I've built an app to compare returns for tiny homes, cabins, domes, and more | Airbnb

Investor · Member since 2022 · 55 posts · 14 votes

Hi, I'm currently developing an app that automatically generates reports by extracting data from Airbnb.

I'm working on research to create a service that helps people find the right asset class for their investments, comparing options like tiny homes, cabins, domes, and more. As part of beta testing, the service is completely free.

I'm eager to understand if others find this research valuable.

Please feel free to DM me if you would like to receive this report for your city.

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Michael BaumPro Member

Olympia, WA · Member since 2016 · 8k+ posts · 7k+ votes

@Steven S., right but I am not working on hundreds of deals a day. Not even dozens.

I am all about simplifying things, streamlining things, but a tool like this IMHO creates more work for folks like me. I am looking at deals one at a time when they crop up.

I don't send out dozens of offers to see what sticks. I am just not that big. I will never be that big.

I am not saying that something like this isn't valuable. It is just it has a narrow customer base. The bigger the investor, the more likely they would benefit from it.

@Germán Rimoldi, I get what you are wanting to do, but remember, most of us here are small potatoes. We love the game, and working towards our goals, but there are not many where that goal is to have 1000 doors. I know it isn't mine.

Maybe @Luke Carl could chime in. He and Avery are constantly building their portfolio (empire) and they might be a better sounding board.

I might also consider that the more experienced the investor, the less likely they will use a tool like this. I have seen a lot of investors, once they get rolling, specialize to some degree. They know exactly what they are looking for and at and know, based on experience, what is going to work and what isn't.

They don't need an algorithm to tell them that.

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Chris SeveneyBusiness Member
Moderator
Investor · VA · Member since 2015 · 21k+ posts · 19k+ votes
3y
@Germán Rimoldi
Reading this the question I have is:
What problem are you solving for people and what are you making life easier for them.
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Mark Miles
Rental Property Investor · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2016 · 543 posts · 716 votes
3y
Quote from @Germán Rimoldi:

Hi, I'm currently developing an app that automatically generates reports by extracting data from Airbnb.
I'm working on research to create a service that helps people find the right asset class for their investments, comparing options like tiny homes, cabins, domes, and more. As part of beta testing, the service is completely free.
I'm eager to understand if others find this research valuable.
Please feel free to DM me if you would like to receive this report for your city.

What data are you extracting from Airbnb? The only data that you can extract directly from Airbnb are things like list prices which don’t tell you what homes actually booked for. You can also check calendar blockage but you don’t know at what price those days booked for, nor do you know if they’re reserved for an owner stay. You should be more clear on your data sources and your data attributes, so we can truly understand what you’re doing here so we can decide if there’s any value here
0 Reply
Germán Rimoldi
OP
Investor · Member since 2022 · 55 posts · 14 votes
3y
Quote from @Chris Seveney:

@Germán Rimoldi
Reading this the question I have is:
What problem are you solving for people and what are you making life easier for them.

Hi Chris,
We compare Averge Occupancy and Average Daily Rates for each asset class (cabins, tiny homes, domes and more).
0 Reply
Michael BaumPro Member
Olympia, WA · Member since 2016 · 8k+ posts · 7k+ votes
3y
Hmmm. I am not sure I see the value myself.
1 Reply
Steven S.
Specialist · LA & Ventura · Member since 2023 · 119 posts · 60 votes
3y
Quote from @Germán Rimoldi:

Quote from @Chris Seveney:

@Germán Rimoldi
Reading this the question I have is:
What problem are you solving for people and what are you making life easier for them.

Hi Chris,
We compare Averge Occupancy and Average Daily Rates for each asset class (cabins, tiny homes, domes and more).

It sounds similar to my app on the residential market values & comparables in LA/Ventura & the SF/Bay Area, you can go use it for free I just posted a guide with access, if you click my profile you can pull up the post.

And to @Michael Baum's point, I am the only one who really sees the value (literally no clients), but that's because I'm the only one to have integrated it into their daily workflow. If you review/underwrite a lot of residential deals in LA/Ventura or the SF/Bay area, I am certain If I sat you down and showed you how my tools help you evaluate a property & the market, you would be sold and on-board, but that's the game with apps like this, how do you get people to integrate? I tried to solve this by using & refining it, building out different charts and changing the layout to make it something actually enjoyable and the best tool possible to use in the position I am in. After all, I am the one using it! Only time will tell.

Just started posting about it, expecting some to love it some to hate it, but curious what you think being it sounds like you are already underway with this project
1 Reply
Michael BaumPro Member
Olympia, WA · Member since 2016 · 8k+ posts · 7k+ votes
3y
I guess I should clarify that I do some of this already without the need for an app. Seeing as we don't look at much other than SFHs it is much easier.
1 Reply
Steven S.
Specialist · LA & Ventura · Member since 2023 · 119 posts · 60 votes
3y
Quote from @Michael Baum:

I guess I should clarify that I do some of this already without the need for an app. Seeing as we don't look at much other than SFHs it is much easier.
Yes but you still underwrite your SFH deals, I essentially made tools that help me do that better (faster and with more confidence), something a team of people could be using, with the idea the more deals you can underwrite and offer on everyday the more you can cherry-pick for return and make the most of your team's time (at least in our case where underwriting was more than what we could absorb/fully get to). Sounds like he is making tools for his STR business to be better

Adoption/integrating something new to someone's already existing methods (like yours) is the hard part here, since the people that are already doing it (our potential clients) have a method already
1 Reply
Michael BaumPro Member
Olympia, WA · Member since 2016 · 8k+ posts · 7k+ votes
3y
@Steven S., right but I am not working on hundreds of deals a day. Not even dozens.

I am all about simplifying things, streamlining things, but a tool like this IMHO creates more work for folks like me. I am looking at deals one at a time when they crop up.

I don't send out dozens of offers to see what sticks. I am just not that big. I will never be that big.

I am not saying that something like this isn't valuable. It is just it has a narrow customer base. The bigger the investor, the more likely they would benefit from it.

@Germán Rimoldi, I get what you are wanting to do, but remember, most of us here are small potatoes. We love the game, and working towards our goals, but there are not many where that goal is to have 1000 doors. I know it isn't mine.

Maybe @Luke Carl could chime in. He and Avery are constantly building their portfolio (empire) and they might be a better sounding board.
I might also consider that the more experienced the investor, the less likely they will use a tool like this. I have seen a lot of investors, once they get rolling, specialize to some degree. They know exactly what they are looking for and at and know, based on experience, what is going to work and what isn't.
They don't need an algorithm to tell them that.
2 Reply
Steven S.
Specialist · LA & Ventura · Member since 2023 · 119 posts · 60 votes
3y
@Michael Baum
They don't need an algorithm to tell them that.

Totally agree, but it's hard to argue against more information, or let's say the ability to apply this level of an underwriting tool to every listing that hits your market, alerting you to ones with actually good spread. Has higher deal-conversion rates than listing alerts, or the wholesaler stuff I come across.

Some future deliverable has to stick out as cool or useful to you as a SFH investor, there's just so many time-sucking aspects that tools will be built to solve, would be happy to hear what that would be to you. A few examples of mine (underwriting-focused) for reference:

1 Reply
Germán Rimoldi
OP
Investor · Member since 2022 · 55 posts · 14 votes
3y
Quote from @Michael Baum:

Hmmm. I am not sure I see the value myself.
We are comparing occupancy and average daily rates for each asset class (cabins, tiny homes, domes and more):
https://docs.google.com/spread...

Do you think this is rather of more value to real estate developers?
0 Reply
Michael BaumPro Member
Olympia, WA · Member since 2016 · 8k+ posts · 7k+ votes
3y
I usually don't argue against more information, but I don't see anyone comparing a tiny home to a 1.2m lake house to a 600k beach front condo.
I guess if that person doesn't care about what kind of asset it is as long as it performs then someone would use it.
I am not trying to discourage anyone from building this app and using it. I just feel it has limited appeal to a lot of folks.
Regarding the spreadsheet. What constitutes "FUN" or "DESIGN"? The Design category has a huge daily rate compared to others. Why? Is that a really well designed tiny home for $1036 a night or is it a 1.5m lake house?
Some things are quantifiable. A beachfront home vs a home 4 blocks from the beach. The beachfront place will bring more nightly than the walkable place all things being similar.
Would a beachfront home bring less than a FUN and DESIGNED place 4 blocks from the beach?
Some things are subjective. What makes a great view? What makes it fun?
1 Reply
Germán Rimoldi
OP
Investor · Member since 2022 · 55 posts · 14 votes
3y
Quote from @Mark Miles:

Quote from @Germán Rimoldi:

Hi, I'm currently developing an app that automatically generates reports by extracting data from Airbnb.
I'm working on research to create a service that helps people find the right asset class for their investments, comparing options like tiny homes, cabins, domes, and more. As part of beta testing, the service is completely free.
I'm eager to understand if others find this research valuable.
Please feel free to DM me if you would like to receive this report for your city.

What data are you extracting from Airbnb? The only data that you can extract directly from Airbnb are things like list prices which don’t tell you what homes actually booked for. You can also check calendar blockage but you don’t know at what price those days booked for, nor do you know if they’re reserved for an owner stay. You should be more clear on your data sources and your data attributes, so we can truly understand what you’re doing here so we can decide if there’s any value here
Hi Mark,

We are comparing different property types for the same location. That is, comparing Average Daily Rate and Occupancy Rates for Cabins, Tiny Homes, Treehouses and more.

The app helps anyone to understand which type of property may perform better in a given location.
0 Reply
Mark Miles
Rental Property Investor · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2016 · 543 posts · 716 votes
3y
Quote from @Germán Rimoldi:

Quote from @Mark Miles:

Quote from @Germán Rimoldi:

Hi, I'm currently developing an app that automatically generates reports by extracting data from Airbnb.
I'm working on research to create a service that helps people find the right asset class for their investments, comparing options like tiny homes, cabins, domes, and more. As part of beta testing, the service is completely free.
I'm eager to understand if others find this research valuable.
Please feel free to DM me if you would like to receive this report for your city.

What data are you extracting from Airbnb? The only data that you can extract directly from Airbnb are things like list prices which don’t tell you what homes actually booked for. You can also check calendar blockage but you don’t know at what price those days booked for, nor do you know if they’re reserved for an owner stay. You should be more clear on your data sources and your data attributes, so we can truly understand what you’re doing here so we can decide if there’s any value here
Hi Mark,

We are comparing different property types for the same location. That is, comparing Average Daily Rate and Occupancy Rates for Cabins, Tiny Homes, Treehouses and more.

The app helps anyone to understand which type of property may perform better in a given location.
Lolol are you a bot? We keep asking you questions and you keep just copy/pasting the same responses over and over and over. I vote that we abandon this thread, no point in dealing with a bot or a broken record who won’t take the time to properly answer our questions. Good luck to you!
0 Reply
Germán Rimoldi
OP
Investor · Member since 2022 · 55 posts · 14 votes
3y
Quote from @Mark Miles:

Quote from @Germán Rimoldi:

Quote from @Mark Miles:

Quote from @Germán Rimoldi:

Hi, I'm currently developing an app that automatically generates reports by extracting data from Airbnb.
I'm working on research to create a service that helps people find the right asset class for their investments, comparing options like tiny homes, cabins, domes, and more. As part of beta testing, the service is completely free.
I'm eager to understand if others find this research valuable.
Please feel free to DM me if you would like to receive this report for your city.

What data are you extracting from Airbnb? The only data that you can extract directly from Airbnb are things like list prices which don’t tell you what homes actually booked for. You can also check calendar blockage but you don’t know at what price those days booked for, nor do you know if they’re reserved for an owner stay. You should be more clear on your data sources and your data attributes, so we can truly understand what you’re doing here so we can decide if there’s any value here
Hi Mark,

We are comparing different property types for the same location. That is, comparing Average Daily Rate and Occupancy Rates for Cabins, Tiny Homes, Treehouses and more.

The app helps anyone to understand which type of property may perform better in a given location.
Lolol are you a bot? We keep asking you questions and you keep just copy/pasting the same responses over and over and over. I vote that we abandon this thread, no point in dealing with a bot or a broken record who won’t take the time to properly answer our questions. Good luck to you!

Data is extrated from Airbnb.
0 Reply
Akash Dedhia
Member since 2023 · 19 posts · 3 votes
3y
Quote from @Steven S.:

Quote from @Germán Rimoldi:

Quote from @Chris Seveney:

@Germán Rimoldi
Reading this the question I have is:
What problem are you solving for people and what are you making life easier for them.

Hi Chris,
We compare Averge Occupancy and Average Daily Rates for each asset class (cabins, tiny homes, domes and more).

It sounds similar to my app on the residential market values & comparables in LA/Ventura & the SF/Bay Area, you can go use it for free I just posted a guide with access, if you click my profile you can pull up the post.

And to @Michael Baum's point, I am the only one who really sees the value (literally no clients), but that's because I'm the only one to have integrated it into their daily workflow. If you review/underwrite a lot of residential deals in LA/Ventura or the SF/Bay area, I am certain If I sat you down and showed you how my tools help you evaluate a property & the market, you would be sold and on-board, but that's the game with apps like this, how do you get people to integrate? I tried to solve this by using & refining it, building out different charts and changing the layout to make it something actually enjoyable and the best tool possible to use in the position I am in. After all, I am the one using it! Only time will tell.

Just started posting about it, expecting some to love it some to hate it, but curious what you think being it sounds like you are already underway with this project
Why not grow geography to scale for more customers
0 Reply
Germán Rimoldi
OP
Investor · Member since 2022 · 55 posts · 14 votes
3y
From the research for Estes Park, we can conclude the following:

1. The highest ADR among all the property types is for the "Design" class, with rates ranging from 1036 to 1235 for 1 to 3 rooms respectively. However, for 4 rooms, the ADR drops to 1198.

2. The property types with the highest occupancy rates are "Fun" and "Ranches," both consistently having rates above 40%.

3. "Cabins" have the lowest occupancy rate among all the property types, ranging from 26% to 28%.

4. "Amazing views" have a relatively low occupancy rate compared to the "Fun" and "Ranches" groups but still have a consistently high ADR.

5. "Design" properties have a significantly higher occupancy rate for 4 rooms compared to 1 to 3 rooms, suggesting that larger properties in this class are more popular.

6. "Country houses" have the lowest ADR among all property types, ranging from 271 to 363 for 1 to 3 rooms respectively.
0 Reply
Steven S.
Specialist · LA & Ventura · Member since 2023 · 119 posts · 60 votes
3y
Quote from @Akash Dedhia:

Quote from @Steven S.:

Quote from @Germán Rimoldi:

Quote from @Chris Seveney:

@Germán Rimoldi
Reading this the question I have is:
What problem are you solving for people and what are you making life easier for them.

Hi Chris,
We compare Averge Occupancy and Average Daily Rates for each asset class (cabins, tiny homes, domes and more).

It sounds similar to my app on the residential market values & comparables in LA/Ventura & the SF/Bay Area, you can go use it for free I just posted a guide with access, if you click my profile you can pull up the post.

And to @Michael Baum's point, I am the only one who really sees the value (literally no clients), but that's because I'm the only one to have integrated it into their daily workflow. If you review/underwrite a lot of residential deals in LA/Ventura or the SF/Bay area, I am certain If I sat you down and showed you how my tools help you evaluate a property & the market, you would be sold and on-board, but that's the game with apps like this, how do you get people to integrate? I tried to solve this by using & refining it, building out different charts and changing the layout to make it something actually enjoyable and the best tool possible to use in the position I am in. After all, I am the one using it! Only time will tell.

Just started posting about it, expecting some to love it some to hate it, but curious what you think being it sounds like you are already underway with this project
Why not grow geography to scale for more customers
At least for me, it doesn't work everywhere & I don't want to be everywhere. I need markets with high-volume transactions of similar product, in dense locations, that are constantly delivering newly renovated product of all sizes & condition, to be able to accurately perform the ARV & ACV (After Cleanup Value) calculations that I do. LA/SF is second to none when it comes to this criteria, nothing else with as much flipping and transactions.
You know they hired really top-notch engineers and people to set this up for them, like $500k+ employees, it just doesn't work when you're everywhere or the jack-of-all markets. It just doesn't logically make sense that one company is the best, everywhere, in a geographically-oriented market like Real Estate
0 Reply
Jordan Barta
Vancouver / Camas · Member since 2017 · 12 posts · 5 votes
3y
Absolutely! Yes please :)
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