STR taxes in Seattle

[Gulliver R.]

Hi All,

What kind of taxes do I need to pay for operating an STR in Seattle? And if possible how do I find out how much this/these will approximately be?

Thanks so much!

Gulliver

[Michael Haas]

@Michael Baum our occupancy rate in West Seattle was 76% in 2019, which included a couple weeks of personal use (so actual occupancy rate was probably about 80%). From what I've heard from other operators, that's slightly above average, and 70% would be a good estimate for a well run listing. Our listing is a one bed with pull-out couch, so it tends to book more often but at lower price points than a larger house might. 

If you find a STR deal, in Seattle or otherwise, you should pounce on it IF you have a solid contingency plan for what to do if tourism is frozen for 6 months... a year... or even a few years. Your guess is as good as mine at this point, and having a "Plan B" for all your rental properties is essential now more than ever.

The folks from Atlanta, Kansas City, and Ohio are going to laugh at my "great" Seattle numbers haha- if we remove cleaning fees (pass through) and platform / marketing fees we can do a "apples to apples-ish" comparison to a long term rental. After doing this our property has a GRM of 11.75 (again, with a few weeks of personal use, so actual GRM is probably about 11).