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Business Insider
13-06-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
A 32-year-old real estate investor who retired early to Japan shares 2 software tools that helped him set up a profitable Airbnb business he can manage from abroad
In 2025, Manny Reyna quit his project management job and moved to Tokyo with his family. He'd spent the last couple of years building a portfolio of cash-flowing rental properties on the side and was eager to spend more time with his young son. He and his wife, who works as a behavior analyst, determined that they had enough coming in between rental income and her earnings to sustain their lifestyle abroad. Reyna expects his properties in San Antonio — two single-family homes and two tiny homes — to bring in about $84,000 in 2025. He lists them as short-term rentals on Airbnb and Vrbo, and mid-term rentals on Furnished Finder. He also rents to long-term tenants, though he prefers shorter stays, which require more work but are more lucrative. Reyna and his property manager, who is in Texas, co-manage the portfolio. Two software tools ensure that the short-term rental aspect of the business runs smoothly. 1. AirDNA. Rental demand is a key metric to consider when it comes to short-term rentals in particular. Are people even visiting your market? As Reyna was shopping for land to place his tiny homes, he used AirDNA to answer that question. The site helps investors understand specific markets by providing data such as occupancy rates and average daily rates. "I didn't want to have to buy land in the middle of nowhere, stick tiny homes there, and then have to create some sort of buzz to get people out there," said Reyna. "So, using AirDNA, I looked at different metrics like booking rates and occupancy, and I threw all the data into an Excel sheet." He selected an area with strong rental demand that was also within a 30-minute drive of where he was living at the time, and has been rewarded with high occupancy rates for his tiny homes. AirDNA offers a free version, which provides limited market insights. The Pro version costs $34 a month when billed annually ($400 total for the year), or $125 a month when billed monthly. 2. PriceLabs. While AirDNA helped Reyna select a strong market, PriceLabs helps him appropriately price his rentals. The software will automatically adjust your prices on sites like Airbnb, Vrbo, and based on demand and seasonality in your area. "It automates the pricing for you, so you don't have to go into the apps and keep updating the prices — and it's meant to increase booking rates," said Reyna. "So, say, there's some special event going on. It'll raise the prices for you to meet that demand. Or, if nothing's really going on in the area, it'll lower the prices for you so that your listing stays competitive." After a 30-day free trial, the dynamic pricing tool costs $19.99 per listing a month. For Reyna, the subscriptions pay for themselves and then some.
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
A financially independent real estate investor shares the book that changed his strategy and helped him build a profitable portfolio of rentals
Before buying his first property, Manny Reyna read as many books about real estate as he had time. The knowledge he gained gave him the confidence to buy when interest rates hit record lows in 2021. His favorite business book, 'Blue Ocean Strategy, changed the way he thought about his portfolio. When Manny Reyna struggled to find a tenant for one of his investment properties, he turned to a principle he learned from "Blue Ocean Strategy." The book, co-authored by Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne, breaks down the market universe into two main categories: "red oceans" — the industries in existence today, or the known market space — and "blue oceans," the industries not in existence, or the unknown market space. While "red ocean strategy" is all about competing in an existing market space, "blue ocean strategy" is about creating an uncontested market space and capturing new demand. "One of my homes was not picking up on Airbnb," Reyna, who rents two single-family homes and two tiny homes in San Antonio, told Business Insider. "So, I shifted my strategy to something called mid-term rentals. I took the playbook right out of 'Blue Ocean Strategy': Everyone's looking at this shiny object — short-term rentals — but what about mid-term rentals?" He listed the property on Furnished Finder, which specializes in 30-day plus stays and is geared toward traveling professionals. It's less mainstream than sites like Airbnb and VRBO, and Reyna had to spend time familiarizing himself with a new platform. "Furnished Finder charges you to post your home, they bring in tenant leads, and then you have to engage them, so that's a whole other thing," he said. "I had to make templates and figure out the whole process, everything from screening tenants through a third-party app called KeyCheck to taking deposits and writing leases." The upfront work paid off, he said: "When I went to mid-term rentals, I was able to pick up a lot more bookings. For whatever reason, in the area where the home is in San Antonio, there are a lot of medical professionals that go there, a lot of construction professionals, and a lot of business professionals." Reyna spent years working in the US Army before purchasing his first property. "I was a medic, so we wouldn't really have too much to do unless somebody got hurt. With that downtime, I read so many books about business and real estate and finance," he said. "We didn't have a way to get internet a lot of the time, so I just read anything I could get my hands on." When he was wrapping up his service in 2021, he had about $12,000 in savings, a family to support, and a career to figure out. "I was super concerned about a lot of things," he said. But, as interest rates started to drop to historic lows in 2021, Reyna recognized an opportunity to buy property and start building equity. The knowledge he'd acquired reading "Blue Ocean Strategy" and other books, including "Rich Dad Poor Dad" and "Profit First," helped him turn the idea of buying a home into reality relatively quickly. "I won't say that I was an expert, but I had some confidence," he said. The mindset he developed in the Army also helped him act quickly. "They teach you to make a decision and act on it. I was just thinking, 'This is a now-or-never moment. The interest rates are super low. I know they're going to go back up soon.'" He found a single-family home, financed it with a 0% down VA loan, and locked in a 3% interest rate. He and his family moved in in the spring of 2021. That property is now one of four rentals that he owns. Self-education is one lever you can pull if you're cash-strapped or starting from scratch. "I really just read anything I could get my hands on because I felt like I was so behind and needed to figure out a way to make money for my family," said Reyna. "So that was the fastest thing I could do — just read, read, read, read, read, and try to get caught up on everything." Read the original article on Business Insider Sign in to access your portfolio
Business Insider
09-06-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
A financially independent real estate investor shares the book that changed his strategy and helped him build a profitable portfolio of rentals
When Manny Reyna struggled to find a tenant for one of his investment properties, he turned to a principle he learned from " Blue Ocean Strategy." The book, co-authored by Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne, breaks down the market universe into two main categories: "red oceans" — the industries in existence today, or the known market space — and "blue oceans," the industries not in existence, or the unknown market space. While "red ocean strategy" is all about competing in an existing market space, "blue ocean strategy" is about creating an uncontested market space and capturing new demand. "One of my homes was not picking up on Airbnb," Reyna, who rents two single-family homes and two tiny homes in San Antonio, told Business Insider. "So, I shifted my strategy to something called mid-term rentals. I took the playbook right out of 'Blue Ocean Strategy': Everyone's looking at this shiny object — short-term rentals — but what about mid-term rentals?" He listed the property on Furnished Finder, which specializes in 30-day plus stays and is geared toward traveling professionals. It's less mainstream than sites like Airbnb and VRBO, and Reyna had to spend time familiarizing himself with a new platform. "Furnished Finder charges you to post your home, they bring in tenant leads, and then you have to engage them, so that's a whole other thing," he said. "I had to make templates and figure out the whole process, everything from screening tenants through a third-party app called KeyCheck to taking deposits and writing leases." The upfront work paid off, he said: "When I went to mid-term rentals, I was able to pick up a lot more bookings. For whatever reason, in the area where the home is in San Antonio, there are a lot of medical professionals that go there, a lot of construction professionals, and a lot of business professionals." Using books to get his foot in the real estate door Reyna spent years working in the US Army before purchasing his first property. "I was a medic, so we wouldn't really have too much to do unless somebody got hurt. With that downtime, I read so many books about business and real estate and finance," he said. "We didn't have a way to get internet a lot of the time, so I just read anything I could get my hands on." When he was wrapping up his service in 2021, he had about $12,000 in savings, a family to support, and a career to figure out. "I was super concerned about a lot of things," he said. But, as interest rates started to drop to historic lows in 2021, Reyna recognized an opportunity to buy property and start building equity. The knowledge he'd acquired reading "Blue Ocean Strategy" and other books, including "Rich Dad Poor Dad" and "Profit First," helped him turn the idea of buying a home into reality relatively quickly. "I won't say that I was an expert, but I had some confidence," he said. The mindset he developed in the Army also helped him act quickly. "They teach you to make a decision and act on it. I was just thinking, 'This is a now-or-never moment. The interest rates are super low. I know they're going to go back up soon.'" He found a single-family home, financed it with a 0% down VA loan, and locked in a 3% interest rate. He and his family moved in in the spring of 2021. That property is now one of four rentals that he owns. Self-education is one lever you can pull if you're cash-strapped or starting from scratch. "I really just read anything I could get my hands on because I felt like I was so behind and needed to figure out a way to make money for my family," said Reyna. "So that was the fastest thing I could do — just read, read, read, read, read, and try to get caught up on everything."
Business Insider
08-06-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Real estate investors say mid-term rentals are the 'sweet spot,' offering a way around Airbnb red tape and more cash flow than long-term rentals
When the COVID pandemic erased virtually all of Zeona McIntyre's Airbnb bookings, she found a solution in mid-term rentals. "I was really open to doing whatever I needed to get my properties rented," the Colorado-based property investor told Business Insider. She started listing her properties on Furnished Finder, which is geared toward traveling professionals and specializes in 30-day plus stays, and was surprised by the hit rate and relative ease of the process. "I realized there are tons of people looking all the time for longer stays — and longer stays are kind of awesome because people don't need as much from you. They're OK to go buy their own toilet paper and change the batteries because they're living there." What started as an attempt to combat Airbnb vacancies evolved into her preferred rental strategy. "My bread-and-butter is these mid-term rentals," said McIntyre, who is the author of " 30-Day Stay." "I want a longer tenant in there, and I don't want to have to think about it for three months." Massachusetts-based investor Dana Bull also pivoted to mid-term rentals, but for a different reason: to withstand rising interest rates. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate surged to 8% in 2023 and lingered in the 6s and 7s in 2024. Higher interest rates mean higher monthly payments, which can eat into an investor's cash flow. Bull has been renting to long-term tenants for more than a decade, but to make the numbers work on her most recent acquisition, a charming single-family home she found in 2023 and couldn't pass up, she turned to mid-term rentals, which she says are more time-intensive, but also more profitable. The 'sweet spot' of rentals Real estate investors tend to agree that, while long-term rentals can produce consistent, relatively passive income, these leases generate less revenue a month compared to short-term rentals. However, short-term rental properties present unique challenges, such as constant tenant turnover, managing multiple bookings, and ever-evolving country-specific rules and regulations. Then, there are mid-term rentals — or, the "sweet spot" of real-estate investing, according to McIntyre — which are properties listed for longer than 30 days but less than a year. In her experience, they're "a whole different vibe from short-term rentals and way less stressful." One major stressor she faced in hosting on Airbnb and VRBO was the evolving rules around permits and licenses. "Short-term rentals have been under scrutiny, and the ever-tightening regulations are constantly changing," she said. "But there is sort of this magic number that, as soon as a listing is over 30 days, these rentals get classified into a long-term rental bucket and then you don't have the extra taxes or have to have a short-term rental permit." That was a contributing factor in Manny Reyna's decision to incorporate mid-term rentals into his overall strategy. "Within San Antonio, you need an STR permit through the city," said Reyna, who rents two single-family homes and two tiny homes in the San Antonio metro. "The permit is $450 just to apply, and you have to pay county taxes and city taxes on the revenue. It's called a hotel tax, and it's really high." However, if you're listing a 30-day stay, "you don't necessarily have to worry about the STR taxes," said Reyna. "It's a little bit of a loophole, if you will. It's also a good middle ground, because the cash flow is higher than long-term rentals." That said, hosting mid-term stays will require upfront work. You're catering to a completely different customer, and leasing can be a challenge because mid-term rentals are less mainstream, explained Bull. "If you want a long-term rental, you know you're going to be on Zillow or work with a real-estate agent. If you want a short-term rental, you also have set channels: You have Airbnb, Vrbo." The equivalent for mid-term rentals is Furnished Finder, "but it's not very well known, and it's not nearly as big as something like Airbnb," she said. A hybrid approach While Reyna prefers mid-term tenants, he wants to cater to a broad customer base and still lists his properties on Airbnb, VRBO, Hipcamp, and Facebook Marketplace when there's a gap between mid-term tenants. "I try to do a shotgun approach to see who's going to bite first," he said. Seattle-based investor Peter Keane-Rivera also uses a hybrid model for his 70s-themed " Groovy Guest House," which he initially listed exclusively as a short-term vacation rental. He enjoys the work that goes into managing a short-term rental — "it does allow you to provide a unique service and really to have control over the quality of that service," he said — but offering 30-plus day stays will generate more consistent revenue during the slow season when people are traveling less. "In the summertime, it pulls in a lot — in June and July, I made almost $5,000 on a one-bedroom in the outskirts of Seattle," he said, referring to the Airbnb income. "But in the wintertime, there are lower margins. I'd rather get something closer to market rent rates, not have to worry about it for four to five months during the slowest seasons, and then spin it back up for spring, summer, and fall to maximize the return." Toggling between short- and mid-term rentals is "a real asset," he said, adding that if he expands to a second Airbnb unit, he'd use the same strategy. "For eight months out of the year, I'd run it as an Airbnb and then during the low season, run it as a mid-term rental."
