airbnb friendly metro areas

OP

Irvine, CA · Member since 2016 · 243 posts · 59 votes

4y

They do not allow airbnb. We own a rental in Irvine and do monthly rentals at the moment.

Logan McKay Zylstra

Realtor · Provo, UT · Member since 2020 · 374 posts · 270 votes

4y

I am obviously very biased, but I love Salt Lake City for STR and LTR for all the reasons you mentioned. All the metrics support continued growth in the state. In addition, Utah has been ranked as the nation's #1 state economy for the last 4 or 5 years.

SLC only has one major hotel under construction and not a large inventory of nightly rentals as it stands. Park City isn't as safe in my opinion as there are quite a few hotels under construction and a decent amount of nightly rentals.

Happy to hop on a call and give you some more information about the market.

2 Reply

Jeff Slusarz

Investor · Denver, CO · Member since 2016 · 14 posts · 7 votes

4y

Denver is difficult as the City and County of Denver has limited STR to properties which are your primary residence. There's some complicated ways around it and things may have improved, but I can tell you that I was personally threatened with being charged with a felony in 2019 for renting my property even though I had gone through the proper permitting. You can certainly look in the suburbs or mountains, but the downtown area is going to be tough.

OP

Irvine, CA · Member since 2016 · 243 posts · 59 votes

4y

Quote from @Jeff Slusarz:

Denver is difficult as the City and County of Denver has limited STR to properties which are your primary residence. There's some complicated ways around it and things may have improved, but I can tell you that I was personally threatened with being charged with a felony in 2019 for renting my property even though I had gone through the proper permitting. You can certainly look in the suburbs or mountains, but the downtown area is going to be tough.

Thanks Jeff, I read somewhere that Centennial and Adams County are allowing it. I am not sure where these suburbs are in relation to downtown and/or tourist attractions.

OP

Irvine, CA · Member since 2016 · 243 posts · 59 votes

4y

Quote from @Logan McKay Zylstra:

I am obviously very biased, but I love Salt Lake City for STR and LTR for all the reasons you mentioned. All the metrics support continued growth in the state. In addition, Utah has been ranked as the nation's #1 state economy for the last 4 or 5 years.

SLC only has one major hotel under construction and not a large inventory of nightly rentals as it stands. Park City isn't as safe in my opinion as there are quite a few hotels under construction and a decent amount of nightly rentals.

Happy to hop on a call and give you some more information about the market.

Very interesting. Do you have an idea of the short term rental regulations in the SLC?

[email protected]801-441-8891

Josh GreenBusiness Member

Realtor · Tampa/St Pete/Clearwater/Bradenton · Member since 2020 · 396 posts · 353 votes

4y

Hi David,

STR realtor here! I moved from #1 on your list to #7 on your list and the opportunities and occupancy rates here in Pinellas/Hillsborough county FL are wild - so much space to cash flow.

Impact Realty Tampa Bay.4.962 Reviews

Suncoast Vacation Homes4.959 Reviews

View Page

3 Reply

Jeff Slusarz

Investor · Denver, CO · Member since 2016 · 14 posts · 7 votes

4y

Quote from @David Rutledge:

Quote from @Jeff Slusarz:

Denver is difficult as the City and County of Denver has limited STR to properties which are your primary residence. There's some complicated ways around it and things may have improved, but I can tell you that I was personally threatened with being charged with a felony in 2019 for renting my property even though I had gone through the proper permitting. You can certainly look in the suburbs or mountains, but the downtown area is going to be tough.

Thanks Jeff, I read somewhere that Centennial and Adams County are allowing it. I am not sure where these suburbs are in relation to downtown and/or tourist attractions.

Definitely more of a suburban location, probably 20-25 min by car to the downtown area from either. A lot of the food/bar scene is centralized in downtown Denver, so it's not ideal.

That being said, a lot of my guests also were visiting to go to the mountains (or Red Rocks Amphitheater for a show), so it isn't all about downtown, but Adams/Centennial would add another 15 minutes on a drive to the mountains.

Happy to help with any other questions.

2 Reply

Emily And Eric Erickson

Real Estate Agent · Tucson, AZ · Member since 2022 · 96 posts · 73 votes

4y

https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

Check out my post below that describes what to expect in Tucson. Happy hunting!

Logan McKay Zylstra

Realtor · Provo, UT · Member since 2020 · 374 posts · 270 votes

4y

https://www.sltrib.com/news/ho...

Currently, city officials cannot use VRBO or Airbnb sites to regulate. They can only regulate if there is a complaint filed by a neighbor. If you pull up airbnb on the city, you can see regulation has not been an issue thus far.

Regulation is certainly the biggest risk, but Utah is a great state for doing business with usually little government intervention in private commerce. Here is an article that screams doom and gloom, but provides a more detailed look.

Logan McKay Zylstra

Realtor · Provo, UT · Member since 2020 · 374 posts · 270 votes

4y

https://www.slc.gov/planning/f...

"The City does not currently have regulations or allowances for land use known as “short-term rental.” Currently, the City generally categorizes short-term rentals, such as Airbnb or Vrbo, as hotel, motel, or bed and breakfast uses because the lease period is less than 30 days. Any use that leases living space for less than 30 days cannot be considered a residential dwelling. Hotel, motel, and bed and breakfast uses are permitted in multiple zoning districts around the city. Hotel, motel, and bed and breakfast uses are generally not permitted in residential zoning districts

Use our Zoning Look-up Tool to determine the zoning district for your property and if a hotel, motel, or bed and breakfast use is allowed. There may be additional zoning or building requirements depending on the number of rooms in the unit. An Administrative Interpretation is recommended for a building where a short-term rental will be located. The administrative interpretation determines in writing that you can use your property for a short-term rental. A Business License is required to operate a short-term rental."

Forgot to include this in my initial response

OP

Irvine, CA · Member since 2016 · 243 posts · 59 votes

4y

Quote from @Josh Green:

Hi David,

STR realtor here! I moved from #1 on your list to #7 on your list and the opportunities and occupancy rates here in Pinellas/Hillsborough county FL are wild - so much space to cash flow.

Thank you. I know there are some strict regulations in the area. Which parts of ramps are strs allowed?

OP

Irvine, CA · Member since 2016 · 243 posts · 59 votes

4y

Quote from @Logan McKay Zylstra:

https://www.sltrib.com/news/ho...

Currently, city officials cannot use VRBO or Airbnb sites to regulate. They can only regulate if there is a complaint filed by a neighbor. If you pull up airbnb on the city, you can see regulation has not been an issue thus far.

Regulation is certainly the biggest risk, but Utah is a great state for doing business with usually little government intervention in private commerce. Here is an article that screams doom and gloom, but provides a more detailed look.

Such helpful Information. I really appreciate this insight

OP

Irvine, CA · Member since 2016 · 243 posts · 59 votes

4y

Quote from @David Rutledge:

Quote from @Josh Green:

Hi David,

STR realtor here! I moved from #1 on your list to #7 on your list and the opportunities and occupancy rates here in Pinellas/Hillsborough county FL are wild - so much space to cash flow.

Thank you. I know there are some strict regulations in the area. Which parts of ramps are strs allowed?

OP

Irvine, CA · Member since 2016 · 243 posts · 59 votes

4y

Quote from @David Rutledge:

Quote from @Josh Green:

Hi David,

STR realtor here! I moved from #1 on your list to #7 on your list and the opportunities and occupancy rates here in Pinellas/Hillsborough county FL are wild - so much space to cash flow.

Thank you. I know there are some strict regulations in the area. Which parts of ramps are strs allowed?

Sorry parts of tampa*

OP

Irvine, CA · Member since 2016 · 243 posts · 59 votes

4y

Quote from @Emily And Eric Erickson:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

Check out my post below that describes what to expect in Tucson. Happy hunting!

Thanks Eric, I used to live in Tucson but this is excellent insight for strs in the area.

[email protected]801-441-8891

Josh GreenBusiness Member

Realtor · Tampa/St Pete/Clearwater/Bradenton · Member since 2020 · 396 posts · 353 votes

4y

@David Rutledge

There's a few cities - Hillsborough county in general is okay to do so and Pinellas county is city-to-city

Impact Realty Tampa Bay.4.962 Reviews

Suncoast Vacation Homes4.959 Reviews

View Page

Michael PorchePro Member

Rental Property Investor · Boise, ID · Member since 2017 · 220 posts · 101 votes

4y

Hey @David Rutledge, First of all, way to go!!! Definitely an accomplishment! I definitely have some insight on what type of large markets to invest in that are metro in nature that attract not only business travel but also have multiple industries as to keep the overall investing strategy strong. I can see why you would want to diversify in areas with industries other than just travel. The ones you listed are definitely decent areas with multiple industries, however, they are also areas that are up and down with restrictions and very saturated. I have a couple of recommendations that are slightly smaller than those cities or just outside of them. They prove to be a little more useful on ROI and COC. Especially if you have some money to put down. Pm me if interested...

Jason Kudo

Real Estate Agent · Pasadena, CA · Member since 2017 · 274 posts · 255 votes

4y

@David Rutledge

Realtor here who works with investors in both the STR and LTR markets.

Consider my local area of Long Beach, CA.

Most of LA and Orange County are STR-unfriendly but Long Beach just opened it's regulations to allow non-owner occupied STRs.

Aside from being a beach town in it’s own right, it is quickly becoming an aerospace hub. We have SpaceX, Spinlaunch, Virgin Galactic, and Boeing, etc. Mercedes Benz also has a large facility as well. Long Beach has it’s own airport and will host the majority of the 2028 Olympics water sports at the newly rebuilt Long Beach Olympic Aquatic Center.

Long Beach has some of the best kite-surfing on the west coast, good beginner traditional surfing waves, and stand-up paddle boarding and canoeing through the Naples canals. We are just a heartbeat away from the Orange County beaches for all your more advanced traditional surfing needs and also not far from the South Bay beaches too.

Let me know what questions I can answer for you in regards to the STR market in Long Beach, CA!

[email protected]614-502-5316 Podcast Guest on Show From DoorDasher to $1.5 MILLION in Real Estate (All at 22 Years Old!)

Joshua JanusBusiness Member

Realtor · Cleveland, OH · Member since 2021 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes

4y

Quote from @David Rutledge:

Hi everyone,

I wanted to get some feedback/thoughts on a short term rental strategy I am looking into.

We have 8 strs in TN that are doing very well. These are great but they are all in the Smokies a traditional vacation market so we are looking to diversify and move into some other markets.

We have quite a bit saved up from the cash flow and recent cash out refis. I do not want to go into another vacation market but rather a metro area with a more diversified economy again just to get into a different type of asset.

That being said I do want to continue to short term rent the next few properties we get at least in the first few years of ownership in order to increase cash flow to combat these higher prices and carrying costs before potentially converting to more passive long terms down the line.

Therefore I am looking for markets that 1) have a decent draw of visitors year round 2) have regulations that allow strs in some parts of the city 3) Are in growing cities in the west or south.

Below is a list of markets I have identified as potential places to look and I was hoping to get some insight from either other investors doing the same thing or agents/investors in any of these markets on whether this is potentially a good market to explore or not.

1) Salt Lake City (this is right at the top of my list due to its proximity to ski resorts, expanding of the airport and long term strategic business planning of the area but I have very little knowledge of this market)

2) Denver

3) Phoenix (used to live in AZ and like the fact that the state of AZ seems to look favorable on strs)

4) Tucson (see above but lower home prices/potentially less appreciation)

5) San Diego/LA (these are attractive because of their proximity to my home in Irvine)

6) San Antonio (love that it is very close to the booming Austin and feel that this is a market that could see some real growth in the future)

7) Tampa/St Pete (I have always been very interested in this market for both short term and long term rentals)

8) Raleigh (have invested in Charlotte and love NC but again very little knowledge on this area)

Any insights or advice on any of this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much for your time.

David

Columbus, Ohio is a strong market for short term rentals due to the growing hospital systems (new build with over 900 beds), The Ohio State University with over 50,000 students and the young professional population in the growing tech industry here with companies moving in such as Intel: https://www.dispatch.com/story...

[email protected]614-541-8475 Podcast Guest on Show My Job Laid Me Off, So I Replaced My Salary with Rentals

Remington LymanBusiness Member

Real Estate Agent · Columbus, OH · Member since 2017 · 6k+ posts · 7k+ votes

4y

These are the top 20 cities for STRs in the country as of April 2022 according the Hosty. The bottom quartile is the most investor friendly from a price point perspective with vacancy rate and % of return fairly in line with the rest of these cities. https://www.hostyapp.com/the-b... 1. Manhattan, California

Standard price: $2,575,475
Rate of Occupancy: 62%
Average per-day rate: $360
Average percentage of returns: 2.3%
Average monthly income: $10,782

2. Malibu, California

Standard price: $2,271,796
Rate of Occupancy: 48%
Average per-day rate: $715
Average percentage of returns: 2%
Average monthly income: $8122

3. Key West, Florida

Standard price: $996,594
Rate of Occupancy: 57%
Average per-day rate: $695
Average percentage of returns: 5.5%
Average monthly income: $8822

4. Northport, New York

Standard price: $906,505
Rate of Occupancy: 51%
Average per-day rate: $290
Average percentage of returns: 3.2%
Average monthly income: $6393

5. Southlake, Texas

Standard price: $832,493
Rate of Occupancy: 71%
Average per-day rate: $250
Average percentage of returns: 4.2%
Average monthly income: $7055

6. Long beach, New York

Standard price: $854,000
Rate of Occupancy: 51%
Average per-day rate: $530
Average percentage of returns: 2.2%
Average monthly income: $4670

7. Wailuku, Hawaii

Standard price: $752,317
Rate of Occupancy: 64%
Average per-day rate: $204
Average percentage of returns: 5.7%
Average monthly income: $5601

8. Princeton, New Jersey

Standard price: $706,100
Rate of Occupancy: 56%
Average per-day rate: $260
Average percentage of returns: 2.8%
Average monthly income: $4723

9. San Marcos, California

Standard price: $660,707
Rate of Occupancy: 59%
Average per-day rate: $148
Average percentage of returns: 3.9%
Average monthly income: $4900

10. Carmel, New York

Standard price: $504,126
Rate of Occupancy: 70%
Average per-day rate: $160
Average percentage of returns: 5.6%
Average monthly income: $5750

11. Springfield, Virginia

Standard price: $545,695
Rate of Occupancy: 60%
Average per-day rate: $180
Average percentage of returns: 4.1%
Average monthly income: $4391

12. Plymouth, Massachusetts

Standard price: $443,902
Rate of Occupancy: 47%
Average per-day rate: $142
Average percentage of returns: 5.6%
Average monthly income: $4900

13. Arlington Heights, Illinois

Standard price: $340,819
Rate of Occupancy: 78%
Average per-day rate: $100
Average percentage of returns: 5.8%
Average monthly income: $4590

14. Pike Road, Alabama

Standard price: $378,556
Rate of Occupancy: 49%
Average per-day rate: $200
Average percentage of returns: 6.4%
Average monthly income: $4115

15. Benson, Arizona

Standard price: $283,898
Rate of Occupancy: 58%
Average per-day rate: $140
Average percentage of returns: 7.3%
Average monthly income: $4840

16. Bridgeport, Connecticut

Standard price: $255,300
Rate of Occupancy: 48%
Average per-day rate: $155
Average percentage of returns: 3.6%
Average monthly income: $4330

17. North Canton, Ohio

Standard price: $270,890
Rate of Occupancy: 75%
Average per-day rate: $85
Average percentage of returns: 5.3%
Average monthly income: $3810

18. Columbus, Ohio

Standard price: $222,200
Rate of Occupancy: 57%
Average per-day rate: $192
Average percentage of returns: 6%
Average monthly income: $2310

19. Florissant, Missouri

Standard price: $167,721
Rate of Occupancy: 68%
Average per-day rate: $90
Average percentage of returns: 7%
Average monthly income: $2370

20. Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Standard price: $161,500
Rate of Occupancy: 54%
Average per-day rate: $161
Average percentage of returns: 7%
Average monthly income: $1940

Reafco512 Reviews

Peter Falk

Real Estate Broker · Madison, WI · Member since 2015 · 118 posts · 60 votes

4y

Thanks for sharing. Glad to see Milwaukee on the list as a WI metro market. Hopefully Madison, WI will take note and ease up on some of their anti short term rental ordinances. Unless you rent out a room in the actual property you are living in (and the owner is there when rented out), you are limited to 30 rental nights max a year of short term rentals (and they won't accept a short term unit or ADU within a multi unit building where the owner lives in a different unit and wants to short term rent a vacate unit. The regulations only apply to stays less than 30 nights, so think most furnished rentals would just go mo. to mo. and seek a rental premium for being furnished and flexible term.

[email protected]512-888-9122

Jordan MoorheadBusiness Member

Real Estate Agent · Austin, TX · Member since 2015 · 5k+ posts · 3k+ votes

4y

You can do it in Austin. You just need to know how. @Conner Olsen is an expert at this

The Moorhead Team5140 Reviews

Conner Olsen

Real Estate Agent · Austin, TX · Member since 2020 · 1k+ posts · 941 votes

4y

@David Rutledge There are pockets of Austin where STR are allowed and don't require a city hotel tax. I'm buying one on Friday.

James Carlson

Real Estate Agent · Colorado | stan.store/JamesCarlson · Member since 2014 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes

4y

Like @Jeff Slusarz said, the city of Denver is a no-go for Airbnb investment, but you're right, there are a handful of suburbs that allow them and that have pretty good returns. Adams County will soon allow for them, according to the planner I talked to who is writing the short-term rental ordinance. Centennial allows them, but it's on the south side of Denver, and that's not quite as "hot" as the northwest and west sides of the metro area. I'd consider either Arvada or Wheat Ridge. We have several STR investor clients who've done well in these areas, like this guy in Wheat Ridge and this guy in Arvada.

Wheat Ridge is a wide, flat city that butts butts up against the city of Denver on Denver's west side. (If you drove west from Denver along 32nd, you'd never know when you cross into Wheat Ridge. It feels like the same city and is so close to the hot areas of the Highlands neighborhood and the Berkeley neighborhood.) Arvada is just northwest of Denver. If you're in Olde Town Arvada -- the charming downtown with shops, bars/breweries and restaurants -- you can be in downtown Denver in 15 minutes.

The prices in the Denver metro make the Airbnb numbers not quite as good as some other locations, but they're still good, and the long-term appreciation potential remains strong. (And if you're hoping to have a place that you also want to visit, you could do worse than the awesome city of Denver and the great state of Colorado.)