid-term winter because you get a significantly higher rate in one season for STR that makes sense.

[Brian Malavsky]

Thanks Colleen! I have a STR license already and my tenants have extended as long as they can. So they have to move out of state when the current lease expires. I'm thinking it wouldn't be worth the trouble as I don't foresee having any issues finding another qualified tenant. Just was curious of other people's experiences.

[Allen Duan]

I think it’s worth it for just a week or two after the current MTR booking ends. You don’t want to block the availability for your next MTR booking. If you already have a gap between two MTR bookings, then it’s definitely worthwhile to rent out dates that would go vacant. I wish I could do this in Los Angeles!

[Jonathan Styer]

Hello, @Brian Malavsky, this is a great question. For us here in Columbus the juice is definitely worth the squeeze. It's all about occupancy and if your vacant, you're not making anything. We use our systems to make sure that we can toggle back and forth to obtain maximum occupancy for our properties and clients. 

[Zachary Deal]

I think it really depends on your market. If you have a very strong STR market and are in peak season you could generate quite a bit of revenue in a couple week gap between MTR guests. Since you already have an STR license for the property, it may be worth it to at least try and test the waters with an STR bookings and see how it goes.

[Yiwei Cheng]

Yes I would open it up for shorter stays to fill in the gaps between MTR, but not offer shorter stays so far in advance that it blocks your calendar.  Lots of MTR travelers are last minute.

[Nicole Heasley Beitenman]

For us, it's been worth it, even though STR tenants are a way bigger headache than MTR tenants.

[Brian Malavsky]

Thanks for the input! I decided to go full time STR through the summer and try to secure a MTR over winter. I break even with MTR rates at 75% ADR of comparables and 65% occupancy. So I figure it's pretty low risk considering occupancy is much higher here in Denver.

[Jeremy Jareckyj]

Quote from @Brian Malavsky:

Hey all,

Last summer I transitioned from a LTR to MTR in my house-hacked duplex. Got my first tenants (traveling medical) and they have renewed 3! Great tenants and will hate to see them leave but they must move on due to tax laws of working in a state for more than 1 year.

I'm asking what is everyone's experience with trying to squeeze in STR guests in between MTR tenants. Is the juice worth the squeeze?

I don’t anticipate there being trouble with finding another MTR tenant but in case there is a lag, I would like to limit vacancies.

Thoughts?

If you can squeeze in some STR bookings to fill in the gaps it is totally worth it!! just make sure to set your calendar accordingly so in future months you arent accidentally getting STR bookings and ruining your MTR chances

[Brian Malavsky]

Quote from @Jeremy Jareckyj:

Quote from @Brian Malavsky:

Hey all,

Last summer I transitioned from a LTR to MTR in my house-hacked duplex. Got my first tenants (traveling medical) and they have renewed 3! Great tenants and will hate to see them leave but they must move on due to tax laws of working in a state for more than 1 year.

I'm asking what is everyone's experience with trying to squeeze in STR guests in between MTR tenants. Is the juice worth the squeeze?

I don’t anticipate there being trouble with finding another MTR tenant but in case there is a lag, I would like to limit vacancies.

Thoughts?

If you can squeeze in some STR bookings to fill in the gaps it is totally worth it!! just make sure to set your calendar accordingly so in future months you arent accidentally getting STR bookings and ruining your MTR chances

 Great reminder, thanks!

[Jonathan Styer]

Hi @Brian Malavsky

For us in Columbus, squeezing in STR guests between MTR tenants can be profitable for reducing vacancies and increasing rental income, especially with platforms like Airbnb or VRBO. It's been a great strategy for us.

[Brian Malavsky]

Thanks Jonathon! How far out do you limit bookings?

[Jonathan Styer]

Quote from @Brian Malavsky:

Thanks Jonathon! How far out do you limit bookings?

We usually try to stick to 2 weeks out because it can easily creep into being an STR if you open it wide up and that's not the goal if you have MTR as your primary strategy. What we often do is just fill in STRs between MTRs if there is a gap in the stay.

Columbus has very high MTR demand so we are often doing next day turns and booking places before they're listed. But we do keep this strategy in our back pocket.