All Forum Posts by: Daniel Beckius

For fast stats look at website Airdna but it can get spendy if you sign up to get more than the base stats or stats in numerous cities.   

Alternatively, you can look pull up airbnb / vrbo, select flexible dates and look at the calendar for the comparable properties.  

@Nathan Gesner Even if it's your first property, when you apply for a conforming mortgage to purchase a 2-4 unit property they will count 70% of the gross market rents towards your income to qualify.  Maybe there are different rules in your neck of the woods but here in Colorado also in WI, TX, and MN it's 70% of market rents, no leases required.

Jeremy, residential lenders (as opposed to commercial lenders) typically use 70% of market rents as opposed to using the leases in place.  I don't think you'll have an issue if you're using the income to help you qualify.   

@John Underwood  That makes perfect sense.  I found issues because we have a 90 point walk score, and this place would appeal to younger guests because of the location, then add the pool table in the dining room was a combination to really market to the party goers.  

Is the location of your vacation rental, closer to a city or suburban area? 

@Bruce Woodruff That strategy you use to lower the amount of guests is smart but keep occupancy up.  The more guests you have, the more problems (problems with the neighbors or parties), and the more wear and tear on your place.  Plus it gives you the ability to offer amenities that other homes likely don't have because they want to use every single bedroom.  

@Lyndsey Garza do you mind telling me what are your wow factor amenities are? 

@Michael Baum the multi-use table is a great idea!  Do you know if they use the poker table much? 

@Paul Sandhu I had the same problem!  But white couches, white rug, and no dining room table.  Fortunately the only spills happened on the floor not the couch.  I went for really comfy furniture BUT white is a bad idea in any short term rental situation.  Also I found that people sit on the arm rests frequently.  The arm rests were built really weak so they all were broken plus people were spending far more time at the home because of the comfort.  I think there's a fine line between, good furniture and bad furniture for a vacation rental.   I don't want them to be too comfortable, so they get out of the house.  

My most recent airbnb below, I went for less comfortable furniture, couches that fold to futons, and easy to clean.

Besides location, I am convinced that the amenities that you provide in your vacation rental can change the demographic / audience of guests drastically. 

Example: I had a pool table in the dining room of my airbnb (only bar tables for eating).  I had amazing feedback on the pool table and people booked the place just for it!  But over time, people kept spilling drinks on the pool table, bachelor and bachelorette parties kept booking my place.  That audience caused so much more headache than a couple or small family would.  So, I removed the pool table, and replaced it with a large dining table.  I bought a bunch of board games and puzzles then advertised those as an amenity.  As a result, my occupancy increased, more families and couples booked stays, and way less people came to my place to party.  

Do you agree with this?  Do you have any recommendations on amenities that will attract responsible low impact guests over the riffraff? 

I should have rethought the subject line...  "free but old school way to determine occupancy rates"

I use Airdna just for the overview and I have clients that pay, but when doing market research they still look at every competitor photo, every amenity, home features, reviews, and even the hosts profile before investing in a market, neighborhood, or community.  So, I haven't run into an instance where we've needed to make a quick decision before having already done the due diligence.

I used Airdna 2017-2018, and at that time their customer service was terrible, there was missing data points, and didn't pull all of the competitors which is why I stick with the tactic I posted and my clients always end up in the 90th percentile of competitors.

Regardless, I agree Airdna is worth the investment even for the base subscription because of all it has to offer...  Also, after hearing @James Carlson it appears that is has become far more reliable.

But I wouldn't 100% trust an analytical tool until I'm in the metaverse.