All Forum Posts by: Brendan Connolly

I am setting up an STR this year in a single family house in Ohio City (right outside downtown Cleveland). The house is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath. I was thinking of having the following setup in the house:

Room 1: Two queen beds

Room 2: 2 bunk beds 

Room 3: 1 king bed

I was thinking bunk beds would work well because you can fit a couple more guests in the house. I'm starting to second guess this setup as none of the comps around me do it. It seems like bunk beds are usually just in cabin STR's.

I’m starting to lean more towards two doubles or queens in room 2 and maybe getting a couch that can pull out into a bed. 

What are everyone’s thoughts? Trying to find a balance of increasing the number of people that can stay while also keeping the place classy. 

Just to state my main question: Should I ditch the bunk bed idea and move forward with the other setup I posted above?

Would love to hear everyone’s opinion!

My wife and I are planning on moving next year and turning our current place into an STR. We currently have a ring camera in the front of our house and another in the back. The camera in the back covers a small porch/hang-out area and then the rest of the backyard is a patio that is not visible on the camera.

Will this camera in the back bum guests out? This camera isn’t able to see the main area that everyone would most likely hang out, but I’m still torn on if I should keep it

If anyone has advice on the camera setup at your STR that would be much appreciated!

Quick update: I called the Department of Building & Housing for Cleveland and confirmed that there is not a maximum amount of days allowed for STR's in residential zoning for Cleveland. I'm not sure why it says online that there is a law for a maximum of 91 days, but I talked to two different reps from the city that said that's not true.

Also confirmed that you do not need an inspection prior to starting your STR in Cleveland. That was another thing I saw as a requirement online that the reps at the Department of Building and Housing said you do not need. You just need to register your property as a rental and pay a $70 fee annually (and other taxes).

My wife and I are planning on moving out of our home in Cleveland and turning it into a short term rental. While researching the regulations around STRs in Cleveland, I saw that there is a regulation that says the maximum number of days someone can stay at your STR if you're in a residential zoning area is 91 days.

If that is true, having a STR in Cleveland does not look like a good investment for us. But there are a lot of Cleveland STR's in residential zoning areas, so I have to think that even if this regulation does exist, everyone is just ignoring it? Curious if this maximum occupancy rule is actually something to worry about.

If anyone has a STR in Cleveland or has any background on this topic, your input would be much appreciated!

I'm trying to understand the potential revenue that my property can bring in annually for AirBNB/Vrbo. Using the revenue calculators for both PriceLabs and AirDNA, the results are drastically different (PriceLabs projects far less income and occupancy than AirDNA). 

Does everyone find one of these sites more accurate than the other in regards to occupancy, avg price per night, total revenue, etc.? 

Any guidance from people who might have short term rentals and how your revenue matches up to the projections from these sites would be super helpful!