All Forum Posts by: Ryan Marble

Start in your immediate area. consider your own house. consider out of state, etc. Go to meet-ups, learn from others and then read up. Get with an agent who knows STR and even MTR comps. It's a lifelong journey of wealth :) Reach out with any questions.

My go to response, which has been posted a few times (sorry if you saw it elsewhere) is to lean into what you already know. Start there and work backwards. Figure out your unfair advantage. I'm also more of a rent your vacations, buy your investments guy. Don't buy it because you like going there. Buy what makes the most money.

Secondly, it's hard to get started. It is stressful, expensive, and you burn through a pile of cash before you make a dime. There's a lot of "this better work, I'm bleeding cash" feelings as you get started. Others may disagree, but I personally don't believe a short term rental is worth the hassle if you cannot get close to (or hopefully better than) a 20% cash on cash return. That's not possible in many markets right now. Or you have to take on a fixer to increase the home's value to get there. There is no turn key 20% cash on cash market out there that I am aware of. 

My advice after a couple of years is to maximize your bedroom count for your budget and don't invest in an STR that cannot do at least 50-60k of gross booking revenue. Unexpected expenses are not as bad if you have a $60-80-100k revenue base.

And I like seasonality if you are self managing. A busy season provides a serious cash infusion and by the time you get tired of self managing, the season is over and you get a break. The house also gets a much needed break.  

Where do you like to vacation? :)

FL is still booming! It is possible to get 12-20% CoC returns and have a lot of appreciation as people continue to move here

@Ryan Marble

Read @Avery Carl’s Book, "Short-Term Rental Long-Term Wealth". Also, listen to her podcast, "The Short Term Show" and @Luke Carl's podcast "Short Term Rental Management". Cash flow is hard to come by today, but if you are patient and work with a good realtor you can still find deals. I worked with the Short Term Shop and nailed a great deal. But first find your market and do a ton of research.

If you want to use it for personal use as well, look in areas you like to travel to. Then see if those areas have a strong rental demand. I chose my market partially because my family and I enjoy traveling there.