How to Find High-Cash-Flow Vacation Rentals Using “Secret” Airbnb Data

Real Estate Rookie

BiggerPockets

How To, Education, Business, Investing, Entrepreneurship

4.8 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 3 December 2025

⏱️ 69 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Are we seeing a short-term rental resurgence? Since Airbnb’s big boom in 2021, many investors have shied away from the “oversaturated” short-term rental industry. But is now actually the ideal time for you to buy vacation rentals? Today’s guests believe there’s more opportunity than you might think! Welcome back to the Real Estate Rookie podcast! Today, we’re joined by Jamie Lane of AirDNA and John Bianchi of STR Search, who are harnessing the power of real estate data to find cash-flow-rich properties and areas across the U.S. The best part? All of these figures, tools, and strategies are available to rookies, who have an edge in smaller markets where the big players don’t want to go. Whether you’re buying your first rental property or pivoting to short-term rentals, this episode is chock-full of insights for building a profitable Airbnb business. Jamie and John get into the “20-percent rule” for picking profitable short-term rental markets, the biggest investing mistakes to avoid at all costs, and the huge advantage rookies have in the hospitality space! In This Episode We Cover Why short-term rentals are still a profitable investing strategy in 2025 How to identify high-cash-flow markets using the “20-percent rule” The Airbnb amenities that deliver the greatest return on investment (ROI) The biggest mistakes rookie investors make when analyzing short-term rentals Small versus large markets (and the dangers of going too small) Why “conservative” analysis is needed to find a profitable property And So Much More! Check out more resources from this show on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BiggerPockets.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/rookie-648 Interested in learning more about today’s sponsors or becoming a BiggerPockets partner yourself? Email ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Today we're tackling one of the biggest questions in real estate right now.
0:04.3	Is investing in Airbnb's still worth it?
0:07.9	With the passing of the one big beautiful bill and the reintroduction of 100% bonus depreciation,
0:14.6	Airbnbs are finding their way back into the spotlight.
0:17.8	But depending on who you ask, the data tells two completely different stories.
0:22.6	That's why we brought on two of the smartest data minds in the Airbnb game.
0:26.7	We have Jamie Lane from AirDNA and John Bianchi from STR Search to help us make sense of what's
0:32.0	really happening in the market.
0:41.6	This is the real estate rookie Podcast. I'm Ashley Care.
0:46.6	And I'm Tony J. Robinson. Let's give a big warm welcome. John, Jamie, fellas, thanks so much to joining us today.
0:48.6	Thanks for having us. Yeah, so excited to be here.
0:55.0	I want to start with addressing the elephant in the room. Many of our listeners are questioning whether real estate investing,
1:00.2	and this could be short term or long term, can still produce positive cash flow. And even more so for short term rentals because people are only willing to accept the heavier workload
1:05.3	and the increased risk if the returns are better than long term rentals. So, John, let's start with you. Are Airbnb
1:13.1	is still profitable in 2025? Without a doubt. It's just a matter of getting the right property
1:18.8	within the right area, setting it up the right way, and then managing it properly. And I can speak
1:23.6	very confidently on that just because I have a lot of firsthand data from a lot of people
1:27.5	that have helped find properties and their properties are performing well. If they were not,
1:31.3	they would be coming from my neck. And so then therefore, so far so good. Definitely.
1:35.7	Well, we can see your neck and it looks like it's not clothed with us. We're good. And Jamie,
1:41.3	would you agree with this statement? A hundred percent. And I put my money around my mouth with it.
1:45.8	I invested in a property late last year, five-bedroom house in North Georgia, and it's running
	...

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