All Forum Posts by: Yiwei Cheng

I would recommend looking at how much money you could make as a STR vs LTR & then deciding if it's worth the effort to do STR vs LTR. STR is very different from LTR in so many ways and if you are going to self manage, it is not an easy transition. Since you are new, if you choose to do a STR, I would recommend hiring a great property manager who can do it for you.
Also not all houses would make a great STR, so getting local advice on location, size, etc would be beneficial.

What makes you different is your why.  Why are you doing this?  I think it's easy for owners to tell if you're in it to just make some money or you're in it to provide the best experiences for guests.  There are different owners who care about different things.  Some just want the lowest cost without doing the work and as long as money is coming in, they don't care if their revenue is maximized.  There are others who care about the homes being take care of, the brand, the portfolio, and building relationships with guests.  I've had owners switch from low cost property managers to me because they see the value that I can provide in maintaining their homes & bringing in high quality guests.

I would say that a great short term rental manager will care about your home because it directly impact their reputation.  At least for me, I want to make sure all the homes I manage are up to the standards that guests expect and replace/fix items very quickly if I see it becoming an issue.  It is my reputation with the guests, reviews on the line and I'm not willing to just take on anything.  It takes a lot to build loyalty and trust with guests, and when they become repeat guests always coming to stay to our homes, they move around between homes.  If one doesn't meet the expectation and they have bad experiences, they most likely would not stay again at any of the homes.

I think everyone above gave you great advice.  I'm curious as to how you got your revenue projections initially? 

I own and manage STR in Cincinnati, but I don't want to get into the cleaning business for a reason. It's another business to work on & a distraction from my short term rental business. I've hired cleaners in house & covered for some local owners for a couple of months while they were out of town, and it's not very straightforward. After that period, I definitely did not want to get into the cleaning business.

My unpopular opinion agrees with @Bob Stevens.  As someone who owns and manages short term rentals, unless you have contacts you trust in place to do everything, self managing is not setting your property up for success from the beginning. Even the best cleaner will get complacent, guests will need things, the house needs care and detail. The best short term rental managers will make you more money than the management fee they charge. You are not "saving" money by managing yourself, especially if you have never operated a short term rental before. You have to learn how to do a STR firstly, then find people who are actually going to do the work like they say they are going to do.

It's a hospitality business and different from traditional rentals. If you're coming from a traditional rental, managing a STR is totally different. I've seen people self manage with cleaners and do well, but 90% of them do not do well.

Starting a listing early without things looking like they should or it being ready to rent immediately doesn't give you a leg up.  As a matter of fact, esp if you are going to block dates off, it would impact your Airbnb "new listing" badge as well.  You only get so much time boosted as new, so no need to waste it when it's not ready.  

Having someone boots on the ground is the most important thing to having a 5 star rental.  Someone to check on the house but no one is a replacement for you or vested like a full service property manager.  You would have to ask around to see who would be willing to that for you and be added as an "emergency" contact for the registration.

There are lots of people who do arbitrage and also promote courses on "getting started with $0".  I have done it myself and I have to say that owning assets is the way to build real estate wealth. Otherwise it's just another stream of income like a job.  It's fine if you want to do it but just know that you're on the hook for rent regardless of whether you make money or not & you are not building assets for yourself.  No one will give you names of landlords to reach out to so you need to find them yourself and call them to make sure they are okay with you doing that.

Okay, unpopular opinion: if you are new to STR, self managing from far away is not setting your property up for success. You are starting from the beginning on learning how to do STR and that's something the property manager in the area have been doing for years. I would recommend finding a great property manager and they will be able to generate more revenue than you would be able to do. The hardest part of managing a STR is the boots on ground work and how are you going to find someone to trust to do the work - when it needs to be done & done correctly - if you are not there to vet people constantly? Don't worry about "saving" property management fees. Great property managers will generate a lot more revenue than someone who is new to STR. They have the experience and systems and people to get things done.