Hi Sri, you got the Alaskan Bug! :)
The Kenai Peninsula is a great place to invest and own STR. I always recommend Homer over Kenai/Soldotna/Cooper Landing. It is more expensive to invest in Homer, but you can expect higher nightly rates. Homer is a huge destination. Kenai and Soldotna only really get tourists for fishing and is very dependent on fish runs and river openings/closures. Cooper Landing doesn't see much for tourism; it is more just people passing through getting to their destination. I am not saying there isn't any tourism, but I don't see there being enough to make it financially beneficial, IMO. Homer sees more in tourists and more consistently. My husband and I own 2 STR - this summer, we have had a 0% vacancy. If someone cancels, we are rebooked in a matter of hours (which is at a $320 nightly rate price point). However, this has been the busiest season of tourism Alaska has seen. In the winter months, we have about a 50% occupancy in our less expensive rental ($115) and about 25%-30% in our higher price point (winter rates $250). In the wintertime, you get a lot of Alaska residents traveling and families traveling for team sports/events.
Seward - also a great spot, but I will always choose Homer over anywhere else on the Peninsula. Not just my biased opinion. Homer consistently sees more visitors. Another great attribute to Homer is that we have an airport with direct flights from Anchorage. Anyone traveling to Seward has to drive. As we saw this year with the rental car crisis, many folks were flying directly into Homer, and many other folks had to change or cancel their plans due to not having a car. We were 90% booked for the summer before April and did not have a single canceled reservation due to guests not being able to rent a car. I know other areas were hit with this.
If you are residing in the rental for the summer, you will be missing the most profitable months. Alaska tourism slows down drastically in the wintertime, and you can expect our busy season (on the Peninsula) to start around Memorial Day and end around Labor Day. However, we saw it start and sustain in early April of this year - I will be curious if we see it last longer into the fall this season.
The key to a great STR on the Peninsula is the view - this ensures you will always be booked. People traveling all the way to Homer want to pay for the view. Our rentals sit right on a bluff overlooking the Kachemak Bay, mountains, and Homer Spit. I would be more than happy to assist you/guide you to STR management in the Homer area. In Homer, the typical rate for a manager is 20-30% depending on how much assistance you want/need. (i.e., maintenance, ground maintenance, cleaner provided, amenities provided, etc.)
Please let me know if you have any other specific questions, and I would be more than happy to answer.
Thank you for the shoutout, @Connor Dunham!
