Would you start another new property on Airbnb or rent out long term ?

[Pete28]

We already rent out a MIL unit in the lower level of our house - completely separate etc, but obviously somewhat limited in glamour.

We also own a 2 bed rental which is in a much better location, and has a brand new interior. Currently makes $3k / month as a rental. A while back I was considering moving it to Airbnb as well since it would probably make more and we could just about manage both. Now however,

- a new property will have to wait a year to get into plus, no guarantee either. Lots of uncertainty about how this will impact the middle- upper end of Airbnb if most are plus and you have to spin for a year, superhost, then get it inspected, then wait for,plus

- more competition in the $100 plus a night makes it hard to tell if we would actually make more. Not clear that anyone is sustainably getting $150+ night outside weekends.

- Seattle has a $14 night tax on Airbnb next year which means is actually need to do $3.5k a month 😞

- hard to control reviews, the new review avg of 4.8 for superhost can easily be lost by random bad reviews. Starts to become a source or stress 😞

- long term rental requires very little time or effort. We can go away for a month without needing to worry about guests etc.

thougts ?

[Sandra126]

if you are getting that kind of money from having it as just a rental, seems fine to keep it like that. I would be extremely happy with that result!

[Hank14]

I think if we had another one we would do long term rentals.  Just managing one bnb is a full time job (we both have regular jobs) and we do the cleaning ourselves.  Maybe if we were retired hosting at more than one property would look more appealing.  I do enjoy it, but I don't want to be under so much stress that it's no longer fun.

[Pete28]

Semi- retired at this point, can handle cleaning - although on a 2bed it would start to become a full time job with all of the towels and bedding. Find guests just use all the towels you put out even if they don't need them so constant laundry 😞

- have doubts on the upside for 2bed - seems most upside is on 1bed with sofa bed for Airbnb. For rental you can get two independent people in and get more security.

- endless reviews, superhost, plus make the external factors hard to control. Who knows what Airbnb will do next. No one even knows how many bathrooms you need to have for plus.

- it feels like Airbnb is better for hard to rent or less prime property in a buoyant rental market like Seattle.