How I Automated My Airbnb Business (and How You Can Too)

Summary

The video features Sedric Lowery's journey of automating his Airbnb business, offering viewers practical tips on leveraging data and technology for maximum efficiency and profitability. Key highlights include using real estate filters to find the best-suited properties, choosing furnished apartments to minimize setup costs, and utilizing tools like PriceLabs for dynamic pricing adjustments. Sedric also emphasizes maintaining a professional approach when negotiating with property owners to ensure successful business growth.

Highlights

• The video starts by discussing the abundance of rental properties in Las Vegas and how it doesn't necessarily impact occupancy rates. 🏘️
• Sedric suggests ways to refine rental searches, highlighting furnished apartments as the most accessible options. 🛋️
• He shares insights on choosing properties for short-term rentals, emphasizing the importance of having luxury amenities like valet and parking. 🚗
• Sedric advises on how to identify owners of short-term rentals and negotiate terms effectively. 📞
• He discusses tools like PriceLabs for dynamic pricing based on local events and demands. 🛠️
• The walkthrough includes tips on avoiding areas not ideal for short-term vacationers and understanding market pricing. 📊

Key Takeaways

• Make data-driven decisions by refining rental searches with specific filters to find ideal short-term rental options. 🎯
• Furnished apartments are a great starting point due to their ready-to-use nature and lower setup costs. 🛋️
• Understand your target audience and location specifics to make smart real estate investments. 🗺️
• Utilize dynamic pricing tools like PriceLabs to optimize rental income based on market demand. 📈
• Maintain transparency and professionalism when negotiating with property owners or management companies. 🤝
• Regular evaluation and strategic networking can significantly enhance your Airbnb business. 🌐

Overview

In this insightful video, Sedric Lowery takes us through the strategic intricacies of automating an Airbnb business. He emphasizes the importance of data-driven decisions and highlights how utilizing specific real estate filters can pinpoint ideal short-term rental options. This method not only streamlines the search process but also enhances profitability. 🎯

Sedric explains the advantages of choosing furnished apartments, which are often move-in ready and cost-efficient, making them ideal choices for those starting out in the Airbnb business. He shares valuable insights into property selection, advising investors to focus on areas with a high demand for short-term luxury stays and amenities. 🏢

Additionally, the video provides essential tips on utilizing dynamic pricing tools, like PriceLabs, which automatically adjust rental rates based on local events and demand. This strategy helps maximize income while reducing manual effort. Throughout the video, Sedric stresses the importance of transparency and professionalism when dealing with property owners and management companies, ultimately ensuring long-term business growth. 📈

Chapters

• 00:00 - 02:00: Las Vegas Rental Market Discussion The chapter discusses the misconceptions surrounding the rental market in Las Vegas. Although there are numerous rental properties available, this does not necessarily indicate a lack of demand or occupancy. It highlights the vastness of the real estate market, noting that 5,000 available units are just a small fraction of the total number of properties in the area, which includes hundreds of thousands of units.
• 02:00 - 04:00: Furnished Apartments and Short-Term Rentals The chapter discusses strategies for identifying suitable buildings for furnished apartments and short-term rentals. It emphasizes examining the ownership of buildings to determine if they are owner-occupied or privately owned. The chapter advises using filters in a database to refine searches, specifically recommending focusing on furnished properties and avoiding duplexes.
• 04:00 - 08:00: Evaluating Properties for Short-Term Rentals The chapter focuses on evaluating properties suitable for short-term rentals. It emphasizes the importance of selecting modern and updated houses, while excluding apartments, condos, and townhomes from the initial selection process. The discussion hints at adjustments in property options and mentions a range change from 5,000 to some unspecified number, likely indicating a narrowing or modification in choices based on the set criteria.
• 08:00 - 12:00: Negotiating with Property Owners The chapter 'Negotiating with Property Owners' discusses strategies to easily secure deals with furniture departments. It highlights that these types of deals don't require starting from scratch, as existing funds can be used to enhance or quickly transform a location by changing a few items like couches. The text emphasizes the ease and practicality of such deals, aiming to ensure the reader or listener understands the simplicity involved in these transactions.
• 12:00 - 15:00: Using Pricing Software for Rentals The chapter discusses the challenges and responsibilities faced by those renting out furnished properties. It emphasizes the importance of not assuming that furnishing a rental property is the ultimate solution. Renters who are interested in short-term rentals are likely looking for guidance from you, as the property owner, and consider you an expert in the field. The chapter also briefly mentions selecting or clicking through various listings to find appealing rental options, though the description ends abruptly at '447.'
• 15:00 - 22:00: Identifying Good Deals and Bad Deals In this chapter titled 'Identifying Good Deals and Bad Deals', the discussion revolves around evaluating real estate opportunities, specifically apartment units. The dialogue references a specific unit on the 14th floor of the Martin building, comparing its features and market status with Marina Blue in Miami. This comparison is probably used to help identify evaluation metrics or considerations for determining good or bad deals in real estate investments.
• 22:00 - 27:00: Insights on AirDNA The chapter titled 'Insights on AirDNA' discusses the pricing and value proposition of certain rental units as analyzed through AirDNA. It describes a specific example where a two-bedroom unit is priced at $22,900, which is considered a luxury but still a reasonable price when compared to other similar units priced between $5,000 and $8,000. The discussion emphasizes finding a balance between affordability and luxury.
• 27:00 - 31:00: Exploring Property Deals and Final Thoughts In this chapter, the discussion revolves around evaluating property deals, particularly focusing on the aesthetic and functional aspects of properties. There's a specific mention of an upscale unit that features amenities like a valet and a parking garage, which are appreciated by the speaker. The property in discussion is compared to a known location, Icon, and it's noted that the interior, especially the kitchen design, is nearly identical to that of Icon. This comparison provides a mental image of the property's style and appeal.

How I Automated My Airbnb Business (and How You Can Too) Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 so so back to what I was saying although there are a lot of rentals as you can see that are available in Vegas um that doesn't mean um really much of anything right because some people say oh well if there's a lot of rent rentals available that means that they're not getting rented out and stuff like that and it's just like I don't really think people understand how much real estate actually is out there we're talking about 5,000 units out of you know hundreds of thousands of units that are in this same
• 00:30 - 01:00 radius on this map where they be buildings owner you know owner uh occupied um or you know privately owned by someone else okay now um what we want to do um is really just chisel down um you know chisel down what it is that you know this uh this database is showing us we go to filters we definitely want furnish and my recommendation is do not do any duplexes
• 01:00 - 01:30 um the house uh situation is something that H it it's one of those things where it has to be a nice house um I would say something that's like modern up toate all that kind of stuff we're going to go ahead and clear apartment condos and town homes right just to start okay now as you can see some of the uh um you know some of the uh options changed as well as you saw we went from 5,000 the
• 01:30 - 02:00 29 furnit departments that are actually available okay now furnit departments um are um the easiest deals to get into um one being that you you know we don't have to you know just start from scratch you know the funds that you sent over we could use that to to bring a place you know to life or you know uh you know take a day or two um and um you know switch out some couches and and a couple things um but with that being said I want you to understand that you know
• 02:00 - 02:30 just because something is furnished does not mean that it's the end all be all right A lot of these renters a lot of these individuals that are um you know going to be open to um renting these out as uh short-term rentals um they're going to be looking to you as the initial expert right they're going to be looking to you for guidance or you know whatever have you right so I'll go ahead and click click this place here that looks nice all right so 447
• 02:30 - 03:00 de Martin Drive um this this actually I believe is one of the um one of the units that we ended up scouting out it's on the 14th floor Martin building is um is comparable to like have you been to Miami at all I have so do you know uh Marina Blue by chance um I do know Marina blue actually it's on um this game
• 03:00 - 03:30 biscan yes yes yes yes yes okay so um so with that being said um it's you know it gives you that luxury uh that luxury style um um but but not like too too like not too crazy right like $22,900 for a two-bedroom compared to you know some units that for a two-bedroom are like 5K 8K stuff like that you know this is a good medium between um you know having a a unit that is one Fe able and then also
• 03:30 - 04:00 as well having a unit that is you know more of like that upscale Vibe um you know they have the valet and stuff like that parking garage um which um which you know we like as well okay so with that being said um the inside of it looks exactly like icon um do you know have you been Icon by chance I haven't been but I know where it is okay so the inside of Icon as far as like the design like how their kitchen looks is ex like literally exactly the same
• 04:00 - 04:30 right so um I I think myself like it's probably like the same Architects or something okay now if you notice these pictures are not professional pictures this is a green check mark in our book okay this means that nine times out of 10 There's an actual owner that took these pictures and just uploaded them right you know what I'm saying so and as you can see look the two the the second bedroom is not even they don't have any in here
• 04:30 - 05:00 right you know so you got a highrise on the 14th floor BR is old and outdated you know you're in Vegas nine times out of 10 um you know they're they're not really you know running a a business or anything like that or if they are they're not doing a very good job as you can tell about the by how the uh the towels are folded um you could tell by um you know the the sheets and
• 05:00 - 05:30 stuff like this based off what I'm seeing right now this is already being ran as a rental the reason why I say that is because there's no dresser with like pictures of their kids or anything like it's bare this is like Bare Bones right so this means that nine times out of 10 this individual is running it as a short-term rental um anyways does that make sense yeah that makes sense okay cool they're trying to do like to do it yourself out looks like
• 05:30 - 06:00 like now what we're able to do is scroll down um you know just you know get a get a little bit of what they're wanting um they want a uh uh either like a first month and a deposit so they've you know they've expressed that it's furnish turn key washer and dryer all that kind of stuff pets are allowed um T is responsible for $80 a month for highspeed fiber uh internets like Wii Wi-Fi um if tenant does not
• 06:00 - 06:30 have good credit he or she must pay additional last month so this is a situation where this person is in fact running this as a short-term rental and for that they're roughly you know looking to um it looks like make or quote unquote profit a little over $1,000 a month compared to what is currently on the market right now for two bedrooms in this area and it's right next to the international airport okay so with that being said one thing that
• 06:30 - 07:00 that I really like about um hot pads is they also give you uh comparable areas right so in Paradise Paradise uh area you're looking at600 Los Vegas typically you're looking at600 Clark County 1600 right this Pacific zip code same same thing right um so that's really important and I love it because now you guys to getting data
• 07:00 - 07:30 that me and you know my resources essentially don't necessarily have to go out and get it's all right here in the software right right now um this individual his name is Abe right this is his number there's nothing stopping us from from giving him a call um and you know checking to see if this unit is still available that's what I love about this so we'll go ahead we'll go ahead and save that deal okay
• 07:30 - 08:00 duplicate the tab and we'll kind of go through here because it's not it's not too many deals only it's only like 29 deals just on here alone um now um one second now I wanted to
• 08:00 - 08:30 pull where's it at um I wanted to pull up one one more filter and sometimes that sometimes it's listed as uh you know as you know it's own like rent like it's uh for rent by owner um and sometimes it's not so you got to be careful like sometimes some of these listings are in fact you know listed by the owner but they just didn't check the check mark mark up like hey it's it's you know that's what it is now
• 08:30 - 09:00 moving forward you know you can go down to you know rental types regular room for rent don't want a room for rent for sure on don't want to room for rent corporate sub letting and regular okay and and it's already checked for written by owner okay done I gu I said we'll Zoom back into to
• 09:00 - 09:30 the area of interest just here okay and when it comes to uh uh what you call it when it comes to Vegas um I would say just be careful of like homes and stuff just because some of the homes like they do look
• 09:30 - 10:00 really raggedy you know they may they may be nice on the inside um but it does have uh definitely some rough rough areas um that are still fairly close to the you know to the strip to where all the busyness is going on at okay now what I believe is uh is fairly priced um is this specific unit um I think $1,700 a month um and it comes you know with no furniture in it is a really good deal um
• 10:00 - 10:30 yes you're paying I would say roughly like if I can get that down $200 that'd be great um but also as well I I I really just believe that this area will produce what you know produce what uh um you know what we're anticipating which is you know two grand three grand a month in net profit okay now with that being said um the uh
• 10:30 - 11:00 how got I put this the way you want to hand you want to handle each individual differently right based off of who who you're talking to right if you're talking to a landlord direct you're going to handle that person differently than a property uh a property management company and the reason being is Jordan may have 10 buildings right or 10 other listings right so you don't just go in and just say hey you know this is what I'm looking to do um you know I'm looking to rent out your place for x amount of
• 11:00 - 11:30 dollars you know and and try to negotiate right there with um with a property management company your goal is to tap rout so it may not even be this specific deal yes you express interest but you want to tap route into their other networks right so meaning I would give this person a call and then you know I would ask them hey is this unit available okay it's available you know I'm interested in renting it out uh for for corporate housing and short term uh short-term rentals um and you're all
• 11:30 - 12:00 you're all the way transparent right like we don't do no weird you know stuff you know no Ray area nothing that's what I'm looking to do if you guys know any owners that are willing to do their profit profit share deal um you know we're willing to um you know we're willing to you know make sure the place stays occupied professionally clean it all that kind of stuff um and you just let them know straight up what you're looking for they're going to tell you yes or no I'm always tell always always
• 12:00 - 12:30 tell people um when you get on the phone with them don't don't waste their time like do you H don't butter them up don't try to automobile Rapport and all this other stuff like just tell them exactly what you need right because we're in we're in a business where time is everything if you can talk to 15 different property management companies don't you think you might find a deal or two that you can use for your for you know for your uh for your business I
• 12:30 - 13:00 think so yeah okay now let's go ahead and yeah they have other units that are available you know all of all the majority of them are empty you know um but yeah like I mean there's there's a couple deals in here that I I definitely think think will work okay now let's go back
• 13:00 - 13:30 so we looked at two buildings so far that was uh the Martin um and the other one [Music] was second l or something yeah uh J Joel maybe JL yeah juel oh yes yeah so so the Martin and juwel okay
• 13:30 - 14:00 all right now we wna I'mma show you what we don't want this is a no no oh thanks this is no no ma'am no sir yeah no this is this is not the way to go okay this
• 14:00 - 14:30 may actually work let me see my only thing is when I see places that are like this usually it means that there's some sort of like lowincome situation like around the corner or or some sort right like we like I I always tell people when they go into Vegas you know where would a person that's trying to have a good time in Vegas stay have right nine times out of 10 they're not coming to a townhouse
• 14:30 - 15:00 neighborhood like this and just like you know hanging out or or or whatever right like this is more of like a family looking neighborhood um the gym is the gym is is really old inside what they did was they just put some black you know black I say we'll just call it black stuff black Renovations in it which made it look a whole lot better than what it really is um but yeah that's a no okay we only want like nice places
• 15:00 - 15:30 right so what is this that's cryst stop there shees so for example this is a TW bedroom this is already being ran as a short-term rental I could I could just tell so that's why they're charging that's why it's listed at 7,800 something like this would normally go like rentwise would normally go for probably like since it's it's like literally right there on the strip down there I
• 15:30 - 16:00 would say 42 41 is what it would go for so they're probably making a good 3,000 uh is uh if not more a month if people are Renning that out they have like this little like jacuzzi like situation with the tub um this is definitely I I feel like it's definitely going to be more one of those high-end building buildings with valet service and and you know a bunch of other things as well that this place
• 16:00 - 16:30 comes with um yeah Cabanas pool yeah so yeah this is being ran as a shortterm around they're not charging eight grand for a two-bedroom like that's not you you know you wouldn't go to their leasing office and that's what they're going to tell you right right and also I could tell by the by the pictures and different things as well but this is a place too that's not off like off the table because if they're if if they aren't making that
• 16:30 - 17:00 7,800 let's see how long it's been on the market um listed two months ago okay so it's still on the market right now so it's been two months without someone coming in um and paying you know and paying that uh that $7 800 um you know based off of what I'm saying um then I still think that this is a pretty good option right right um and also as well a lot of these places
• 17:00 - 17:30 like look this is a five look they're they're making you know wanting to make a little over five grand or for a a two-bedroom overlooking the strip sheesh but that but that's how it is though like that's that's you know what I'm saying so yeah let's say let's say we we help with those efforts
• 17:30 - 18:00 you're doing you're doing a 6040 split that's $3,100 in your pocket every month just for getting just you know what I'm saying just for getting this number not mad at it I wouldn't mind trying it you know so they they collect there what's the difference here so there 40
• 18:00 - 18:30 5407 above so we'll do so they'll take home 22 almost $2,300 extra and you take home 3K right those are just like very simple basic metrics that you know that you can you know go by right obviously give or take you know we don't know all the their bills utilities internets that type of stuff once again you have the person's number right here
• 18:30 - 19:00 here so like I said make it make it simple hey I'm looking I'm in the area I'm looking to acquire um 10 to 20 units um you know for short-term rental in corporate housing do you have anything available oh no okay cool bye hit the Deuces you know we're not on the phone to to convince anyone of anything we want to work with people that are already looking for us right right you know what I'm saying
• 19:00 - 19:30 so we'll pencil this one into okay and then the uh the other deals um um those are like private like off-market deals um which is always a good a good resource to have as well like you always want somebody or some sort of connection that you have where you can get you know off Market deals now this particular
• 19:30 - 20:00 unit um I would say they're at like a level six out of 10 as far as like you know uh their unit I really like a five out of 10 honestly like this isn't once once this is like actually staged I think the unit will be I mean it'll be beautiful um one thing that you'll notice about Vegas a lot of the amenities are old I don't know what that
• 20:00 - 20:30 is I don't know why that is or whatever I just feel like maybe it's because so this is Newport U maybe it's because um you know people just going to keep coming regardless you know so you know that maybe that's the reason why they do that but um that's one thing you will notice a lot is that you know there are a lot of places that are nice on the inside have Jacuzzi hot tubs all that type of stuff um but essentially they uh
• 20:30 - 21:00 the their amenities um typically are are a little bit uh you know a little bit uh little bit older so um as far as as far as a uh pricing goes um for downtown it looks like it's right on right on point um and this this would be a good deal um one because it's already furnished
• 21:00 - 21:30 two because of uh it I I just like highrises always just I always recommend that for Vegas and also as well it's not it's not too much right so 2200 one-bedroom like you know right off of Las Vegas Boulevard um and you're not you're not you you wouldn't be overpriced if this one bedroom on like a uh night where you know Drake or Beyonce or somebody's in town and you're
• 21:30 - 22:00 charging you know $600 a night that wouldn't be that wouldn't be too far-fetched right you know so within really really really within a couple of days or or like two weekends your rent should be covered you know so um you know for an owner um that's good for them right because the rent quote unquote is like what they're wanting right they're wanting that 2250 okay cool that's
• 22:00 - 22:30 covered you know and then from there you know um depending on you know depending on negotiation process we can even get that lowered to where that person is only really you know seeing um x amount of dollars on top of their mortgage right since it's not this it's not the Super traditional situation right where the ones actually supplying renters and clientele you know yeah any questions so
• 22:30 - 23:00 far um yeah so I know that you said that um you know when people are in town and stuff like that the price can go higher and lower um is it like a software or something or is it manually that you decide what the price is going to be daily yeah so there there are softwares like price Labs that you can use have you ever seen that before I've heard of it yeah so so price Labs is basically a um a soft software almost like a AI
• 23:00 - 23:30 software um hold on one second it's AI software that basically just do this all right it's basically a uh a revenue or occupancy Dynamic pricing tool okay
• 23:30 - 24:00 so it has uh different plans always recommend um when someone's just starting out um is to do the $35 uh a month plan and basically what it does is it'll go in and take your schedule take your bookings take your links to all your stuff um and you know you're able to uh have your pricing you know uh dynamically um adjusted so you don't have to do the
• 24:00 - 24:30 things that you just said right so they'll go in they'll know when a concert is coming up based off the data in the area um the time of the year um you know the seasons and stuff like that um as well as you know annual sporting events and uh and and concerts as well okay good good I was wondering how that worked so um so yeah all
• 24:30 - 25:00 right see I saw them for me go drive I just no
• 25:00 - 25:30 Perfect all right so as far as deals goes um you know those are three good ones I saw those earlier um you know and I think I think we should definitely put in some uh some sort of offers or a letter of intent you know uh to them um and then two also as well um I want to show you something that's like
• 25:30 - 26:00 overpriced and you don't want to you don't want to run like the risk right so you see a unit like this where it's uh it's laid out TV's old you know it's okay has a little desk little uh uh patio I guess you could say area whatever one bedroom um but $27 turns into $33 $3,300 really quick when it comes to like you utilities lights gas bills electric management paying your
• 26:00 - 26:30 software fees all that kind of stuff so you know you always want to add roughly $400 to $500 on top of whatever the rent is okay um now as you get seasoned you know you know you'll definitely get less you know or have to spend less um but this one bedroom for 800 square feet $2,600 is is ridiculous right um now um as far as as far as
• 26:30 - 27:00 revenue from one bedroom I was trying to I was trying to pull up it still it still is not working I think the website itself must be like down or something hold on I wanted to bring us some basic stuff to you maybe try um a different browser like Chrome or something see oh excuse me
• 27:00 - 27:30 okay it's like every time I get off of here okay all right it's fine we we got we got like five minutes so um okay so let me give you the rundown about air DNA air DNA is a combination of
• 27:30 - 28:00 everybody else's business and you're comparing your comparing numbers and contrasting and stuff like that okay air DNA is not the Bible right I've seen people that get you know grade A on air DNA units and not make a single dollar I've seen people that go with units that are grad dnf and make a killing right so I would say it's it's good to know what's going going on in the area I typically uh will use air DNA um more so
• 28:00 - 28:30 for um like getting descriptions and throwing it into a AI so I don't have to sit there and write out every single description or you know what I mean like know so that's more of what I use it for versus like oh is this going to make money or not because that I don't really care about what other people are doing with their business if the marketing is done correctly if you know you know we're on multiple
• 28:30 - 29:00 platforms and stuff like that um or worst case scenario we just charge an extra thousand $2,000 a month and just get a long-term tenant in there that's fine as well you know what I'm saying so airdna isn't something that I use for I guess you could say what it's supposed to be used for um it Le it leaves people down the wrong path a lot and then also as well a lot of people they'll say you know hey you know um the airdna numbers didn't work so
• 29:00 - 29:30 they don't do deals and stuff like that and it's just it's it's not ridiculous because you know they do uh they do Market really heavy but it's almost like a Credit Karma situation right Credit Karma versus like your actual Experian TransUnion eoa FICO like actual score right like there's going to be a discrepancy there right you may be higher on CIT Karma than actually are on your real scores does that make sense
• 29:30 - 30:00 yeah so that's how I look at that so um yeah I just wanted you to to understand you know how we scattered a couple deals just like real quick like like I know what a deal is going to do what it has the potential to do within like a couple like a couple minutes of looking at it right like evaluating the things that I share with you evaluating you know how the picture is being taken how long it's been up is this a direct
• 30:00 - 30:30 contact is it furnished what's the area what's the rent cost roughly you know if a worst case scenario happens you need to stick a long-term tenant what's the probability of an individual paying extra thousand to $3,000 a month um you know those those sort of things does that make sense yeah makes sense okay perfect all right so uh what we're going to do on our end is take those uh I think one two three yeah those three Deals um if we're not working on them
• 30:30 - 31:00 already we'll add them to the pipeline go ahead and get those uh offers sent out um start the initial conversation and then from there um we'll go ahead and keep on keep on moving forward sounds good to me all right any last questions none just curious to see how the whole thing plays out like time wise and stuff like that because I know a lot of people that really really want to do airbnbs and I don't want to just pile them on to you without
• 31:00 - 31:30 me having to thoroughly explain it to them and then also give them an example of course yeah you can give them an example of your own portfolio right so that's what I'd that's kind of what I'm I'm waiting for before I start telling the other people that are looking you know okay all right that's fine that makes sense to me all right um I appreciate you um and um yeah let's keep growing from here
• 31:30 - 32:00 okay sounds good to me all righty bye right bye