Rob Abasolo, AKA Robuilt on Youtube, didn’t have a background in real estate, or construction, or hospitality, or really anything related to his current success. He did have drive, creative thinking, and the will to make something work when other people told him it was impossible.

Rob and his wife moved from Kansas City to Los Angeles, trading a $1,100 mortgage on a house for a $1,800 rent bill on a small apartment. Around this time, Rob started hearing about Airbnb and short-term rental hosting. So, he decided to buy a house, keep his apartment, and try his hand at some Airbnb arbitrage. It worked, and thus the short-term rental revenue model was proven!

Rob then started to Airbnb out the apartment attached to his new home. He was pulling in some solid income, anywhere from $2,000 to $3,000 a month. So what did he do next? He built a “tiny house” in his backyard for around $72,000 and began renting it out for up to $4,000 a month on Airbnb. That’s when Rob thought “what if I built ten of these?”

Now, four years later, that’s exactly what he’s done. Rob has a growing portfolio of short-term rentals all across the United States. From California to Texas, to Tennessee and beyond. But this isn’t the end for Rob. His new plans? Build a massive “glamping” compound on his newly acquired 50 acres of land in Gatlinburg!

In This Episode We Cover:

Airbnb arbitrage and the risk of always going after cashflow

Offsetting your mortgage with short-term (or long-term) house hacking

Airbnb regulations and making sure you’re allowed to host visitors

Building a “tiny house” and the cost associated with it

Funding your deals through HELOCs and partnerships 

The new trend of “glamping” and why it may be a massive opportunity

And SO much more!

Links from the Show

BiggerPockets Forums

BiggerPockets Calculators

BiggerPockets Youtube Channel

American Horror Story

Turo

Joshua Tree Harebnb Listing

BiggerPockets Podcast 280: The Key to Making Great Deals (Hint: Overlooked Properties!) with Mark Hentemann (Writer for TV’s Family Guy!)

Zillow

Airbnb

Check the full show notes here: https://biggerpockets.com/show492

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices