All Forum Posts by: Andrew Steffens

Personally, I use AirDNA as a starting point and then pull out specific comps. From there I also go on Airbnb/VRBO and get data and see how the two jive. Then I do a CoC analysis on a spreadsheet that is very simple. I will say you do need Airbnb premium to do be able to pull the specific comps, I would 100% not use the generated #.

What market(s) are you considering?

A lot of good points by fellow PM's above, rather than parroting or writing a diatribe, I would add that it really depends on who you hire.  A lot of the nationwide companies have bad reputations.  Usually due to lack of...everything.  Guests complain about bad cleaning jobs, lack of maintenance, slow communication etc.  You could be paying them to run your property down.  A good local manager can earn their fee and maybe more.  Using economies of scale I can afford more complex pricing software, a revenue manager, and other tools.  I also have access to channels (over 15+) like Marriott Homes and Villas that bring in more occupancy.  They only deal with PM's with 50+ properties.  These things mean I usually beat the market 10-15+% in aggregate each month.  It could be higher on a specific property.  Pairing that with 24/7 guest communication and more a case that paying 20% could actually net more money.  We have had clients leave (one example was a wife becoming a stay at home) and tell us they were netting around the same but doing all the work.  Long story short, not all PM's are the same and results will vary.

Lastly, I will also say anything over 25% I would consider high.  I have not seen anything North of 25 in quite a while, with some excepetions being in very rural and remote areas.

Hi Itay

I can understand your nerves! As a PM I have managed over 200 STR's in total and currently around 65 units. As mentioned above there is always some risk - but to be honest I have had worse lucky with LTR's. STR's at least your cleaners are getting in a few times a month allowing windows to keep up with maintenance tasks. With LTR's usually if the tenant is quiet and pays on time you may go months or even years without seeing the property's condition. In 9 years and over 30,000 reservations we have only had damages under $1,000 maybe around 20 times and over $1,000 3 times.

That said, do make sure you have an STR compliant insurance policy. This, usually, will not cover small damages and items, but the property as a whole and used for large claims. If you are renting exclusively on Airbnb, there is AirCover, which will cover you if the guest trashes the house or causes damage. Make sure you document everything and you can submit right through Airbnb's Resolution Center.

As far as guest screening goes, there are some services out there but especially at scale it is cumbersome and costly.  We do check guest reviews as well as having guests sign an agreement outlining damage procedures, partying, etc.  Usually this is enough to scare people off if they know they are rowdy.  For example most of our larger, pool homes attract things like bachelor/ette parties.  They book and once they see the agreement (also posted in listing) they become a bit nervous that they may be removed from the property with no refund if we get noise complaints.  We let them cancel with full refund.  Steps like these weed out 99+% of potential trouble, at least in our experience.

My pleasure. I know a DSCR lender personally who lends in all states and I believe can use AirDNA as he as asked me for them before. Shoot me an email if you want an intro!

I have seen DSCR that would use projections instead of actual rents. Do you have projections?

A thought - Are there a lot of other STR's in the area? If not, you will have to have a significant marketing budget. Simply listing it on Airbnb will not generate leads if people are looking at the big name places 40 mins away. Def a cool concept though!

Good insight - Unfortunately criminals do not just stick to inner city.  We had an investigation into drug selling out of a $500k beach front condo a couple years back.  We also had a rash of fraud which caused us to have to change our verification processes for off platform bookings.  HCSO was thinking it was some sort of human trafficking.  This was also in a tourist heavy area.

Personally I would only even consider this (aside from not being a fan of condos and even less of condotels) in very tourism forward cities.  I am admittedly ignorant on Columbus but I am pretty sure it does not put up the tourism numbers of Miami and Tampa.

As John said if you do a search you can find recommendations for this very thing - but I will say I had some experience with NoiseAware and it worked fine.  I have also heard good things about Minut

This is nowhere near what my experience is in, but I am familiar with the area and figured I would give you my .02. You are right about supply/demand from what I know in Sevier county but if you are going off the beaten path, I would think you would need a separate marketing budget. I do not think running it like a regular STR will work because just listing on Airbnb/VRBO people may not find you. If you have your own site and marketing it definitely could work!