Airbnb or Long Term Rental investment?

Victoria17

I understand there isn't a clear answer to this dilemma...
But for those who have experienced both, is airbnb worth all the extra effort, bills, cleaning, fees to the platform, etc...? 
I have 4 rentals already, all AST but I'm in the process of remortgaging one of my properties to invest in another property.
I was wondering if I should try the Airbnb adventure with this one. I do live in Brighton,which is a popular tourist destination so it might be worth it?
(In case it makes a difference: I'm a 20% tax payer and this investment would push me at the top of that bracket but still within it).

newsgroupmonkey_

Victoria17 said:

I understand there isn't a clear answer to this dilemma...
But for those who have experienced both, is airbnb worth all the extra effort, bills, cleaning, fees to the platform, etc...? 
I have 4 rentals already, all AST but I'm in the process of remortgaging one of my properties to invest in another property.
I was wondering if I should try the Airbnb adventure with this one. I do live in Brighton,which is a popular tourist destination so it might be worth it?
(In case it makes a difference: I'm a 20% tax payer and this investment would push me at the top of that bracket but still within it).

It's a bit of a PITA. My Mum does it, but because she wants to retain the property for family when we come to stay.

The problem you have is if someone only stays 1 night (you can set a minimum, but how many? 2? 3? 7?) the longer the minimum, the more likely you are to have it empty.

It works for my Mum - as you probably know, empty houses attract council tax. We weren't using the 140 days, so it was easier for her to let the place cheaply when we don't use it, but she's retired and has the time.

Victoria17

Yes, in your mum's situation it does make sense, because she is not willing to let the property long term, for personal reasons - so that's a good way of making some money out of it whilst still being able to have it for her loved ones to stay in when they visit.
But yeah, as you did state, she has the time, and that's another thing i need to consider... It does seem to be time consuming.
Much more so than a long term rental. Thanks for your reply!

Victoria17 said:

I understand there isn't a clear answer to this dilemma...
But for those who have experienced both, is airbnb worth all the extra effort, bills, cleaning, fees to the platform, etc...? 
I have 4 rentals already, all AST but I'm in the process of remortgaging one of my properties to invest in another property.
I was wondering if I should try the Airbnb adventure with this one. I do live in Brighton,which is a popular tourist destination so it might be worth it?
(In case it makes a difference: I'm a 20% tax payer and this investment would push me at the top of that bracket but still within it).

It's a bit of a PITA. My Mum does it, but because she wants to retain the property for family when we come to stay.

The problem you have is if someone only stays 1 night (you can set a minimum, but how many? 2? 3? 7?) the longer the minimum, the more likely you are to have it empty.

It works for my Mum - as you probably know, empty houses attract council tax. We weren't using the 140 days, so it was easier for her to let the place cheaply when we don't use it, but she's retired and has the time.

saajan_12

I would just work out the average time for both avenues and calculate a cost based on an hourly rate as if you paid yourself to manage the property.
 * For an AST, there is some time to advertise, find tenants, go through referencing, contracts, inventory, chase rent, repairs, etc
* For an AirBnB, there is more time to advertise, deal with enquiries, check in / out, clean, repairs, etc

The alternative is a really passive investment which doesn't have this time, so you need to compare any profits after paying yourself for the time as well as out of pocket expenses. 

Victoria17

That's a very good point Saajan - thank you for your reply. I guess how much my time is worth is an important thing to consider... It's rather precious at the moment as I have investment properties, I'm studying part-time, and I also have 2 young children.
It would take up a lot of time managing an airbnb... I might also look into agents that deal with airbnb properties, but that's yet another expense...