Rental Property Investor · Saint Louis, MO · Member since 2017 · 397 posts · 469 votes
Has anyone bought places to hold as AirBnB in Europe? I'm looking to go in on a vacation home in Italy with my sister. We don't even need it to make that much money... if it covers the ongoing costs of us having a vacation home in Italy, we're happy.
That being said, I know there's SO much to learn about investing abroad. Taxes, local laws, getting to know the risks inherent to the local economy, agebuilding a team despite language barriers (our Italian is a work in progress), age of the structures there, management from afar, and SO much more. The town we're looking at is trying to attract more tourism and is therefore very friendly to AirBnBs, so that should help.
I would REALLY appreciate connecting with others who have invested abroad. Thanks in advance!
Hey @Megan Greathouse! I am jealous! I think that could be a very fun adventure. I have looked at some places in Italy and it is really difficult to figure out where to go for us. If you have a town in mind then you are one step ahead.
I met a person at a local REI meetup who has a one bedroom in Paris. Close to everything and it is very successful. She has had it for 12 years and it is pretty much on auto pilot. It is booked 90% of the time year round, but that is Paris. It is the number one vacation destination in the world.
Can you tell us more about the town in Italy? What are the draws for tourists? The one thing I can think of is they want to drum up tourism. Does that mean it is not currently a vacation stop? Are they trying new ways to increase tourism?
Here is an article from 2018 that might shed some light -
I would never buy an international short term rental unless I possibly spend part of the Year there. I bought a long-term 6 family property from a north Irish man who gave up because there were so many problems for him.
@Ken Latchers... the idea is definitely to spend time there each year! And we'll let close family and friends use it free, provided they send us feedback on how things are going while they're there.