Looking to Connect w/ other Short-term Rental Operators in Philly

Rental Property Investor · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2024 · 3 posts · 1 vote

My wife and I recently purchased a triplex in North Gray's Ferry are in Philadelphia. We live in 1 unit and are considering the pros / cons of making the other 2 units either short-term rentals or long-term rentals. Anyone experienced with STR in Philly and are interested in connecting? Any / all insight, experience with occupancy rates, etc. would be greatly appreciated.

0 Reply

20 views

5 Replies

Jump to latestLatest

Sort by

Jeremy Jareckyj
Real Estate Agent · Salt Lake City, UT · Member since 2020 · 490 posts · 205 votes
1y
are there any facebook groups about hosting or short term rentals you could join? just a thought.. there are some in my area in northern utah and they are SUPER helpful.
0 Reply
Stuart UdisPro Member
Attorney · Philadelphia · Member since 2018 · 2k+ posts · 3k+ votes
1y
@Ken Kast Focus on the viability of STR's in Northern Grays Ferry not STR's in Philadelphia more generally. Specifically understanding why a visitor would want to stay in Northern Grays Ferry with STR options in close proximity in university city & center city....presumably the locations where your visitors will be spending their time while visiting.
[email protected]
0 Reply
- Alan AsriantsBusiness Member
  Real Estate Agent · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2019 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
  1y
  Quote from @Stuart Udis:
  
  @Ken Kast Focus on the viability of STR's in Northern Grays Ferry not STR's in Philadelphia more generally. Specifically understanding why a visitor would want to stay in Northern Grays Ferry with STR options in close proximity in university city & center city....presumably the locations where your visitors will be spending their time while visiting.
  
  Agreed here. Who is your ideal client? And this is not a tenant, this is a client. Why would someone want to stay in grays ferry for the short term? Personally I dont think STR is really a move in Philly. You need to have the proper zoning which is hard to get but also the licensing to operate an STR which, without it you will not be able to post on AirBnB and VRBO. Also the demand for STR in philly seems to not really outweigh the benefits of a steady long term tenant. If you lived in a vacation spot that is open all year round and you can demand high values for nightly stays, then it makes sense. But seems to me that anyone doing STR does not benefit much for that really marginal extra penny. Way less headache for LTR for not much less, if not more return.
  [email protected]267-767-0111
  Alan Asriants - New Century Real Estate 591 Reviews
  View Page
  0 Reply
Herb Lau
Investor · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2008 · 28 posts · 7 votes
1y
Building on what's been said so far, STR is hard in Philly, and hard in general right now with the market and platform fees, etc.
You owning the property and living in one of the units gives you both more flexibility and more oversight over the other 2 units to experiment.
Assuming you've gone through the regulatory hurdles, you should rent one as a long-term rental. Give you both operational and financial stability for a portion of your needs.
The other one, you experiment with as a STR/MTR. Ideally, you already have more than 30% LTV in the property, keeping your mortgage payment a little lower, also helping financially.
If everything goes well, you convert the other long-term rental to STR/MTR in a year or 2.
If everything goes well again, you move out of the 1 unit and convert that into a STR/MTR in another year or 2. That's how I would do it.
0 Reply
Ken Kast
OP
Rental Property Investor · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2024 · 3 posts · 1 vote
1y
Thanks, everyone, for the feedback! We've decided to fill the two units as long-term rentals (LTRs) and plan to rent out our unit as a short-term rental (STR) for a couple of months here and there when we travel—depending on whether we receive a permit for STR.

Really appreciate all the input!
0 Reply

Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.