Good Locations for an Airbnb in Central California

[Vikranth Biradar]

Hi all! I'm researching STR options for my first investment, and I'm wondering what areas of California are prosperous for Airbnbs. I live in San Francisco and would prefer to manage it myself. 

A couple of options I can think of are Yosemite, North Lake Tahoe, and Napa Valley. 

Anyone out there invest in STR in California around the Bay Area and have success? Thanks, everyone!

[Raju Balakrishnan]

Quote from @Vikranth Biradar:

Quote from @Raju Balakrishnan:

I had success with STRs in San Jose some years back, but later stopped due to time constraints. I think best way to go is choose some areas of interest and verify STR restrictions. Then you may subscribe to AirDNA to understand the market data to see if it meets your expectations.

 Yes, I was looking to subscribe to AirDNA. Any idea how accurate their website is? 

 Not really easy to verify how accurate the data is. They do some predictions to distinguish between actual occupancies vs host blocking calendar etc. Hence I expect it to be inexact. But still  the best data available publicly. If we combine AirDNA data with eyeballing  airbnb/VRBO listings and occupancies in the area we should be able to get an idea.