Building a 150-Unit Short-Term Rental Arbitrage Empire

Short-term rental arbitrage seems like an elusive concept. As a real estate investor, it can be a little hard to wrap your head around it. You lease a property, rent it out, and then…profit? That’s right! Without buying a rental property, dealing with maintenance or large-scale repairs, you too can make just as much money (if not more) than the landlord down the street without ever owning the property in the first place. It sounds like a dream, but in reality, you’ll need an airtight system and team to make it work.

Thankfully, Jeff Iloulian has all that and more. Before 2014, Jeff was living as a lucrative lawyer, billing high by-the-minute rates and making money every second he worked. This was during the “wild west” of short-term rental investing, where mom-and-pop owned vacation rentals were starting to become a serious way to make passive income. Jeff initiated his portfolio with just one “lease arbitrage” unit and eventually ballooned his empire up to 150 rentals!

Now, Jeff does more than just run his short-term rental portfolio. He runs the buying group HostGPO, helping link up short-term rental operators with vendors who can provide better, time-tested, industry-specific products. Not only that, Jeff manages numerous other vacation rentals, so he knows everything from furnishing to cleaning, check-out procedures, and more. He gives a furniture and furnishing masterclass in the second half of this interview where many of his tips could save you thousands over the lifetime of just one rental unit.

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Join BiggerPockets for FREE 👇
https://www.biggerpockets.com/signup?utm_source=owned_media
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Books Mentioned in Today’s Show:
Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat: https://store.biggerpockets.com/products/buy-rehab-rent-refinance-repeat?utm_source=owned_media
Short-Term Rental, Long-Term Wealth: https://store.biggerpockets.com/collections/all-books/products/short-term-rental-long-term-wealth?utm_source=owned_media
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Airbnb Rental Arbitrage—The Ultimate Guide:
https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/airbnb-arbitrage?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=none
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The Ultimate Guide to Short-Term Rental Properties:
https://www.biggerpockets.com/guides/the-ultimate-guide-to-short-term-rental-properties?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=none
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Creative Ways to Furnish Your Short-Term Rentals on a Budget:
https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/2016-05-21-think-outside-the-box-ways-furnish-short-term-rentals?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=none
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How to Build Your Dream Short-Term Rental Team:
https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/rookie-214?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=none
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Get Exclusive Short-Term Rental Investor Discounts with HostGPO:
https://hostgpo.com/
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Connect with Rob (Robuilt) on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Robuilt
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robuilt/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@robuilto
Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/robuiltchannel
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Connect with David and Rob on BiggerPockets:
David: https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/davidgreene24?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=none
Rob: https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/robuilt?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=none
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Follow David on Instagram:
@davidgreene24 or https://www.instagram.com/davidgreene24/

Episode 665

Show notes at: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/real-estate-665?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=none

00:00 Intro
02:59 Quick Tip
04:02 Investing in The STR "Wild West"
18:42 Breaking Out of The Minutiae Matrix
20:19 Leasing Unwanted Properties
26:34 Outsourcing Your Operations
37:46 The Short-Term Rental Furnishing Guide
01:02:17 Famous Four

#biggerpockets #realestatepodcast #episode665