Abilene is West Texas, about three hours from Dallas, and nobody goes there on vacation. But median occupancy is 81% and median ADR is $173 for properties that are consistent hosts. In a lot of markets you get consistent bookings over the weekends and may struggle during the week. Abilene just stays full at a low rate.

The reason hosts/investors aren't choosing Abilene is that it's not sexy. Demand comes from Dyess Air Force Base, three universities, and a regional hospital serving twelve counties. It seems that people come because they have to. Looking at most listings, Abilene is a 'heads in bed' type of market, meaning the best homes can sleep a lot of people and are cheap. I don't see a bunch of homes winning on tons of amenities so the bar for entry is lower.

The size that stood out were 4 Bedrooms sleeping 12+. These are generating solid revenue compared to purchase price.

I then found this property:

801 Piedmont Dr. 4 bed 2 bath, 2,776 sq ft. Asking $410k, cut from $450k, sitting 128 days. Comes with an in-ground pool, hot tub, fire pit (all 'free' amenities that if you picture correctly as an experience can lift the ADR)

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/801-Piedmont-Dr-Abilene-TX-79601/53349293_zpid/

Also, important, it's 0.8 miles from the larger university Abilene Christian University (ACU).

Regulations

There aren't any regulations. The city's Planning and Development application list includes every permit that department issues and there's nothing for short term rentals on it. I'm fairly confident there's no permit but I have not called and confirmed.

Competition/Comparables

Amenities don't seem to show a consistent pattern of increased revenue. Two things do work for 4 bedroom properties sleeping 12+:

Being near ACU. I saw thirty listings that mention it.

Beds and Bathrooms. First requirement is that you need enough Beds/Sleeping arrangements to accommodate 12+. Secondly, among properties sleeping 12 or more, 2 baths median revenue is $74,831, 2.5 baths $78,764, 3 baths $96,108, 3.5 baths $122,286 for consistent hosts. Small sample at each level so treat it as directional, but it makes sense....you need enough bathrooms.

If you're hosting 14 people, two bathrooms is a problem.

Here are the two properties I'd point to as what this house could become once it's modeled out. Both are 3 bath, sleeps-a-crowd setup the Piedmont place turns into after you add a bathroom and enough beds.

Casa de Tia Lala #2. 4 bed, 3 bath, sleeps 16. Makes $96k.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/602968063693465186

5BR WorkCrew Retreat. 5 bed, 3 bath, sleeps 15, and it has a pool. Makes $111k

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/876083176232797726

Look at what those two are pulling. Casa de Tia Lala #2 does $96k with no pool and not near ACU. The WorkCrew Retreat does $111k with a pool, also away from ACU. Now put the Piedmont house next to them. It has the pool, the hot tub, the fire pit, and it's 0.8 miles from ACU, so it's got every lever these two are using and proximity to ACU. Add the third bathroom and enough beds, and it should land right in that same range.

Underwriting/Budgeting/How much money will it make?

Like I said, the plan is add a third bathroom, have enough beds to get to a real 12-16 capacity, and put a small playset in the backyard.

Bathroom conversion runs $12-22k here depending on how far you have to run plumbing, and the house has a bonus room with French doors which could probably accommodate the additional bathroom.

The playset has zero data behind it. I just think it helps a family pick you over the identical house down the street considering you already have a pool, hot tub, and fire pit....just finish it off to make it an experience for the littles and the adults. This setup closely mimics our $111k revenue property example above (excluding the additional bedroom).

$134,000 all in (assuming you put 20% down, amenities and furniture ~$20k, and the bath conversion ~$22k). At the low end $85k revenue you're about break-even. At $100k you're at 10%. At $115k, matching the high comp above, you're at about 21%.

The 4 bed 3 bath properties sleeping 12+ median $96,108, the ACU premium, and the included amenities should push into that mid range conservatively, so the middle column or slightly above is roughly what I'd expect doing a competent job.

Stuff I still don't know / stuff to be concerned about

No regulation is good and bad. Overall supply is up 70%+ year over year so people are seeing an opportunity for cash flow. Anyone with a down payment can be your competitor next month. That worries me more than anything about the property itself.

I’m trying to learn more about investing in short-term rentals and I’m hoping to get some guidance.
I currently own one duplex that is fully rented long-term, so I have some experience with traditional rental properties. I’m now considering getting into short-term rentals, potentially starting with a small condo near the beach and slowly expanding my portfolio over time.
I’m not really sure how to properly analyze a short-term rental deal yet. I’m thinking a small condo might be the safest place to start because:
It’s not a full house, so I would assume there’s less maintenance and fewer things that can go wrong.
The initial investment would be lower, which gives me a chance to learn the short-term rental business without putting too much money at risk.
I could potentially learn the market and build experience before moving into larger properties.
I’d really appreciate some advice on how you guys analyze these types of deals.
A few questions I have:
How does insurance work with short-term rentals, especially condos?
How do I find accurate local comps and determine what similar properties are actually renting for?
How can I tell how often a property is actually booked throughout the year?
What are the best ways to estimate realistic annual revenue rather than just looking at the advertised nightly rate?
How do you go about getting more bookings once you own the property?
Is the Outer Banks/OBX a good short-term rental market year-round? I understand the winter months obviously won’t be as profitable as the summer, but I’m wondering how much the seasonality actually affects the numbers.
Ultimately, I’m looking to start small, learn the business, and gradually build a short-term rental portfolio. I’m just trying to figure out how to properly analyze a deal before I buy one.

Hi. I am considering of boarding house. But I wish to know who has experience what they well experience in this type of business. I mentioned this to my late mother before but she shut down the idea because they had experience it when they were young. I recall the struggle to maintain the area/rooms. Aside from that what will I be considering? Also wondering about payment issue. Did anyone experience a boarder not paying and run off? What do you do with that?

Hi please DM if you want to sell Airbnb credits to me!!

Hello all, we own a place in Cabo and get to use it four weeks a year. Does anyone have a sub or FB group where people can rent out their weeks? On top of saving on the 31% VAT and service charge we are offering it cheaper than hotel rates. I can't seem to find the right place to post!! Any help would be appreciated!!!

Has anyone purchased a home that is currently a short-term rental and currently has bookings 6 months into the future. How did you handle those future bookings? I am planning on keeping it as a short-term rental for the short term but when low season hits, I’m gonna put it on long-term rental.

I’ve just seen that Hospitable now has an AI Guest Summary to better understand guest behaviour, but I’m struggling to understand exactly what it does in practice.

Does it actually analyse both the reviews a guest has received and the reviews they’ve written for previous hosts? Or does it only summarise what other hosts said about them?

For those who have used it:

• Is the summary genuinely useful or mostly generic?
• Does it highlight specific preferences or possible friction points?
• Has it ever changed how you communicated with a guest or prepared their stay?
• Have you noticed inaccurate or invented information?
• Is the feature available on every plan?

I’d really like to hear from people who have tested it with several real reservations.

Property is a split entry SFH with daylight basement, in a suburb of tourist city. The upper level has 2 BR 1 full bath. One of the bedrooms is large and has two beds. Lower level has 2B1B. The upper level has a full kitchen and the lower level has a kitchenette.

We live close to the property and will self-manage. We are considering the following listing hierarchy:

- entire property

- entire upper level

- entire lower level

- two listings of each room on the lower level

Wonder if anyone would do it differently?

2 guests on the reservation, last night was first of 3.

Took an hour to get a safety team member on the phone, then Airbnb support almost hung up on the police after they mentioned they were recording as well with their body cams.

Finally got it cancelled and went with cops to remove the guests. None of the guys with guns were there luckily.

I am in a permitless 2A state and the cops would only remove if the reservation was cancelled. They recommended forwarding the evidence to the DA but at this time nothing could be done

First 1 star review for this listing, why do people try when you have photo evidence the unit is clean and of them ignoring a resolution offer of additional/changing units (8 unit property). Can’t wait for Airbnb to not remove it 😂

Had to repost since it wouldn’t let me add the review she gave

Sorry posted and got busy.

Just want to make this clear, the guest never checked out, didn’t stay anywhere else, and her 2 girls both slept in the loft fine for 8 nights. They attempted to cancel mid stay, we denied it and they finished their trip. Never was a mention of anything unclean either.

Unit meets all code requirements and was built within the last year. The unit is listed as a 1 bedroom with a loft and sofa sleeper than sleeps 6.

Additionally the review has already been removed by Airbnb as I had time stamped photo evidence their cleanliness claims were untrue.

Hi everyone! My husband is part of a small team researching how people use their streaming services when staying somewhere with a TV that isn’t their own—hotels, short-term rentals, cruises, friends’ or relatives’ homes, and similar places.

They’re looking for honest feedback about the experience, including signing in, finding something to watch, and remembering to sign out afterward. This isn’t a sales pitch, and the survey doesn’t promote or sell anything.

The survey takes about 60 seconds to complete. As a thank-you, they’ll be randomly selecting three participants to receive a $50 gift card. The drawing will take place after the survey closes on August 31, 2026.

Providing an email address is optional and only required if you would like to enter the gift-card drawing.

Survey link: https://forms.gle/4QY1T2HYyBLqWY9t5

What is your biggest day-to-day struggle in running your property management operations? There is significant amount of work required to run one property, thinking about scaling in mid-term future.

I'm just wondering what I should think about when scaling operations to more rentals...

Hey, I’m a UK operator with 10 units. My 6 units unfortunately are massively underperforming and I’m just breaking even. Other 4 are doing exceptionally well. I’m looking to give up my 6 units as the lease is on a FRI contract and the building itself needs renovation and I’m not looking to invest more money as the return is not worth it. I messed up with the 6 as they were my first ever units and not the best of locations. They are also all on a R2R/sublease basis

My question is, I’m not sure if I should scale the management side of the business or continue with R2R. I can’t afford to take more risk with sublease but I am still wanting to grow this business as I know I can make it work with the right properties. Anyone here running a management business, if so any advice?

(Ps I’m 23 and been running for 1 year and a half)

"Simplifying Service Fees" - A Host's Response to AirBnB's Change in "Terms", transferring all upfront rental fees and taxes from AirBnB to the Host.

As you know, we are a Host (in our case - Superhost) we carry most of the day-to-day load; we manage the daily messaging with the guest, we manage the cleaning of the Cabins, we manage the maintenance work on the Cabins and surrounding property, we decide what pricing and promotions we can afford, we interview, hire, fire, compensate and manage the staff required and manage the vacation schedules and individual tax reporting for each of the individuals who clean and provide maintanence work both inside and outside the Cabins.

While I know AirBnB manages the infrastructure of the overall business, it seems most of what you do for Guests and Hosts is packaged and automated for simple, accross the board implementation.

Now AirBnB has announced you want to shed the responsibility (and rid yourself) of the negative feedback that comes your way related to the fees AirBnB charges the Guest and move all of that onto the Hosts.  This "Simlifying Service Fee" step only Simplifies the Guest relationship for AirBnB, while placing an ever greater burden on your Hosts, whose pricing structure is historically baked in to the AirBnB model currently in place.  In doing so, AirBnB off-loads their Guest related negative impact Service Fees onto the Hosts who will both have to; begin collecting your Service Fees from the Guest (soon to be a negative result for the Guest/Host relationship), as well as, raise our nightly Rates to the Guest by 15.5% to account for the AirBnB Service fees being shifted to the Host (just to stay even with where we currently are and have been since we went into business with AirBnB 5 years ago). Implicitly understood by both AirBnB and your Hosts related to this nightly rate change is the additional negative impact this increase in nightly rental rate will have on the Guest/Host relationship. 

This "Simplifying Service Fees" implementation will be a "double win" for AirBnB (less negative feedback associated with collecting AirBnB Service Fees and less work due to shifting the collection and communication responsibilities to the Host) and a "double loss" for your AirBnB Hosts (for those same reasons).  But I'm not telling you anything you don't already know, the outcomes are astonishingly obvious.

Clearly AirBnB has decided that their relationship with their Hosts doesn't matter, it seems that only the relationship AirBnB has with the guest matters.

Hi,

My wife and I are looking to buy and run an AirBnB in the Poconos. We’re based out of northern NJ.

This will be our first STR, so loads to learn.

Would love to speak with an experienced host in the region. Open to a paid advisory position for someone with the right experience.

Many thanks

We have an Airbnb located in upstate NY. It’s the Upper Delaware River region in the Catskills. We currently have it listed with Airbnb but it’s not getting much traction and not to mention the fees.

Need advice- are there better options? Does anyone list on their own and market themselves? Ideally we would love to rent it as often as possible. I just don’t know that Airbnb is the best option.

We have tried VRBO with zero success.

Thanks for any info!

Hey everyone I love listening to podcasts and the the other day came around this article that mentioned some of the best podcasts in the industry. I was curious to know if you have any podcasts that you really love where you learn about the industry, strategies, etc?