I invest in real estate on the side. At first, I thought Airbnb was the way to go, but I prefer long-term rentals. (2024)

I'm an immigrant from Haiti, and my parents bought their first home right before I went to college at 18. I saw how much that meant to them, but I wanted to take a different approach.

I believe that your house is not an asset unless it makes you money. So I thought, how can I make my house an asset? How can I make sure that I'm optimizing and looking for yield? I've always looked at homebuying as a business.

Doing anything alongside a tech career is hard. I've been at two FAANGs, and my work has always been demanding. I'm balancing a lot. Even now, I have to make time to do my research on the market and look at homes in person.

But tech affords me the ability to have the cash needed to invest. Lots of people in tech make high salaries and live above their means. I always remind myself of the big picture, which is generational wealth. I don't want to always depend on a job. I want to have assets and I want to have something to pass down to my family.

Currently, I own three properties in Richmond, a mix of single- and multi-family properties.

I started out renting rooms in my own home on Airbnb

I bought my first home in the Anacostia neighborhood of Washington, DC in 2017. It was a two-bedroom for $387,500. I wanted to offset my mortgage and make extra income, so I immediately knew I would do Airbnb.

It was already renovated, and the location was perfect. It was literally across the bridge from Capitol Hill, where a lot of Airbnbs were really swanky and expensive. So I got a lot of people who just wanted to save a little bit of money.

The layout was also perfect for someone to live there and also rent out. There was a basem*nt downstairs with its own door. The basem*nt was huge, spanning the length of the home. It had space for a couch and a table. There was a bathroom and a washer and dryer. So I would live down there.

Upstairs, there were two bedrooms and a small office. I would rent those out to guests. It was perfect— I would rarely run into them. I wouldn't see guests for weeks at a time.

I spent about $5,000 furnishing the place. I saved on things like bed frames, but splurged on linens and towels. I think if those are uncomfortable, the guest notices. I found deals at Macy's for couches and dining sets.

I met some great people, but Airbnb guests can drive you crazy

Even though we could pull in around $3,000 in revenue per month, I had many frustrations with Airbnb.

Some guests were headaches. It was clearly outlined on my Airbnb when you were renting a room versus an entire home. I had this one guest who rented just one bedroom for himself, but he showed up with five people. So they took two people to a bed and then I think put a mattress on the floor. He was upset and left a bad review, even though it was clearly marked.

I had one guest who was roughhousing for some reason and truly destroyed both of the beds. I don't know how this person did it, but I just heard a huge crash that was so loud I jumped up. When I got up there, the beds were destroyed and he had torn down the curtains. He was apologetic, but I was just like, "What are you doing?"

I did meet some phenomenal people. I had a lot of students and interns because they were looking for cheap housing. I wasn't too far out from graduating college myself, so we would talk about working on The Hill.

I had guests who left reviews that I felt were unfair and I didn't have a chance to respond. I had one guest who argued with me about pricing, saying it was actually a lower rate. I had proof and messages about what we discussed, but Airbnb took the guest's side.

I didn't like running a business like that.

I turned to long-term rentals, which I like more

At the start of 2020, I moved to San Francisco for work. I sold the DC house for $475,000.

San Francisco was a complete disaster. I realized really quickly I didn't like the city and didn't want to live there long-term. Plus, it was the start of lockdowns, so I was inside for a year.

I chose to buy a new house in Richmond, Virginia. It's this town outside DC that's growing. They're getting a lot of headquarters and companies moving there. But it still has this really small-town feel.

I bought a three-bedroom, one-bathroom house for $210,000 and put 20% down. I charge $1,800 a month.

Richmond is great for couples and families. I've had two tenants over the past three years. It's been easy to find renters, and I've hardly heard from them. It's been quiet.

I'd tell someone thinking about Airbnb to first make sure they've done their research and the financials make sense. But also, it's a lot of work. There's physical labor. I was coming home from work, doing all the cleaning, all the turnover, messaging people. I was just simply exhausted.

Right now, I'm focused on long-term rentals, but my strategy is to buy things that are of good quality in good locations that I can hold onto or pass down.