How to Use AirDNA to Research a Short-Term Rental

Source

How to Use AirDNA to Research a Short-Term Rental

What It Says

AirDNA Senior Research Analyst Linda Rollins outlines a data-driven framework for acquiring short-term rental (STR) properties. The process moves from macro-market selection to micro-level property underwriting. Key steps include using Market Scores to filter for investability and RevPAR growth, utilizing heat maps to identify high-revenue neighborhoods, and analyzing seasonal trends to forecast cash flow.

A central component of the strategy is the use of the "Rentalizer" tool to estimate revenue for specific addresses. Rollins emphasizes that while automated estimates provide a baseline, investors must manually refine "comps" (comparable properties) to account for specific amenities, views, and professional management styles that data alone might miss.

Why It Matters

For STR operators and investors, the "buy right" phase is the most critical determinant of long-term ROI. This workflow demonstrates how to strip emotion out of the purchasing process. By using professional-grade tools like AirDNA Adapt and Rentalizer, investors can validate asking prices against actual historical performance rather than relying on optimistic projections from real estate listings. For technology vendors, this highlights the specific data points—lead times, guest origin, and amenity-based RevPAR—that users value most during the pre-acquisition phase.

Useful Signals

• Market Score Filters: High scores for "Investability" and "Demand" are the primary indicators for narrowing down thousands of potential markets.
• Heat Mapping: Analyzing revenue at the block level helps identify "pockets of performance" that city-wide averages might obscure.
• Comp Refinement: The accuracy of the Rentalizer tool depends on the user’s ability to filter out outliers and select properties with similar bedroom counts and guest capacity.
• Regulatory Research: Data analysis must be paired with local zoning and STR ordinance checks to ensure the investment remains viable.

STR Tech Report Take

Rollins’ methodology highlights a shift in the industry: data is no longer just for large-scale property managers. Small-scale investors are now expected to use sophisticated modeling to secure financing and ensure profitability. The most important takeaway is the "human-in-the-loop" requirement for data tools. Even with advanced AI and scrapers, the most successful investors are those who manually vet their property comparables to ensure a "like-for-like" match in quality and guest experience. Tech vendors should focus on making these "comp-tuning" features more intuitive for the end user.

Original Source

How to Use AirDNA to Research a Short-Term Rental