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566. How To Find Airbnb Properties No One Else Knows About · Thanks For Visiting

• 1:05
  Sarah Karakaian: Welcome back.
• 1:05
  Sarah Karakaian: My name is Sarah Karakaian.
• 1:07
  Annette Grant: I'm Annette Grant, and together we are...
• 1:09
  Annette and Sarah: Thanks for Visiting.
• 1:10
  Sarah Karakaian: Growing your short-term rental portfolio means finding properties, and the hosts who grow the fastest are not finding them the same way everyone else is.
• 1:19
  Annette Grant: The best short-term rental properties we know of never even hit the market.
• 1:23
  Sarah Karakaian: Mm.
• 1:24
  Annette Grant: They went to a host who already had a relationship with the owner.
• 1:27
  Annette Grant: No competition, no bidding war, no hours scrolling on Zillow.
• 1:33
  Sarah Karakaian: And it's not luck.
• 1:34
  Sarah Karakaian: It is a strategy, and it is one you can build right now with what you're already doing.
• 1:39
  Annette Grant: We've been hosting for over a decade, built a multi-million dollar portfolio, and work with hundreds of hosts who collectively generate over $2 million in monthly bookings through our private coaching program, Strategic Host.
• 1:53
  Annette Grant: One of the properties in our own portfolio actually came to us this way.
• 1:58
  Sarah Karakaian: Today, we're walking through four ways to find properties no one else knows about, starting with the one that got us our most profitable property yet All right, so method number one is co-hosting as your acquisition strategy.
• 2:13
  Sarah Karakaian: Co-hosting means managing someone else's short-term rental on their behalf, okay?
• 2:17
  Sarah Karakaian: So the, the listing, the pricing, the guests, the operations, all of it.
• 2:21
  Sarah Karakaian: One of the properties in our own portfolio came to us through this method.
• 2:25
  Sarah Karakaian: Actually, a few of them, but we'll talk about this one specifically.
• 2:28
  Annette Grant: Mm-hmm.
• 2:29
  Annette Grant: The Audrey, as we have named her, is a property that Sarah and I own together in Columbus, and before we bought it, Sarah was co-hosting it for the owner, who we'll call Betty here.
• 2:41
  Sarah Karakaian: I love how you named, named her Betty.
• 2:42
  Annette Grant: I know.
• 2:43
  Annette Grant: Betty had bought this property originally to live in, and she started having kids, and she cared about this property, but she outgrew it.
• 2:52
  Annette Grant: Uh, she wanted to keep it in her portfolio, and she actually hired a co-host before Sarah, but that previous co-host, they had been coasting.
• 3:02
  Annette Grant: So Sarah came in, she found major improvements that she...
• 3:07
  Annette Grant: could make, and, um, she did the thing.
• 3:10
  Annette Grant: So she got rid of that terrible furniture.
• 3:12
  Annette Grant: There might or might not have been a little bit of a rodent issue.
• 3:15
  Sarah Karakaian: Mm-hmm.
• 3:15
  Annette Grant: Cleaners leaving old trash liners around in bins next to the house.
• 3:18
  Annette Grant: She could have simply walked away.
• 3:20
  Annette Grant: Instead, she saw that diamond in the rough.
• 3:23
  Annette Grant: She saw the bones of the property, the neighborhood, the location.
• 3:28
  Annette Grant: And she wasn't scared, and she took it on.
• 3:29
  Sarah Karakaian: So I wasn't afraid to take it on, but I did have some stipulations.
• 3:33
  Sarah Karakaian: I required Betty to reinvest in a deep clean, bring in an exterminator on retainer, and refresh the furniture.
• 3:42
  Sarah Karakaian: And those weren't optional.
• 3:44
  Sarah Karakaian: They were my conditions for taking on the property because my name was gonna go on it.
• 3:48
  Sarah Karakaian: And once we got it to where it needed to be, the numbers went way up and stayed up, and I was very confident that was gonna happen.
• 3:54
  Sarah Karakaian: Betty saw what the property was capable of when it was run correctly.
• 3:59
  Sarah Karakaian: That built the trust between us.
• 4:01
  Sarah Karakaian: When she was ready to sell, she wasn't calling a stranger.
• 4:04
  Sarah Karakaian: She was calling me.
• 4:05
  Annette Grant: Sara asked her to pause and said, "Wait, before you do anything else and list it, would you consider selling to me before this goes on the market?"
• 4:15
  Annette Grant: And Betty said, of course, she would love nothing more.
• 4:19
  Sarah Karakaian: She actually wanted to ask me, and she didn't 'cause she was nervous about it.
• 4:22
  Sarah Karakaian: Yeah.
• 4:23
  Annette Grant: That is the co-hosting advantage.
• 4:25
  Annette Grant: When you co-host a property well, you get to know that property inside and out.
• 4:32
  Annette Grant: You know the revenue, the ADR, the occupancy.
• 4:35
  Annette Grant: You know all of the expenses.
• 4:37
  Annette Grant: You know what guests love.
• 4:39
  Annette Grant: You know what needs work, and you know the owner.
• 4:43
  Annette Grant: You also know all of the neighbors and how they operate around your short-term rental.
• 4:48
  Annette Grant: When that owner is ready to sell, you are not a stranger making an offer.
• 4:52
  Annette Grant: You are the obvious buyer.
• 4:56
  Annette Grant: And this is an obvious win-win for all parties.
• 4:59
  Annette Grant: Look, the property is already up and running as a short-term rental.
• 5:03
  Annette Grant: There's no need to cancel reservations, do showings in between guests.
• 5:08
  Annette Grant: You're saving on marketing fees, on agent fees, that time of uncertainty.
• 5:13
  Annette Grant: It's just an easier transaction.
• 5:15
  Annette Grant: You can hire an attorney, a flat fee, pain-free, and just transfer it over, done, easy peasy.
• 5:23
  Sarah Karakaian: And that is the part that most hosts miss.
• 5:25
  Sarah Karakaian: You don't wait for the owner to come to you.
• 5:27
  Sarah Karakaian: When you sense an owner might be moving on, and I could see the writing on the wall, having more kids, like wanting to spend more time.
• 5:36
  Sarah Karakaian: She wouldn't answer my emails or I'd send her her owner statements and she like didn't respond.
• 5:40
  Sarah Karakaian: And I mean, I could just see it happening.
• 5:42
  Annette Grant: Interest was declining.
• 5:43
  Sarah Karakaian: The interest in the short-term rental business...
• 5:45
  Annette Grant: Not that it wasn't profitable, that was awesome, but her life had changed.
• 5:48
  Sarah Karakaian: Yeah, and she trusted me and which is great, you know, and pl- but yeah, sure, her interest was changing.
• 5:53
  Sarah Karakaian: So and that's why, um, I, I asked, and this became a practice of Annette and me, uh, after that too.
• 6:01
  Sarah Karakaian: Like when we, you know, Annette would always ask, "Well, are they interested in selling?"
• 6:04
  Sarah Karakaian: Or like, "Hey, this is...
• 6:05
  Sarah Karakaian: I can see that this property isn't, um, being managed right and we should co-host it and let them know that if they want to sell, we should be first right of refusal."
• 6:11
  Sarah Karakaian: Like it just became a part of our habit.
• 6:13
  Sarah Karakaian: And that's why we got the deal though, is because we put ourselves out there and just asks, asked.
• 6:18
  Sarah Karakaian: The hosts who are too hesitant to have that conversation lose properties to people who aren't.
• 6:26
  Annette Grant: Method two, be visible and vocal.
• 6:29
  Annette Grant: This method, um, it's about the fact that you are always looking.
• 6:35
  Annette Grant: Betty found Sarah on Instagram before they ever met in person.
• 6:38
  Annette Grant: Sarah was using the geotag feature to show up in local Columbus feeds, posting about short-term rentals, showing her properties, talking about hosting.
• 6:47
  Annette Grant: Betty saw it, reached out, and eventually that relationship became The Audrey.
• 6:52
  Annette Grant: That deal came to Sarah because she had made herself findable.
• 6:55
  Annette Grant: Being vocal goes beyond posting online.
• 6:58
  Annette Grant: Show up in real estate networking events.
• 7:00
  Annette Grant: Do, um, make sure that you're there and letting people know you're in the market.
• 7:06
  Annette Grant: Make sure brokerages in your target market, they know your name and they know what you are looking for.
• 7:11
  Annette Grant: Tell people at those industry events, at community gatherings, at your family gatherings anywhere and everywhere.
• 7:18
  Annette Grant: The more people who know what you're looking for and that specific type of property in a specific area, the more likely someone in their network surfaces something before it ever hits the listing site
• 7:31
  Sarah Karakaian: And when we say be visible on social media, we mean be specific and do it with intention.
• 7:37
  Sarah Karakaian: I wasn't just posting pretty photos of the properties that I was managing.
• 7:41
  Sarah Karakaian: I was showing the work behind the scenes.
• 7:44
  Sarah Karakaian: I was showing the turnovers, the inspections, talking through hosting decisions, the kind of content that signals to a property owner, this person knows what they're doing, and that I wouldn't trust them, um, and that I would trust them
• 7:57
  Sarah Karakaian: with my home because they could see me caring about the decisions I was making.
• 8:01
  Sarah Karakaian: They could see my brand standards being upheld behind the scenes.
• 8:05
  Sarah Karakaian: That's what made Betty reach out.
• 8:08
  Sarah Karakaian: That's actually, Annette, your biggest client who brought you, what, four plus units?
• 8:14
  Annette Grant: Mm-hmm.
• 8:14
  Sarah Karakaian: That's what, that's why he reached out because he knew that you were going to take it seriously, okay?
• 8:18
  Annette Grant: Mm-hmm.
• 8:18
  Sarah Karakaian: So it's not about a follower account.
• 8:20
  Sarah Karakaian: Don't worry about how, quote-unquote, "big your account is."
• 8:23
  Sarah Karakaian: The demonstration of competence in the feed is what's going to get you your next property.
• 8:29
  Annette Grant: Yeah, and if nobody in your market knows you're looking, nobody is going to call you when something comes up.
• 8:34
  Annette Grant: Be specific about what you want and consistent about showing what you do.
• 8:39
  Annette Grant: The deal finds the person who's already known for doing this well.
• 8:44
  Sarah Karakaian: By the way, finding the right property is only part of it.
• 8:48
  Sarah Karakaian: Making sure it performs once you have it is the other half.
• 8:51
  Sarah Karakaian: Actually, I would arguably say people, you know, yes, you make your money when you buy, but it's running it like a business that keeps that money coming.
• 9:00
  Sarah Karakaian: This is the exact work we do with our private clients inside of Strategic Host.
• 9:05
  Sarah Karakaian: Join us live and see if it's the right next step for your business.
• 9:09
  Sarah Karakaian: The link is in the description.
• 9:13
  Sarah Karakaian: Method three is Facebook groups and online communities.
• 9:17
  Sarah Karakaian: Join the neighborhood groups in the areas where you want to buy, and then I want you to participate.
• 9:22
  Annette Grant: Yeah, you can't just be a lurker.
• 9:23
  Sarah Karakaian: No.
• 9:24
  Annette Grant: That's what I do.
• 9:24
  Annette Grant: But you gotta...
• 9:25
  Annette Grant: I'm not a lurker in live, I'm a lurker online.
• 9:28
  Sarah Karakaian: She is.
• 9:29
  Sarah Karakaian: It's okay.
• 9:29
  Sarah Karakaian: Actually, online I'm better at participating.
• 9:31
  Sarah Karakaian: Yeah.
• 9:31
  Sarah Karakaian: So it works out.
• 9:32
  Annette Grant: That's why we're a match.
• 9:33
  Sarah Karakaian: Yes.
• 9:34
  Sarah Karakaian: When the time is right, let people know you're an investor looking for property there.
• 9:38
  Sarah Karakaian: Homeowners who are thinking about selling will often float the idea around a neighborhood group before they call a realtor.
• 9:44
  Annette Grant: Mm-hmm.
• 9:45
  Annette Grant: Also, join local short-term rental specific groups.
• 9:49
  Annette Grant: So you have your real estate generalist.
• 9:50
  Sarah Karakaian: Mm-hmm.
• 9:51
  Annette Grant: And then your short-term rental specific groups.
• 9:53
  Annette Grant: There might be hosts there that are burning out, they're relocating, they're ready to exit that business completely.
• 10:00
  Annette Grant: They're ready to just sell and buy another property.
• 10:03
  Annette Grant: They're gonna post in those groups before they list.
• 10:05
  Annette Grant: And if you are active in those communities, you're gonna see those posts the moment they go up, ahead of every buyer who's sitting there being passive, just waiting on Zillow.
• 10:14
  Annette Grant: Conversations happen in these groups that don't happen anywhere else.
• 10:19
  Annette Grant: Someone mentions a neighbor who's talking about selling.
• 10:22
  Annette Grant: Someone knows an owner who's been struggling with their current co-host.
• 10:25
  Annette Grant: That information is only accessible to people who are already in those communities.
• 10:32
  Annette Grant: Method four: hire an expert.
• 10:35
  Annette Grant: Work with people who know the business.
• 10:38
  Annette Grant: This is likely one of the largest investments that you'll make, but it will pay off.
• 10:42
  Annette Grant: A generalist real estate agent, yes, they can find you a house, but an agent who understands short-term rental investing can find you a property that performs.
• 10:52
  Annette Grant: Those are two very different things, and it's worth taking the time to find someone who knows the difference.
• 10:58
  Annette Grant: What you want from an investment-focused agent is someone who can look at a property and tell you whether it makes sense as a short-term rental before you fall in love with it.
• 11:06
  Annette Grant: Things like, what is the local short-term rental regulation situation, and is it stable?
• 11:11
  Annette Grant: What does the comp set look like in the neighborhood?
• 11:14
  Annette Grant: Is this a market where guests are booking because of proximity to something specific, and does this property deliver on that?
• 11:21
  Annette Grant: Can it be permitted?
• 11:22
  Annette Grant: Those are the questions a generalist agent, they just don't know to ask.
• 11:27
  Annette Grant: Beyond your short-term rental specific agent, there are tools like STR Insights, AirDNA.
• 11:33
  Annette Grant: They are built specifically for investors in this space.
• 11:37
  Annette Grant: They help you identify which markets are performing, what amenities are driving revenue in a specific area, and what the actual demand picture looks like before you financially commit.
• 11:48
  Annette Grant: You're not guessing based on a gut feeling.
• 11:51
  Annette Grant: You're looking at what guests in that market are booking and what they're paying for it.
• 11:55
  Annette Grant: A cheap deal in a weak market, it's not an opportunity, and a well-priced property in a strong market with the right amenities is.
• 12:03
  Annette Grant: The right data and the right agent help you tell the difference before you close, not after.
• 12:09
  Annette Grant: And I want to share another story about property that we own.
• 12:14
  Annette Grant: We worked with a gentleman in where our glamping site is.
• 12:17
  Annette Grant: Sarah and I, with Mark Partners, actually bought 134 acres.
• 12:21
  Annette Grant: That is a big undertaking, right?
• 12:23
  Annette Grant: Well, at first, I have to admit, I was general- I was just going online and, not Zillow, I was going to landforsale.com, true story, finding so many large plots of land with many, many, many acres, while our other
• 12:41
  Annette Grant: partner was going to the experts.
• 12:45
  Annette Grant: He was going to the locals.
• 12:46
  Annette Grant: He was networking.
• 12:48
  Annette Grant: He was finding the people that knew the land, knew the area, knew what was going on, while I was happy just looking online, being, you know, just thinking I knew best.
• 13:01
  Annette Grant: My partner, Mike, he literally, Sarah and I, he was in, in those groups out there networking and found an amazing property that had been owned for someone else for decades.
• 13:13
  Annette Grant: It had been taken care of pristinely.
• 13:17
  Annette Grant: It had electric, it had sewer, it had buildings on it.
• 13:22
  Annette Grant: The stuff that I was looking at that I thought was a good deal had none of that infrastructure.
• 13:28
  Annette Grant: It would have taken years, and maybe never because we might have not ever been zoned to be able to do the stuff that we're now doing.
• 13:36
  Annette Grant: That was finding someone local in the market, an expert, and truly out there networking, letting people know what we were looking for and building those relationships.
• 13:47
  Annette Grant: And actually, this particular expert that we found, we're still working with him today on more projects, and we started working with him over four years ago.
• 13:57
  Sarah Karakaian: So There you have it.
• 13:58
  Sarah Karakaian: The properties that no one else knows about are almost always the ones sitting inside a relationship that's already been built.
• 14:04
  Annette Grant: Not on Zillow or landforsale.com.
• 14:07
  Sarah Karakaian: I mean, who knows?
• 14:08
  Sarah Karakaian: You know, it just might take you longer.
• 14:09
  Annette Grant: Yeah.
• 14:09
  Sarah Karakaian: Start co-hosting.
• 14:11
  Sarah Karakaian: Make yourself visible.
• 14:12
  Sarah Karakaian: Show up in the right communities, and work with people who understand what you're trying to do.
• 14:18
  Sarah Karakaian: The deal comes to the person who is already in the right place.
• 14:22
  Annette Grant: Yeah.
• 14:22
  Annette Grant: You don't have to wait for somebody to list on Zillow to tell you what's available.
• 14:27
  Annette Grant: Build the relationship, and the deal finds you.
• 14:31
  Sarah Karakaian: Inside Strategic Host, we help hosts get more nights booked, charge what their property is worth, and stop leaving money on the table.
• 14:39
  Sarah Karakaian: This is the exact work we do with our private clients, so join us live and see if it's the right next step for your business.
• 14:47
  Sarah Karakaian: The link with more information is in the show notes.
• 14:49
  Sarah Karakaian: And with that, I am Sara Karakaian.
• 14:51
  Annette Grant: I'm Annette Grant, and together we are...
• 14:53
  Annette and Sarah: Thanks for Visiting.