Is a 4th floor appartment (without elevator) worth investing in?

[Maxime70]

Hi everyone,

My girlfriend and I are facing a real dilemna here, as we've been looking for a good property to start our Airbnb business, and we may just have found the right place;

The flat is gorgeous, pretty much all is recently renovated, the building itself is well maintained too. It has a very nice seaview and is situated right in the center, by the bus/train station which is really ideal here. Icing on the cake, it's also rather cheap and fits our budget.

Now the one thing wrong with it is that it doesn't have an elevator, and it is 4 floors that you need to climb... And we just don't know yet how much of an issue this might be for potential guests.

Any thoughts on this one? Does anyone have any listing similar? How well does it do?

Thanks,

Max

[Marit-Anne0]

@Maxime70

Will you be there to meet your guests and help them with the luggage ? That might help the situation a bit. 

The older generation will not be keen on all that climbing though.

You will have to be very clear in your listing about this disadvantage to avoid bad reviews. It may be mentioned in the reviews anyway. And send a reminder directly after the booking so that they have a chance to cancel quickly without loosing the admin fee. Many do not read the listing before booking.

You may have to set your prices lower than you would like.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Maxime70 when we were buying a property for ABB we didn't even look anything above the 1st floor . If it would be an elevator then maybe... but it is questionable how neighbours would look at your guests with suitcases using the elevator... ?

[Monika64]

@Maxime70 I'm telling you from experience: even if you put something in your listing 3 times and send text messages about it your guests will STILL complain, you'd be lucky if they don't leave bad reviews. People will NOT READ the details of your listing, will NOT READ House Rules (even if they have to sign off on them) and WILL NOT rememeber that you mentioned that there is no elevator. You'll have MAJOR problems with complains all the time and there is no going back once you've invested. I honestly wouldn't do it. Just my personal experience and opinion, no offens to anyone with flats without elevators.

Also, I stayed in 2nd, 3rd level units many times before (without elevator) and while I didn't complain to the owner (it was my choice so I accepted it) it's a HUGE pain in the #$% to stay in a place like this, especially with small kids (strollers, anyone) and staying for more than 1 night (carrying food up, heavier suitcases).

[David126]

It would be fairly unusual for a building like this to have a Lift, other countries much more likey to have one or maybe new developments.

But you are presumably looking to rent short term to a variety of guests, some of who will have issues.

[Henry219]

Hi Maxime, what did you do at the end? How did it work out ?

[Rick3145]

Curious about this as well @Maxime70 🙂