An STR Rollercoaster: Exploring The Highs and Lows of Rental Arbitrage, with Syed Lateef of SyedBnB

In this episode, Alex & Annie are joined by Syed Lateef of SyedBnb. Syed is a philanthropist, a family man, an exotic car collector, an 8 figure Airbnb Coach, and the CEO of his short term rental company. He currently operates almost 300 units and is looking to add more. Last year his Airbnb business did more than $10,000,000 in revenue - but it was NOT an easy ride.

Syed’s journey into short term rentals began when he was in the midst of looking for ways to achieve financial freedom, which led him to purchase his first multifamily investment property in 2017. After living in it for a year, he ended up placing it on Airbnb based on a podcast episode he heard, and this move ended up making double the rent value immediately. Then, within 3 months it started making triple the rent value, and so his new business plan was in motion. Fast forward to today, Syed has over 300 units under management, with a majority of his properties being in the Chicago area.

COVID was a true challenge for Syed’s business. When flights were grounded, regulations came in overnight and Airbnb refunded more than $100,000 worth of Syed’s bookings, he was faced with the reality that the lease agreements he had signed were no longer sustainable. After approaching property owners, he gave them 3 potential options - either he moved out of their properties, went into revenue share agreements with them or they could sue him. Even though things were looking grim, most owners agreed to go into a revenue share agreement, and even those who were ready to sue him slowly retracted their positions as they started to understand exactly how crazy the world was becoming.

It’s no secret that the rental arbitrage model is one that often doesn’t work out in the vacation rental space - but that’s not the case for Syed’s business. The reason why Syed’s business model works even though almost all of it is based on rental arbitrage is the fact that he’s mostly in urban areas where the rents are much lower. Even though Chicago might seem like a year-round market, Syed reveals that most of their bookings happen during the summer, with him reporting losses between $350,000-$400,000/month during the winter months.

When asked about booking windows, Syed mentions that everything has gone last minute in 2023. Between hotels being open again and all the negative press that Airbnb has been getting, Syed’s lead times are now on average 5 days, which is very stressful. Another big stress factor for his business is the over-reliance on consistent cash flow. Syed mentions that another freak event like COVID could wipe out their business overnight, which is a tough idea to deal with for any entrepreneur.

Tune into the full episode to hear about the rollercoaster of running an Airbnb empire!

HIGHLIGHTS
00:33 Syed’s STR Journey
02:32 Working Around Regulations in Chicago
04:02 Surviving COVID
09:28 Making Rental Arbitrage Work
17:26 Syed’s Booking Windows in 2023
28:21 Advice To Get Into Arbitraging
32:52 Finding The Right Airbnb Coach
38:06 Syed’s Community Building

This episode is brought to you by Casago and Rev & Research!

Connect with Syed:

Website | Linkedin | Instagram

Connect with Alex and Annie:

Alex Husner | Annie Holcombe

AlexAndAnniePodcast.com