Turning a $2,000 Super Bowl Weekend into a Successful $10K a Month International Rental Portfolio

Hey, can you provide an introduction of yourself and your experience in the short-term rental industry?

I'm a Realtor, Short-term and mid-term rental hosts/ landlord. I started on Airbnb and VRBO in January 2020. My first time renting my home on Airbnb was during the Super Bowl in Atlanta back in 2019. We packed up our really personal items and stayed at a friend's house. I believe we made about $2,000 over a span of 4 days. Once we purchased another primary residence and moved out, we continued to rent it and were bitten by the real estate investing bug when we made over $10K in one month. Two bad groups of guests burned us and we had to put a long-term renter in place until things cooled down.

Later in 2020, we bought another property and repeated. We learned a ton and realized that it was a better strategy for us to start mid-term renting and having guests that stayed for a few months as opposed to a few days. We've recently launched 2 more STRs in Costa Rica and looking to expand.

How many properties do you own, operate, or manage, and where are they located?

We currently have two condos in Atlanta and two condos Costa Rica that I’m an owner and host. I also am a property manager for a single-family home in Little Rock.

What inspired you to become a short-term rental host and how did you choose the location(s) for your rental property/properties?

We started in the area where we were living and knew the market there very well. We knew what attracted guests and how to advertise those amenities. After the first one was a success, we ran it back with a second and have continued to see success in that area. We have a particular type of guest that we target and have discovered this area to be full of opportunity that keeps our rentals occupied.

Describe the process of finding new properties.

We have an avatar, a specific type of property that we look for. I'm an investor-focused realtor and have access to the MLS, contacts in off-market and a few other sources to find deals for myself and my clients. Zillow is a good way to find out rental rates and calculate potential income from employing various rental strategies. I also will pull info from the MLS for comps and Airbnb directly.

What marketing strategies have been most effective in attracting guests to your property?

Reviews are King. Next to that, marketing myself on social media, word of mouth, raffles/ giveaways, and listing on multiple platforms including Facebook marketplace, Furnished Finder, Nextdoor, Facebook groups, etc.

How do you create a unique guest experience?

This is an area of improvement for my rentals, to be honest. I hope to be able to develop a stronger boots-on-the-ground team that can help with implementing my vision. Some things we have currently experimented with is providing suggestions based on what the guest’s reason for visiting is. We also offer to pre-purchase groceries to help them feel instantly welcomed and able to settle in without having to worry about running to the store as soon as they arrive. In the future, I would like to offer packages for special occasions that include massages, personal chefs, excursions, etc.

How do you manage guest communication, check-ins, check-outs, and cleaning/maintenance between guest stays?

I currently self-manage all of this but am looking to offload it using AI and other software to automate the process more and enable us to scale.

What is your monthly revenue?

It definitely varies... my midterms bring in about $3700/month each, and my STRs are between $3-6K on average.

Can you share some challenges you've faced as a short-term rental host and how you overcame them?

Cleaning challenges and building trust with our team in Costa Rica. I took comfort in managing my local rentals because I could run over at any time and check on them to make sure they were clean to my standards, solve guests’ issues, etc. But with Costa Rica, it was a learning curve and still is. For example, my concierge's girlfriend is our cleaner, and we just found out she's pregnant. We are worried about her ability to continue cleaning and if our concierge is going to move away.

What systems or tools do you use to manage and streamline the operations of your short-term rental business?

Aside from the platforms, we don't implement a lot of other software.

What advice would you give to someone who is considering entering the short-term rental market, and how do you stay up-to-date with industry trends and regulations?

Too much to type here. I try not to give out random advice and instead tailor it to the person's goals.

What does the future look like for your business?

Continuing to scale in our current markets and beyond.

Where can people learn more about you and your business?

• Personal Instagram

• Realtor Instagram

• Business Instagram

• Airbnb Profile

• Business Website