All Forum Posts by: Evan R.

Can't believe I've missed most of this thread!

@J. Martin you mentioned a comparison between the Mission District and the Sunset. I looked up the difference between the two last night. 

The Mission has an average price of $185.53, and a vacancy rate of 20.25% across 795 listings. 

The Sunset has an average price of $138.11, and a vacancy rate of 43% across 218 listings. 

Comparatively, the Mission has a 25.4% higher average price, and a 52% lower vacancy rate. However, there are 3.6x as many listings in the Mission than the Sunset. 

@Jeremy Kleier I looked on airbnb for listings in Colorado Springs. There are 125 listings. The average price per night is $127, while the average vacancy rate is 64.57%. 

60% vacancy rate is pretty high, but it might be lower for your particular property type. Do these numbers make airbnb look like a wise investment for you?

If you're going to go the airbnb route, there are some thinks you'll need to keep in mind. You will need to furnish your house, and clean your house between guests. It's more work, for potentially more income. 

While there are no listings in your zipcode, there are 262 listings across Dallas. Of those listings, there are 19 3 bedroom listings. For those listings, the average nightly rate is $285, and the vacancy rate is 64%. 

@Matt R. I heard there were issues with the Zappo's CEO plans: The Downtown Project Suicides: Can the Pursuit of Happiness Kill You?

But in my experience in 2012, there were many people with call center jobs, diversifying the job base. There is also I-11 being built to Phoenix. 

Hey @Alberto Furet While I don't hail from the island, I checked airbnb for how well people are doing with their vacation rentals. 

There are 90 listings, the average price is $155 per night, and the average vacancy is 79%, which is high. 

Looking at just the 10 hosts with 3bd properties, the price per night is $220, and the average vacancy rate is 50%. 

This table is the breakdown of number of bedrooms to vacancy rate, and price. 

Hey @Robbin Andersen Welcome to Bigger Pockets!

In looking at the Charleston area on airbnb, there are 219 listings. The average vacancy rate is 42%, and the average nightly price is $162.12. Let me know if you want the breakdown by bedroom/bathroom/etc. 

The surrounding areas, Isle of Palms and Mt. Pleasant have higher vacancy rates, and lower per night rates. 

Most insurance companies will not cover your property if it's rented out for 30 days or less. You'll need to talk to your insurance company about a new policy. 

This article, Things I learned when our Airbnb caught fire, has a couple paragraphs in the middle about insurance things.  

There is a ton of great tips about bare land in here. 

Thanks everyone for posting. 

@J. Martin 

AirEnvy uses VAs to handle booking inquiries. I found some of their job ads on odesk (Manager - Booking Team and Philippines Support Representative) when I was doing research on their company.

The biggest issue with using your own VA is training.

For fielding inquiries, you're going to find that some questions are going to be asked more frequently than others. You can extract frequently asked questions from prior inquires, and compile them into a document that you can share with your VA. A rough outline for a standard operating procedure can be found here.

For more complex tasks, I've found screen casts to be very helpful.

Mammoth was really interesting when I visited during the summer. 

There were flyers trying to garner support against VR on cork boards. Think 3rd degree photocopies from a hand written letter. 

I also saw homes for sale where the property could only be used as a second home. No idea how they'd enforce this.

@Kent Verge Spreadsheets for days. What areas are you interested in?