Breaking into the Air BnB Market w/ a Bang!

Breaking into the Air BnB Market w/ a Bang!

Realtor · Keystone Heights, FL · Member since 2015 · 340 posts · 118 votes

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $305,000
Cash invested: $35,000

Single family residence on 4.4 acres w/ private lake and beautiful mountain views. Bought at $305K with all closing costs paid by the seller. Appraised at over $360K when we closed! This is our new primary residence but we just built out a 1,055 square foot basement apartment (about $35K) which will be our mountain lake Air BnB! :D

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

It was an amazing home for the family but with so much future potential with a huge unfinished basement, it's own private entrance and a separate concrete parking pad on that side of the horseshoe driveway.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Found it on MLS and it was priced a fair bit higher. Gathered good data, and made a great deal.

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional financing w/ the seller paying all closing cost. Then, since I'm the Realtor on the buying side, I got a $9,000+ check back from my brokerage as a refund on my commission for buying my primary residence.

How did you add value to the deal?

First, we bought it at a great price. Bought at $305K, seller paid all costs, a $9,000+ commission rebate since it was my primary residence and I'm a Realtor. It appraised with over $55K in equity! After all that, we finished about half of the basement into a 1,055 square foot, 2 bed, 1 bath apartment suite which we will use as an Air BnB!

What was the outcome?

It's the perfect home for my family and the perfect location for a high-quality Air BnB. Greene County, VA is in the top 10 of all counties in Virginia for short-term rental income as our history, wineries and breweries, and beautiful Blue Ridge Mountain views bring allot of people down to visit.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Once is a blue moon you manage to find an amazing opportunity waiting to be pounced on. When that happens...POUNCE!!

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

I am an active licensed Realtor in the state of VA so that certainly helped the process! :D

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Rental Property Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
7y

@Walter Key congratulations man I'm happy for you and the family!

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  • Rental Property Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    7y

    @Walter Key congratulations man I'm happy for you and the family!

  • Member since 2022 · 1 post · 0 votes
    4y

    @Walter Key, I know this is quite dated but we are in the Charlottesville area and interested in looking in this area or surrounding areas for an AirBnb. 

    I've heard Charlottesville is difficult to work with on STR and it's better to move out. Just starting to do some research, any input you have would be helpful.

  • Investor · Charlottesville Virginia · Member since 2021 · 348 posts · 346 votes
    4y

    @Erica Porter I am a real estate investor in Charlottesville as well. Charlottesville's airbnb laws are very restrictive. You have to live in the property for at least 180 days per year meaning that it is more or less restricted to people who are house hacking. You also have to apply for a provisional use permit. Unfortunately many of the surrounding counties also have laws like this. From my research greene county, and Nelson county I think are the only ones in the area with laws that favor airbnbs so I would look there. There may also be some counties up by front royal that have more favorable laws but I haven't looked at those. The upside to these restrictive laws is that if you can manage to make it work you get a higher average daily rate because the inventory is low. One thing to consider if you want to go the house hacking route is your exit from the property. If you might move out in 3 years you either need to sell or convert to a long term rental, and unless you get a great deal it probably won't cashflow well as a long term rental in Charlottesville. Hope this helps! Feel free to dm me if you have more questions. I don't own any airbnbs yet but am trying to figure out financing for a deal right now that would be one. 

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