You’re a real estate investor looking to find the best places for vacation rentals this year, right? So, where do you turn in the US real estate market? California? Maybe Florida? We’re here to remove those pesky questions marks.
We’ve found the 4 best places for vacation rentals so you don’t have to!
Best Places for Vacation Rentals: What Do They Even Look Like?
Choosing where to invest in real estate typically requires a lot of market research. A long term rental investor may know how to find the best cities to invest in rental properties without breaking a sweat. But, many aspects of the search change with Airbnb investment properties. Here is what to look for when deciding on a location for the most successful vacation home rentals.
Tourists and Visitors Aplenty
Airbnb guests are tourists, business people, and other random visitors. Still, the largest demographic you’ll deal with when owning an Airbnb investment property is tourists. So, the real estate market of your choice must supply them.
Before choosing a housing market, research the health of the tourism industry in the location. Find out how many visitors the real estate market received in the last year or two. Is that statistic going up? What brings Airbnb guests to a rental property in that area (tourist attractions, conventions, music festivals, museums, sporting events, etc.)?
With this info, you can decide where to invest in real estate based on how many tourists a market sees each year- the more, the better. You’ll also be able to pinpoint the exact place to find an investment property for Airbnb real estate investing (near these popular attractions).
How Can a Real Estate Investor Find This Information?
This kind of information is easily available online in various city tourism reports. You can also refer to some of Mashvisor’s blogs during your real estate market research for help. We’ve provided the tourist stats below for our 4 best places for vacation rentals as well to help you make the most informed investment decision.
Unbeatable Airbnb Rental Income and Occupancy Rate Combo
The next step in your real estate market research for the best places for vacation rentals? Take a look at both the Airbnb rental income and Airbnb occupancy rate. A real estate investor has to know what to expect in terms of both for any real estate investment.
When owning an Airbnb investment, however, there is an even more delicate balance in this relationship. That’s because the Airbnb occupancy rate in any real estate market won’t be 100%. With long term rental property, for example, a landlord can experience 100% occupancy rate for many years in a row. This ensures maximum rental income.
Because of the nature of short term rentals, vacancy rates are higher. So you have to find a real estate market where the Airbnb rental income is high enough to combat whatever the vacancy rate is. Always study both together. If the occupancy rate is low in a housing market, but the rental income is high enough to cover costs and turn a profit, it could still make a great place for a real estate investment.
Always keep in mind that whatever comes up in your investment property search, the rental income and occupancy rate will rely heavily on your rental property management as much as they do on the location.
How Can an Airbnb Investor Find This Information?
The same way we found the best places for vacation rentals listed below: with an Airbnb profit calculator. This real estate investment tool can show you both the expected Airbnb rental income and Airbnb occupancy rate for any US housing market. These real estate analytics will help you decide on the best place to invest in real estate with this rental strategy.
We used Mashvisor’s Airbnb profit calculator (also called a real estate investment calculator, as it doubles for both the Airbnb and traditional rental strategy). With this tool, a real estate investor can compare the Airbnb rental income and Airbnb occupancy rate for different markets.
Even after you choose a real estate market, answer the question “how much should I charge for rent?” using this very same tool. That’s because it will allow you to see what rental income real estate comps are receiving. More importantly, it’ll show you the return on investment you’ll get with whatever rental rate you set depending on the occupancy rate.
Want this real estate market research tool? To learn about your options for signing up for our services, click here.
A Return on Investment That Makes Real Estate Investors Smile
The final element for choosing the best place to invest in real estate is the Airbnb return on investment. Specifically, an Airbnb investor should look for a good cash on cash return and cap rate. In the current housing market, most locations have a cash on cash return and cap rate on the low side. In fact, these values for the best places for vacation rentals listed below are under 7%.
However, you can find great performing neighborhoods and investment properties for real estate investing in these same cities. Ones with a higher potential return on investment than the average in the market. (We listed the top performing property you can get your hands on today for each city below!)
How Can a Real Estate Investor Find the Return on Investment?
You guessed it: the Airbnb profit calculator. Not only does the Airbnb profit calculator show you the expected return on investment in a market, but it shows you these values for individual investment properties. Even better, the values are adjusted once you enter your rental property financing details. This gives you the most realistic outcome for return on investment.
What can’t the Airbnb profit calculator do? Start looking for and analyzing the best investment properties in your city and neighborhood of choice by clicking here.
4 Best Places for Vacation Rentals in the US Housing Market
Now that you know how to find the absolute best places for vacation rentals, here are 4 to choose from!
Note: The median property price, rental income, return on investment metrics and top performing property are provided by Mashvisor’s Airbnb profit calculator and property finder tool.
1. Palm Springs, CA
- Median Property Price: $660,946
- Airbnb Rental Income: $4,596
- Airbnb Cash on Cash Return: 4.56%
- Airbnb Cap Rate: 4.56%
- Airbnb Occupancy Rate: 50.88%
- Buyer’s Market or Seller’s Market: Buyer’s Market
- # of Tourists: 13.6 million in 2017
Find the top-performing Airbnb property with a cash on cash return of 15.9% here.
2. Joshua Tree, CA
- Median Property Price: $281,319
- Airbnb Rental Income: $2,588
- Airbnb Cash on Cash Return: 6.71%
- Airbnb Cap Rate: 6.71%
- Airbnb Occupancy Rate: 55.57%
- Buyer’s Market or Seller’s Market: Seller’s Market
- # of Tourists: 2.8 million in 2017 (Joshua Tree National Park alone)
Find the top-performing Airbnb property with a cash on cash return of 17.31% here.
3. Nashville, TN
- Median Property Price: $428,107
- Airbnb Rental Income: $2,288
- Airbnb Cash on Cash Return: 3.33%
- Airbnb Cap Rate: 3.33%
- Airbnb Occupancy Rate: 68%
- Buyer’s Market or Seller’s Market: Buyer’s Market
- # of Tourists: 14.5 million in 2017
Find the top-performing Airbnb property with a cash on cash return of 17.35% here.
4. Napa, CA
- Median Property Price: $1,462,860
- Airbnb Rental Income: $6,627
- Airbnb Cash on Cash Return: 3.68%
- Airbnb Cap Rate: 3.68%
- Airbnb Occupancy Rate: 51.21%
- Buyer’s Market or Seller’s Market: N/A
- # of Tourists: 3.5 million visitors in 2016
Find the top-performing Airbnb property with a cash on cash return of 10.95% here.
If you want to learn how to find the best neighborhoods in these cities to invest in, read: Heatmap Analysis: The Secret to Successful Real Estate Investing.
If you wish to invest in any one of the best places for vacation rentals on this list, do so with Mashvisor.
To start your 7-day free trial with Mashvisor and subscribe to our services with a 15% discount after, click here.