Why did you stop? Did you manage it as well as own, or just own? -- I am close to purchasing one, but will be 2 hours away -- so need someone to manage it -- the income splits are higher than I thought, but I don't have much leverage? How did you determine your price point?
I know a real estate agent who owns like 50 of them and she highly recommends owning them. That’s all I’ve got.
I stayed at a really cool place with an older, retired pilot and nurse couple who asked me to stay another day on them because we had a lot in common to talk about and both liked red wine. It was fun. Hope that helps.
It was my parents house when they passed. We rented it to try and recoup some of the costs because it was unsellable at the time (country club area that where resales were shit because of building). Got it sold, that’s why we quit. We were in Denver at the time and had a local manager that met people and dealt with them while they were there. price point I just looked at the local market and kind of made it up as I went.
If you’re doing it in a better market (large city or actual resort town), I could see it being a good option to at least pay for having a vacation house when you want it.
It'd be a small town with not many options. I'm OK with it just paying for itself. Definitely a vacation, 2-3 night rental option. From my brief research, I was surprised how little airbnb takes from the income. Most goes to the owner.
friends own the house next to theirs and rent it on air bnb. They are making a lot of money. If you have to use a management company, I wouldn't expect to make much.
We have a property manager that gets 25% of bookings. She lives just down the street so she’s able to fix crap when it breaks and check on things constantly. She also manages the house cleaners and handles a bunch of other stuff. Worth every penny
If you’re not going to be around, the ability and trustworthiness of your manager will mean everything.
I'm looking at a property pretty deep in the woods, really secluded. 2 hours away from where I am, so I can't manage it. I have some people I certainly trust, but they're saying a "50-50" split is standard for their airbnb arrangements. That seems ridiculous, but not sure what other option I have for such a small community.
that’s absolutely not standard, assuming you’re paying for upkeep and repairs. That may be standard for that podunk town or something
Should have clarified, definitely not standard for airbnb at large, just standard for that area. They did say this includes all cleaning, all issues, basically I'd only be the $$ behind the property and they handle every other detail. Still a huge percentage.
My parents VRBO their beach house and manage it themselves. The cleaning lady also handles the neighbors and keeps them in the loop. Out of ~3 years of doing it they haven’t had any horror stories. *knock on wood.
So looks like this is happening. Everyone come stay at my cabin in 2020: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/24041265?source_impression_id=p3_1572972343_jfnNYY7he5VdQoKD
We own two beach condos that I manage myself from about 3 hours away. the real key is getting a cleaner you can trust to well, make sure the place is clean, but really report back on any issues.
We are looking to buy a place in DC to live in with a separate English basement we can rent out. We've actually heard AirBnB/VRBO can be easier than long-term rentals because people don't call you about as many minor things. Ends up about equal if you can fill it ~10-12 days a month but with far less maintenance. I wasn't thrilled about it but like the idea that we could get a bigger place and use the basement as guest space when family is in town, rather than paying for guest space we almost never use.
I was considering getting a spare bedroom listed as I'm currently not working and could use a little income. I've done shared spaces as a guest but never hosted. Do i have to be a complete psycho to consider something like this? I was thinking I would definitely change out some door knobs at least so I could lock the master area while I'm out of the house ...
I did it for a while, didn't have any bad experiences. I'd definitely find a way to lock up anything you need to, for peace of mind more than anything.
Probably should have added that, find a local handyman that's good. Nothing major has broken though (knock on wood). We had a screen door get messed up by a renter that he fixed, but really that's about it.
I'm wanting to find some property to get into this space as well, somewhere that is attractive for year round rentals. Thinking about a place in Santa Fe that folks go to in Summer and Winter, and we can use for skiing and family trips with our two boys. My wife doesn't ski, so having a good town atmosphere is a must, and think driving distance would be best so we would be enticed to use it more and not be on the road a TON. How do you guys go about finding management companies and such? My first stop would be googling 'santa fe rental property management' lol.
I think it's going to largely depend on the area. A "city" like Santa Fe I would imagine has a ton of options. If you're more off-the-grid, like I'm doing, I think you're going to have to get to know some locals. I would think local realtors can also point you in the right direction (like mine did). I submitted my offer today, and the sellers have already told me they're going to accept. They also agreed to manage the property until the end of 2020, and have some other folks they can introduce me to during the year. Basically, it's the same airbnb hosts, so I keep all the good reviews. Only thing that changes is the owner.
Keeping those reviews is going to be huge for you. That really held us back at first but once we got them going the rentals really picked up. Can’t remember if you mentioned doing VRBO as well but I held off a little on doing it, not for really any good reason but that was a big mistake. Really surprised how well and fast we did on VRBO. Think that’s going to push our condos next year from being just ok investments to actually cash flowing nicely.
Yep. I had originally planned on making a Facebook page or something for the property and posting all the reviews, and then just linking the facebook page on the airbnb profile. But really glad they agreed to manage for another year. They're also superhosts, have some other properties, so for a renters' purposes it'll be like nothing has ever changed. They're keeping all the furniture and appliances in the cabin, as well as guidebooks, typed pamphlets, etc. on hikes and stuff to do in the area. Many of the reviews mention how helpful all of this material was, so keeping that is also huge. AND the property is actually on 2 lots, with the other lot having plenty of room for another cabin/tiny house. Already contacted a few companies with inquiries -- can build a tiny house/A-frame for around $40K.