STR in the Fenway Area

[Logan French]

My wife and I are considering using a owner occupied loan to purchase a 1bed 1 bath condo in the Fenway area for around $450K. We would live there for one year and renovate/decorate the unit for a STR.

We are new to real estate investing and short term rentals. Does this seem like something that would be profitable? Are there any regulations for STR in Boston that we should be aware of?

[Carolyn Fuller]

Not only does Boston have strict regulations but they are the most enforced in the nation! You can not list a property on Airbnb or VRBO if your Boston unit is not registered in Boston. It is actually blocked by the platforms! It is particularly difficult to get condos registered. I don’t know all the details of the Boston registrations but I do know they are enforced absolutely. 3000 listings disappeared overnight when the regulations went into effect. 

[Joshua Messinger]

Hey @Logan French! 

I would be careful with this one. Especially considering this is a condo would you be able to make a solid CoC return on this one to make your money back in a reasonable amount of time?

This seems extremely overpriced, but I'm not too familiar with the area so I may be a little too quick to say that. Otherwise, if you would like me to help you run some comps on your area to see if it would perform well as a STR please feel free to DM me and we can go from there!

All the best,

Josh 

[Jason Muth]

You won't be able to do this in Boston. Link below.

City of Boston STR regulations

[Ryan Anderson]

There are really great comments here. Unfortunately they are all true. Boston proper has some of the strictest short term rental regulations I’ve seen in my recent memory. 

Especially if it is a one bed one bath unit. Honestly, you’ll be better off converting it to a long term rental if it is in Fenway. With the local schools and universities you’ll have no problem finding solid a tenant. 

[Bud Gaffney]

What Ryan said!