Need help/ideas managing a 16 room in housing. Looking for managers

[Justin Joseph]

I'm a young new investor and currently operate a 16-room boarding house/hostel with 4 shared bathrooms, 1 kitchen, and 1 living room in Syracuse, NY. We have about seven long-term, month-to-month tenants, primarily lower-income residents. I recently began listing three rooms as short-term rentals on Airbnb, and that’s been going well so far, though I expect demand to slow down as we move into the winter months.

I have an on-site property cleaner who receives reduced rent in exchange for their work. I’m now exploring additional ways to keep occupancy strong—such as veteran housing programs, OPWDD, immigrant housing, or other referral sources—so if anyone has leads or contacts, I’d appreciate it. I either want to convert half of the property into airbnb (8 rooms downstairs for airbnb), and the other half (8 rooms upstairs) for longer term tenants, or either the whole property as airbnb.

I want to fill the property at 100% occupancy rate, either through Airbnb/long-term lower tenants or both. I’m looking for a reliable property manager who is experienced in rooming houses and can handle rent collection, tenant placement, and basic maintenance coordination. Any recommendations or connections would be very helpful. I'm open to ideas, flexible and willing to negotiate.