All Forum Posts by: Christina Brown

We have a duplex and have just started doing ours as an airBnB over the summer instead of the long term rentals that we have been doing.  The money is definitely better during the summer, but I think if we kept at it over the winter it wouldn't be doing so well.  It is a lot more work, all of our guests have been great so far and no major messes, but that can always change.

We are pretty much fully booked for the summer because we started with low rates and have a 1 night minimum, which I'm not sure if I would continue or not, back to back one nighters can be a pain.  But I think it's a lot fun, and for us has definitely worked out for us so far.

This sounds fun, now we just listed our rental a month or two ago, so that may skew things a bit.

1. Views in past 30 days: 181

2. Average # of daily views in past 30 days: 5 ish?  Ranges from 0-25.

3. Average booking rate: 6.1% 

We are in a pretty high demand time up here so maybe that why mine is a little on the higher side?

@Neal Collins I have heard about that, made me hesitant to invest there.  I would definitely need to look into that if we did decide to go with that area, which I do see us doing eventually.  The market seems pretty high right now though, but a great area.

@Isi Nau Thanks for the info. That is great occupancy! I would probably be looking more on the Big Island but places there seem to book up as well from what I have noticed.  It is definitely a place we are looking to hold for the long term, but it's good to hear that growth is still happening.

Hi, looking to get some insight on vacation rental markets. We have been looking in multiple areas, and have been looking into Hawaii versus Oregon coast . We were looking at Portland/Bend/San Diego but the prices are getting too high for us there. Anyone have properties in these areas? As far as Hawaii we are looking at Big Island (Kona area) or Kauai. But mainly looking for an area with a good occupancy rate. Thanks all!

I also have some concerns about the market here. I have a duplex downtown that has rented out well and have been looking into another property. But the economy and prices definitely concern me, would definitely not be able to purchase downtown again. I think Eagle River would be a good place to look, I have been looking a bit more there and I second the Umed area, good tenant pool and central location.

I have had a similar issue with my tenant, we didn't really want a dog in the first place (last tenant with a dog did a lot of damage to the yard). We stated that all dog poo was to be cleaned up right afterwards. I have a son who plays outside and do not want him getting into it, but I still have to clean it up more than I would like. I am wondering if hiring a clean up service in the future and rolling it into the rent might be an option. Or not having dogs, which I'd rather not do, it's so hard to find a place that will take pets.

I have no great advice but sorry about your job loss, happened to my husband recently too, wish you the best of luck!

Anyone from College Station or Waco? Other college towns we had been looking into.

Ryan Terwilliger I hadn't considered Houston, I was wondering how the economy there had been doing since the changes in the price of oil. It has definitely slowed down here in Alaska, but that has always been a huge part of our economy.

Jeremy VanDelinder glad to hear you enjoy there, I have hard good things about Round Rock. Do you think it's more of a long term rental market there? Still not sure if we want to do more long or short term rentals.