Monthly rental vs Airbnb

[Manhattan]

Question for those of you with rental property. I've recently came across people who are using Airbnb to rent out their property instead of signing a lease with a long-term tenant. This seems far riskier in terms of monthly cashflow. It would also need to be fully furnished and cleaned after each rental is done. Anyone listing a rental property on Airbnb want to chime in?

[ercchry]

i think this service has its uses... but for calgary? i dunno... looking at a few listing on there for calgary it looks like you'd be lucky to have it occupied for 4-5 months a year. if you can charge enough to make up for your time investment and still make more than you would in a traditional lease over that period... have fun?

i think ideally this is for tourist destinations. seems to work well in the areas where you are willing to be a bnb operator. but for calgary i think if you had a property manager that handled everything and you used this to fill your primary while you travel for extended periods at a time it could almost work if you have a good location... and traveled during prime calgary tourist times... ie. stampede

[mr2mike]

Even in prime location for $2000 - $4000 for 10 days over Stampede, you're not going to make much compared to long term rental also the risk of damage/wear and tear of people partying over stampede.

Maybe Canmore if it was your personal cabin, rent it out over ski season or what not when you're not using it. Could give you some incremental income but really, then you'd not want any personal items at the place which would be a hassle too.

[Hallowed_point]

I think you'd have to be nuts to even consider renting out your property to strangers. Not worth the risk to benefit imo. Can you say "crash pad?" If you go this route, please call your home insurance company and bounce some things off them first. What happens when joe doofus floods the washroom etc. Anything they tell you, make sure it matches the fine print on your policy.

[skandalouz_08]

I've rented out my place on Airbnb while I went away traveling for 5 weeks. It was good in that sense as I was able to cover my mortgage payment while I was gone and great for the short time period. However, if you own a rental property I think you're better off getting a long term tenant. Why would you want to deal with so much turnover in your place, meeting to give them a key, initial inspection, final inspection, etc.

[msommers]

I've thought about renting out my place since I'm gone for so much of the winter. The problem is that I have my nice stereo, computer, camera gear, road bike...it's all worth a lot to me so I feel like I'd have to move out all of this to my parent's place to make sure it's safe. And not really sure how busy Calgary is via tourism in the winter anyways! Decisions decisions.

[ercchry]

step 1: sign 10 6 month leases for prime downtown condos during prime calgary tourist months
step 2: list all 10 condos on airbnb
step 3: ????
step 4: profit

[Stephen81]

Maybe it wasn't AirBnB specifically but I've read of some cases where the tenant basically refused to leave and it was near impossible to have them removed.

[jwslam]

BUMP.

Anyone on here an AirBnB Host? Any insight is appreciated.

[nj2Type-S]

BUMP!!!

my wife and i are considering making our duplex an airbnb rental when our current tenant's lease expires. any updates and insights from current hosts wouls be appreciated!

thanks!

[timdog]

I was considering this and still am, so I talked to a friend who has had a successful Airbnb in Calgary for over 2 years. some things i learned or confirmed in our conversation:

1. dont bother if your place isnt in a Mission, Cliff Bungalow, Beltline, Downtown, Mount Royal, or something very desirable and walking distance to downtown and hot spots. at MINIMUM, short walk to a train but expect your vacancy rate to be higher if you are out of the core.

2. average rental is 7 days but they have ranged from 3 days to 2 full months before for him.

3. never book back to back (i.e. if someone is checking out on a monday, dont allow a new check-in until Tuesday at 4pm). the best and cheapest cleaners need this flexibility and you might need to go in and survey the place after every few rentals, repair something, etc.

4. start out with a lower rate than you think you can get. it will get more people through the door and you will get more reviews right away. if you think you can get $90 a night for example, price it at $70. the lower vacancy rate will pay off over the higher rate and higher vacancy.

5. small things go a long way. stock up on oils/condiments/spices for guests to cook. my friend find out about the person in advance and puts a 6 pack of local beer or wine or whatever they like in the fridge for people who stay 7+ days. this nice stuff and constant communication really makes the difference in getting good reviews.

6. he makes ~25% more than his costs (profit) over the span of a year. summer months he is fully booked, january is almost 100% vacancy, christmas is always good, fall/spring are 50% vacancy.

7. you have the right to say yes or no to anyone who is asking to book with you. he has turned away frat-type guys who are clearly there to party. usually says yes to couples or business people. gets a surprising amount of 7-14 day business people there for work project or conference.

8. airbnb's fees are passed on to the customer, not the landlord. so the price you set is the $ you get. also, airbnb has amazing customer service and very good insurance.

i'm still on the fence about it. he really sold me on it, however there is definitely more work involved (constant communication, coordinating cleaners, etc etc), and it's risky in terms of pissing off the condo board. not sure what recourse condo boards have but I think there are bylaws they can fall back on to shut it down if they want to.

hope that helps!

[Minimalist]

Would one have to clear a listing on Airbnb by the condo board, mortgage company, insurance company? I've enjoyed my Airbnb rental experience, respectfully treated the place like it was my own. Not sure I'd be interested in renting my place out.

[Manhattan]

Originally posted by timdog
6. he makes ~25% more than his costs (profit) over the span of a year. summer months he is fully booked, january is almost 100% vacancy, christmas is always good, fall/spring are 50% vacancy.

How is the 25% calculated? Is he spending $1000 in cleaning/maintenance costs each month and making $250 profit? That would be an extremely low return on a rental property compared to a month to month rental where time, maintenance, and effort would be minimal in comparison. That's what I don't get about listing rental properties on Airbnb. The math just doesn't add up.

And condo boards can't do much against you listing on Airbnb. Legally, it's no different than listing a long term rental on Kijiji. Condo board can't dictate HOW you lease out your property.

[SOAB]

I have used Airbnb and also VRBO for vacations before and it doesn't seem like that much work to me.

the owners just send me their access codes for the house/condo and instructions on how to close up, when I need to check out, etc.

schedule a cleaning service for that day and they are ready for their next renters.

most of the owners of the places I rented didn't even live in the same city.

[ickyflex]

Originally posted by Manhattan


How is the 25% calculated? Is he spending $1000 in cleaning/maintenance costs each month and making $250 profit? That would be an extremely low return on a rental property compared to a month to month rental where time, maintenance, and effort would be minimal in comparison. That's what I don't get about listing rental properties on Airbnb. The math just doesn't add up.

And condo boards can't do much against you listing on Airbnb. Legally, it's no different than listing a long term rental on Kijiji. Condo board can't dictate HOW you lease out your property.

They actually do though. Buddy moved into a new place in Vancouver and they have a 0 AirBnB policy.

[lasimmon]

Yah my old condo building didn't allow VRBO/AirBnB.

Some guy got in a bunch of trouble for renting his unit out. Didn't help that he had a lot of partiers stay there.

[Manhattan]

Condo boards say you can't but it's nearly impossible to enforce.

[dandia89]

Originally posted by Manhattan
Condo boards say you can't but it's nearly impossible to enforce.

unless they do a search on the building on airbnb. it's a low possibility, and most people won't notice. most condo boards are full of power hungry mouth breathers, so I can imagine you'll get some pressure

[nobb]

I think you would be crazy as a landlord to choose AirBnB over a proper long term tenancy. Not only would there be significantly more work (in between stays), but you really wouldnt be able to do the same level of background checks on the tenants you are trusting you're house to.

Sure they claim to offer insurance, but I bet it's not that easy to get them to pay out as it's just a PR stunt.

It's alot of extra work and hassle for maybe 10-20% more profit.

[Manhattan]

Originally posted by nobb
It's alot of extra work and hassle for maybe 10-20% more profit.

I don't see how the math works out to be more. You would need to be booked nearly 100% of the time for Airbnb to be more profitable.