All Forum Posts by: Harshil Patel

@Harshil Patel, while I can't speak to specific areas of phoenix, but having had an Airbnb in the past, and having a friend that owns her own and manages for others Airbnbs in Phoenix, I will add a couple thoughts:

Make sure you are either near area amenities or VERY far away.  Visitors, commonly either want to be in the mix of it all, or get away from it all. 

Make the property unique to stand apart from all the other images when scrolling.  You want eyes to stop on your images.  Unique themes, great design will get more eyes on your listing.  Reviews are also important, but as a user, I won't even get to your reviews unless you can capture my interest while scrolling.

While I personally haven't heard any horror stories about raging parties in Airbnbs lately, the house will dictate the type of guests you get.  If I am taking a family trip with my two kids and in-laws (6 people total, 4 adults and 2 kids), I want at least 4 bed and 3 baths.  My friend that manages in Phoenix prefers to take on houses with 1 full bath per bedroom.  She has managed the 4 bed, 2 bath, sleeps 12 kind of house, and those properties are far harder to manage and typically suffer more frequent repairs, because you have more budget-oriented, party types reserving your property.

In Phoenix, she requires her houses to have a pool.  It is hot, and people want it.

Areas my friend hosts: Downtown area (Corona, Good Samaritan), Prescott, Scottsdale, Biltmore Area, Cottonwood.  Most of her listings are in Scottsdale.  She also turns down management requests if the house is not able to be made unique, offer something special, owners are not willing to invest to create a high-end experience (i.e. she dictates the sheets, toilet paper, etc for her listings, since it is her reviews at stake).

I'm not an expert in Phoenix area, but last summer we stayed at a STR (condo) in Scottsdale. It had a big pool with lots of pretty girls.....walking distance to the Old Town area.

I think if you pick the right place, you can do year 'round in Phoenix.....

@Harshil Patel, looks like you are leaving CA like all the smart people! I looked at multis in Pheonix for quite a while. I even spent 4 days driving around Pheonix and Mesa looking at every multi family listed on redfin a year ago. My sister in law lives in Gilbert. What I learned was that pricing and rent/purchase ratios were pretty much the same as CA. Unless you put down a large down payment there would be no cash flow. However, I did just meet a local investor in my town that has 4 airbnb homes in and around scotsdale and he is killing it! Some rent out for 4-8K per month depending on the time of year. 

I agree with @Pamela Sandberg, purchase a home with a casasita. I highly recommend following @Ben Leybovich on his experience with what he calls "luxury house hacking". All the benefits of house hacking but without the headaches of long term tenants. Turn the casasita into a airbnb like he did and help pay your mortgage. Anything Ben says is pretty much gold, in my humble opinion. As a randomly look for a possible new primary residence I try to see if there is an additional dwelling I could use as a short term rental. 

@Kris L. is right - there are few MF on the market, and it's hard to make them cash flow. A similar option that works well here in Phoenix is to get a house with a casita/in law suite/etc. This functions like a duplex (as you are living in the main house and renting out the additional unit). The numbers often work better though. 

@Kris L. : I am looking for 2-4 units only. Since this is going to be my first investment I want to make sure unknown things learn by me properly.