Are you thinking about investing in an Airbnb, but are worried that it’s the wrong time or you don’t know what you’re doing? Are you dying to generate cash flow that allows you to lead a life that you love? Do you wish you could get expert advice from an industry leader?

If these questions sound familiar, than Episode 81 of the Host Coach Airbnb Investing Podcast is for you! Bill Faeth, an investor who turned a $126,000 short-term rental property into a $23 million dollar portfolio, shares his best method for generating cash flow with Airbnbs, and why you must treat your property as a business to be successful.

Read on to learn what Bill learned from buying and selling 73 short-term rentals to build wealth and the three things that build any business, and Bill’s best hack for getting the most out of investing!

Topics discussed in this episode:

• The 3 things you need to do to build your Airbnb business
• Why NOW is the best time to buy a short-term rental property
• How to generate maximum cash flow from your Airbnb
• The exact time to look for an investing mentor
• Why you need a life plan to ensure and amplify your success (especially as a couple)
• Bill’s hack to get the most out of the Short Term Rental Wealth Conference

Host Coach Airbnb Podcast Episode 81 Show Notes:

 Bill, I know you're a serial entrepreneur with 31 companies under your belt. From there, how did you transition? What led you into the short term rental industry?

I was playing golf with a friend of mine, we both owned a condo downtown Nashville. I was on the third floor and he was on the seventh floor. Make a long story short, he told me that he just switched to this thing called Airbnb, and went from charging $2,200 a month long-term to making $8,000 in his first month. And I said, you're full of *@%&, prove it to me. And he brought back some numbers and showed me his Airbnb listing and all that type of stuff. Over the course of two or three months talking about it, that's when I started to take an interest in Airbnb investing. But I just exited a ground transportation company that I built, and I was in city council meetings every Tuesday... so I was familiar with the volatility, even though Nashville at that time was the number one market in the world for short-term rentals. I avoided it and I went and I started investing in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

Buying and Selling 73 Airbnb Properties

Okay, and then you've scaled to how many properties since then?

I have a little bit different mentality on how to build wealth with real estate. I have bought and sold 73 short term rentals. I currently own 12, and I host 14.

Okay. And so part of that philosophy is get out the getting's good exit strategy. It's not just hold, hold?

Buy and hold in my opinion, is the absolute wrong way to invest in Airbnbs, specifically if you're trying to generate cash flow. If you're wealthy already and you just want to live off of appreciation and an asset class that's fine. I'm doing that now. But to get to this point, I've got $23 million in value in my short-term rental portfolio. If I was to sell today, at the worst time of our lives to sell, and I've got just under $7 million in debt. The only way you can do that unless you're an independently wealthy hedge fund manager is to leverage the cash, right?

The Business Mindset Behind Airbnb Wealth

Husband-and-Wife Airbnb Investors: How Partnership Changed Everything

We were both entrepreneurs. We have a lot in common with you, Bill. Another thing we have in common is we are husband and wife investors, and as I understand it, you work with your wife as well. How did your business change when you involved your wife?

Nothing changed when we got married, right? But what happened in 2015 is when we implemented a legitimate life plan, my wife went from being affirming and being behind me, to being in parallel - that's when our life really skyrocketed! We had done very well for ourselves. We had, an amazing marriage, kids, all the important things but from a financial perspective, once that happened and I used the term, we got our @#$$%! together.

What we started to do, we started to re-architect what we wanted as our desired outcome with a hundred percent unification. Because previously it was me making decisions in business and she would just and follow along. Now, she had a seat at the table, which was a huge deal. We went through this life plan: our financials, what we do with our kids, how we're paying for things, how we're gonna travel, how we're gonna live, everything. And that's what fundamentally changed our life!

A business plan is designed to where you learn and you have an intimate relationship with the business, right? But yet we don't do that as couples. When we did that as a couple in the last decade, we have 40X our net worth. We have 300x the amount of time we spend together! We do what we want to do because now the other thing that we've done - people try to think about work life balance or don't bring work at home. We live it 24 hours a day and we mold it together. It's like when you see me do couples retreats or ski retreats. We went on a three week, five country European vacation last summer, but there's work involved in that. So one, I can write it off and two, I just can't leave my community for three weeks, if that makes sense. So now everything in our lives, even with our two children, are a hundred percent unified.

Avoid This Mistake as an Airbnb Investing Couple

That's amazing. What is the biggest mistake to avoid as a couple working and investing together?

I can say, for me and my wife, the biggest mistake is not having a safe place based on how we live our lives to turn off the business talk.

Yeah, we do that sometimes too. Yeah, occasionally. I'm like, I just need to go outside.

No business talking in the hot tub. Okay. I love it. That should be a sign.

STR Wealth Conference: The Ultimate Airbnb Education Event

I also want to talk about your conference. I wasn't able to attend last year but I'm looking forward to attending your short term rental wealth conference in July. Tell our listeners a little bit about that and why you think in-person events like that are so valuable.

This conference in particular - because it's the largest conference that anybody will ever attend in our Airbnb industry it is rock show meets Nashville... with a huge component of education. We have made a fundamental switch this year. We only have five keynote speakers. We just announced Cody Sanchez yesterday, which is just huge for us entrepreneurs. Pace Morby, coach Michael Burt, myself, Michael, my partner Sjogren, and then Kenny Bedwell will be the only ones on the main stage.

We are doing almost a thousand hours of deep dive short term rental workshop content. I'll just give you a quick example. Pace Morby and Jerry Norton are doing a four hour deep dive track with a room with a thousand people in it on creative financing and flipping and wholesaling. Then we've got this track on hotels, a track on design, a track on co-hosting, and a track on marketing. It's workshops, you'll have workbooks you're executing in. It's not just listening to aspirations or motivation from a stage and those are gonna be running all day long for 3,500 to 4,000 people.

Okay, so hands on! I love a workbook, it's just so much better. You love to listen and you do like to be inspired, but it's so fantastic to take exactly what you're hearing and put it into the formula on paper for you for your life, for your finances, and doing it in the midst of other like-minded individuals, right?

Insider Tips for Airbnb Conference First-Timers

One of the big things that people want to do is they want to network with people that own and operate where they are at, right?

That also sounds really valuable for the people that would be coming that don't have a giant portfolio. Maybe they just have one Airbnb. Or maybe, if you're out there and you're thinking about getting started, this would be a great way to kick off your short term rental investing, portfolio and lifestyle!

Last year we had close to 300 people that didn't own a property that attended. What a great way to start. We treat them a little bit differently. We try to connect them with a mentor and other people that have already owned Airbnbs. I'm a believer that everybody needs a coach. I'm a believer that everybody should find a mentor before they buy their first place, so they don't make the mistakes that we've all made in our first one or two ventures. It's definitely different than midterm and long term real estate investing.

Bill's Insider Tip For Newbies

What is an insider tip for someone attending your conference that's never been to one before?

Find me as quickly as you can if you're a first timers. We'll have badges for first timers. We'll connect them with ambassadors that type of stuff. There's so much going on It's like going to Disney World for the first time.

I would also make a list of what are your top five goals that you want to achieve? Who are the top five people you want to meet and network with? I make it super easy because I am super accessible personally. I know everybody or they know me. At least at the conference, I can connect you with everybody that's there. So come to my booth, find me, find my inner circle ambassadors and they will take you - literally walk you to find those top five people or text them and connect you with them.

Absolutely! Sometimes at a conference, when it's a new industry, you feel like an outsider, and it sounds like you've taken extreme steps to make sure everyone is included and mentored and coached. Bravo!

I love it. It parallels being an Airbnb host - being super welcoming and making sure new people know how to integrate into the community and have a good time. It is just such an outgoing community too. every short-term rental host I've pretty much ever met is just very inclusive, wants to share, is excited about our industry and it is unique that way as an industry and a community.

The Power of Personal Connection in Airbnb Hosting

I'm curious, as a fellow, short-term rental investor, what are you doing differently in 2025 to succeed?

Making Airbnb Guests Feel Welcome and Special

You said a video - you have a personal video, two minutes or so welcoming them to the property?

You heard it here folks - build a relationship with you guests. You can't be the host that hides behind all the apps. You have to create the personal connection so people know who you are, want to stay in your Airbnb, and want to come back to the other short-term rentals in your portfolio.

It needs to come from you. For those of you that are trying to automate everything with VA's and Chatgpt and all that type of stuff, I'm gonna tell you right now, if you keep the important stuff manual, your guests will know just like that video's not a one time and then automated through like market my STR that is done manually and texted to them off platform every single time.

Faeth

Bill, this has been exciting. How can our guests get in touch with you? How can they learn more about the conference coming up?

STRwealthcon.com. I'm @BillFaeth73 on Instagram. I'm an open book. If you have questions, just DM me on Instagram and I reply personally and we'll even jump on phone calls with you.

 So there you have it. You now know what Bill learned from buying and selling 73 short-term rentals, the value of attending the STR Wealth Conference at any stage of investing and why you need to have a life plan with your spouse to supercharge your income and happiness.

Should you need an Airbnb coach to help you find the right market, property, and help you set yourself up for success - feel free to book a free 30 minute coaching call with us. We LOVE helping new investors avoid pitfalls and find financial freedom through Airbnb investing!