We are often asked a lot of questions but the two that we hear most of the time are “I have a property and I want to utilize it, can it be used for short term rental?” or “I want to buy a property for and use it as a short term rental, what I should I look for?”
These are not easy questions to answer but I will provide you with the two most important factors that will make a property attractive to guests that visit your town!
Short term rental Location
I believe that undoubtedly the most important characteristic of a property that will make it stand out is the location. If you want to take my word for it, never invest in a property that you are planning to use as a short term rental unless it is in a location with high demand.
Let’s try to see things from a traveler’s point of view. When they visit a town they want to be close to the points of interest as they do not want to spent their precious time travelling around. For cities the closer you are at the center it is the best, as this makes it very attractive for business travelers but also for tourists as usually it is the area of the city where most of its attractions are located.
For holiday resorts it is important to be close to the beach, Marinas, Theme Parks, and all the important attractions that make the place special.
If your property is not that close to these areas, then it is important to be close to public transportation as this will somehow make up for it. If there is a bus stop or any other means of public transportation within a short walking distance of your property it will greatly reduce the time your guests will need to travel and get to the city centre or to the attraction they want to visit.
Property Characteristics
Property characteristics like the size of the property, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, amenities, how well equiped the kithchen is (have a look at our checklist) or a living room and the overall condition of the property will play an important role in getting as many reservations possible and that your short term rental will generate the highest return on investment.
Imagine that you invest in a 3-bedroom apartment in a city centre that usually attracts business travelers. There will be high demand for 1-2 bedroom apartments but it is not very often that you will find people looking for 3 bedrooms. You will have to lower your prices to match those of smaller apartments and you will generate lower return on investments as you paid more to purchase and prepare the apartment. The same goes for tourist resorts that usually attract families, the average family size is between 3-4 persons, so a double bed in your master bedroom and two single beds in the second bedroom make you a potential property to book for most of the family travelers out there and groups of couples out there.
The overall condition is also important about how a property is presented to potential guests. A freshly painted property, with a nice decoration and well preserved furniture is an image that every guest wants to see at the property that they will be staying. A not very well preserved property, overloaded with excessive and non-appealing objects is not a very pleasant image to showcase to your potential guests. They will perceive it as dirty and untidy and it will never be able to compete with a better maintained and better aesthetically decorated property.
Finally, the amenities are also an important part of the property’s characteristics and will make it appropriate to be used as a short term rental. A hot tub, a covered parking, a pool amongst others are very important and can turn an average property into a wealth generating asset. After all everyone is looking for something extra that make their stay as pleasant as possible in a property.
Something that you should never forget is that your property is competing with every other in the area every time a potential guest is looking for an accommodation to stay. When they are in the process, they are looking for those characteristics and that special touch that will make their stay special.
We are often asked a lot of questions but the two that we hear most of the time are “I have a property and I want to utilize it, can it be used for short term rentals?” or “I want to buy a property and use it for short term rentals, what I should I look for?”
These are not easy questions to answer but I will provide you with the two most important factors that will make a property attractive to guests that visit your town!
Location
I believe that undoubtedly the most important characteristic of a property that will make it stand out is the location. If you want to take my word for it, never invest in a property that you are planning to use for short term rentals unless it is in a location with high demand.
Let’s try to see things from a traveler’s point of view. When they visit a town they want to be close to the points of interest as they do not want to spent their precious time travelling around. For cities the closer you are at the center it is the best, as this makes it very attractive for business travelers but also for tourists as usually it is the area of the city where most of its attractions are located.
For holiday resorts it is important to be close to the beach, Marinas, Theme Parks, and all the important attractions that make the place special.
If your property is not that close to these areas, then it is important to be close to public transportation as this will somehow make up for it. If there is a bus stop or any other means of public transportation within a short walking distance of your property it will greatly reduce the time your guests will need to travel and get to the city centre or to the attraction they want to visit.
Property Characteristics
Property characteristics like the size of the property, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, amenities, availability of a kitchen or a living room and the overall condition of the property will play an important role in getting as many reservations possible and that your property will generate the highest return on investment.
Imagine that you invest in a 3-bedroom apartment in a city centre that usually attracts business travelers. There will be high demand for 1-2 bedroom apartments but it is not very often that you will find people looking for 3 bedrooms. You will have to lower your prices to match those of smaller apartments and you will generate lower return on investments as you paid more to purchase and prepare the apartment. The same goes for tourist resorts that usually attract families, the average family size is between 3-4 persons, so a double bed in your master bedroom and two single beds in the second bedroom make you a potential property to book for most of the family travelers out there and groups of couples out there.
The overall condition is also important about how a property is presented to potential guests. A freshly painted property, with a nice decoration and well preserved furniture is an image that every guest wants to see at the property that they will be staying. A not very well preserved property, overloaded with excessive and non-appealing objects is not a very pleasant image to showcase to your potential guests. They will perceive it as dirty and untidy and it will never be able to compete with a better maintained and better aesthetically decorated property.
Finally, the amenities are also an important part of the property’s characteristics. A hot tub, a covered parking, a pool amongst others are very important and can turn an average property into a wealth generating asset. After all everyone is looking for something extra that make their stay as pleasant as possible in a property.
Something that you should never forget is that your property is competing with every other in the area every time a potential guest is looking for an accommodation to stay. When they are in the process, they are looking for those characteristics and that special touch that will make their stay special.