All Forum Posts by: John Mausteller

Welcome to Bigger Pockets! 

Nice Greg!  You bought at the right time up there.  Those condos have definitely appreciated.   Good luck! Let me know if you need any local resources / vendors! 

I think a mixture of both.  AirDNA is not perfect - but neither is going through individual listings and trying to guess what days are real rentals vs blocked, etc   I pay for AirDNA and when I compare my properties annual revenue with what AirDNA says I do - it is pretty much spot on.  One thing I noted is that AirDNA shows my revenue and includes the 3% Airbnb host fee.   So my actual earnings is 3% less. 

Welcome Benjamin and congrats!  Having a skill like construction will go a long way!  Try out a few areas and see what you like best!  House Hacking is how we started - and did a lot of the updates ourselves in both units (new flooring, tile, etc).  It has been an awesome journey - of course full of ups and downs but all learning experience!

Hey Kevin!  Welcome to BP!  Also in North Carolina (Outer Banks) and have investments across the state!  

 Ill email it to you!

Self Manage! As everyone has said.. Once your get your systems in place and a season under your belt. Everything moves so smoothly and you are saving a good chunk of money from paying a management company. If you do go with a management company - I would interview many.. Vacasa, and the likes - but also local "co hosts" who manage a portfolio of properties. From my experience - it is these local co hosts who will pay the most attention to your STR and give the guests the best experience. Bonita Springs looks beautiful and I am sure you will crush it! If you go the self manage route - list anywhere you can. Defineatly Airbnb and VRBO - but also local sites like FloridaRentals.com , Florida Rental By Owners - etc! Good luck!!

Amenities!!  Especially cold weather ones - HOT TUB as others have mentioned, or arcade games in the house if you have a game room.   Look up local events that draw crowds from out of the area and price your listing competitvely during those times!  Its hard to fill up the weeks during the winter because the biggest draw is the beach... but amenities sure do help.  I think the hot tub would be the best one tho. 

Hey Rob! 

I would first look around at your competition and how the competing properties look.  I personally think it is well worth it - maybe not a full service designer - but now a days you can book someone online to just help you get a vision.  Professionally designed homes definitely stand out form the rest but you dont want to spend so much where you cannot get the money back with higher rents.   My wife is an interior designer and we bought a cabin in the mountains in western NC and the competition was all pretty basic.  We decided we were really going to go all out on this one (within reason) and purchase high quality furnishing and design it like she would for a client.  It helped us tremendously.  Fast forward 4 years and now alot more competition has entered the market and almost all of them are professionally designed, which did cause us to not get as many bookings.   All that being said - I think a well designed home stands out no matter what.   Just dont break the bank!   Depending on where you are purchasing - look for major brand outlet stores.   They often have brand new couches, chairs, lights, etc etc for a deep discount!  

Echoing what others have said.   I use AirDNA - (subscribed) as a starting point - but looking at listings on Airbnb and VRBO lets you get an idea of what others are charging in the area.   AirDNA is using historical data - and yes revenue has gone down but any source that is projecting 2024 at lower revenue is just an educated guess (even if they may be spot on) 

Multiple sources - and a little trial and error :)