I’ve heard the same question at almost every short-term rental event that I’ve been to this year, and on every short-term rental podcast that I listen to. Before too long, the skepticism comes up,
“Is the short-term rental bubble happening?”
“Are our investments safe?”
“Should we sell?”
“New York City just banned short-term rentals! You’d be crazy to buy a new STR in this market!”
You name it, and we at Chroma Home have heard it. Despite all the fear in today’s market… our business is thriving. Every day, we continue to sign on smart, wealthy investors who are still bullish about the future of the short-term rental industry. How can that be?
To us, the answer is simple: The top 10% of any industry always perseveres.
I will be the first to admit – it has gotten increasingly difficult year over year to find success with a short-term rental. When Airbnb first began, it was totally acceptable and sufficient to rent out a back room at your house, make a few extra hundred bucks a month, and be eligible for some tax write-offs. Things were great!
In today’s STR market – guests demand so much more. For short-term rental hosts, we’re not just competing against other short-term rentals, we’re also competing against hotels. When STR platforms like Airbnb and VRBO were booming, hotels fought back by highlighting the sometimes very lengthy checkout instructions that picky hosts demanded. I think that’s a valid argument. Why would anyone want to stay somewhere where they’re spending hours on the last day cleaning up after themselves? It became clear in the early 2020’s that the way we as short-term rental hosts separate ourselves from hotels and from our low-effort short-term rental competitors is to invest in above-and-beyond design and amenities.
How do you ensure that your property doesn’t become a commodity stay, like a hotel? Make it a one-of-one original with unique design choices that are difficult to replicate. Push the boundaries with your aesthetic approach. Add amenities that no other properties offer, and certainly not hotels. Or, hire a professional, short-term rental specific design team like us to do all of the above for you!
My point rings true. The best safeguard for your investment is to do what’s necessary to position your property in the top 10% of listings in your market. Of the investors that we know, many of them have had live short-term rental listings since before COVID-19. They’ve also had them after COVID-19, through multiple presidencies, and economic prosperity and recessions.
The hosts and their properties that have persevered are those that have invested in unique and original, guest-centric and intentional property design that stands the test of time and is not easily duplicated.
Don’t know where to start? Check out our Wayfair Professional Tastemakers Shop and see what we source for many of our properties.
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