Selling a STR property as a BUSINESS

[John Cornelius]

Hello everyone,

Has anyone sold their working STR as a business? Meaning, a buyer would get the property PLUS, furnishings, supplies and the Airbnb/VRBO listing itself.

I was thinking someone could sell the property/business for a cashflow multiple instead of just the property for market value..

I believe as of last year you couldn't "transfer" an airbnb account to a completely new person, only add a co-manager.

[Avery Carl]

Hey John! I sell over 100 STR's a year. To echo what @Jon Crosby said, there still isn't a way to transfer Airbnb and VRBO listings or reviews. In addition, if your property is zoned for residential use, the appraiser will use comparable market comps (meaning, other residential properties, not commercial ones). So your value will be determined based on closed sales comps, regardless of the income it produces. 

As for furniture, you'd need to have a side agreement separate from the purchase price of the real estate, as the furniture is personal property and not real estate, so it cannot be part of the purchase price of the property for appraisal purposes.