Success in Rental Arbitrage

[Alexander Knox]

Hi all,

I am curious about how people are successfully operating rental arbitrage businesses. I own multiple rentals in the south/mid west and recently I was approached by an aspiring arbitrager to lease out one of my duplexes. They have furnished the unit as well as complied with my annual rent increases and its been a great long term relationship - they've always paid on time or early, I collect my rent, they maintain their "place of business" keeping my property running tight, and they in turn profit by doing STRs.

Myself coming from the ownership side, I am not looking to get into the businesses but I am just curious what successful arbitragers are doing and possibly what horror stories people have. Simply looking to gather some insight on:

Who has been successful in rental arbitraging and what leads to that success? Is it property managers who have quality systems in place already who are just diversifying their business model? How are leads being generated for this, there really isn't a "Zillow" where people can go to find arbitrage opportunities, its all market research and cold calling it seems. I have seen very mixed reviews scouring through the BP forums and am curious.

Does anyone have horror stories or major problems faced that stopped them from success in this business? What would make this method more attractive?

Thanks all for sharing insights!

[John Underwood]

It sounds like it is working well for you. You are the investor you benefit from mortgage paydown, equity build up and tax deductions.

The Arbitrage person just has a job, but they are making money at their job.

I have heard of unsuccessful Arbitrage people just walking away from leases, especially during the pandemic.