How to Determine if a Neighborhood Has a Lot of Short Term Rentals

Short term rentals are rapidly becoming popular among travelers because they offer the privacy of a home and the comfort of luxury utilities at reasonable prices. So, if you’re looking to get one soon, here’s how to determine if a neighborhood has a lot of short-term rentals.

How to Determine if a Neighborhood Has a Lot of Short-Term Rentals

As their name implies, short-term rentals are fully-furnished apartments that are rented out for short periods of time. They are a better option than hotels for people looking for higher value, more privacy, and the chance to live like they would in their own homes.

Exterior shot of two houses with similar looking design

This presents a highly viable investment option, especially in locations where these rentals are in high demand. The feeling of getting a semblance of a ‘home away from home’ is a concept that many people find to be attractive.

Investing in Short-Term Rentals

If you are looking to invest in rentals, it is important to be able to tell the neighborhoods that are populated with top-tier rentals. This ensures that you are not limited in your options. So, to determine if a middle neighborhood has a lot of these rentals, look out for the following:

Tourist attractions
Annual festivals
Economic hubs

Tourist Attractions

Areas with a lot of tourist attractions and vacation sites are highly likely to attract many visitors, increasing the demand for these rentals. More often than not, a high demand like this will be met with a high supply, thus ensuring the area is populated with lots of rentals.

Annual Festivals

Annual local festivals, concerts, and other social gatherings are magnets that attract people to a particular area. As a result, there is a need to provide comfortable accommodations for people throughout the course of these events.

Some of the most popular annual festivals in Arizona are:

Arizona Renaissance Festival, Gold Canyon
Tucson Festival of Foods, Tucson
Arizona Polish Festival, Phoenix

Areas like these are bound to have a good number of these rentals.

Economic Hubs

Businesses and work are one of the major reasons people travel, outside of vacations. Therefore, places with high economic activities tend to attract many visitors. Often, these work-related trips take months to complete, and paying for a hotel might be too expensive, making rentals a preferable option.

Miniature house on top of a floor plan and beside a magnifying glass and piggy bank

Tips on How to Find Good Rentals

When you are choosing the location, and type, and considering other specifics with respect to a rental property, there are certain necessary tips that would help the process along:

Create a budget
Identify your options
Hire a real estate agent
Carry out an online search
Carry out your due diligence
Do not pay before signing

Create a Budget

Finance is everything when it comes to real estate. Therefore, before seeking out a rental property, it is important to carefully decide on a realistic budget for the property you have in mind to avoid unnecessary expenses that might leave you stranded.

Your budget would also guide you with respect to areas that you can get a property in for that price range.

Identify Your Options

In addition to determining your budget, next, you want to evaluate the housing options available to you. You would be looking at housing types such as cabins, bungalows, and chalets. You could also decide on whether to opt for either of the following categories of properties:

An entire home
Individual rooms
Accessory dwellings

Your choice here would be significantly dependent on your budget too, however. So, your options and budget go hand in hand. You can also use the housing affordability index to determine whether or not you can actually afford the property you want to purchase.

Hire a Real Estate Agent

One of the main benefits of working with a professional and experienced agency, especially when you’re in a new environment, is that they offer you a higher chance of finding the best rental property to suit your needs and budget in record time.

Agencies such as AZ Flat Fee have a vast network of contacts and information at their disposal, making them invaluable when looking for a suitable rental to invest in.

Panoramic view of a neighborhood with similar looking houses

Carry Out an Online Search

If you’d rather be actively involved in your search for a short-rental property, your best bet might be to use the internet. There are many websites that list properties, and you could visit them to find a suitable one for yourself.

Alternatively, you can opt to carry out a physical search for yourself, especially if you have a specific area in mind. This gives you a chance to inspect the buildings in real life, instead of in photographs, and determine if you like them.

Carry Out Due Diligence

Once you have identified a potential property, the next step is to carry out proper research on it, if possible, before payment. This is to ensure you get your money’s worth and are not stuck with an undesirable property.

If you found the property on a website that lists such properties and offers 3D tours, ensure that you research the property and make the necessary inquiries before going ahead to carry out the transaction. Working closely with your real estate agent is vital as well. Also, learn the local rules for this rental type in the area and make sure the place you are investing in complies with these rules.

Conclusion

As a traveler, it is important to know how to spot neighborhoods with several decent short-term rental properties to enable you to always make the best choice. We have provided some tips to help guide you on how to spot these neighborhoods and how to find the ideal rental property to suit your needs.