Our guide offers tips for short-term vacation rental analysis, from a practitioner’s perspective.

The short-term vacation rental (STVR) market in the U.S. has expanded rapidly thanks to the development of online platforms like Airbnb and VRBO, among others. STVRs offer attractive returns to individual investors, and when coupled with financing through a bank mortgage, can offer returns in excess of what has historically been available in public equity markets and what has historically been available from traditional long-term rentals. This return also comes largely in the form of passive, monthly cash income.

We do not offer any secret recipe to finding and purchasing lucrative properties. However, we can offer a range of suggestions to individuals with capital to invest who are looking to learn more about the STVR asset class but unsure where to start or what the process will look like. Our guide comes from experience in this market, and focuses on where to look for the information you need to make an informed investment, how to go about getting it, what to expect from the closing process, and things to be aware of before and after making an offer. We’ve compiled a collection of helpful suggestions for operating your property in a way that maximizes return, minimizes risk, and minimizes the time you need to spend worrying about your property.

With access to the guide, we also include a downloadable Excel calculator useful for comparing STVR properties and calculating the returns you can expect to generate from your investment.

Our guide follows the outline below and covers some of the following topics:

  • Introduction. Why STVRS?

  • Our Objectives. What are we looking to accomplish?

  • Searching for Properties. Does location matter? Does curb appeal matter?

  • Collecting Property-Level Information. How can we find the data we want? What data do we want?

  • Financing & Structuring. What can we expect from the mortgage process? Can anyone get STVR financing?

  • Forecasting Performance. How can we calculate our expected profit and returns?

  • Making the Purchase. What do we need in order to close without any issues?

  • Things to Remember. What else might we be overlooking?

  • Our Excel Calculator. A simple, dynamic, downloadable calculator for comparing properties and estimating your returns.

Click “The STVR Guide” link in the banner for access to the guide.