Anyone here in the AirBnB or similar business?

[clintbailey]

Been thinking I need some "residual" income more and more, thinking about this type of deal. I know the real estate market is not suitable for investing right now probably, but just wondering how big a hassle a vacation rental might be? I hate the idea of being several hours away from pretty much any prime spots, but it is what it is. TIA for any input, bad or good

 

[dlbleak]

My thought is that if prices continue to rise, people that bought in this false market may be dumping some property at some point. My son and DIL quit looking after we came to that conclusion.
My DIL’s parents have three. One in Edmond and two in the city. They are not really close to any ‘hot spots’ for nightlife and such. I had them over yesterday for the holidays and even they are surprised how busy they are with it.

 

[OkieJoe72]

Are you thinking about using AirBnB, vrbo, etc in your area, or are you thinking about other areas that attract more tourist types? Here’s a few random thoughts in no particular order: 1) AirBnB does a pretty good job of marketing your property and manages the booking process. 2) You are responsible for cleaning the property. If you aren’t close to the property, you are relying on somebody else to make sure it’s done properly which is not an easy task. 3) You always run the risk of someone tearing up your property 4) Consider the pro’s and con’s of short term stays versus renting the property long term. 4) With long term rental contracts, you can do background on prospective tenants.

I have two cabins, and I’ve thought about trying vrbo for short term stays. Currently, I rent the cabins long term. They stay rented about 99% of the time. I know folks in my area that use vrbo for rental properties, and they do pretty good with them as well. My main reason for not trying it yet is because I don’t want to deal with the cleaning on a daily basis.

 

[mr ed]

At least Airb&b announced today they were going to crack down on people renting and using them as party houses. Doubt it does much good though.

 

[TinkerTanker]

Here's the deal, Air B&B's, after all the upkeep, turnover, and maintenance, net you about the same as a long term rental. If you're on the fence, it's so much less work to skip the headaches and buy a long term rental place local to you. We kept using my re-up bonuses and our tax returns to buy more property, rent them out, and use the profit to buy more. We looked at the numbers on an Air B&B several times, but for the turnover and upkeep it never was worth the added labor.
Most important thing you can do is start, whatever you choose. Housing market will be dog crap in winter too, if you can wait. You'll pay more in interest, but if you're a pay-it-off minded guy it won't matter. You make a large part of your money when you buy right.

(Edited for Cabernet influenced structure)

 

[SiGArmed]

I like the stories where people move in then dont leave.

 

[clintbailey]

When you speak of long term rentals, I assume you mean just a "rent house" situation? Like someone lives there indefinitely, and pays you to do so? I agree with something local being easier to look after/upkeep, I just thought a "vacation rental" might be more profitable since the "daily rate" would be higher, so to speak.

 

[garytx]

AirDNA.CO (CO not COM) provides data about rentals in the area, average pricing, etc. There are now businesses that will service your AIRBNB/VRBO so the owner can be out of town, etc. Of course that cost will need to be factored into the price, but it can be done.

 

[retrieverman]

I’ve got a friend who has two houses in the Broken Bow area, and the last time we talked about it he said they were doing well. I’m not sure how he gets them rented, but they stay full all the time. He’s a veterinarian, and I’m pretty sure his wife and daughter handle everything involved with the rental property.
They live here in east TX, so it’s not just a small jaunt to get there.

One thing I do know is that the first house he bought up there got accidentally burned down by renters, and he had to rebuild.

 

[Neanderthal]

There's no way that I'd rent to anyone without a background check nowadays. We don't have an AirBNB, but we do have a rental house. We had some bad experiences with rentals before (one burnt down the house), so use Naborly tenant screening now.