Considering a short term vacation rental for my next property.

[George Jweid]

I live in upstate New York (Syracuse), and am considering purchasing something on a lake for my next property. I am planning on using it here and there with my family, but mainly as a short term vacation rental.

I am curious what everyone’s experience has been with doing this?

Also, does anyone have experience specifically in upstate New York? What laws, stipulations, or other things I should know ?

Lastly, what should I know in terms of the numbers? Is there any data available?

[Jon Crosby]

Hi @George Jweid, thanks for the post!  There is a lot to unpack in your questions so I'm going to actually send you a link to a few blog articles I posted here on BP that might help.  

I also have a lake property (Lake Tahoe, CA) and use the 'vacation home for free' investment model.  Which simply means I'm looking for anywhere from -$3-5k to +$3-5k cash flow each year and the ability to enjoy the property up to 14 days per year with family (excluding "maintenance" trips).  

https://www.biggerpockets.com/member-blogs/10042

You should be able to leverage the booking sites (Homeaway, VRBO, Airbnb) to get decent metrics and you can check out Airdna.co to see high level occupancy and daily rates for general areas you are looking at for free.  

Best of luck and reach out if you have any other specific questions. 

Cheers!