Airbnb. VRBO. Both of these entities are companies that offer individuals the ability to provide short-term rental properties to people throughout the world. A short-term rental is classified as a rental that is only being used for less then 30 days, some people will even refer to these as vacation rentals.
The way these two companies work are simple: you list your property on their website along with pictures and the ins and outs of the property and everything anyone would need to know. People will search the locations, and your house will pop up based on if it is in the area that they have looked for. They can then share the home and save the location in case they want to be able to look at more properties but don’t want to lose the one that you already like.
From there you can pick the dates you want to stay, most hosts require at least a 2 night stay for it to be worth it for them, and it will show you the prices for various days because generally not every day has the same rate—especially during holiday seasons. If you have a rental property in a favorable city, like Myrtle Beach, Wildwood, and Atlanta just to name a few, you may be booked up consistently for months on end.
How is this beneficial for an investor you may ask? Well, it allows property owners to rent out their property without having a long-term tenant. This means that they can rent it out basically every day and make more money on the property because the rates on short term rentals are much higher. This allows for a steady cash flow coming in for the owner and additional flexibility with the property which is what everyone wants in the long run.