New here and looking for advice

[Casey Hall]

Hey everyone, I’m new to the STR space and have been studying it pretty consistently since August. I’m really interested in building a short-term rental business and I’m trying to choose the smartest first step. Right now I’m leaning toward starting with an arbitrage unit just to dip my toes in, get hands-on experience, and prove to myself that I can run a successful listing. My biggest hesitation is that my closest profitable markets are about 3 hours away from where I live, so I’m figuring out whether that distance is going to make things harder than they need to be for a first deal. I’m here to learn, connect, and get advice from people who have been through this stage. If anyone has experience with: • managing a unit several hours away • starting with arbitrage vs. co-hosting • picking the right first market I’d love to hear your perspective. Looking forward to being part of the community and learning from you all. Thanks!

[Andrew Steffens]

Hi Casey,

If you have been following the board for sometime (or if you search arbitrage on this forum) you see 99% of people on here are against it, and for many a good reason.  Co-hosting is essentially another word for a form of property management, so you will want to check with your state first on the laws regarding that.  Also many markets are quite saturated with managers/co-hosts, how are you going to compete and differentiate yourself?  the easiest and best way to get into the market is by being an owner.  Then self manage and do it well, and then offer services to other owners.  I know capital can be a barrier to entry, but you can always raise capital and find partners to get your start.  Best of luck!