We are looking to invest in a vacation home within a couple hours of Vancouver, BC Canada that our family can use on occasion but that we can also rent out as an AirBNB destination. Areas we are considering are the Sunshine Coast, Saltspring Island, Whistler, or San Juan Island. Our concern is that we will find something our family likes but, due to various factors, that we will have a hard time attracting enough AirBNB visitors. Anybody have any suggestions as to what factors we should keep in mind that make for an attractive AirBNB location? Such as proximity to a nice shopping town. Or waterfront? Or a nice view? Or do any of these locations above strike you as better than the other in terms of AirBNB income? Any feedback at this point would be welcomed. Thanks
Be very conservative in terms of how much you are counting on short-term rental income when you make your purchase. Prohibitive legislation has foiled plans for many in New York and parts of L.A.
Sounds like your prospective locations aren’t urban areas so this hopefully would be a non-issue but it would suck to have to deal with a foreclosure if the AirBNB marketplace is shut down in a few years.
Thanks @chicagohost! Yes, we definitely expect the short-term rental income to be slow in developing. But, as you pointed out, we definitely need to research the rules and regulations for the areas we are targeting so as not to get locked out of the market in the future. At this point, we are looking at rental income just enough to cover our maintenance expenses.
I would search the areas you’re looking at buying in to see if there are already airbnbs there, how much they charge, bookings, etc., that would tell you a lot.