How to pick a profitable STR location?

Question

I’m ready to buy a STR, and I expect to manage it remotely.  What resources did you all use to find profitable US locations, beyond AirDna?   I know how to calculate profitability using the Enemy method, and I know I’ll have to research legislation, but identifying a high cash flow area is overwhelming.

Paul Sandhu · Answer

Refinery town.

Luke Carl · Answer

Check Airbnb for areas in which they collect and remit your local taxes for you. Pretty safe bet!

Account Closed · Answer

We looked for an area where there are not many large hotels and where most of the rentals are privately owned homes. We also wanted to be within 30 mins of a medium sized city (~100k in population) to draw in travelers for work.

Barbara Chaney · Answer

Not easy. I'm doing the same. What I did was decided to search within my state (Florida) and looked at avg income numbers for various cities in AlltheRooms.com. I'm sure AirDNA can do the same. I'm using the free plan as I'd have to buy each market and i just wanted an overview. It's not perfect, but it gives me a general idea. Fla Keys are at the top of the list, if you're wondering.

Michael Baum · Answer

Hey @JJ DeRosa, the others are correct. You can do well where folks like to travel on vacation! We are doing well in North Idaho on Lake Coeur d'Alene. We chose it because I grew up there, but it has been a good investment for us.

Now we could have made more ROI in a different area, but we wanted to use it regularly.

John Underwood · Answer

Beach, mountains or lake.

These are locations I would look for.

Carolinas or Florida beaches are great areas.

Bruce Woodruff · Answer

Tourist town/area. even during Covid, it didn't slow down much at all.....

How to pick a profitable STR location?

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