Hey there I'm Richard. I'm a father, entrepreneur and former Wall Street Hedgefunder. I've owned a portfolio of real estate investments since 1998 and traditionally I generated rental income through long-term rentals. About 4 years ago a buddy of mine mentioned Airbnb hosting for short term rentals. It sounded crazy at first, but I was willing to give it a shot. Happy to say in 2016 I generated over $500,000 in rental income which is 2-3 times what I would've generated long-term.
Now I want to share what I've learned over the last 4 years to help you get started on Airbnb and VRBO and / or take your business to the next level.
My mission is to build a community of people who embrace the short term rental idea and share their own thoughts and learnings. I've learned plenty the hard way, and I don't know everything, but if we build a community we will all crush it in this space.
Families with young children have left the worst mess. I understand kids dont fully understand but there parents not monitoring them is the issue. Stains, food crumbs all through the house, things touched that arent supposed to.
I miss the days when neighborhoods were full of families and people who knew each other. There is nothing a Airbnb owner can ever do to bring back a sense of community and long lost neighborhood connection.
Thank you! I rarely comment on any videos, but this one was positive, practical, super helpful, and reassuring as a true ,true rookie. Knowing the major steps and having my "WHY" clear as pie, is key. I'm not fully ready, but ready as I can be and learn as I go and grow. THANKS!!!!
Have turned down guests from China that wants to rent for 1 month,2 months, and 3 months at a time. Usually 1 guest traveling with his/her parents. They usually want to communicate directly via WhatsApp. The long rental might be due to getting a refund (cash) after complaints. Complaints could be anything plumbing(created), bed bugs (no proof).
For the price, those are huge misses! I would expect the coffee brought to my room! I'll keep taking my business to the smaller boutique hotels where customer service is paramount!
Thank you so much for this review. I used to go here but I feel the management group has become entitled and is living off reputation. I’ll continue to go to the Rowan instead which, obviously isn’t the same, but coupled with the location is a far more logical choice. The Parker no longer gets it should be about park, toss keys to the valet and enter Valhalla for a few days.
I understand the concept behind this, but not only are you cutting off clients (and potential returning clients) but you are affecting the majority of up & coming creatives. I understand having boundaries, like no smoking/etc, and yes a gut feeling can prevent certain unwanted guests, but having this be the general standard seems to affect not only the creatives, but also the would-be hosts. Of coarse in no way am I condoning those who don’t respect another’s home. I also would understand this method for popular homes that are consistently booked. Idk if it’s make sense, but maybe for those occasions raise the returnable damage fee in case of issues.
Run from AirBnB. They start to play around your payouts. I have had several missing payments! They just keep lying and ignoring you! Horrible! AirBnB is now a horror story.
This was very insightful! I have one successful STR and now have 5 wooded empty lots under contract. This is in Virginia with the goal to custom build 5 cabins close to each other but with shared hotel-like amenities. The zoning just allowed short-term rentals by right for our lots. Financing is going to be interesting as these are 600sf high-end single family dwellings (1-2br) without any comps at our high cost per square foot. Would you have any advice for financing these properties? I’m thinking a private money construction loan as the least constraining yet expensive option. And do you refinance them altogether or individually? I’m just not sure. Thank you for sharing your insights, Richard. Wishing you much continued success!
We only have one STR and 4 LTR's. we like to keep it simple and manageable. Hotels are not for us. If and when, the STR sales decrease, we'll just make the STR. an LTR. LTR's in our area (Wayne/Holmes County, OH) are hard to find and expensive for the quiet rural settings we enjoy.
Hello, I can totally relate to this trend as you are getting from professional individual to an actual business. Looking in the future not 1-2 years but 10-20 years in terms of lease contracts or structure quality was a learning for me. Also as operating in Germany, Europe i would say in terms of regulation we are abt. 2-3 years past the US and more and more people start realizing what a huge impact commercial zones have. For me the biggest difficulty is scaling up and find investors to build up bigger units. Wish all the best ❤
Thanks! Yes, investing should be a *FORWARD* looking endeavor and unfortunately, too many people look at past results (I.e. historicals, 'comps') or what is working right now and make significant investments on something that may not work in the future. Good luck to you too my friend.
For years I've wanted to do a small hotel on the beach. There are so many run down motels that could have amazing potential. You did a video a couple years ago about renovating a hotel near Edgecamp that I loved.
Thanks Chris. The best opportunities are often the most misunderstood. Too many people are stuck in one gear or one lane and miss the growth opp because they are focused too narrow.
I like what you are doing! I can see how this could be a fun learning project when your other income streams have you in a comfortable position. I’m guessing you just roll with it when unexpected costs arise due to the learning curve. It would be great if you could give us a breakdown on costs after your finished. Something like what was your cost per sq foot to build excluding the cost of the land. If you can share your rental projections as well, that would be awesome. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks! Yes, some of these expenses were surprises, others were planned but due to inflation the actual costs were higher than anticipated. That said, we are fortunate to have a great group of LPs who see, embrace, and understand the vision and opportunity.
nothing! we currently operate STR 3.0 in our traditional STR and also offer similar bespoke amenities for our future hotel guests. We just do it in a different format w different zoning. But, I firmly continue to believe you *must* differentiate yourself from the massive competition in the STR space that is now competing on price. And, many homes are being listed for sale which is also (possibly) going to drive down values of STR homes. Good luck!
I’m interested in buying multifamily unit to operate as str. Are they different than motels/hotels regarding regulations that you’ve talked about in this video?
I am also considering transitioning from str to hotels. I am curious on how you finance those projects. Also how do you value them to set a manageable buying price. Since transactions are extremely rare in my area its hard to find comparable or anything else I could use to assess value. And since not a lot of people invest in hotels there is not a lot a content on negotiating seller financing / negotiating price, how to finance, how to refinance after improving the units, what is a good Debt-service coverage ratio, what is a good Gross income multiplier.
Sounds like a wonderful opportunity. Too many seek "comparables" (I.e. 'comps') to gain comfort and safety. I view it differently - I see 'comps' = competition. If everyone and their mother can model the comps, how much juice is left to squeeze? However, if you can find a situation like you describe above, with practically zero competition, you can drive massive success. Negotiation is an art and a skill you must master. It takes time and practice. Get started amigo. Good luck!
Richard, I love you. Your content got me into the STR market. Renting out the downstairs of my home has made me a few thousand bucks every year for the past 5 years. However, I feel your original audience cannot relate to any of your new content. I wish you all the best, but none of your original audience gains anything of value from your current content. Go with God.
Hey Robert. Thanks for the love! and the feedback. Sorry, you feel that way bc I *always* think it is worthwhile to think differently and bigger - even if you can't use many of the ideas at the moment. But, if you are solely focused on what is working right now, you may be missing a huge opportunity in the future. Speaking personally, I am where I am today by being curious, thinking outside the box, and learning from people far more successful than me in different endeavors. I bet there are tons of tiny ideas, suggestions, hospitality trends / approaches you could implement into your business to drive ADR and occupancy from my content. However, totally respect if you want to stay in the STR tips and tricks lane - there are literally dozens of other channels focused on that. I am INTENTIONALLY pushing everyone (who cares to participate) FORWARD. Growth & abundance are a mindset and a superpower. "Model the Masters" and "Success leaves clues". Thanks again and wish you all the best in your current endeavors.
TBH, we never really had too many traditional STR (in fact, one of them is 14 bedrooms, 12000 sq feet so almost the same size as our Pamlico Station hotel we are opening this summer). We operate 3 single family homes / villas as STR 3.0 (lodging + bespoke amenities) and are not selling them at the moment. I've been focused on the scale in hotels / motels for a couple of years now and will continue to do both. Thanks!
You won't have those issues staying at Auga Caliente Rancho Mirage. Amazing huge rooms, coffee maker every room, coffee shop right off the elevators, Valet, and huge Casino and great restaurants great pool.
I certainly focused on the revenue first and then the delight. I grew to 7 airbnbs via rental arbitrage and sacrificed poor customer experiences by renting apartments in bad areas but with low rent. I’m currently selling my portfolio then I’m going to revamp my str business going forward with keeping delight at the forefront!
Dont forgot to mention the degrading of service workers, abuse of service workers, and stuff like that. People arent very kind to low level employees espcially older folk who sometimes have a real big chip on theie shoulder.
