Demand in Upstate NY (Catskills, more specifically)

[Ivan76]

I'm thinking of buying a small cabin in Hobart NY to use myself for a week long stays throughout the year and Airbnb the rest of the time.

From skimming listings, I have a sense of the nightly rates in the area, but I'm wondering about how *occupancy* rates so I can estimate my possible income.

I'm also curious about any other peculiarities of hosting a whole house vacation spot in the area. Costs of getting home cleaning or property management, maybe? I'm honestly not sure what else to be thinking about.

Happy to hear any thoughts. 🙂

[David126]

I have seen many people comment on here that they have gone from being very busy say a year ago to much quieter now.

Maybe the local tourist authority could help?

[Andre35]

I have gone from being very busy, actually having to turn away bookings for the last couple of years since I started, to this spring being like a ghost town.  All was fine through the holidays, had weekends through January, a couple in February, then nothing, which was expected, being winter.  But it's May, and still there is nothing coming in.  I am freaking out!  Is anybody experiencing the same thing?  I know Airbnb has been trying to squeeze prices lower, which I have not done.  But it is the same with VRBO and Glamping Hub.  Nobody is inquiring, from any source.  VRBO says my listing is excellent; good reviews, updated calendar, competitive rates, and it searches well.   Any thoughts or insights?

Andy

[Lucia152]

Replying to this late, but I think the low volume was an exception de to May - June 2017 being  cold and rainy.

[Linda645]

I think many people are frustrated with Airbnb. It’s difficult to get in touch with them & some of their practices are harsh. I always use VBRO or HomeAway or Flipkey when I rent a home for vacation. While owned by Airbnb, There  are so many other sites To post your home that Airbnb isn’t involved with. 

-Innclusive

-I Need a vacation.com

-Flipkey

-Tripping

-Sabatical

-Home To Go

-Trip Advisor

-Home Exchange

-Booking

-CouchSurfing

-Turn Key

-And many more

[Lois-and-Darryl0]

We are quite a ways from your area, but our decision-making was similar.  I spent nearly a year (while working over full-time) conducting research with the market, and the listing services, and trying to determine if we wanted to invest additional money in our second home in the mountains as a vacation rental.  I suggest you not make assumptions based upon how "hot and heavy" Airbnb is now.  It is growing leaps and bounds, and several things are happening because of it, including some cities and maybe states(?) passing laws to make it more difficult for homeowners to rent out their home or rooms.  Our area is saturated with vacation rentals, and I don't believe that will stop anytime soon.  I recommend you consider this investment similar to buying stocks:  You can afford to purchase it, and you'll be pleasantly surprised if the place is very busy.  One important note:  Being an excellent host and getting excellent reviews and building reputation is a lot of work and time; and not time from your schedule, but the Guests' schedules.  I don't intend to discourage you at all!  I love hosting with Airbnb and meeting people from all over.  Purchasing real estate to do this is really jumping in with both feet.  I spent many months watching the properties in my area on Airbnb, and their calendars and bookings, and reviews, to see how busy we might be.  Good Luck.

[Ash-and-Dasha0]

@Ivan76 My two cents: don't buy it with a sole hope to rent it out on airbnb, vrbo, or other short-term rental sites because the local zoning regulations can change so quickly (within 6 months as I've seen it) making it illegal to rent on short-term basis in that area. Also if the area has slow months, you will be strained financially by this investment. 

[Sandra126]

If you want a second home, do it. If you are going to depend on it for income and be near the knuckle otherwise, don't do it. The cost of managing it from afar can be prohibitive and unreliable, check that out first of all!

As for occupancy, check the calendar of the listings in the area. Yes, they may block it out for themselves but you will still get a general idea. I looked at the distance to NYC and it is 196 kms, seems fine for a weekend getaway. 90-120 minutes drive from any big city is the ideal radius in Australia, anything further will not be as busy.

[Lucia152]

In reagrd to the folks who have cautioned about "some cities and maybe states(?) passing laws to make it more difficult for homeowners to rent out their home or rooms" - I wouldn't worry about this happening in the Catskills - or in most rural areas. That is really an issue in cities with housing crises and unaffordable rent. Not something we will ever have to worry about in the Catskills, and especially Green County, which is the cheapest place in NY state to buy a home. These struggling rural areas depend on the tourist industry and AirBnB so they will not outlaw it. 

[Rolando46]

I dunno... several Catskills towns in Ulster County, including Woodstock and Shandaken, have started to pass restrictions on short-term rentals because of quality of life and housing affordability concerns...

1. https://hudsonvalleyone.com/2018/11/18/shandaken-tackles-short-term-rental-rules/
2. https://www.dailyfreeman.com/news/local-news/woodstock-adopts-rules-for-short-term-rental-properties...

[Terri75]

 Hi Lucia, I own an Airbnb in Roxbury - about 30 minutes from Windham. We're having a heck of a time finding reliable cleaning and lanwcare. How did you go about finding your cleaning person? We have someone now, but she seems to take it upon herself to make decisions that aren't hers to make i.e. throwing out a coffee pot a guest said was busted, but it just needed to be cleaned. Refusing to wash towels with bleach. 9 of 20 towels had stains, which I was able to get out with oxiclean and bleach. On my last visit I noticed she hasn't been dusting certain corners and found massive cobwebs inside. It was so hard to find her that I hate even thinking of going through that process again. Any advice on how you found your cleaner or lawncare would be really really helpful. 

[Delia82]

Did you have any luck? I am going through the searching process now. 

[John1080]

@Ivan76, I suggest subscribing for a month to AirDNA https://www.airdna.co/ for a month for that market. It provides a lot of great data on occupancy, availability, rates, etc. You can even see what other properties made last year in income. 

[Delia82]

Hi Lucia! 

Are you able to share your couple who helps with the cleaning and if possible some other contacts. I am in search of the same and looking to work via Aibnb and manage my property on my own from NYC. I would love a great reccommendation and I would hope it would help everyone out as well! 

Delia 

[Jennifer1973]

Thank you for your very informative post.   We are thinking of doing something similar... either Florida/Catskills or Texas/Catskills.   Do you rent your Florida house out when you are in the Catskills?  How do you handle personal item storage between the two houses? Any thoughts since you did your original post? 

Thanks

JKM