Short term rentals/ Airdna accuracy

Member since 2023 · 1 post · 2 votes

New to investing, looking to get into the short term rental market. Is there an area in San Antonio or within an hour of San Antonio that anyone would recommend buying a property?

How accurate is the estimates by airdna for potential revenue and occupancy percentage? Is there a different site that does the same that may be more accurate for short term rentals?

2 Reply

71 views

Most Popular Reply

Jeremy Robles

Member since 2021 · 12 posts · 4 votes

Hey Chris, I would say that areas near the air-force bases, downtown, airport, and New Braunfels are great locations for STR. They experience the most traffic from visitors year-round. Airdna is a good one, but check out Rabbu.com also. It is a little more conservative, so I usually average the two sites.

1 Reply

See this reply in the discussion

11 Replies

Jump to latestLatest

Sort by

Nathan GesnerBusiness Member
Moderator
Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
3y
Quote from @Chris Manahan:

Welcome to the BiggerPockets forums!
Computer algorithms are not perfect and can sometimes be wildly off, just like Zillow estimates. Use AirDNA to get a general idea of the local market, but do your own analysis to evaluate a specific home.

The DIY Landlord Book4.7247 Reviews
Website View Page
1 Reply
William LokarBusiness Member
Realtor · Northeast TN and Central VA · Member since 2021 · 52 posts · 38 votes
3y
I generally use AirDNA to identify markets and get a first estimate for rental potential. On my STRs I've been getting about 80% of the AirDNA estimate, with updated properties in different markets. A lot of this may be due to having longer term tenants, which lowers revenue in most cases. I just wanted to share my numbers. As a starting point, it's always a good idea to make decisions based on conservative estimates.
0 Reply
Taj Akinbode
Real Estate Agent · Investor-Friendly Agent| Serving Houston, TX - And Surrounding Areas · Member since 2022 · 130 posts · 30 votes
3y
Another alternative you might look into is https://seetransparent.com/
It would be hard to get a 100% accurate data from any one source unless you are getting the data directly from say Airbnb
Hope this helps.
0 Reply
Taj Akinbode
Real Estate Agent · Investor-Friendly Agent| Serving Houston, TX - And Surrounding Areas · Member since 2022 · 130 posts · 30 votes
3y
Galveston is a destination magnet for short term and vacation renters.
Contact me if you would like to learn more about opportunities that are available to you in Galveston TX.
0 Reply
Karl McGarvey
Real Estate Agent · Houston, TX · Member since 2019 · 763 posts · 500 votes
3y
Quote from @Chris Manahan:

New to investing, looking to get into the short term rental market. Is there an area in San Antonio or within an hour of San Antonio that anyone would recommend buying a property?

How accurate is the estimates by airdna for potential revenue and occupancy percentage? Is there a different site that does the same that may be more accurate for short term rentals?
Im a bigger fan of pricelabs personally. I help many STR investors in Galveston/Houston and really like what it has to offer in terms of data. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about it or self managing STR!
0 Reply
January Johnson
Real Estate Agent · Emerald Coast, FL · Member since 2016 · 820 posts · 486 votes
3y
Quote from @Chris Manahan:

New to investing, looking to get into the short term rental market. Is there an area in San Antonio or within an hour of San Antonio that anyone would recommend buying a property?

How accurate is the estimates by airdna for potential revenue and occupancy percentage? Is there a different site that does the same that may be more accurate for short term rentals?

OOOH! PICK ME! I think you should locate property in close proximity to one of the (five?) Air Force Bases there and list on Homes.mil. I did this in FL with one of my rentals. Everyone in the military will be able to see your listing if they are PCSing to that area. (Permanent Change of Station)

Someone from the military will come out and do a basic inspection, but it's no big deal. Good luck with your rentals!

1 Reply
Jeremy Robles
Member since 2021 · 12 posts · 4 votes
3y
Hey Chris, I would say that areas near the air-force bases, downtown, airport, and New Braunfels are great locations for STR. They experience the most traffic from visitors year-round. Airdna is a good one, but check out Rabbu.com also. It is a little more conservative, so I usually average the two sites.
1 Reply
Sara Levy-Lambert
USA · Member since 2022 · 879 posts · 109 votes
3y
You might want to google the awning airbnb estimator for a free full-feature tool. If you go to the home page and select Top Deals, you'll also find all the properties on the MLS complete with vacation rental and long-term rental analysis, so you can see what the hottest deals are. If you don't already have an agent, DM me and I can connect you with someone amazing in texas.
0 Reply
William Beck
Realtor · Branson, MO · Member since 2018 · 274 posts · 283 votes
3y
I remember seeing some successful STR's on the north side of town, close to Six Flags. That could be a starting place!
0 Reply
Tiffanie Figueroa
Member since 2022 · 75 posts · 42 votes
3y
If you pay for the market and use the Rentalizer tool I believe it is accurate revenue before all expenses. If you pay for the market you are able to see the comps it's pulling and disregard the bad ones. Having a pool can almost double your revenue in some cases. Different types of STR work better in some areas of San Antonio than others. Feel free to reach out. I'd be happy to chat
0 Reply
Deniece Frideley
New to Real Estate · TX · Member since 2023 · 5 posts · 2 votes
3y
Just my personal experience. We looked at some condos down in Gulf Shores and I pulled AirDNA data on our top three properties. I wasn't using it as fact, only speculation but our lender wouldn't accept them. An agent was able to obtain the previous 3 years of rentals and it was about half of what AirDNA projected excluding one property that was about three-quarters.
With rentals you never know how much is being spent on marketing or if they are just putting it on Airbnb and hoping it rents on it's own. Good Luck, I'm just starting out too.
0 Reply

Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.