2020-02-18 Airbnb renters vs. Roomers
| By:
Jeff Taylor
AIRBNB RENTERS VS. ROOMERS
By Jeffery Taylor, Mr. Landlord
The following rental owner had a property in which the landlord (named DJ), had previously focused on just renting rooms to regular long-term renters. Recently the landlord has switched to focusing on AirBnB for short-term or extended-stay renters. DJ shares a little of the story below. And so far, so good. I share this story to encourage and challenge some of you to consider changing up on WHO you are targeting. There may be a more ideal market for you which will bring you greater rewards. The following is DJ's story.
"I've finished transforming the second floor of my rooming house into an AirBnB. Posted the listings Friday early evening, and had my first room booked in about an hour. He arrives tonight and will be in 1 room for a month. He is in the area to work.
I booked two more today. One group will take all 4 bedrooms (the entire apartment) for a weekend, and another couple is coming for a few days during the week. Each of 4 bedrooms is a separate listing, and the whole place has its own listing. They automatically block the other's calendar so there is no conflict.
So, I now have 4 full rooms with good roomers on the first floor - and two people on a waiting list. So I'm making a profit just with them. Now I have enough rent from the AirBnB second floor that it is equivalent to 3 roomers, averaged over the next 2 months. And there is still a LOT more availability.
I did put some money into refurbishing the rental, so will take a while to break even. Also, the first 3 to book each listing gets a really cheap price. I'm hoping this will lead to good reviews and I can tweak things as I go along.
As a professional property manager, I am used to doing a lot of screening of people, etc. AirBnB operates differently - I feel like I have definitely lost some control, but on the other hand, I review the guests as well as they review me. So, if they really screwed up, they could be banned from any more AirBnB. I figure: I need to take some risk to see the reward. If I never try something different, I'll never grow. So, wish me luck!! I'm optimistic."