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April 4, 2023 56 mins

#94: Real estate investing changed a lot the last couple years, but one asset class consistently punched above its weight: short-term rentals, a.k.a., STRs, e.g., Airbnbs.

In 2020, when people couldn’t go on vacation by hopping on a plane to Europe, South America, or Asia, they got in their cars and drove to national parks and mountain / beach / lake towns. Short-term rentals, often seen as safer than hotels, were on 🔥.

In 2021, this trend exploded. 🔥🔥

In 2022, when flying became a thing again, so did “revenge travel.” STRs accelerated even more. 🔥🔥🔥

With average daily rates skyrocketing the last couple years, hordes of real estate investors snapped up homes to turn them into Airbnbs, trying to chase yield.

Now the market is super saturated, with daily rates even contracting in places, and there’s tons of new short-term rental inventory (over half of Airbnb listings added since 2020).

So how can you stand out as an STR real estate investor in the current climate?

In this episode, I interview Diya Liu, a seasoned short-term rental investor who scaled from zero to 9 STRs in one year, netting $100k annual profit, and then quit her BigLaw job to do short-term rental real estate investing full-time. She currently owns three hotels and a dozen STRs.

We discuss:

  • Diya’s RE portfolio breakdown - STRs vs. hotels
  • Her step-by-step analysis process for screening potential STR vs. hotel deals
  • How she analyzes local STR regulations in a market
  • Key interior design principles she implements for her STRs
  • Marketing strategies to help your STR stand out
  • Automation strategies for your STRs - using VAs, messaging guests, etc
  • How she met her investment partners and how they split up work

​Check it out here:

https://hackyourwealth.com/short-term-rental-hotel-investing

​Are you an STR investor? If so, how have bookings changed in the last 1-2 years? Do you see over-saturation in listings inventory in your area? Are you trying out any different strategies this year? Let me know by leaving a comment.

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