#285 - How to Use Data to Find and Buy Profitable Short-Term Rentals - Taylor Jones
Release Date: 07/30/2025
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Joining us in this episode of Living Off Rentals is a seasoned real estate developer with more than five decades of hands-on experience across residential, commercial, and industrial properties. David Pelusio Sr. has spent over 55 years building, owning, and operating assets ranging from warehouses and shopping centers to large-scale self-storage facilities. Today, his focus is on converting vacant big-box retail buildings into climate-controlled self-storage. Listen as David breaks down why self-storage has remained resilient through economic cycles, how buying properties at the right price...
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#311 - Why Building Income Matters More Than Building Wealth - Dustin Heiner
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#310 - Just Buy a House Already Using Subject-To Deals - William Tingle
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#309 - Building Financial Freedom Through 20+ Real Estate Deals While Serving in the Military - Stu Grazier
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#308 - From Academia to Airbnb: Turning Data into Dollars with Short-Term Rentals - Drew Ivey
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#307 - Building a W-2 Exit Plan with Short-Term Rentals - Stephen Arnaud
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#306 - Saving Historic Buildings and Creating Value Through Smart Redevelopment - Kevin Kreger
Living Off Rentals
Joining us for today's episode of Living Off Rentals is someone who specializes in historic preservation projects that many investors overlook, but can be transformed into high-performing rental assets. Kevin Kreger is Kirby Atwell's longtime friend and a construction expert. He is the founder of On Point Construction and Fiddle Leaf Development. He breaks down how he transitioned into design-build work and eventually into restoring historic downtown buildings with serious cash-flow potential. Listen as they dive deep into why historic properties aren’t as intimidating as they seem, how to...
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#305 - Building $50K/Month in Passive Income Without Wall Street - Joey Mure
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#304 - How Short-Term Rentals Let Her Quit HR and Take Back Family Time
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#303 - From 9th Grade Dropout to Early Retirement with 150 Real Estate Units - Matt Hawkins
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info_outlineJoining us on this episode of Living Off Rentals is someone who helps short-term rental investors find the best deals and scale faster using real data.
Taylor Jones is a short-term rental investing specialist at STR Search who helps investors build and grow profitable Airbnb portfolios.
Listen as he explains how to spot strong STR opportunities using real market and property data—and what red flags to watch for before you buy. You’ll also learn how amenities like pools, pickleball courts, fire pits, and even string lights can seriously boost your booking rates, and why great photography might be the most valuable amenity of all.
Enjoy the show!
Key Takeaways:
[00:00] Introducing Taylor Jones and his background
[02:05] How he got into the short-term rental data analysis space
[04:56] What makes a good, profitable Airbnb?
[08:45] Different means to identify the best properties
[13:46] What is bad data, and how to eliminate it?
[19:33] Improving data confidence and making an informed decision in rental data analysis
[21:21] Taylor's definition of market saturation
[30:04] Make the best available decision based on the data you have today
[35:50] How to analyze STR comps and project revenue with realistic low-mid-high ranges
[37:41] Pool vs. no-pool revenue boosts: $20K–$70K, depending on market
[41:26] Why photography is the most powerful STR investment
[44:58] STR investing is 80% data, 20% art
[45:32] Two paths to higher rates: More luxury or more value
[46:38] Matching amenities to your ideal guest demographic
[50:14] Outro
Guest Links:
Website: https://strsearch.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylor-jones-38997154/
Show Links:
Living Off Rentals YouTube Channel – youtube.com/c/LivingOffRentals
Living Off Rentals YouTube Podcast Channel - youtube.com/c/LivingOffRentalsPodcast
Living Off Rentals Facebook Group – facebook.com/groups/livingoffrentals
Living Off Rentals Website – https://www.livingoffrentals.com/
Living Off Rentals Instagram – instagram.com/livingoffrentals
Living Off Rentals TikTok – tiktok.com/@livingoffrentals