Successful Short Term Accommodation

This week, Michael sat down with Lindy Summerton who bought a property through our agency and after doing some renovations turned it into short stay accommodation. It was great to go back to the property to see the work Lindy and her husband Michael did and to find out about what it’s really like to set up and run a short stay property.

With a budget of $15,000 for a new kitchen, new bathroom, paint and flooring as well as a yard clean up and new fence and with 5 weeks of round the clock work the property was updated and ready to market.

Lindy and Michael feel that the time and money is paying off with the house being worth $50,000 more than they paid for it in November 2017. Lindy says that the property is regularly occupied and is returning a yield of approximately 10%, so doing the hard yards have been worth it.

Whilst the figures will vary from property to property, it is important for people to realise that they should also put a dollar figure on their own personal time as the time and effort required in ensuring the comfort and cleanliness of the property can be significantly more than people think.

Lindy’s advice to anyone looking at doing a similar thing and looking for a formula for success is to do your figures and select the property carefully and then work hard.

Lindy says that 5-star reviews are something she strives for. “The home is a reflection on you. Short stay accommodation is not only a business but is highly personal, as you put your heart and soul into it, it is not a passive investment, you can’t just sit back and watch the money roll in.”

We are very appreciative of Lindy taking the time to talk to us and sharing her knowledge and experience and we hope that you find her advice helpful if this is something you are considering.