AirBnB / VRBO Listings (as an Owner)

[soccerdad72]

Just curious if anyone has experience listing properties on AirBnB or VRBO (or any other short term rental sites)?

Quick background - my wife and I are considering purchasing a property outside the US (as a partnership with a friend of my wife's) and the plan would be to rent it for the majority of the time, using it maybe a week or two each year. So the obvious question was - how hard would it be to post it on AirBnb and/or VRBO? Does it make sense to list it on both or would it be better to just stick to one or the other (if one, which one?)

Bonus points if the property you've listed was out of your home country (or, at minimum, far away from where you primarily live). I wasn't sure if that would make a difference. We do know that we would need some sort of management company (and a cleaning company) in the country to assist with this.

 

[kdonnel]

I owned a condo in North Myrtle Beach(Barefoot Landing), prior to VRBO/AirBnB, and had it listed with a management company.

The plan was to rent it out as much as possible, reserving a few weeks here and there for personal use.

In the end it rented for much less time than expected. The times we wanted to go were also the times it was most likely to rent. So we had to decide between the revenue and using the property.

The management company took a flat 30%.

We ended up owning it for only 2 years before selling.

The property being 6 hours away was difficult enough. Another country? I don't think I would do it.

 

[_19disnA]

Relatives own a beachfront condo along the Atlantic Ocean they list on VRBO. My impression is things have gone well and they have never had any issues with the people who run VRBO. Those wanting to rent can submit questions through VRBO who then forward them to the owners. They never give out your phone # or email address, all communications are co-ordinated through VRBO. Things like local management of the property (i.e. handing out keys/etc.) or arranging cleaning services are the responsibility of the property owner to deal with. I don't know what % VRBO takes, but perhaps it is shown somewhere on their website.

My impression is that AirBnB tends to be used by those renting out a portion of their home while still living there, but clearly there can be exceptions. VRBO primarily lists properties that are totally available to rent. You pay VRBO a % fee each time your property is rented. Part of what you are paying for is the wider advertisement of your property on an established/well-known online site. People can also easily check what is available in a certain area to find the pricing/accommodations that best suit their needs.

I am not sure it would be wise to list on both, since you would have constantly monitor rental requests to make sure your property doesn't get rented for the same week on both sites. Our relatives live several hundred miles away from their property and also only use it for a few weeks each year. The coordination of repairs tends to be a challenge, particularly when you aren't nearby. I am not sure that owning/renting property in a foreign country would be worth the extra effort. If you only plan to use it 1-2 weeks each year, you might want to also compare the costs involved as renting somewhere might make more sense rather than owning. Overall, my impression is they basically break even and certainly do not make a profit renting their property. A place you plan to rent would also be outfitted differently if you were the only ones who lived there compared to using it as a rental property.

 

[LoveDaisy]

I looked into it. We looked at buying a place to rent for a few years with plans to retire there. We opted against it for a variety of reasons after really looking into it.

Vrbo charges $699 a year plus 8% of what you charge. It is 5% commission and 3% admin fees.

You will need to arrange your own management, cleaning, and insurance.

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

Quick background - my wife and I are considering purchasing a property outside the US (as a partnership with a friend of my wife's) and the plan would be to rent it for the majority of the time, using it maybe a week or two each year. So the obvious question was - how hard would it be to post it on AirBnb and/or VRBO? Does it make sense to list it on both or would it be better to just stick to one or the other (if one, which one?)

When you say outside of the US, what country are you talking about? In many European cities there are major local housing shortages and short term AirBnB rentals like you are suggesting are a major contributing factor to the local housing shortages.

In Ireland there are rules and laws that AirBnB owners who do as you suggest, have a property which is not their main residence have to comply by. This website gives all the information https://www.citizensinformation.ie/...ers/renting-your-property-for-shortterm-lets/

Its not just as simple as buying a property, furnishing it and then listing it on AirBnB.

 

[princesscinderella]

For me sharing the ownership with a friend is the biggest red flag, especially if you want to remain friends. The ownership laws of the country where you would be purchasing it should also be researched too. If it’s in a country where you don’t speak the native language that may also be a barrier. If you buy it with the intention of it being a money maker if may surprise you and be a money pit, so do a ton of research and inspections before putting your money on the table. Lay out a plan with the friend ahead of time if one of you wants to get out of the property while the other wants to hold onto it. If you are planning to be absentee owners getting an honest and meticulous property manager is crucial. Bad reviews will mean the difference between premium rental rates or bargain rates just to keep it rented.

 

[soccerdad72]

For me sharing the ownership with a friend is the biggest red flag, especially if you want to remain friends. The ownership laws of the country where you would be purchasing it should also be researched too. If it’s in a country where you don’t speak the native language that may also be a barrier. If you buy it with the intention of it being a money maker if may surprise you and be a money pit, so do a ton of research and inspections before putting your money on the table. Lay out a plan with the friend ahead of time if one of you wants to get out of the property while the other wants to hold onto it. If you are planning to be absentee owners getting an honest and meticulous property manager is crucial. Bad reviews will mean the difference between premium rental rates or bargain rates just to keep it rented.

We’ve created an LLC for this and will be working with a lawyer to draw up contracts for our partnership as well as for the purchase.

The condos we’ve been looking at are new builds so hopefully there shouldn’t be any issues, at least initially. Our friend also has a realtor friend in the country (Costa Rica) so we would at least have someone who might be able to help in a pinch.

 

[longboard55]

We own a Waikiki condo for 20 years, not in vrbo, it is fun, rents 80% of the time at high prices, but the management fees and taxes take most of the money. A rental condo will have association fees, plus utilities, security, maintenance, plus the management fees. I looked at switching to vrbo but it was not a lot less in fees, because you still need an on site manager, and a lot less in service. VRBO really grew in the beginning when it was a straight one cost per year to join, not they have a lot more fees. As I said, it has been fun, but I would have made a lot more if I invested in Apple

 

[Darcy03231]

We have friends that did it, and after two years ended up selling both properties. While they did manage to have decent occupancy, the logistics of it when they weren't living close by became hard. They found that everything they were making was being eaten up in fees, and some months they were in the negative. Plus, some tenants did quite a bit of damage.

We own property in a very popular tourist destination and have opted to not rent it out due to headaches we've heard from other owners that do rent it out. My advise would be to not do it unless you have the funds to cover the cost if the property doesn't rent and a "slush" fund to make any repairs needed in the event of tenant damage or for legal fees if a tenant decides to not leave the property (which happened to the friend above - tenant refused to leave and then caused thousands of dollars in damage).

 

[china mom]

I do own a vacation rental but do not handle my own bookings but wanted to add some insight. My property management company lists my STR on all the sites - VRBO, AB&B, booking.com, their own site and several others

Several of my neighbors who do handle their own bookings have explained that there is software that will sync the calendar to all of the sites so that you don't get duplicate bookings across sites plus there are setting you can put in place which allow you to approve all bookings so that you can double check availability.

Now, the good, the bad and the ugly. I owned a beach rental for 20 years and the bookings were handled by a company (this was before any of the platforms were invented). I never had a positive cash flow but was close to breaking even every year and built about $150K in equity. It was a seasonal rental and within driving distance form my house so we did use it a lot off season so we got out money's worth.

We currently own a STR near Disney and next week, I am shopping for a second. If we are only going down for a few days, it is cheaper to stay in a hotel than it is to use our place because we are paying our cleaners plus losing out on potential bookings (which are usually longer says, so more money than we are spending on hotels).

We purchased in 2020 and have not had a positive cash flow yet but this is for two reasons. First, we did some remodeling two of the years and secondly, we have our property manager handle out bookings and they charge a 15% commission.

I am not at a point in my life where I want to manage the bookings but if I was, this could be a profitable venture but no where near the money maker the sellers claimed. I asked for P&L statements from a few sellers of houses identical to mine and got reports of anywhere from $35K-70K a year in rental income. Well, they greatly under reported expenses and included things like cleaning and booking fees in the income.

Be very careful of claims of the potential revenue. Also, make sure your partner agreement covers how the financial losses will be handled.

The good? I love having the property and, like I said, am about to buy another one. we have an owners closet where we can keep some of our things there and we do reserve a week here and there for our own use and that is great.

The ugly? It has not happened to me (knocking on woo) but I have had friends who have had some nightmare guests and have also suffered damage.

 

[china mom]

I'll share some of my numbers so that you can see how bad I am at business

Gross rental income - $35,472 (December 2025 not included yet)
Rental Commissions - $4,564 (could have saved if I handled my own bookings)
Remodel bathroom - $10,000
Operating expenses - $11,018 (includes mortgage, management fee, pool service, utilities HOA etc)
Net profit - negative $18,890

See, I could have only lost $4k if I handled bookings and didn't remodel.

** my two LTR's profit covers the losses from my STR

 

[PacificCoaster]

I co own a property in Canada, and we’re very lucky if we break even each year. I want to sell it but the other party doesn't. My cousin co owns a new condo in Mexico and already regrets and it’s only been two years since the purchase.

We also rent a resort condo in Maui every year for three weeks, and the owner, who lives in California, told us she just breaks even through short term rentals and only gets to use it herself for about three weeks a year.

 

[easyas123]

We had a property in the Abacos that I managed from the States via VRBO & a on-island caretaker. I handled all the bookings and dealing with the renters/paperwork and our caretaker met them at the ferry & got them settled at the house. He was also the go-to if anything needed immediate attention during a renters stay. It worked out well for us.
The only way I'd do it again is if I had a reliable caretaker or Company managing the renters when they arrived.

 

[soccerdad72]

Thanks for all the advice and experiences, everyone!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

My husband's old coworkers had to relocate for a job project halfway across the country. The project could last up to 2 years which was why they relocated. Originally they were going to keep their home here and just rent it out, not short term rental at least that wasn't what they wanted to do. They were thinking of doing it on their own but realized they needed a management company because of the distance. Then after a few months came to the conclusion that trying to rent it out just was going to be too much work and stress being so far away. Issues couldn't be resolved quickly enough due to distance. I would think being international makes that even more hard. Plus management company will be an added cost (but it should be one to have IMO). Those old coworkers just sold their home here.

We rented a house for 18 1/2 months from a couple that had to relocate about 3 1/2 hours away from us (technically the next state) and that was sorta an issue in itself. When the blower on the HVAC system went out we had to call them and ask what they wanted us to do and they had their own baby to take care of so it was just harder to do something interactions.

I also do share the concern others mentioned that the partnership could become a problem down the road, disagreements on how to handle such and such or costs involved have a higher likelihood of a ripple effect on a personal level.

One thing that tends to be consistent though is that I rarely hear of people actually being able to use or opting to use their property for their own usage. It's something that sounds great, something that sounds like the plan but then reality kicks in. Between scheduling blocks of time to prohibit bookings from unpredictability of travel, then if profit margins aren't high enough and you actually need the income then that results in the loss of income and the ensuring the home is actually prepared to your standards compared to what you might think guests need, etc. It seems like most people just don't get to the point of actually using the property for their own usage. People who purchase a property never intending it to be used as anything other than a rental tend to have a more business-oriented stance on the property, it's just there as income and income only not for actual enjoyment of the owners at that point.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

I'm seeing a lot of red flags in this thread.

1. Never be an absentee landlord, You shouldn't do it in a state you don't reside in and especially not in a country you don't reside in.
2. Going in with friends is the best way to lose a friend. Partners are all well and good until the ball and chain is attached, you lose money, have disagreements, and the whole thing becomes a drag. Or worse.
3. Management companies can take 8-12% off the top just in commissions. And if you're an absentee landlord, and they do more than just do your tenant finding, this percentage can climb to 40%. Hard to make money with this.
4. Don't do it with debt. Mortgage interest will eat your profits alive.
5. Don't think you're going to stay in your place and then just rent it out when you don't want it. Either get in this as a business to make money or don't get into this.

The cold hard reality is it is not easy to make meaningful money owning real estate, especially for the individual investor when you have a mortgage and use an agency. Let me pick just a random city somewhere in say uh Texas. How bout Amarillo. Median sale price 220k Average Mortgage rate (investment property) 7%. Average rent for a house $1500. I haven't calculated it out yet but I strongly suspect we're in trouble already even at 20% down to avoid mortgage insurance. We are at $1,370 just in principal and interest which is mostly interest to start out with. Throw in Taxes, insurance, and rental commissions and we're in the red. We cannot make money with even a 20% down mortgage on the average house at average rent in Amarillo Texas and pay a management company. This is not to say you cannot make money in Amarillo. It just means you're going to have to be very picky and you're going to have to get an above average deal. To do that you're going to have to be there and know the market, and you're going to have to do it without debt. See big companies with a lot of capital can afford to lose here and there. The little guys and girls can't.

I'm all for real estate investing. But you must treat it as a business and you must be in financial position to do it. There are other investments that are far superior to those with more modest means.

 

[longboard55]

The other big expense, relatives and friends. Nothing like a free vacation.

 

[kdonnel]

The other big expense, relatives and friends. Nothing like a free vacation.

My brother in law and his family used my condo so much more than my family and I.

 

[RedAngie]

DH and I own two rental condos in the same building in Ocean City, MD. We did use VRBO but dropped them because it became a hassle. We’re willing to pay a management company and real estate rental agents to do all the work and take a nice commission.

I doubt I’d consider being an absentee landlord in a foreign country, however. IMO it seems to be asking for problems.

 

[Darcy03231]

We also rent a resort condo in Maui every year for three weeks, and the owner, who lives in California, told us she just breaks even through short term rentals and only gets to use it herself for about three weeks a year.

We rented a resort condo in Maui last year for 2.5 weeks and are going back this year for 3 weeks. We just loved it! I'm not surprised about the owner breaking even. With the cost of real estate in Hawaii and for what we paid/are paying per night it would be tough to make a profit.