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The market for short term rental investment property in Avon is booming. It’s gone from 498 rentals in Q2 of 2016 to 1422 active rentals in Q4 of 2019! Additonally, 72% of those properties average a 4.5 rating or higher on Airbnb, so guests are having a good time. But how does the market break down, and what should you look for in a property?

Of the 1,422 active short term rentals listed in Avon, 1326 (93%) are entire home rentals and the other 7% are private room rentals. Privacy is clearly important for guests, and with a lot of options to choose from, they’re gravitating towards spaces where they can be alone.

29% are listed on Airbnb only, 29% are listed on HomeAway only, and 42% are listed on both. That’s the intelligent strategy to reach a broad audience, as long as you keep your calendars updated to prevent double bookings (softwarelike Guesty can help with this).

The average rental is 2.8 bedrooms (30% are two bedroom and 36% are three bedroom) and has 7.8 guests. Studios and 1 bedrooms together are 12% of the market. Only 108 rentals (8%) have five or more bedrooms. It would be smart to keep your first property in that 2 to 3 bedroom range, unless you have a compelling personal reason to go smaller or larger. Not having enough for a down payment is a compelling personal reason to go smaller!

But what kind of amenities are important to guests? 89% of homes have a washer, 91% have a dryer, and 88% have a kitchen. 79% have parking. You’d probably want most of those amenities anyway if you’re planning on staying in the property. Perhaps surprisingly, a full 65% of short term rental investment properties have pool access in Avon, and 69% have hot tubs. Even if you wouldn’t need those yourself, you have to keep the guest’s needs in mind for short term rental investments.

With such an influx of tourists (the Vail valley gets 1.3 million a year), hosts have set up policies to make their own lives easier. 72% of rentals have a 2 night or higher minimum stay, and 76% have a strict or “super strict” cancellation policy. One of the perks of competition is that you can, for lack of a better term, “get away with” this. Since traffic drops so steeply in the off season (occupancy plunges to 23% in October) you may want to loosen the reins when it gets slow.

Short term rental investment can be lucrative in Avon—if you know what you’re doing. Follow our blog for all things related to short term rentals in the valley!