Hello from newbies to the PI scene - ACT and Qld

Hello all, We are entering the PI landscape. Have a small farm in NSW, but also an apartment in the ACT and soon also one on the Gold Coast. Farm will remain 'home'. Looking to learn about short term rental (i.e. the Airbnb thing) for the ACT property and perhaps also for the Qld one.

Interested in people's experiences with that approach and also how to set up the accounts and book keeping. We will have mortgages and offset accounts etc.

I use MYOB for my small business and so any tips for how to use that for tracking things in the PI area would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Alan

 

Thanks Y-man. Of course. My typing is less than great, I think I meant IP.... Thanks for the tip about excel.

 

Welcome Alan
I have done the airbnb thing in Canberra a few years back with an apartment in Braddon so thought I would share some figures to help out. My advice is to really look at your figures closely, because with rents being pretty high in Canberra and vacancies very low, short term rental may not be that much more lucrative than just renting it out on a 6-12 month lease. Some costs associated with short term renting:
Airbnb or other sites fees - usually around 5% of gross takings
Cleaning - 2 bed apartment around $120 per professional clean approximately. may not include cleaning linen
Management fees for short term - around 20% of gross takings (fair enough considering the time to communicate to guests before, during and after stays, manage calendar, key collection etc etc)
Upfront costs to furnish and equip property and to replace damaged or stolen items. Approximately 15k to furnish an apartment.
Electricity and water usage
Wi fi - free unlimited wifi expected by guests these days
For example:
You may gross $1200/week for a 2 bed apartment in Braddon. Take out 20% management fees ($240), 2 x cleans ($240), 5% booking fees ($60), lets say $20/week wi fi and $25/week electricity/water. You are down to about $615/week net. Then you have the uncertainly of whether the place will get booked out. You could probably rent the same apartment for about $550/week unfurnished or $600/week furnished (in Braddon). You may then pay 7-8% commission to your property manager.
We did the short term thing for a couple of years in Canberra then decided just to rent out furnished. No hassle, 12 month leases, no stress about bookings and almost the same return
Don't want to discourage you too much if you have your mind set on it but consider the hassle and figures closely
Welcome to PC!
Todd

 

i do the air bnb thing in caberra /. have for a few years. happy to answer any specific questions. works for me but yeh i do the cleaning etc which is a pain (but worth it for the $)