Updated 3 days ago on .
When the sublease failed, I tried Airbnb
In my last post, I shared how my first real estate deal started with a sublease while I was finishing grad school at UIUC. I ended by mentioning how because I couldn't find anyone to sublet the 2BR/1BA condo for the Fall semester, I had no choice but to pivot. Let's continue:
So in January 2020, I turned the condo into an Airbnb.
I bought toiletries, bedding, dinnerware, silverware, and cleaning supplies, then listed both rooms. To my surprise, it worked! It got to a point where if you searched "Champaign, IL" on Airbnb, my listing would consistently show up as the #1 result.
What people didn’t see was the grind behind it.
I was writing my grad thesis, had no car, and was living off campus with 6 other guys paying $280/month. I’d bike dirty sheets from the Airbnb to my off-campus house for a laundry run. When I was lucky, I could do laundry in my friend's dorm. Then I'd quickly bike back and get the condo back ready and cleaned up for the next guest.
It wasn’t especially profitable. First month I made $382. Second month I made $852 against $925 rent.
Then in March 2020, I found someone willing to rent the place through July for $700/month. I was taking a loss, but in hindsight the timing was a blessing because the COVID lockdown hit just a couple days later in mid-March!!!
That chapter didn’t make me money, but it taught me marketing, operations, and how to pivot when "Plan A" stops working. Share your "starting out" story - you never know whom it may help!
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P.S.: Again, I’m still relatively new to RE investing, but in the coming days, I’ll continue sharing what I’ve learned so far in case it helps someone else take their first step.