When the Numbers Stop Working: Why One Investor Pulled the Plug on Airbnb

[Pedro Andrade]

Last week, I spoke with a client who bought his first investment property back in 2020 with plans to run it as an Airbnb. At the time, everything looked great on paper — low interest rate, hot short-term rental market, and strong demand.

Fast forward to 2024:

• Insurance premiums more than doubled

• Property taxes went up

• Bookings dropped significantly

• And the cleaning & turnover costs started to erode the already-tight margins

After running the updated numbers, he realized what many are starting to face — the short-term rental model wasn’t giving him the freedom or returns he hoped for. It was barely breaking even — and more importantly, he felt stuck.

So, he made the hard decision: Sell the property and re-deploy the equity into a more passive and predictable strategy.

Here’s the lesson: Even good investments don’t stay good forever. Markets shift, expenses rise, and if you’re not running your numbers regularly, you might be holding onto something for emotional reasons — not financial ones.

Curious to hear from others:
Have any of you pivoted from short-term rentals back to long-term holds or sold off a property because the math stopped working?
What was the trigger point for your decision?

[Collin Hays]

I’ve been in this investment class for 20 years, so I’ve lived through a few of these cycles.

It’s fascinating just how far these inflated values can crash.

Consider this one…asking 1.2 million 3 years ago, asking $749K today, and it’s still sitting.  Going to be some really good deals in a few more months when panic sets in.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/436-Lucerne-Way-Gatlinbur...