All Forum Posts by: Ruben Kanya

@Ruth Huard congrats! What's your projected gross revenue on each of these? When you purchase, does the building have any guidelines or restrictions on operating STRs as an owner? I've always looked for residential homes in Florida, not condos, hence why I'm asking.

 I couldn't agree more with Kenneth @Ryan Boggs, let your housekeeper be the problem solver, in STRs that is the core of your business, if they can solve that problem for you and give you suggestions, you're on a good start to building the right team. It's a great reminder to always ask 'WHO', not 'HOW'.

@Kurtis Bonner getting into STRs has been a game changer for me and my wife however do note that self managing requires work upfront and if you put systems in place about 1-2 hours a week with a good team of cleaners. Would be an interesting experiment to run numbers of your current home on airdna.co to see what it could gross in revenue. You could be onto something considering it's already furnished, you could a) buy new furniture into your new home leveraging the HELOC b) move with your furniture and buy new updated furniture for your new airbnb. I say this because you can better optimize for your space after you've done your research such as buying a sofa bed, to maximize for space in your old home and investing into some key touches such as wallpaper by the headboard of the beds, fresh new sheets, pillows, etc.... again only if the airdna numbers come out making sense. Our airbnb has paid more than the mortgage in the last 2 years and we're now going to HELOC to buy/furnish another one in the next couple months...I know several friends/peers in my network that have scaled very very quickly by falling into in a very similar position that you are, by trying it with just one experiment, like the one you have an opportunity to run. :)

@Lain McCanless I would invest in a tool like STRinsights.com and/or airdna.co to make the right call

@Amy W. I would not worry about running numbers until you have a property of interest and/or one where you'll either be making an offer on or are already are under contract. The reason why is airbnbs are analyzed individually and not collectively. There are no comps because there are too many variables that could make 2 exact properties on the same street have very different numbers in gross revenue and average daily rate, a lot of it has to do with aesthetics, furniture, how the property finishes and/or if dynamic pricing is in place, listing optimization, professional photos, etc...you can google all the small expenses such as cable, internet, taxes, etc. but if this helps, here's a 4:3 in Atlanta who's expenses don't fluctuate so much compared to our other properties:

@cody if you're going to go into renting an apartment, you're most likely going to want to get an LLC if you don't already have one so that you can get a corporate lease. You definitely want to go into it without name dropping airbnb right from the get go as it can have some negative connotation right off the bat, but what you want to focus on is positioning yourself as a company that focuses on accommodating short term guests under your management, assuring them you have the right rental insurance in place, cleaners, handyman (may be optional in their building) that will keep that specific unit in the condition in all of the building because that is a must in order for you to operate your business successfully. Focus on your processes, systems and then when speaking about where you market, mention airbnb as one of the sources that you use for your business. Be professional, understand what their concerns, worries, issues are right from the get go then focus on those points during your conversation. Stay away from the word airbnb as much as possible ;)

If you can be a one stop shop resource, the more you make yourself a source of value in the marketplace:

- ANALYSIS - STR Analysis/ Running the numbers is key

- REGULATIONS (how to get a license etc.)

- MANAGEMENT - How they can manage it, outsource the management, self manage, or find a co-host in their community

- FURNISHING /designing and if they're remote giving them insights such as guiding them to get a Wayfair pro account so they can order everything they want, have it stored and delivered all at the same time

- TEAM - giving them referral for cleaners, as an agent/owner I post in my agent forumns for cleaners and that who runs/cleans our STRs today.

Predominantly (65%) women / family friends retreat, getaways.

Eric ADR are very zip code sensitive and based on unit mixes. Have you used a tool like airdna.co  to be specific in your search. It also depends on if you're top tier or below tier as a host. For example our zip code's data in Atlanta in 300331 shoes an occupancy rate of 45% with an ADR of $220 however as superhosts and the way we present our product our occupancy rates are around 70% and ADR on the higher side. 

Hello would you happen to recommend a reputable accountant well versed in working with real estate investors? A speciality in working with short term rental /airbnb owners would be a plus.