Starting/Growing a Vacation/Short-Term Rental Property

[Dan L.]

Hey BP! A search of the forums didn't turn up any information on the topic so I thought I would start a new thread. I am researching vacation properties in the Lake Tahoe region and am interested in the growth that other owners have seen in their vacation properties in the first few years of operation. It makes sense to me that the first 12-18 months would be more challenging due to lack of awareness and reviews, and I am interested in hearing about other owner's experiences in the first few years of renting a property.

A few questions:

• What did revenues/occupancy %/# of reviews look like after being in operation for 12 months? How did that grow in Year 2 and Year 3 (and beyond)?
• How long did it take your property to reach steady-state occupancy?
• Any difference in expenses in the first few years?

Thanks in advance for your feedback. Trying to model out what the returns on a vacation property would be looking at the first 5 years of operation and trying to make sure that my assumptions are realistic.