How to analyze Airbnb market in a new country or city

LOL. People who disrespect others demand respect? I can guarantee that when you come to this forum, make a post and then insult or post in a patronizing manner to others (like jaquo who has been doing STR since before you were born) who reply to you, you aren’t going to get a warm welcome.

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Without knowing where you live now, your hosting experience, where you intend to move, etc - it would be challenging for anyone to offer any specific advice or recommendations.

Remote hosting in particular would have significant complex challenges: cleaning, management, check in / out, finding someone good and trustworthy, etc. This is a pretty messy time. It will create some opportunities. “Much of Europe” is too broad an area to ask about with hopes of targeted info to act upon :slight_smile:

Sorry my bad. I currently live in Sweden and I’ve been looking into the following locations:

Lisbon, Portugal
Reported to be among top ROI cities, close to Sweden and within EU.

Bali, Indonesia
Established STR market and affordable living. Since I was there and had the opportunity to meet trustworthy people I believe starting there would give me an advantage.

Medellin, Colombia
High growth potential in tourism. A country I’d love to move to for personal reasons.

I have no experience. But I have studied the business mainly through tips and tricks shared on FB forums and YouTube. I’ve learned valuable lessons from others mistakes so to speak.

Long story short.
My curiosity in the business (str arbitrage) kicked in when I was in Bali before the pandemic outbreak where I met a Frenchman who leased a few villas and lived off of his profit while his manager and cleaner took care of the work.

Since he had a very laid back approach to the whole thing I wanted to investigate further how a lazy surfer could afford to stay afloat without putting in any hardwork except in playing chess and complaining about life.
So I here I am, planning to give it a try to see where passion and hard work would take me.

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Not my intention of disrespecting anyone, I’m sorry for that. I regret this thread took a wrong turn early on.

I’m genuinely here to seek knowledge and learn from more experienced people.

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Why would people want to help when you have been so rude to established members here.

No-one can answer your initial question without doing your market research for you.

If you are serious about this do your own research.

1.research in your chosen markets on rental costs, market saturation and demand for the type of property you want to rent (you said you were doing this yourself as you didn’t want to pay Airdna a few hundred dollars)

  1. Put together a budget for one off and annual costs. Make sure you can underwrite costs if you don’t bring in expected income.

  2. Work out your charge out rate and how many days you would need to let out to make a profit

If you think you can run an airbnb just sitting on the beach all day and doing no work you are dreaming

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I’ve stated my question in detail, please elaborate on what you mean.

Big question- you have chosen some interesting places. Do you speak the local language and how will you insure a property you don’t own?

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Also Lisbon has lots of restrictions and you need a business license… looks like @Noa has failed at the first hurdle :slight_smile:

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Would-be rentalpreneurs should be careful of survivorship bias – for every rental arbitrage success story, there are many failures that are not so widely communicated. Also, people tend to magnify their success and minimize their loss when talking about their own experiences, to maintain their positive self-image. Don’t necessarily believe anyone’s profit figures. As an accountant, I have been amazed by the number of people who insist they are “making money” or “doing well” when they are not, or who completely discount the cost of the amount of time and effort they are putting into a marginal business, when they could do so much better with an alternative plus have more time for family, relationships, life, etc. Then there is sunk-cost fallacy, in which one is inclined to keep investing in something one has already invested in, in order to “recover.”
I would say the rentalpreneurs whose objective is to make the most money, with no other goals, are ruthlessly pragmatic – focus only on the bottom line, target unregulated markets or find locales with limited risk of consequences of violating regulations by calculating amount of fines and probability of getting caught, use the cheapest furnishings and lowest cleaning standard that will still generate guest traffic, don’t have a mind for the neighbors unless they have the power to curtail your operation. Make sure you can cut your losses if a property is not hitting your profit target in the timeframe you have determined.
Personally, I wouldn’t operate that way, not consistent with my view of the social contract that is superimposed on any business contract for me.
I think a more gracious way to maximize the bucks would be either to focus on a unique product (your treehouse-in-the-forest and yurt-on-the-plains renters), or, if you can risk the investment, the luxury market with a high level of amenities and service (which is socially problematic in a different way).

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Can you please explain what you mean with ‘one off’?

If I had a cerveza for every time I’ve heard that over the years when it comes to property, I wouldn’t have to put my hand in my pocket for a while!

JF

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The problem with unique products up on a mountain or in the middle of a lake is that whenever you need to repair anything in the kitchen or toilet you’ll have to find a plumber really quick or you’ll risk losing that 5 star review if not more

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I’m afraid that applies wherever you are. One of your first priorities, if you go ahead with this plan, is to find an experienced person who will be on hand at all reasonable hours to help your guests. (And during unreasonable hours if there’s an emergency).

That person needs to be able to find a plumber quickly (also an electrician, handyman, AC tech, fridge/cooker/water heater/repair person, locksmith, WIFI/TV repair person, pest person, glazier, doctor, specialist cleaner etc. etc. etc.) and also be able to be a customer service specialist who can talk to and placate guests who have had their stay disrupted by a broken window, a cockroach, a broken AC unit or whatever.

I’d be grateful if this time you don’t call me a pessimist or someone who is frightened of competition but I want to point out that this business is truly not as easy or simple as you seem to think.

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Noa, with respect, you did not “state your question in detail”. Consider - we did not know where you live or your target markets until I dragged them out of you.

Right now, you have a dream and a lot of assumptions. STR is not easy. It takes planning, work and research. This is vastly multiplied if you are not local to your stay(s). Time to start your research.

Good luck!

RE: Airdna. IMO, a “few hundred dollars” is bs nothing money, if the research is solid. Their research may be great for some areas and crap for others. Again, research time.

IMO, you need to narrow down to 2-3 areas or towns in one country. Build your expertise at that. Figure out every angle. Accept that the reality will be rather different than “the research”.

Good luck!

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Is what the name suggests one off costs associated with starting up and managing your STR.