All Forum Posts by: Ethan Cooke

@John Bucknum - I manage a furnished rental business in San Francisco and San Mateo Counties. The most profitable property I have is a simple, compact 3BR/2BA home in a nice neighborhood with a Studio in-law unit. I have also bought and remodeled 2 fixer-upper homes. So I recommend that you buy a property that has a small second unit or the space to add a small second unit. My 2 best money-making strategies have been to make simple improvements/ expansions and to AirBNB  multi-unit properties. Good luck!   

@Jon S. - I lock up just a few personal belongings, like laptops,  jewelry and  personal/financial information.  The house is nice but does not contain many valuables. 

I get 70% of my bookings from AirBnB, 15% from repeat customers, 10% from Zillow/Trulia and 5% from craigslist.  I have posted a couple listings on VRBO/Homeaway and  Tripadvisor, but have not gotten any bookings that way. AirBnB is my bread and butter, and I take being a Superhost seriously.  Let me know if you have additional questions, and good luck!

@Jon S. - I’ve rented out my San Francisco home for a week at a time over the past 7 years whenever my family takes a 1-week vacation. I’ve never had a problem, and usually the revenue more than pays for my family vacation—it’s beautiful!

@Michael Nelson and @Julie McCoy make great points about how to cover all your bases. Good luck!

@Andrea Cole -  I only do stays for 30+ days and I’m part of a community of “medium-term” furnished rental hosts.  I manage 10 furnished rental units in San Francisco and San Mateo county. I have never had a problem in a year of doing this. It’s a great business model because it’s much less work then having new guests every week, answering “new guest” questions repeatedly and scheduling a lot of cleanings. Some guests book through Airbnb. I book others who want a discount through the www.cozy.co platform and have them sign a lease. The rent is higher than unfurnished rentals, so as long as the guest keeps paying rent, it’s a win-win. Of course tenants’ rights come into play, but short-term guests can cause just as many problems as long-term guests. I encourage you to take the long-term booking and enjoy having some extra time!

@Nick Rutkowski - Estate auctions and used furniture stores are great as long as you know beforehand what they have so you don't waste your time. I buy more than half my furniture from amazon.com using a spreadsheet with product links because it's extremely efficient and I buy the same stuff over and over again. A nice, modern queen bed costs less than $200 and can be assembled in less than 30 minutes. End tables and coffee tables are about $35 and take 10 minutes to assemble. Dimmable torchiere lamps are about $45. All the bedroom sets are modern, new and matching. For more expensive things like sofa beds and dressers, I use craigslist and facebook marketplace. When I am furnishing multiple units at once, I use amazon almost exclusively.

@Mark Futalan - I have 9 furnished rentals in San Francisco and just south, and the minimum stay is 30 days. If a credible guest who wants to stay 3+ months asks to see a place, I will make it happen. I have done this just a few times, and usually they book the place. Last time I showed a place, the guest booked for 6 months. It was WELL worth my time! 

@Julie Hill - I agree with @Julie McCoy. I have several AirBnb’s in the San Francisco area, and have had reasonable success renting out 3BR and 4BR homes to individual groups (traveling families and groups of construction workers). I tried once to rent out rooms separately, and it did not work. It was a 2BR place, and anytime I didn’t have both rooms rented out, I was losing money.  I have found that it’s not much harder to rent out a whole place than a single room.  And often people looking for a single room are on a tight budget.  Good luck! 

@AJ Vanderhorst - I have 8 full-time mid-term furnished rentals (1-6 mos) in San Francisco and just south. AirBnB has been my most successful platform by far for attracting business travelers. Others swear by VRBO/Homeaway. My experience with furnishedfinder is the same as yours: it attracts medical professionals who aren’t usually on a very limited budget. To attract the business traveler market, I list my places for 30-day minimum and follow AirBnb’s simple guidelines for “business-ready” e.g. provide a workspace, hair dryer, coat hangers, etc. Good luck!

@Michael Greenberg - 

I have used cozy for stays of 30 days, 40 days, etc. The platform is designed for longer-term stays, but I’m sure you can also adapt it for short-term stays. For example, enter “lease dates” of January 5-10. Assume your rate for this 5-day stay is $400. Then you can either require a pre-paid $400 “deposit” and enter $0 for monthly rent, or you could split the payment (e.g. $300 pre-paid “deposit” and $100 monthly rent). It is a very simple, secure platform that guests and hosts like because there are no fees if the guest connects the payment to their bank account. (It’s 2.75% if they use a credit card.) I hope that helps.

@Ashley Wolfe - This is a great business model depending on the season and the demand for your unit. I run 8 full-time units in and near San Francisco, all with a 30-day minimum. It’s much less work than doing 4-8 rentals for the same period. 

As @Jon Crosby said, I would give a 5-10% discount if you’ll be mostly booked that month anyway, or a larger discount if not. NO VACANCY is a beautiful thing! My most profitable unit is a home that a family on a local work assignment moved into for “3 months”. 11 months later, they are still here! 

As far as tenant’s rights go, they pay each month about a month in advance through www.cozy.co. They are also paying well above market value, so there’s less risk of squatters. In a year of business, I have never had a problem. 

Thanks,

Ethan