How to market to ideal guests or Avatar during the dead of winter

Question

First time STR host here. My property is located in a C+/B- neighborhood has the following landmarks nearby:

-1.5 miles from a major university with a popular D1 NCAA college basketball team

-1.5 miles from a children's museum

-1.5 miles from an art and nature museum

-1.5 miles from a beautiful nature park

It's the dead of winter, and I'm wondering who I can market and how I can best market my property to on Airbnb.  The most popular STR listings in my area have excellent interior design.  My STR does not have the best interior design right now, but I'm working on it.    How can I get bookings in this type of environment in the dead of winter?

Patricia Andriolo-Bull · Answer

Can you share your general metropolitan area?  I ask because there are some places now where it can just be sketch (e.g. Portland ME is a favorite of mine.  We stayed at a STR last summer with many homeless around it but it is also near some upscale hotels.  It is what it is there now and I can imagine this being the same in other areas, too).

Also, what was your motivation in purchasing?  Was it to get into real estate, STR, etc.?  Might help with advice.  Are there a lot of student rentals in the area?  I lived in a college town and student rentals did very well as did STRs for parents coming in to visit their children.

John Underwood · Answer

Sounds like this property is better suited to be a LTR.

You will likely get some unfavorable reviews about the neighborhood that may make your decision for you.

Bryant Xavier · Answer

Hey, Marc.

What market are you in? I have some short term rentals located in College Station, Bryan Tx home of Texas A&M. Our market heavily relies on the universities event calendar, so wanted to weigh in here on some recommendations.

I'd make sure you're very familiar with the university's schedule & event calendar. You could try to chat with some people on campus and maybe even set some flyers up in or around the stadium. If you're open to mid term renting (we transition to this during our slower season), I'd also recommend speaking with the university and trying to see if you could try to be the source for their mid term housing. A lot of universities have students that need mid term housing due to graduation dates, mini semester programs, etc. and I've found if you approach them and offer them a solution to this problem, they are willing to work with you and help send business your way.

I think for the 2 other attractions nearby, a lot of people I'm assuming aren't needing lodging for the museum and or park. My recommendation would be to look into hospitals nearby and try to market to them to be an option for traveling nurses also.

Hope this helps!

John Underwood · Answer

Make the place nicer or lower the price to get bargain shoppers.

Check your competition and make sure your are under them if reasonable to do so.

Andrew Steffens · Answer

I would say $75-80.  I used the think lowering the price would attract "worse guests" but I have experienced bad guests at all price points.  Everyone has budgets and you are not in the luxury bracket where I would worry about young partiers etc.

Joel Oh · Answer

Also, running a LTR in a bad neighborhood is a horrible idea. You will attract all scumbags in this world and soon find out your repair and legal cost will easily pass your yearly income. The only way to make money in bad neighborhood through LTR is either getting the government benefit or running it as a slumlord. It is not an easy thing to run a property when your customers are horrible haha.

I recommend student housing with 9 or 10 months lease and run STR during the summer for this property while students are on vacation.

Joel Oh · Answer

If you are running an Airbnb in B or C neighborhood, you must have a good reason for people to visit your place. It can be price or unique amenity or your personal charm! I run multiple properties in B or C area and I maintain super host status every quarter. The people who never ran properties in B or C area always scream about how bad idea it is but you can make an incredibly profitable listing in those if you know how to manage it. I hit 100% cash on cash return on all these B or C areas and they often outperform my better neighborhood properties.

A tall fence, tree, exterior paint can control a lot of things your guest see during their stay. They are not that expensive, and you can easily do it by yourself. Of course, these properties are full of challenges so be prepared before you start. Key is all about finding the solution and never giving up. Good luck buddy!

Nick Velez · Answer

Did you represent yourself? Purchasing a STR in a somewhat sketch area is a terrible idea and as others have mentioned, is going to open you up to potential issues.

This is why is is extremely important that you use local resources who own STR's in the area or manage them at a bare minimum. I would never let a client purchase in certain areas of my local market....

Marc Shin · Answer

@John Underwood my STR is in a neighborhood that could be preceived as a little bit sketchy.. I've never felt unsafe there when visiting.   My competitors are in neighborhoods that are probably slightly better.

I'm a little discouraged that I purchased in this neighborhood...I wish i had visited the property before purchasing.    i guess the only way to salvage this is to offer better design and amenities than the properties in the good neighborhoods?

How to market to ideal guests or Avatar during the dead of winter

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