It feels like there’s never been more useful and actionable information available on how to be a STR host and investor. So many different people are taking different paths to vacation rental success and more importantly, are sharing those paths with the public, making life-changing businesses seem much more attainable. We’ve collected eight of our favorites to share with you here.
1. Michael Elefante
Where you can find him: LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram
Goal: Create a path to financial freedom through both operating and investing in short-term rentals.
Story: got started with one STR in Nashville and at last count has six properties. Also founded Airbnb Investor Academy.
2. Humza Zafar
Where you can find him: Instagram and YouTube
Goal: Use transparency with his monthly revenue and costs to show people the actual expenses associated with running an STR business.
Story: Humza is a subletting king. He rents properties and then converts them to short-term rentals (this is often referred to as arbitrage) and currently does this with over 130 properties in the US.
3. Derek Cheung
Where you can find him: Instagram and YouTube
Goal: provide a path for others to thrive in the STR arbitrage space.
Story: Like Hamza, Derek discovered the possibilities of STR arbitrage and famously was generating $5M in annual income this way by the age of 24.
4. Eric Moeller and Jasper Ribbers
Where you can find them: the longest-running podcast on Airbnb hosting, Get Paid for Your Pad.
Goal: help newbies to STR get started but also to support high-level players, via Overnight Success, a community for property managers and STR Legends, a mastermind for those with at least 30 properties in their portfolios.
Story: Eric and Jasper are classical examples of people who found something that worked for them, tweaked and scaled, then shared that knowledge with others.
5. Thanks for Visiting
Where you can find them: Instagram and the Thanks for Visiting podcast.
Goal: Help people to run profitable STR businesses with a minimum of time and energy without losing sight of what many hosts can: the hospitality side of the hospitality business.
Story: Annette Grant and Sarah Karkaian both run successful STR businesses and decided to share that success with others through opportunities like their free Hosting Business Mastery Method webinar.
6. Lauren Piller
Where you can find her: Instagram
Goal: She wants to help hosts find solutions for challenges in their STRs.
Story: Lauren was a nurse who made the move into full-time content creation for STR, including curating a Facebook group called “All Things Airbnb Hosting.”
7. Real Estate Robinsons
Where you can find them: Instagram and the Bigger Pockets Rookie podcast.
Goal: Sharing relatable family content while helping others through an annual STR Summit and ongoing Facebook group.
Story: Within two years of starting their STR business they held $10,000,000 in cash-flowing properties.
8. KarWells
Where you can find them: Instagram and the Catch Up with the Karwells podcast.
Goal: help people to design, manage, scale, and automate their STR properties.
Story: Perhaps the only well-known STR podcast with a dedication to design, Catch Up with the Karwells also offers a funny and informative Airbnb horror story on each episode commented on by the hosts who have extensive experience in hosting themselves. They are passionate about teaching people how to achieve freedom of time more than financial freedom.
This content originally appeared in our twice-monthly Guest Book Newsletter.
