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+--- Thread: What's your real life financial performance with being an AirBNB host? (/showthread.php?tid=295)
What's your real life financial performance with being an AirBNB host? - yyznomad - 02-26-2026
Fellow Airbnb hosts .. how much money have you made and how does that compare with what your expectations were for your property?
RE: What's your real life financial performance with being an AirBNB host? - holymoly - 02-26-2026
My property is seasonal, only goal is to break even to cover the mortgage and expenses (we have a property manager) for the year and be able to hold onto our vacation home. We don't even try to turn a profit.
RE: What's your real life financial performance with being an AirBNB host? - SanDiego1K - 02-26-2026
It runs on a ~15% margin and serves as a tax shelter and provides use for friends and family. Overall I view it as an appreciation play. If that doesn’t materialize then the benefit has been negligible. In the meantime, somebody else is paying our mortgage and it can be part of our estate down the line.
RE: What's your real life financial performance with being an AirBNB host? - merlin666 - 02-28-2026
My STR takes in about $50k per year and I do about 4% net profit after all expenses. I guess I could always do slightly better parking money in a HY savings but I can't stay in a savings account when I'm visiting family
RE: What's your real life financial performance with being an AirBNB host? - ChrisFromTheOC - 02-28-2026
(02-28-2026, 11:46 PM)merlin666 Wrote: My STR takes in about $50k per year and I do about 4% net profit after all expenses. I guess I could always do slightly better parking money in a HY savings but I can't stay in a savings account when I'm visiting family
Your high yield savings account would have also grown by exactly what the APY is. I'm sure your property has appreciated a fair amount which is not technically part of your 4% net margin.
RE: What's your real life financial performance with being an AirBNB host? - tinkicker - 03-01-2026
I've made zero profit. I didn't get into this to make cash flow though; I would just like to break even on the expenses, have a vacation home in an area I like visiting, and keep the equity growing. We're 2 years into our first and will be happy to break even. Just started another in December and it will likely take 2-3 years just like the first one to break even. The first house is something we'll probably use in our retirement so as long as I'm not dramatically losing money we'll keep it. The second one I would likely sell if it wasn't breaking even after 3 years and I'll use it in the meantime.
RE: What's your real life financial performance with being an AirBNB host? - SuiteLife - 04-15-2026
Depends on what kind of Airbnb. If you're taking out a loan to buy an overpriced condo with HOA in a city with a wide range of hotel options, hoping to rent your condo out through Airbnb, then no. It's not an advisable business.
If you have a nice house/farm that you don't use often and want to convert into an Airbnb for extra income, then yes you could net a profit.