Hosting during the pandemic

Answered!
Carrie344
Level 1
Sandy, UT

Hosting during the pandemic

Hello! I have one property I was using as a short term rental for a few months before the pandemic. When cancellations due to COVID started coming in I decided to move into the property. At this time I am considering moving back out and either trying the short term rental again, or finding a long term tenant.

I wanted to see if those of you that are still up and running have seen things pick back up, or if it is still pretty slow.

If you are renting, is what you are making right now comparable to what you might make if you had longterm tenants?

For reference, I am in Utah but Ill take any advice I can get on this.

Thanks in advance!

Top Answer

@Carrie344   While a lot of hosts in this global community have their own experiences to share, you might have better luck finding localized data on a site like Airdna , which compiles externally available data from homesharing sites to analyze occupancy and pricing trends. They're not always accurate - for example, their algorithm can't distinguish whether calendar dates have been blocked or booked, and that's quite an important detail in your case.

 

Local tourism bureaus are also a helpful data source that's often overlooked by hosts. And if the biggest draw to your area in the past has been something specific like a national park, university, convention center, or sporting arena, you can expect their projected stats for this year to impact yours. But it's important to consider that while the pandemic has been the main event impacting travel for the first half of this year, it will at some point be overtaken by the impending recession - the trajectory of which is even harder to predict. 

 

My haphazard guess based on the data I see from Europe and North America is that when businesses catering to visitors are up and running again, it will be a great time for hosts with affordable, self-contained properties in areas not within but a comfortable driving distance from larger cities. I expect that homestay hosts, inner-city properties, and destinations reliant on international air travel or a (northern hemisphere) summer peak season are going to have a harder time with short-term bookings for the duration of this year. 

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2 Replies 2

@Carrie344   While a lot of hosts in this global community have their own experiences to share, you might have better luck finding localized data on a site like Airdna , which compiles externally available data from homesharing sites to analyze occupancy and pricing trends. They're not always accurate - for example, their algorithm can't distinguish whether calendar dates have been blocked or booked, and that's quite an important detail in your case.

 

Local tourism bureaus are also a helpful data source that's often overlooked by hosts. And if the biggest draw to your area in the past has been something specific like a national park, university, convention center, or sporting arena, you can expect their projected stats for this year to impact yours. But it's important to consider that while the pandemic has been the main event impacting travel for the first half of this year, it will at some point be overtaken by the impending recession - the trajectory of which is even harder to predict. 

 

My haphazard guess based on the data I see from Europe and North America is that when businesses catering to visitors are up and running again, it will be a great time for hosts with affordable, self-contained properties in areas not within but a comfortable driving distance from larger cities. I expect that homestay hosts, inner-city properties, and destinations reliant on international air travel or a (northern hemisphere) summer peak season are going to have a harder time with short-term bookings for the duration of this year. 

Thank you for your response and tips, @Anonymous! I will be sure to check out airdna.