All Forum Posts by: Andy Whitcomb

I have a 6 bedroom house here in Seattle that I use exclusively as a vacation rental.  I rent it from some investor friends of mine; we have an agreement set up where I pay rent slightly below market value and give him a profit share in our vacation rental.  This month we are on track to profit over $10k, so it has been extremely successful, especially in the summer.  

We knew that the city was working on proposal to restrict these sort of rentals, so we factored that in to our lease in case the city made it illegal for us to proceed.  Since our house is very large, we have considered licensing it with the city as a legal Bed and Breakfast, so that is another option we are looking into if this legislation goes through.

Our long term plan is to purchase rural properties (cabins) in the mountains, and rent them as short term vacation rentals.  While the cash flow won't be as high, the small mountain towns rely quite a bit on tourism, so we don't anticipate any regulations being placed in those areas that would prohibit us from continuing.  

This is definitely a topic that I am very interesting in keeping tabs on and discussing further, so I'd love to hear what others have to say.

I have a 6 bedroom vacation rental property in Seattle, and it does VERY well.  Summer is definitely the best season for vacation rentals in Seattle, but ours stays at least 50% full all year.  HOWEVER, I would strongly caution anyone who is considering buying a property in Seattle to be used primarily as a short term vacation rental.  The city is actively exploring it's options to make it illegal to operate a full-time airbnb because they claim it is driving up rental rates.  

I would definitely wait to see where the city lands on this before making any purchases with the intention of Airbnb'ing it full time.