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Buying a property / cabin / cottage for 90% AirBNB. Anyone done it?
- Thread starter PrivatePilot
- Start date
This is what we want to do...but not here. Somewhere that there is 365 days booking potential and readily available property maintenance people. A few tropical owners build 2 accommodations on one large lot. One for the property manager. There’s an arrangement in lieu of rent.
Unless your going to be there, or hire a property manager (which in some countries is actually law, like Canada if you live outside Canada LOL) , just don't .
Driving 2.5hrs, taking the boat ( you borrowed, your is at the water access cottage) 30 mins down the lake, listening to the moaning there has been no water pressure all day and you literally flip a breaker that they swear they tried 6 times. I could not collect enough rent for that nonsense.
Driving 2.5hrs, taking the boat ( you borrowed, your is at the water access cottage) 30 mins down the lake, listening to the moaning there has been no water pressure all day and you literally flip a breaker that they swear they tried 6 times. I could not collect enough rent for that nonsense.
Can confirm. Was a landlord for a decade. Some things were ridiculous. Some tenants were great, and some tried to ‘help’ by ‘fixing’ things without bothering me.....told them not to touch it. Mind you I lived in one of the units so it was a bit annoying but also convenient.
The cottage that I would want to own to rent out is a different cottage to the one I would want to own for personal use. Imo, you want a rental that is simple and durable. Your hunting cabin idea is great. Relatively cheap, relatively simple, if they destroy it you can rebuild in a few months, etc.
I'm not saying you rent it out as a hunting cabin, I was using that as a style concept as opposed to a typical modern cottage with tons of glass, lots of rooms and hardwood/granite. Yes, the cabin will rent for less but I suspect as a percentage of the invested money, the cabin has a chance to be more profitable than a modern cottage and is easier to clean and maintain.KOA style camper cabin with no running water or facilitiesbring your own bedding.
Solar lighting, if they go out don't call me, wait for the sun to come up.
Hunting cabins are very seasonal.
Trials
Well-known member
I guess for me the Hunt cabin term has negative connotations, many of the cabins that are on 150 foot waterfront lots and back onto my property were called Hunting camps. You can throw a rock across their property.
I'd be looking at a piece of property somewhere inside a 20-30 minute drive from my house and making it a "unique experience" type setup. My experience thus far on AirBNB is that the "unique experience" category is not only simple, but in high demand.
My daughter used to work at a place on the outskirts of Toronto that had a "tiny home" built inside a Sea Can tucked into the edge of a forested area. It's on AirBNB as a "unique stay" for $100 a night or something in that range and it's booked almost every single night - $3000/month. Even if it only averaged 50% occupancy, $1500/month for something that likely cost less than $10K to put together, well, not too shabby. No bathroom (just a clean porta potty), no kitchen or cooking facilities at all, just a cool little seacan home with a comfy bed, a seating area, a few lights and a single plug for charging electronics, and a few muskoka chairs out front facing the woods. And people eat it up.
Not saying that a sea can is what I'm aiming for, I'd probably want something different..... What I have in my mind is buying a chunk of property somewhere in the woods (again, the "outdoor experience" segment is hot), have a rustic (but not fancy) cabin of some sort constructed (honestly, the more "rustic" it is, the more in demand it seems to be, and you can keep pricing lower which helps a lot as well) and then put up a few yurts on the property as well as that's another experience that seems to be constantly booked at every place that has them, so long as they're priced properly.
On the topic of pricing, that's where many people on AirBNB go wrong. Yurts (for one example) are super popular under the Glamping/Experience category, but some people seem to think they're worth $300+/night and their bookings suffer as a result. But anything in the $100-ish category....almost always booked solid. Even in the winter (fireplace solves the heat issue) they're averaging 20-50% booked. Even if they sit empty and the cabin alone carries most of the mortgage on the property (and yes, we're financially able to carry things even if there's 100% vacancy), with the yurts being gravy in the summer, there's profit to be made.
In the gravy months in the summer we roll 100% of the income against the mortgage to pay it down faster. In the winter, we carry it ourselves if needed.
KOA style camper cabin with no running water or facilities
Solar lighting, if they go out don't call me, wait for the sun to come up.
Hunting cabins are very seasonal.
This.
And cabins not need be seasonal. The place we're going to in March I mentioned earlier in the thread is completely off grid. Composting toilet, some limited solar electricity, and a fireplace.
$220/night. Booked about 28 out of every 30 days within a 1 month period from what I've been observing, with the only empty nights being awkward weekday nights where people booked a 4 or 5 day weekend and there was an orphaned day in the middle of the week...and even then I see those snapped up sometimes last minute. This one is booked fairly solid through to March at this point and approaches 100% solid all summer long. Like I said, this is one we've been watching for quite some time.
I considered booking this once...it looks pretty amazing.
Yes and no. I've watched AirBNB listings for quite a long time. The "experience" category, like I've mentioned, is strong and consistent.
The more traditional categories (IE, apartments, shared rooms, etc) can be hit and miss. Personally, if I'm travelling and have a choice between a hotel for $100/night and a "shared room in a house" for $75, I'm taking the hotel every time.
But if there was a nearby AirBNB that offered a cool experience for $150/night, I'm taking that hands down over all else.
AirBnB with any sort of 'exclusive' attached is pretty amazing and they do book up. We rented a 45ft power boat in a marina in San Diego for three nights, you live and sleep tied to the dock, engine is disabled (for very good reason) but It was a really cool thing to do.
I'd pay good money to sit on a shore line somewhere else.
If your prepared to deal with some maintenence it can be a money maker, friend has a walk out basement that happens to be on the brow of the escarpment looking over Burlington. She has execs that are going to work in Toronto book it out in 30-60 day blocks.
I'd pay good money to sit on a shore line somewhere else.
If your prepared to deal with some maintenence it can be a money maker, friend has a walk out basement that happens to be on the brow of the escarpment looking over Burlington. She has execs that are going to work in Toronto book it out in 30-60 day blocks.
as an alternative, buy a nicer property or house in a desirable area and do a season rental?
instead of renting and dealing with multiple people over multiple weekends and dealing with multiple hassles.
you do a seasonal/short term rental where they rent the property for 1 to 3 month term. This is common in collingwood, for example, where skiers rent a place for the "season" and just need a place to stay on the weekends and want the comfort of knowing they have a place to stay week after week and they can leave their belongings there.
The agents I spoke to up there say the market for seasonal rentals is "ridiculous" and ppl are making killer money on rentals.
In my eyes, those are more desirable ppl to deal with, less hassle, and less likely to trash the place as opposed to weekend party goers.
instead of renting and dealing with multiple people over multiple weekends and dealing with multiple hassles.
you do a seasonal/short term rental where they rent the property for 1 to 3 month term. This is common in collingwood, for example, where skiers rent a place for the "season" and just need a place to stay on the weekends and want the comfort of knowing they have a place to stay week after week and they can leave their belongings there.
The agents I spoke to up there say the market for seasonal rentals is "ridiculous" and ppl are making killer money on rentals.
In my eyes, those are more desirable ppl to deal with, less hassle, and less likely to trash the place as opposed to weekend party goers.
D
Deleted member 50930
Guest
When satellite internet becomes mainstream rural housing prices will explode.
You could even bypass the Airbnb aspect. Create a website with HTML+bootstrap, sql database, some proper security settings (to accept payments or pay the fees to outsource this) and a reliable hosting provider.
Congrats on being able to do this
You could even bypass the Airbnb aspect. Create a website with HTML+bootstrap, sql database, some proper security settings (to accept payments or pay the fees to outsource this) and a reliable hosting provider.
Congrats on being able to do this
When satellite internet becomes mainstream rural housing prices will explode.
You could even bypass the Airbnb aspect. Create a website with HTML+bootstrap, sql database, some proper security settings (to accept payments or pay the fees to outsource this) and a reliable hosting provider.
Congrats on being able to do this
you guys can hate on him for all you want, but the guy is doing amazing things, including what you mentioned.
Elon Musk's SpaceX: Starlink lands $885m to bring satellite broadband to 35 US states
The FCC backs SpaceX to bring its low-Earth orbit Starlink satellite broadband service to millions in unserved areas.
www.zdnet.com
J_F
Guest
some good points
but you have to take a big discount for long term rentals
a decent airbnb, average cottage/cabin in good location, is 150-200 /night
how many folks you gonna get to pay 4500 - 6000/month? not many
likely have to get it down around 2500 to keep it occupied
150/day for short term, you need ~ 50% occupancy rate to get that
and you still have some use of it yourself
As I said earlier, this season, because of limited travel and covid, the collingwood market, as an example is seeing explosive growth in rentals and purchases. an agent told me they are seeing 30 grand to rent a house during ski season in collingwood. thats not chump change.
people that can afford that kind of rent, arent likely to trash the place. and you will definitely not have to deal with cleaning the unit after every weekend of rental and the hassle of dealing with multiple people/complaints, and bookings and chasing people for payments.
Just putting it out there as an alternative for people considering getting into the business.
blackcamaro
Well-known member
Sold my house in Hamilton and just bought a house near Midland. Once I get through the reno on that one I'm going to be looking for another property. Maybe a long term rental or considering the area have floated the idea of a cottage for airbnb.
Most owners I've talked to only want bookings for week long rentals minimum. Driving 30 minutes to clean, prep for the next guest etc every 2-3 days gets old really quick.
You mention mortgage. That may prove to be an issue with these "experience style" retreats. Lenders really only want to lend on 4 season homes. To buy say 10 acres and throw a cabin on it probably won't fly without a 50% down payment. A way around that might be to use a HELOC but personally on a investment property I would sooner use a more traditional mortgage.
Nice to avoid some of the negatives of long term rentals though.
Most owners I've talked to only want bookings for week long rentals minimum. Driving 30 minutes to clean, prep for the next guest etc every 2-3 days gets old really quick.
You mention mortgage. That may prove to be an issue with these "experience style" retreats. Lenders really only want to lend on 4 season homes. To buy say 10 acres and throw a cabin on it probably won't fly without a 50% down payment. A way around that might be to use a HELOC but personally on a investment property I would sooner use a more traditional mortgage.
Nice to avoid some of the negatives of long term rentals though.
Mad Mike
Well-known member
I have been thinking about putting the little apt above my garage into Air B&B. There are no hotels/motels within 10km
Cheap water access lot on a remote lake or river, toss up 3 yurts, and give it some fancy green off the grid name like “Miora River Maiden Peace Eco Lodge”. Put it in the “Experience” part of Airbnb for $1500 per week/yurt.
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