Airbnb Exclusive or no?

Question

Curious to know you guys' thoughts on purchasing a property exclusively for Airbnb.  I am looking at a 3 story 3br/2.5 bath townhome in the Midtown area of Memphis, TN.

Alexia Gist · Answer

Thank you!  I will reach out to her.  I've been trying to read up on regulations in Memphis and only saw information about the tax and fire marshall inspection.  I'm contacting her now!

Alexia Gist · Answer

@David Hutson

Keep me updated!

David Hutson · Answer

@Alexia Gist,

Morning.  I'm sitting in an Airbnb rental now, looking at more properties to drive out to look at.  There are several homes for sale that appear to be good candidates but the prices are high so profits won't be as good and if I have to convert it to a normal rental the numbers don't work.  I'll have to keep looking and wait for the prices to go down if I can't find a good deal

The two homes I have been in this week have been in good shape and the owners have been friendly.  The owner for where I am now said he'd be happy to talk about it tonight.  I'll take him up on his offer.

Alexia Gist · Answer

How did your visit go?  What are you thoughts????  I think the long term rental will work.  I'm going to run the numbers in the rental property calculator.

Alanna Schroeder · Answer

I highly recommend you do your research on the regulations.  I am not sure about Memphis but Nashville is having some major contention around regulations. So much so the City was just found to be in contempt of court...Yikes!  I don't know anyone in Memphis but you might want to check in with my friends over at NASTRA (https://nastra.org) to see if they can get you in touch with anyone in the Memphis area that is well versed in regulations. Megan McCrea is the president and you can tell her I suggested you reach out. Good luck!

David Hutson · Answer

@Alexia Gist,

I have been looking at using a property or two for that in Memphis.  It appears they do pretty well in the good areas.  I'm flying out Monday to look for one.  I decided to stay in two different units next week to compare homes and areas.  You should fly out and do the same.  Look at the specific areas that are where you want to invest and look at the homes.

I would recommend purchasing homes that will work for a long term rental if the short term doesn't work out well.

Aaron Bihl · Answer

Hey Alexia,

I don't know much about the memphis market, but I would want to make sure that the property I was buying would make sense as a long term rental.  I would want it to be profitable a long term rental in case the short term rental didn't work out, or regulation changes prohibited it from being an airbnb, etc.

But in general, I think if you are willing to put in the work with a short term rental there are good returns!