Regular rental or Airbnb?

[temple5]

Originally Posted by Hommel

Hey,

I would give it away to a management company and they do all the work. All I want is not to loose money.
Since the overall rent dropped quiet a bit in Calgary and considering the high vacancy rate I figure to might give it a try.
Plus, we can use the condo when not occupied.

You have the possibility of making alot more money with AirBnb assuming you can capture the downtown Calgary traffic. With condo fees and management fees you likely wont be revenue neutral with monthly rental income.

AirBnb isnt that much work although I dont know the logistics of a condo rental with door access. We rent a SFH where we have a code lock connected to wifi that we can reset the code after each guest leaves.

With July and August 80% booked and June 30% through Airbnb we are able to cover all the yearly costs with out vacation home. We have blocked off the rest of the dates for our own use. We arent looking to make a profit (just be revenue neutral) as that would affect our tax situation.

The great thing about AirBnb is that it has drastically reduced the number of leaches wanting to use our property for free. Now we simply say its booked via AirBnb even if it isnt

[Weitz]

Don't forget some Condo buildings do not allow short term rentals like AirBnB. So make sure you check out the requirements with your condo board.

[mustache ride]

Originally Posted by Weitz

Don't forget some Condo buildings do not allow short term rentals like AirBnB. So make sure you check out the requirements with your condo board.

I'm going through this right now. Condo bylaws, and city bylaws in general, don't mention anything about short term rentals, lease length or any other specific infractions regarding these types of tenants. But they can use other bylaws to fine you if they want. Running a business, not sending in new tenant info for each specific rental ect.... At that point it is up interpretation of the bylaws and as far as i found no case has been settled in court in Alberta but they can point to Ontario where they have upheld some mid 4 figure fines against owners.

[Hommel]

Originally Posted by jwslam

Define "same area"
If they're showing you stuff that's on something like 16th ave, that's a significant difference. If all else equal (number of beds, size, bathrooms, finishings, $/night, etc), would someone who's 25y/o and here to party be willing to walk 6 more blocks to 17th ave just to stay at your place?

I'm not saying that 6&10 is a bad location, I'm saying that for a visitor, there is nothing attractive in that area. Whereas for a long-term local, there's grocery stores, very walkable to downtown work & LRT.

Also the other thing to consider is if you're going AirBnB now, you need to fully furnish the place. That's a big upfront cost. Will you decide to use all new furniture, for people who don't actually care? Or will you decide to buy 2nd hand which will take a lot more time and judgement to find good pieces.
Then when you decide to go long term, the market for fully furnished is maybe in the 25% range (my personal conservative guess). You're writing off 75% of the people who would like to bring their own furnishings unless you have somewhere to put / get rid of the furnishings

Same area means close proximity.
They also considered size of the unit, number of bedrooms and bathrooms and amenities.
I will buy all new furniture and I am aware about the upfront cost.
I agree that it is more difficult to find long term tenants if renting out furnished.
We own several rental units in Alberta and a Phoenix VRBO.

[Hommel]

Originally Posted by temple5

You have the possibility of making alot more money with AirBnb assuming you can capture the downtown Calgary traffic. With condo fees and management fees you likely wont be revenue neutral with monthly rental income.

AirBnb isnt that much work although I dont know the logistics of a condo rental with door access. We rent a SFH where we have a code lock connected to wifi that we can reset the code after each guest leaves.

With July and August 80% booked and June 30% through Airbnb we are able to cover all the yearly costs with out vacation home. We have blocked off the rest of the dates for our own use. We arent looking to make a profit (just be revenue neutral) as that would affect our tax situation.

The great thing about AirBnb is that it has drastically reduced the number of leaches wanting to use our property for free. Now we simply say its booked via AirBnb even if it isnt

We know that we can't make a killing having this place an Airbnb. It's more like to hopefully break even and to have the unit for us if not occupied.
We always wanted a place right downtown in a bigger city. Guess we have to wait and try it out for a year and decide if we carry on after.
Seems like you doing alright, that's great!!

[photon]

I spent around $20k furnishing a 2 bedroom 1400sqft executive condo, I saved quite a bit by doing a lot of shopping around since I wasn't busy with work at the time.

[Hommel]

Originally Posted by photon

I spent around $20k furnishing a 2 bedroom 1400sqft executive condo, I saved quite a bit by doing a lot of shopping around since I wasn't busy with work at the time.

Our condo is about 1250sqf so we are hoping to get it decent in the 17000.00$ range.
I will also install Vera Home Automation including keypad door locks.
The Vera system works great for our Phoenix home.