4 ms·

Has anyone bought a property to exclusively rent via AirBnB? Looking to buy something with this in mind.

onlyrealcuzzo 8y ago
Several of my friends bought places in Palm Springs to do this in 2012-2015. They've made an absolute killing so far. But who knows what will happen if another recession comes.
- the_watcher 8y ago
  I grew up there and my dad owns a real estate brokerage. I can confirm that this is pretty common, and it's a great example of Airbnb making a market that has existed longer than I've been alive (vacation rentals in a resort city) orders of magnitude more accessible to the average person. I've seriously considered (to the point of starting to model it) buying something that can credibly be called "walking distance" to the Coachella venue and seeing how much of the of the mortgage in that month (two Coachellas + Stagecoach) + the tennis tournament in March.
  - dawhizkid 8y ago
    Wow, didn't realize how inexpensive homes are there (vs LA, SF at least. I see 2 bedroom/2 baths for under $200k..tempting!
    - niij 8y ago
      Compared to some of the most expensive housing in the USA? I'd bet more 2bd 2ba homes are sold <200k in the USA than the other way around by a long shot.
      - the_watcher 8y ago
        The difference is that Palm Springs is a resort city with something like 150 golf courses, is 2 hours from LA, 2.5 hours from San Diego, 1.5 hours from Orange County, and even has Big Bear ~1.5 hours away if you like to ski in the winter without having to make a weekend trip (it's not great snow, but it is a mountain).
    - the_watcher 8y ago
      It's true, you get a phenomenal home that's essentially part of a giant resort for much lower than LA (and you're only 2 hours from LA, 2.5 from San Diego, and 1.5 from Orange County). Yes, the summer is awful, but if you like golf or tennis and can work remotely, you can always leave for the summer. I'd be happy to put you in touch with my dad if you're actually interested (no pressure if you prefer to avoid an agent right now or have someone you already work with though).
santiagogo 8y ago
My mom has done it with my help. From what I've seen, it's a bit more profitable than renting out directly, but also very time consuming (especially cleaning and housekeeping). If you factor in the time it takes to manage the Airbnb it probably isn't much more profitable than regular renting, unless you manage a large number of Airbnb's or have a large amount of free time and enjoy the whole hosting thing, like my mom who is retired and loves meeting tourists. I would also add that the city and location probably influence the economics and profitability of it a lot.
ThrustVectoring 8y ago
I wouldn't buy a separate residence for this - the regulatory environment in general is highly biased against that use case, so it comes with an unacceptably large legal risk IMO. Instead, I'd suggest buying a primary residence that is a duplex or is larger than you need, and subletting out the extra room(s) or other half of the unit. Your financial commitment is much less (just the difference between purchase prices of larger vs smaller houses), financing via mortgages is much more reasonable, and legal statutes that cover this use case tend to be more favorable to you.

Several of my friends bought places in Palm Springs to do this in 2012-2015. They've made an absolute killing so far. But who knows what will happen if another recession comes.

the_watcher 8y ago
I grew up there and my dad owns a real estate brokerage. I can confirm that this is pretty common, and it's a great example of Airbnb making a market that has existed longer than I've been alive (vacation rentals in a resort city) orders of magnitude more accessible to the average person. I've seriously considered (to the point of starting to model it) buying something that can credibly be called "walking distance" to the Coachella venue and seeing how much of the of the mortgage in that month (two Coachellas + Stagecoach) + the tennis tournament in March.
- dawhizkid 8y ago
  Wow, didn't realize how inexpensive homes are there (vs LA, SF at least. I see 2 bedroom/2 baths for under $200k..tempting!
  - niij 8y ago
    Compared to some of the most expensive housing in the USA? I'd bet more 2bd 2ba homes are sold <200k in the USA than the other way around by a long shot.
    - the_watcher 8y ago
      The difference is that Palm Springs is a resort city with something like 150 golf courses, is 2 hours from LA, 2.5 hours from San Diego, 1.5 hours from Orange County, and even has Big Bear ~1.5 hours away if you like to ski in the winter without having to make a weekend trip (it's not great snow, but it is a mountain).
  - the_watcher 8y ago
    It's true, you get a phenomenal home that's essentially part of a giant resort for much lower than LA (and you're only 2 hours from LA, 2.5 from San Diego, and 1.5 from Orange County). Yes, the summer is awful, but if you like golf or tennis and can work remotely, you can always leave for the summer. I'd be happy to put you in touch with my dad if you're actually interested (no pressure if you prefer to avoid an agent right now or have someone you already work with though).

santiagogo 8y ago

My mom has done it with my help. From what I've seen, it's a bit more profitable than renting out directly, but also very time consuming (especially cleaning and housekeeping). If you factor in the time it takes to manage the Airbnb it probably isn't much more profitable than regular renting, unless you manage a large number of Airbnb's or have a large amount of free time and enjoy the whole hosting thing, like my mom who is retired and loves meeting tourists. I would also add that the city and location probably influence the economics and profitability of it a lot.

ThrustVectoring 8y ago

I wouldn't buy a separate residence for this - the regulatory environment in general is highly biased against that use case, so it comes with an unacceptably large legal risk IMO. Instead, I'd suggest buying a primary residence that is a duplex or is larger than you need, and subletting out the extra room(s) or other half of the unit. Your financial commitment is much less (just the difference between purchase prices of larger vs smaller houses), financing via mortgages is much more reasonable, and legal statutes that cover this use case tend to be more favorable to you.