All Forum Posts by: Scott K.

The situation in the catskills that saw you selling your house instead of renting it further, is going to be roughly the same everywhere else you're looking. Especially in hotspots for airbnbs like the Poconos, etc. I'd recommend waiting it out. I think airbnb right now is exploding, competition is at an all-time high, and the housing market couldn't be worse. IF you weren't willing to rent out your house in the catskills, you probably won't find another good opportunity, because you'd do the calculations, and still prefer to sell it.

anything over 30 days in most markets is considered a month to month lease, and therefore has to abide by rental laws and all that comes with that territory. I would never allow a 30 day+ rental in my airbnb, because people can take advantage of you and squat, and that forces an eviction process which in a lot of cities can take 6 months+ with no payment to you ever.

What you're doing has nothing to do with airbnb or this forum. You're entering a rental contract with this person.

Personally I wouldn't risk it with my belongings and everything unless its a personal friend, and then i'd do it off the books. You'll probably be fine. But if **** hits the fan and this person decides to squat, you are screwed legally and you just lost your house for 6+ months.

I have 4 LTR and 4 STR. I self manage everything, the LTR's generate about 17-20% ROI, the STR's generate about 45% ROI. So yes, if you took 30% out of that, you'd come under the LTR. However, as posters above stated, if you take the average which is more like 15-20%, you should come out ahead. There are even agencies who only take 10% now, though your reviews will suffer.

Those properties that are skyrocketing in value are not the norm. ALso the one from 2015 is over a 7 year period, not a 2-3 year. They may have been tear downs at that point when purchased, so they only paid for the land value. The properties I own, have increased in about 33% value. They may be listed for 50-60% more, but the reality is more like 33% when they're sold. I've been checking every month for about 3 years now, I'm not an expert, but I have some knowledge.

If you find a house on airbnb with poor ratings, I've often found its listed by evolve. People who use evolve are not super involved in their property (why they use evolve) AKA They don't realize their rating is low (4.7 or so). Good properties are 4.8+.

I would strongly recommend you manage it yourself. It's hard, but you'll make more money.
My properties are in the top 5% of listings in the area, the best ones get about 80% In the summer. But they're also huge. You won't find similar statistics with a 2-3 bedroom property, you might find your numbers are better. The dynamics are very different. Fall/spring, just about everyone is getting 30% occupancy.

I also am a little concerned you haven't mentioned the ordinance issues. There has been a lot going on recently - tobyhanna basically just outlawed large houses, and imposed extremely strict fines and requirements on everyone. If you have a noise complaint from a neighbor, you're fined $3000. With a 2 bedroom house you can only host 4 people. It's pretty absurd. Unsure what realtor you have but it makes a huge difference with what they can tell you about which neighborhoods are OK with rentals, and which arent.

As someone with a few airbnbs in the Poconos I don't think you're ready. I say this for a few reasons. 

1. You aren't anticipating how much rehab is typically needed when you buy an str. Even nice places need work. 

2. Decor and furniture add up. For a 3 bedroom expect to spend at least 10k

3. The biggest hurdles are labor related. Finding a good cleaner and Handyman, etc. I haven't heard you mention that. 

4. Don't trust evolve. They are not going to give you accurate numbers, it's inflated most likely since they want to get you to use them. They also consistently give awful experiences to guests, just check their average review rating on properties. 

5. 60 percent occupancy is very, very difficult. Poconos are a weekend mostly destination (except summer for very successful listings) 

6. Your estimate of housing prices is off. Houses that used to cost 300k in 2019 now cost 400k. It's roughly a 33 percent increase right now. 

I use statefarm. It's got loss of income and is very cheap compared to proper - I don't know why people above talking about personal property - if a renter damages something, you can file a claim with airbnb and always get your money back. I've gotten thousands of dollars in claims that way. VRBO is awful and won't do anything if your security deposit isn't high enough however.

I'm familiar with wordpress and shopify, but I imagine there's maybe a 'direct' booking site platform out there we can host on our own domain? Right now I just want to direct link to my listing on Airbnb, but some features that would be helpful:

1. connecting a calendar and showing availability, then when someone clicks on it, they're directed to my airbnb listing

2. auto-importing all my airbnb photos/description over to the website without me doing much work

3. Basic instagram feed connection

Same thing happened to me - VRBO states they will 'not' fight a chargeback a 2nd time. So all a customer has to do is issue a chargeback, wait to be rejected, then issue a 2nd, and they will win by default. Frustrating $3000 lesson to learn, but VRBO is garbage. I'm also frustrated at their lack of damage deposit above and beyond what you ask for the customer. If you ask for $500 and your customer destroys your place for $5,000 and uses a fake ID? You're out of luck. Airbnb will at least cover that $5,000 no matter what or who did it.

Unfortunately you've discovered how airbnb greatly favors guests. They can hold you hostage with a bad review. The trick is to always get them to review you first before you ask for compensation. If your guest never reviews you, you are completely unable to request damages from them (becuase they'll retaliate with a 1 star review and tank your listing). It doesn't matter if they lie, or get angry, and clearly are retaliating and had a great time, airbnb doesn't care.

I asked a guest for the late checkout fee in my rules when they were an hour late so I could compensate the next set of guests who were delayed by them. They left me a 1-star review. I'll never make that mistake again. Guests have all the power on the platform.

Keep in mind however, airbnb has ANOTHER trick they use to favor guests. If your guest reviews you positively, and then you ask for compensation, your guest is allowed to call airbnb and delete their review of you. It's absurd. But hey, not as bad as a 1 star review. (yes this has happened to me twice)

You should base your cancellation policy as strict as your competitors are doing it. Use airdna to figure that one out. It's just whatever people are comparing you to, honestly.