eastsideTim said:No advice, but I want to follow this thread, as I may try to Airbnb whatever you end up building, instead of my usual stay at the High Desert motel, or some chain hotel in 29 Palms.
My farm has space for you to stay
let me know next time you are in town :)
and if I end up building yurts/tiny homes whatever - ANY GRM member stays for FREE!
californiamilleghia said:The Indian style Tepees on Route 66 were always a draw .....
Modern Tepees ?
or "yurts" that look more like the huts the Mongolian nomads have ......
How windy does it get out there ?
Good Luck
Definitely gets windy
groovyyurt from Mongolia seems $10,000
colorado yurt company $16,000
pacific yurt (Oregon), $13000
eastsideTim said:Ian F (Forum Supporter) said:RV parking with full and/or partial hook-ups? Sounds like it should be cheaper and less maintenance if you don't have to provide the actual structure.
I've been reading a lot about a severe lack of RV parks. Lot's a folks booking months in advance to get a slot in a park.
If the water/sewage infrastructure could be built, that's probably a good idea. Campsites in the park are primitive.
I have water no problem. Sewage septic will be build in next 2 months
SVreX (Forum Supporter) said:Learn your MARKET. Not your product.
It doesn't matter what kind of shelter you build. What matters is what people want to rent!
When searching AirBnB, I suggest digging deeper. The individual examples you are showing are a perfect example of researching the PRODUCT, not the MARKET. You are finding individual specific examples that appear to be the success story. But you know nothing about the business they have developed and what it took to get there. It's the equivalent of looking at FaceBook and saying, "Look... Mark Zuckerberg did it. Why can't I? All I need is a URL!"
On AirBnB's site, find the losers in your area, and figure out why they are NOT succeeding. Who's charging $17 per night and still can't get the place rented. Why? Look hard at the profiles. Read the write ups and reviews. Go to the booking page and check their availability. Is their calendar full for 6 months in advance? Completely empty? There is a LOT more info that can be gleaned from AirBnB's site then just a couple of winners (which will be the first links that show up).
Go talk to the lady with the yurts. Ask if you can buy her dinner and pick her brain. I guarantee there is more to her business than a few tents in a field with $277 a night rental rates. Is she fully booked? Are there bad parts of the year? How long did it take her to build? Is the market big enough that she would welcome you as a fellow provider, or feel threatened by you moving into her territory?
Forget the buildings and shelters. Learn your market, and what people want to buy. Then solve THAT problem for them.
No doubt about it
I am meeting with yurt, tent, regular home ladies all this weekend . Spoke to all 3.
target demo is $17 avacado sandwich hipster
will give free use of land cruiser with 2 night rental :D
joking aside, I need to build 2-3 structures for family and friends visiting . If I can make money from same structure while they not here - is the added bonus I am seeking
SVreX (Forum Supporter) said:AirBnB is about the EXPERIENCE, not the space.
Tiny houses are hot on AirBnB. I've stayed in a few. But there are almost never any repeat customers. The business model has to include ALWAYS drumming up new business, and being in a location that has sufficient traffic to do that. Places like Atlanta are excellent for this.
Luxury Tree houses are big in ATL. It's a fun experience for a city dweller. But 1 hour north in the mountains, tree houses are worthless like kindling. Because when people go to the mountains, they want a CABIN. They don't want to be in a tree out in the cold E36 M3ting in the woods.
Curtis did a nice job summarizing the differences, but I would summarize by saying...
Mobile home? Nope. Too much association with meth labs. It's not what you are looking for.
Modular? Probably too big and expensive.
Tiny Homes? These are tricky. They are NOT homes. They are overweight trailers. They do NOT appreciate in value. They give you a few years of cash flow, then get hauled away. They are very good for cash flow IF you are in an area that can attract many, many different guests.
Yurts sound like a nice balance, and an excellent experience if you do them well.
My daughter manages AirBnBs full time. About 15 units. I have a couple too. It is NOT passive cash flow. AirBnB guests have an expectation of involvement by their hosts (sometimes engagement, but not always). They are high maintenance customers, and every single successful AirBnB I know of is a lot of work.
Yurts make the most sense. Curtis always has excellent info
Agree on engagement. I need to think about that more. I have a day job + farm + rental properties+ car flipping.
Adding engaged Airbnb owner may be too much on plate . Not engaged - that I can do . Farm runs with employees with 1 weekend a month engagement
appreciate the business advice as always
mr2s2000elise said:eastsideTim said:No advice, but I want to follow this thread, as I may try to Airbnb whatever you end up building, instead of my usual stay at the High Desert motel, or some chain hotel in 29 Palms.
My farm has space for you to stay
let me know next time you are in town :)
and if I end up building yurts/tiny homes whatever - ANY GRM member stays for FREE!
I'll have to hold you to that 
Can't wait to start traveling again, and Joshua Tree is usually at the top of my list, even if all I can manage is a three day weekend. I love cheap flights to Vegas, and the drive through the Mojave National Preserve.
Another thing you can do on AirBnB's site... you can search in Map Mode. This will put pins in a map to show you all the AirBnBs nearby.
So, for example...
I am looking for a lake house to use as an AirBnB rental. I am comparing Lake A to Lake B.
Using the map tool, I learn that Lake A has about 60 rental units nearby. There are several that have rental rates of over $300 per night, but most are closer to $160. I can look at their individual calendars to get an idea of their occupancy rate. Houses on this lake start at about $750,000.
Same tool, Lake B. Rental rates on Lake B are between $175 and $225 per night. There are only 5 AirBnBs on the entire lake (almost no competition). Prices start between $350,000 and $500,000. According to their calendars, 4 of these properties are booked solid many months in advance (there is a strong market). The fifth one is kinda a turd (not renting- that's not what the customers want)
Guess which lake I'm gonna buy on? Lake B. No brainer.
In reply to mr2s2000elise :
Is yurt an option for family and friends? If not, it won't work.
Unlikely Tiny House will work.
In reply to SVreX (Forum Supporter) :
Currently th e farm has 3 houses (traditional). When family friends come that's where they stay
I picked up this additional land to farm 3 acres instead of 5. So the 2 acres (great view nothing else around due to gov land), is where I would host the family and friends. I think the yurts would be fine, diff experience.
thus the whole thing behind this thread - as I have never thought about anything but a traditional house before
competition wise
The single homes are always booked. People have kicked the long term marine tenants out for short term rentals which are bringing in more money
the tent/yurt/ camper are around as well, but not as prolific. I am sure it will be soon enough.
my luxury is - no debt on property, they are all income generating due to farm. Thus anything done on a ROI perspective should be enjoyable and fun - and not necessarily "need the tenant money for mortgage " kind of a deal.
Dusterbd13-michael (Forum Supporter) said:Used to be you could get repo single wides damn near free. Dunno if you still can, that was 15 years ago.
I worked a stint as data entry at a branch that financed mobile homes. They wouldn't touch repos. There's a lot of risks about what might have led up to the home being repossessed (previous owner being a meth cooker, cat hoarder, pot grower, etc) and/or what the previous owners might have done on finding it was getting repossessed (a sledgehammer can go a lot further on your average mobile home than a stick built home). A regular used mobile home already follows about the same depreciation curve as a Mercedes.
But you need to approach this from the customer's point of view, as SVRex noted. Who's going to pay to rent a 10 year old Palm Harbor? A new mobile home rental is already a tough enough sell. Unless this is some sort of bizarre slumming experience (We've got the fridge stuffed with Natty Lite and a whole pig roasting outside, and the demolition derby is Saturday!), you'd probably want either something more basic like a campground, or more upscale-seeming like a cabin.
SVreX (Forum Supporter) said:
Tiny Homes? These are tricky. They are NOT homes. They are overweight trailers. They do NOT appreciate in value. They give you a few years of cash flow, then get hauled away. They are very good for cash flow IF you are in an area that can attract many, many different guests.
Totally agree on the tiny homes. They are a stick-built RV with even less space than an RV.
And I'll also add that almost none of the buildings we're discussing will appreciate. They're not real estate if they came on wheels. They're basically (and in some states literally) a titled road vehicle and they depreciate. I'm liking the Yurt idea. Still won't appreciate in value, but a smaller investment that might still make just as much money.
In reply to mr2s2000elise :
This is the exact reason I passed on the Costa Rica opportunity we chatted on. The need to have someone engaged and local was hard for me to find and the 2 I had as my final 2 both turned up to be not a good fit.
bmw88rider (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to mr2s2000elise :
This is the exact reason I passed on the Costa Rica opportunity we chatted on. The need to have someone engaged and local was hard for me to find and the 2 I had as my final 2 both turned up to be not a good fit.
Definitely need to get the engagement idea some thoight before pulling the trigger on yurts especially the Super Ger
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:SVreX (Forum Supporter) said:
Tiny Homes? These are tricky. They are NOT homes. They are overweight trailers. They do NOT appreciate in value. They give you a few years of cash flow, then get hauled away. They are very good for cash flow IF you are in an area that can attract many, many different guests.
Totally agree on the tiny homes. They are a stick-built RV with even less space than an RV.
And I'll also add that almost none of the buildings we're discussing will appreciate. They're not real estate if they came on wheels. They're basically (and in some states literally) a titled road vehicle and they depreciate. I'm liking the Yurt idea. Still won't appreciate in value, but a smaller investment that might still make just as much money.
Right the appreciation here isnt the concern, since the farm income pays for all
main is if we can efficiently rhe use rhe land for some supplemental income with lower cost of entry than a $200,000 building
I doubt a double wide is what tourists are looking for ,
but what about used Airstreams like the small Airstream Trailer Park in Ojai?
Out of curiosity, what do you farm?
This may be a dumb idea, but I wonder if anyone makes small modular houses/cabins with differing exterior themes? If so, that could be the novelty that gets some attention on Airbnb. Bonus if they can still be structurally/mechanically the same.
bmw88rider (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to mr2s2000elise :
This is the exact reason I passed on the Costa Rica opportunity we chatted on. The need to have someone engaged and local was hard for me to find and the 2 I had as my final 2 both turned up to be not a good fit.
Both of you... I actually have a guy in Costa Rica who is looking for people to chip in for a build. PM me if you're interested.
californiamilleghia said:I doubt a double wide is what tourists are looking for ,
but what about used Airstreams like the small Airstream Trailer Park in Ojai?
Yes, there are properties, that are completely empty, with 2 airstreams on it, and peopple are renting those.
https://glampinghub.com/unitedstatesofamerica/pacificwest/california/joshuatree/airstream-rental-weekend-getaways-from-los-angeles/?dates=%20-%20&adults=2&children=0&infants=0
They are doing it like the link above.
For me it doesn't have to be one or the other. I can do a mix of airstream + Yurt.
Trailers and tiny homes are definitely out (curtis /svrex/others have mentioned why above and they showed me the light)
dyintorace (Forum Supporter) said:Out of curiosity, what do you farm?
Dates & pistaschio.
In reply to mr2s2000elise :
"Make a date with dates"
Seems like you have a built-in "experience". Farm tourism is a thing.
eastsideTim said:This may be a dumb idea, but I wonder if anyone makes small modular houses/cabins with differing exterior themes? If so, that could be the novelty that gets some attention on Airbnb. Bonus if they can still be structurally/mechanically the same.
I think that idea is great. Which is why intiially I was looking at these ones that we stayed, looked cute and cool (which is what $18avacado toast eating hipsters want)
https://glampinghub.com/unitedstatesofamerica/pacificwest/california/joshuatree/joshua-tree-rental-romantic-weekend-getaways-in-california/?dates=%20-%20&adults=2&children=0&infants=0
This guy is doing the containrs
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:bmw88rider (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to mr2s2000elise :
This is the exact reason I passed on the Costa Rica opportunity we chatted on. The need to have someone engaged and local was hard for me to find and the 2 I had as my final 2 both turned up to be not a good fit.
Both of you... I actually have a guy in Costa Rica who is looking for people to chip in for a build. PM me if you're interested.
PM sent.
SVreX (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to mr2s2000elise :
"Make a date with dates"
Seems like you have a built-in "experience". Farm tourism is a thing.
Our other farm properties - sadly aren't very "touristy" we haven' done it neat and clean over the last 10 years. We haven't though about the farm tourism at the time. 99% of our business there is exports.
The new farm (where this property is per the thread) - we are doing it more organized -where farm tourism is definitely a thing. It is more hipster friendly. I will have a FJ60 restored and ATV for people to use.
Here is the Ojai Airsteam link
You'll need to log in to post.
