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Updated almost 3 years ago on . Most recent reply

Airbnb Arbitrage in Austin, TX
Planning to try my hand at Airbnb arbitrage. I have never owned or been a host/landlord and am itching to get in the business. Due to limited capital I’m planning to give Airbnb arbitrage a go.
The strategy is to sign a long term lease at an apartment complex that allows their units to be rented as Airbnb’s. I’ve read in Austin this can be legally done by obtaining a license and in fact know a guy who does it.
Curious if anyone has given this strategy a go? Any pointers for a newbie?
Thanks,
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Most Popular Reply

- Property Manager
- Los Angeles, CA
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I know rental arbitrage gets a bad rap in the BP community, but only a bad operator would do it without permission from the landlord. We got started with arbitrage and always partnered with the landlord or property manager. There are reasons a landlord would work with an arbitrage operator.
That being said, rental arbitrage is not real estate investing. It's a service oriented business that's focused on cash flow with no assets. In the beginning you're creating a job for yourself. But it's possible to scale and turn it into a business where you can move out of the day to day. Depends on your long term goals :)