Is the AirDNA Airbnb calculator the ultimate tool for investors, or is there a better option out there?
There’s no denying the impact of Airbnb and other similar short-term rental platforms on the real estate industry. From the simple idea of renting out a few airbeds and providing breakfast for artists at a convention, Airbnb is a thriving worldwide enterprise today. Following the platform’s huge popularity, many real estate investors are changing their strategies and now getting into the vacation rental business.
Given the increasing demand for short-term rental properties—even amid a pandemic—investors are turning to an Airbnb profitability calculator like the AirDNA Airbnb calculator to get an idea of how certain properties will perform in the vacation rental market.
What Investors Need to Know About the AirDNA Airbnb Calculator
As COVID-related restrictions ease up and life seemingly goes back to normal—or at least the closest we can get to for the time being – travel and tourism are beginning to pick up some steam.
Travel restrictions within the US (between and within states) have been nearly removed, under certain conditions, of course. The relaxation of travel bans has also lifted a heavy pandemic-induced burden off many Airbnb hosts’ shoulders. With the easing of travel restrictions, Airbnb businesses have resumed operations and are gradually recovering from the pandemic’s negative impact.
Now that travel and tourism are well on their way to recovery, many existing and aspiring Airbnb owners are looking for ways to augment their income and, hopefully, recover the momentum they lost in the past two years.
Those with existing Airbnb businesses are adjusting to the new normal, while those interested in starting their vacation rental businesses are using all sorts of Airbnb income calculator, like the AirDNA Airbnb calculator, to see what the numbers are like for them.
People who own properties with spare rooms are wondering, “How much can I make on Airbnb calculator” and are doing their research to seek answers. And while there are several great investment property calculators online, one of the most popular is the one found on AirDNA’s website.
Your Questions About AirDNA, Answered
Let’s talk about AirDNA for a second. What is AirDNA? How does it work? What makes the AirDNA Airbnb calculator different from the rest? How accurate is AirDNA?
The answers to these questions can help give investors a clue on whether it is a service worth subscribing to or if they should consider other options. Let’s take on each of them one at a time.
What Is AirDNA?
AirDNA is one of the leading Airbnb data analytics tools real estate investors use to determine a property’s profitability in the short-term rental market industry. The tool allows one to conduct a thorough search for potential investment properties, check and optimize listings, and perform marketwide research.
Scott Shatford started the company in 2012. It began with a last-minute decision to list his apartment on Airbnb before going on vacation. The income was significant enough that it led him to upscale his operations in Southern California.
After realizing that he was as blind as a bat with zero intel on the market, he developed an algorithm-based method to help him and other Airbnb owners keep track of the listings on Airbnb. Thus, AirDNA was born.
How Does It Work?
As an analytics tool, AirDNA tracks the performance of over 10 million Airbnb and VRBO properties in more than 120,000 markets worldwide. Aside from the data they gather from Airbnb’s website, they also collect data from over a million partner properties.
Data tracking and revenue potential forecasting are done with the platform’s artificial intelligence. Now whether their data is 100% accurate or reliable is debatable. But we’ll talk about it in a bit.
Related: AirDNA Reviews: How Good Is the Platform for Airbnb Investors?
What Is the AirDNA Airbnb Calculator?
A smart investor is aware that before they set out to purchase a rental property, some work needs to be done to ensure that the math is right. Conducting such a task is made easier with an Airbnb calculator. While other similar platforms provide their own investment property calculators, AirDNA offers its own AirDNA Airbnb calculator. Are its features unique enough to offer investors an edge over their competitors?
Known as the AirDNA Rentalizer, the site’s calculator is a subscription-based tool that allows its users and subscribers to analyze Airbnb data, set nightly rates for their rental properties, keep track of essential market information, and calculate a property’s potential Airbnb income.
It only follows that an investor would want to know all of these important details because of the main goal of a vacation rental property owner and host investing in Airbnb: to make a profit.
Airbnb make money strategies may differ depending on the property’s location, but they are generally dependent on the latest data and analytics to succeed. It is where investment property tools like AirDNA’s Rentalizer come in handy for investors and hosts.
How Accurate Is AirDNA?
The very mention of “AirDNA” brings about different reactions from people, especially from those who’ve given it a try.
According to their site, AirDNA provides the world’s most accurate and comprehensive short-term rental data and analytics. It also claims a 97.5% accuracy rating from CBRE, the country’s leading commercial real estate firm.
Not bad, considering that they source their data by collecting all the reserved information for every listing on Airbnb and VRBO, in addition to those from its partners, such as property managers, channel managers, and individual hosts.
However, several AirDNA reviews from users also claim that the site’s data is either inaccurate or inadequate. The Trustpilot rating for the site is only 2.7 out of 5, although it might be more about pricing than data-related concerns. In most cases, the complaints are about how misleading the pricing structure is.
However, several reviews from the Airbnb community also stated that AirDNA’s data on smaller markets were inaccurate. It would seem that the platform pays more attention to bigger cities and not smaller towns. It means that if you’re hosting in a metropolitan area, you will find the app very useful since the data for such types of locations are far more accurate compared to smaller markets.
So when an investor uses the AirDNA Airbnb calculator, the accuracy might be off for those considering investing in smaller cities and towns. It is kind of a letdown since the platform’s users expect to get that 97.5% accuracy that the site advertises.
Related: Is AirDNA Accurate? And How Does It Compare to Mashvisor?
Mashvisor: Great Alternative to the AirDNA Rentalizer
While the Mashvisor vs AirDNA debate is a matter of preference, we offer a few things to give investors better chances of investment success.
Why Should You Go with Mashvisor?
Mashvisor is an online real estate investment tool specializing in data analysis for the best deals and higher returns on investment. It is an excellent tool for those who are looking for rental properties. While AirDNA is best known for its short-term rental market coverage, Mashvisor takes it a couple of steps further. It is efficient with long-term rental and off-market property listings on top of its broader vacation rental market coverage.
To date, thousands of subscribers and investors have enjoyed the following benefits from the site:
- Estimating the investment properties’ potential cash flow
- Searching for new and undervalued investment properties
- Evaluating the performance of thousands of markets, both big and small, across the US
- Optimizing an investor’s real estate portfolio and cash flow
As already mentioned above, unlike AirDNA, Mashvisor also keeps tabs on many other types of investment properties, not just Airbnb and other short-term rentals. Let’s take a quick look below at how Mashvisor edges out its competition.
Investment Property Search
Before you need to analyze an investment property, you first need to find one that you can purchase. This is why the first tool users encounter on Mashvisor is the Investment Property Search.
The most important thing in real estate investing is the property’s location. Every savvy investor knows that it is one of the fundamentals of looking for the right investment property.
Mashvisor includes two of the best investment property search tools with its Property Finder and Investment Property Search. The Property Finder, in particular, is ideal for both newbies and experienced investors, in addition to being a popular tool among brokers and agents.
The tool can be used to search for profitable properties in up to five markets simultaneously. It is a great time saver since users no longer need to pull up the results from different searches one at a time. Several Mashvisor reviews can back up this claim.
Unfortunately, the AirDNA Rentalizer can only be used to analyze data for specific addresses entered in the search bar.
Rental Analysis
On every listing page featured on Mashvisor’s platform, you will find analytics on the property to let you know which rental strategy is more lucrative.
Both platforms give users access to relevant market data such as:
- Airbnb rental income
- Airbnb cap rate
- Airbnb cash on cash return
- Airbnb occupancy rate
- Airbnb daily rate
- Startup costs
- Recurring expenses
While both Mashvisor and AirDNA come with their own rental property analysis tools, one must remember how former and existing AirDNA users from smaller markets said that the numbers are inaccurate for their locations. It makes investment property analysis a hit-or-miss, especially for those considering buying properties in smaller cities.
Neighborhood Analysis
To help you narrow down your search in a city, Mashvisor’s Neighborhood Analysis provides the average data of existing Airbnb properties in the area as well as insights to help you decide on whether to invest here.
Besides helping investors and users find the best Airbnb investment locations, Mashvisor also lets them perform neighborhood analysis, especially in bigger markets like Los Angeles or New York City. The tool pretty much allows you to zoom in on specific neighborhoods and sift through hundreds of possible options in as short a time as possible.
Real Estate Heat Map
While on the Investment Property Search page, you can activate the heatmap by setting the data you want it to highlight.
Another cool Mashvisor feature not found in AirDNA is the real estate heat map, which allows users to find the most promising profitable properties and analyze multiple neighborhood market data simultaneously. It is color-coded and functions similar to a weather map. It tells you the greens (good markets) and reds (not-so-good ones) and everything in between.
Rental Comparables
Mashvisor’s Rental Comparables feature gives you an idea of other properties in the area that are similar to the one you are looking at.
Market and neighborhood analysis can produce accurate results, which level up an investor’s game. However, rental comps should always be considered to make the feasibility study a lot more accurate.
Rental comps allow investors to compare their chosen property with how other similar properties in the area are performing. Depending on the investment strategy an investor uses, they will want to compare the metrics that are crucial to achieving their investment goals.
In most cases, the metrics are rental income, occupancy rate, and listing price. However, not all investors share the same investment goals, so the metrics in which they measure and compare other properties will differ.
Investment Property Calculator
You can find Mashvisor’s Investment Property Calculator on every listing page on the platform, so you can make the needed estimates while searching for an investment property.
We’ve talked about the AirDNA Airbnb calculator and what it can (and cannot do). Let’s talk about Mashvisor’s version of an Airbnb calculator.
Mashvisor enjoys a couple of advantages over AirDNA since our investment property calculator allows users not just to locate the potential Airbnb properties that align with investors’ goals and criteria but also lets them analyze up-to-date and accurate information and data. It not only goes for vacation rental market analysis but traditional long-term investment analysis, too.
But one thing that Mashvisor has that the competition doesn’t is the Mortgage Calculator. The tool gives investors and users a much more detailed analysis since it takes into account the method of financing. Any investor worth their salt knows that how you pay for your property will significantly impact its profitability.
Rental Strategies
Lastly, once a user is done with their property analysis, Mashvisor will then come up with rental strategies to choose from. It will show how profitable a property will be if taken as a traditional long-term rental or vacation home. This specific tool has helped vacation rental investors identify which ones are ideal for their goals and which properties to steer clear of.
Again, an individuals’ investment goals will ultimately determine if a property is worth investing in or not. Either way, this feature is one that thousands of investors have already found helpful in expanding their real estate investment portfolios.
AirDNA vs Mashvisor: Final Thoughts
With travel restrictions easing up in multiple US states, now is the time to start your Airbnb business if you have not done so but have been thinking about it. But in order to succeed, you need the right tools. Is the AirDNA Airbnb calculator the answer?
If you’ll only use it as a rental income calculator for a specific property, then yes, it is. However, serious investors are looking for investment property tools that allow them to do much more in as little time as possible. Mashvisor has been proven to live up to expectations and deliver quality results time and time again.