Last on Long Term vs Short Term we saw our players going through some major drama. See Part 1. Short term came up Long and Long Term came up short. Is was all about the short term for those few years and we saw a drop in long term rentals as Airbnbs has a gold rush type surge and everyone wanted to get in so they didn’t miss out. But now what? Bookings dropped significantly and people still had mortgages they had to pay. The jury is still out on long term and short term rentals.
What happened? There are probably many theories. In my opinion I think it had to do with international travel. It is a small sampling but I noticed most of the people in my circle were traveling internationally that year and even people I was calling for business, those contacts at some time or another were on vacation in some beautiful country somewhere. When the world shut down no one was going anywhere and me as a new Airbnb’er was wondering what would happen next. We had just bought our first short term rental in fall of 2019 and we were just getting started before things went quiet around the world. For me I knew I was following God’s plan, but I was curious what would happen next.
Cue memorial weekend 2020. Everything was booked! In the question of long term and short term rentals, short term was the bomb! From there it was back to back for the next couple of years at peak pricing. It was definitely a blessing for us as we were traveling and staying at Airbnb’s ourselves. So when things began to slow down in 2023, it was a bit of a shock. We thought maybe it was a winter thing, but when spring break showed up and things were still slower than usual and I mean much slower than usual, even before the boom, many people got concerned. We saw articles and podcasts talking about how the boom was over and other very extreme titles.
With any business there is an ebb and flow. Many people went back to long term renting because they wanted to enjoy the consistency of monthly rent guaranteed while others, like myself could not break even with what long term market rates were at the time. In the world of Long term and short term rentals it was a split. So what was the answer for me? Short term was better than long term for me because of the potential of making more than the market long term rates from several guests within a month. But many months I made less than what I would have even in long term rates. It was pretty rough. For others Long term was better because they could get off the short term train and at least break even and maybe still make a little profit with long term rates.
So what is the answer regarding long term and short term rentals for those of us where neither option work? Enter in the third option, Mid-Term. The best option, in my opinion.
So picture this, I am looking at another slow month and praying about what we are going to do then BOOM! Here comes a request to book my place for a whole month. At short term rates. I began looking into this. Turns out when people have damage to their homes, insurance pays for accommodations. This has always been the case but back then, hotels were the main place. With Airbnbs, these placement companies have been searching Airbnb finding better and larger accommodations for their clients.
Mid-Terms was the third option that came in and shook things up! I just brought Mid-Terms to a long term and short term rentals fight. Plot twist for sure! Praise God for that! So now it became time to learn how to build those relationships and increase those bookings. Especially during the slower months. Interested in learning about starting your own rental? See our info session.