Air b n b or rent?

001220

Hi all. I have a 2 bed house in a small town that I am looking at either renting out (£800 a month) or selling to purchase an air b n b property in Cardiff city centre. 

For the same price as my two bed house, I will be able to purchase a one bed flat in the city centre, which I am looking to make an air b n b.

Is there anyone here that can recommend an air b n b property rental over a standard rent? I feel I will make a lot more financial gains on a monthly basis on the air b n b, with many events taking place, business trips and weekend guests visiting?

Does anyone have any experience on the air b n b market, and what would you advise? I live about 30 minutes from the city centre so I would look into an agency running it. 

Many thanks

K_S

@01220 Leasehold flats can often be very difficult/impossible to use for AirBNB/short-lets due to clauses in the lease, so do make sure you are doing the required due diligence. Don't go by what the Estate Agent says about this.

Sandtree

001220 said:

Is there anyone here that can recommend an air b n b property rental over a standard rent? I feel I will make a lot more financial gains on a monthly basis on the air b n b, with many events taking place, business trips and weekend guests visiting?

Does anyone have any experience on the air b n b market, and what would you advise? I live about 30 minutes from the city centre so I would look into an agency running it. 

There are normally higher revenues but there are also higher costs and more effort. Depending on your location the revenue may also be very seasonal. 

How are you going to deal with the hand over and hand back of your AirB&B? Who'll do the cleaning? Who'll respond to the questions from perspective renters? Do you need planning permission... in London you can only do 90 days short term rental per year before planning permission is required

We've looked at it outside the UK market and there lots of people take on long term rentals and sublet them via AirB&B with the owners consent. It only works if you have the network to manage the other aspects at a reasonable price or are willing to do it all yourself.

001220

Thanks for the advice both. 

It’s risk for reward isn’t it, however looking at the logical side I think you’re right. The hand over aspect may be an issue as I’m not extremely flexible, which is why I considered an agency to cover all of our, however that would reduce the financial gains massively and probably be too much hassle!

many thanks 

TBagpuss

With an AirBnB you may be able to charge a higher rate per night / week but you are likely to have void periods, so whether it is more profitable will depend on how much of the time it can be rented out. I suspect that if you get an agency to manage it they will charge you even if the prerty isn't rented out so you would need to cllok very closely at the costs.

You would also need to look at the consditions of the head lease (if you are buying a flat) and your mortgage (assuming you ned one) subletting the property as an AirBnB may breach the terms of either or both. 

I think you would need to do some fairly in depth research first. 

You also need to think about your target market - so not only whether there is a demand for AirBnB in the city centre, but whether there is a demand for a one bed flat as an AirBnB - and who your target market is. Are there other AirBnBs in the same area and how much ofthe time are they booked up? 

I took a last minute break recenbtly and booked an AirBnB(not in Cardiff!) I was quite surprised at how many available proeprties thre were even though I was booking less than a week before I wanted to travel, and it was noticable that a lot of places had dropped their prices since I first started looking.

I did a quick google and there is at least one specifc forum for AirBnB hosts (https://airhostsforum.com/) maybe join that (or other similar if they exist) and talk to people have or are doing it? 

housebuyer143

Don't forget that the Welsh government hate second home owners, so you could before long be stuck with high council tax or other charges.