Airbnb Investing Success Stories: How 8 Students Bought and Launched STRs

Buying a short-term rental is a big decision, and most of the content online is either hype or horror stories. Here's what it looked like for eight real students of BNB Investing Mastery (formerly BNB Inner Circle), in their own words from their video testimonials.

1. Srishti Mehta: a first-time buyer and immigrant to Canada

"As an immigrant, there was so much like, I was like, how will I do this? I don't know anything, how it works in Canada. This is going to be my first home... I never owned a home. I hardly had the money... And today I am, I think one month or three weeks away from launching my first Airbnb, and it's going to be a five bedroom property three hours away."

What helped most was the live calls: "If you're sitting on your own, you're just like scared and there's no way to come out of it. But getting on the Q&A calls was helpful."

Her honest lesson: "I thought, oh, I buy my one property and I should be able to leave my nine-to-five job, which is not the case." Her plan now is to prove the first property, then build a portfolio.

2. Cole Gordon: four STRs that cover his personal expenses

Cole runs a consulting business and wanted somewhere to put its cash flow beyond long-term rentals.

"I asked around the industry and James' name came up time and time again... Since then, we have acquired, I think four short term rentals. And all of the returns that we're getting are not only beating the stock market, but are also bringing me cash flow in every single month. That's paying for pretty much all of my personal expenses."

3. Jay Szczypiorski: from good to great, three months booked in two weeks

Jay already had two Airbnbs, in La Quinta and Bullhead City, and they were doing well. "I truly believe the good can be the enemy to the great."

"Within the first two weeks, I had the first three months booked. And then outside of that, with target nightly prices, I was booked 50% occupancy in the months all the way through July."

He now runs properties in California, Arizona and Florida, and credits the target-occupancy pricing method. (Try it with the free Airbnb pricing calculator.)

4. Mark Rauch: a retirement plan, two bookings on day one

Mark and his wife wanted retirement income without relying on the stock market, and wanted to keep their larger house in the family rather than sell it.

"We had two bookings the very first day that we opened up... At this point, we're going about with the booking every two or three days, we get a new booking."

He was candid about timing: "We missed the high side of the market with Covid... But as things normally do, it'll cycle back around."

5. Carter & Laura: launching in Hawaii from Colorado

"We live in Colorado and we were furnishing and setting up a property in Hawaii, which Amazon does not ship free to... One challenge was how to curate the furniture. The second challenge was how to manage a property from a different place in the country."

The coaching gave them their next three to-dos whenever they felt overwhelmed. "Now here we are on the other side... We have the confidence to scale."

6. Jake & Ryan: closed in northern Georgia, planning to go full-time

"We just recently closed on our property in northern Georgia... Our future plan is to keep purchasing as many as we can... Within the next couple years, wanna retire and just be doing this full time."

Their lesson: "It definitely was probably a little bit slower than we initially thought. Going through the conventional process takes a little bit longer."

7. Jane Baines: converting long-term rentals to short-term

Jane, an experienced long-term rental investor in Ontario and New Brunswick, joined to learn the management side of short-term rentals.

"We're at the point where the one in Bancroft is doing very well. I'm still learning the ins and outs of Airbnb... pretty much managing everything."

See converting a long-term rental to an Airbnb for more on this path.

8. Fernanda & Renato: two jobs, two kids, studying at 5 a.m.

"We are waking up at five every single day... to work for that because we also have two kids, that are two and four year olds... From five to almost seven is our time to dedicate to that... It's possible. You need to dedicate your time and otherwise the results won't come."

What these investors have in common

• They analyzed before they bought. Students repeatedly mentioned the market and deal analysis.
• Financing and renovations took longer than expected. Plan for it.
• Management is a decision, not a default. Cole Brown, who bought three properties in Fredericksburg, Texas, chose a local manager so he could scale, expecting to negotiate the commission toward 15–20% as he added properties.
• Live support kept them moving. As Cole Brown put it: "One of the huge things is people don't freeze up when they're with you."
• One property first, then scale. Prove the model before you build the portfolio.

Start with the numbers

Run any property through the free Airbnb investment calculator to see cash flow, cash-on-cash return, and break-even occupancy. For how to choose training, read how to choose an Airbnb investing course.

When you're ready, watch the free BNB Investing Mastery training.

Results described are individual experiences and are not typical or guaranteed. See our earnings disclaimer.