SmartHelping / Short-Term Rentals / Excel
Airbnb Arbitrage Model
Plan a rental arbitrage business across up to 100 properties and 10 years. Connect booking rates, occupancy, lease costs, and operating expenses to cash flow, startup funding, and investment returns.
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See the model in action
Walk through the property assumptions and financial results.
See how property start dates, nightly rates, seasonality, lease costs, and expenses flow into the forecast. Open the screenshots below to preview the workbook.
The rental arbitrage business model
Test whether bookings can cover the full cost of each property.
The key financial risk is that booking revenue does not cover lease payments and other expenses. Use the assumptions to compare how different operating plans affect that gap.
Lease properties and earn booking revenue
Rental arbitrage involves leasing properties and offering them through short-term rental booking channels such as Airbnb or Vrbo. Your forecast starts with the lease expense and expected short-term rental income.
Include the costs beyond the lease
Cleaning, ongoing operating costs, advertising, application fees, furnishings, and deposits can all affect the economics. Include those costs when evaluating cash flow and the capital needed to launch.
Property setup and operating expenses
Build a portfolio plan one property at a time.
Keep property-level timing, lease commitments, and upfront cash needs visible as you scale.
Model up to 100 properties
Set up each property separately and review the combined portfolio over a forecast of up to 10 years.
Choose when each property starts
Define a start month from month 1 through month 120 for every property, allowing the portfolio to grow in stages.
Enter the monthly lease and annual increase
Set the monthly lease cost for each property and define the expected annual increase.
Include one-time costs at lease signing
Account for property setup costs such as application fees, furnishings, and deposits using the one-time cost assumptions.
Add fixed and variable monthly expenses
Enter ongoing costs by property. Variable expenses respond to the seasonality assumptions; monthly expenses can also include advertising and other operating costs.
Plan costs before operations begin
Include one-time business startup costs incurred before operating activity, such as legal or consulting fees.
Booking revenue assumptions
Adjust the daily rate and occupancy for each property.
Compare different pricing, occupancy, and launch-discount assumptions to see their effect on booking income and cash flow.
Base daily rate
Enter the base nightly rate for each property rather than relying on one portfolio-wide assumption.
Property-specific seasonality
Define seasonality assumptions that vary daily rates and occupancy for each property.
Annual rate growth
Set the expected annual increase in the base daily rate to reflect your pricing assumptions over the forecast.
Introductory discounts
Choose whether to discount a property’s daily rate for its first defined number of operating months. Use this to evaluate a lower initial rate while a new listing gets established.
Operating feasibility
See how a slower booking season affects the plan.
Change the underlying assumptions and review the monthly results before committing to a portfolio growth plan.
Booking income
Compare stronger and weaker occupancy assumptions, different daily rates, and the effect of introductory pricing.
Lease commitments
Review how monthly lease payments and annual increases affect the margin available to cover other expenses.
Expansion timing
Move property start dates and adjust the upfront cost assumptions to evaluate when the business needs cash as new properties come online.
Financial outputs
Follow the portfolio through cash flow, funding, and returns.
Use the model outputs to evaluate the economics of leasing and operating the portfolio. For additional context, explore these hotel and travel financial metrics.
Monthly and annual pro forma
Review the projected operating results on both a monthly and annual basis across the forecast.
Cash-flow analysis
Review cash flow after lease payments, ongoing expenses, and the one-time costs entered in the model.
Minimum equity requirement
See the minimum equity requirement implied by the operating and startup assumptions.
DCF, IRR, and ROI
Review discounted cash flow analysis, internal rate of return, and return on investment to compare the economics of different plans.
Optional joint venture
Evaluate an outside investor’s participation.
The optional joint venture analysis lets you consider investor funding alongside the underlying rental operation.
LP capital participation
Add an investor, or limited partner, who provides part or all of the initial investment requirement.
Cash-flow sharing and IRR hurdles
Evaluate the investor’s share of future cash flow using the model’s IRR-hurdle structure. A separate waterfall template with a GP catch-up option is also available if you need to explore that structure in more detail.
Portfolio visualizations
Review the path from launch to a larger property portfolio.
Monthly cash flow
See how cash flow changes from month to month.
Cumulative cash
Review the cumulative cash position across the forecast.
Cumulative properties
See how the property count grows as the portfolio expands.
Total monthly lease
Track the monthly lease commitment across the operating portfolio.
A practical input detail
How to include property-management fees.
The original customer Q&A explains how to include these costs without changing the workbook logic. For a separate operator forecast, explore the Property Management Business model.
Enter the monthly amount in row 11
Use the fixed cost per month input for each property in row 11 of the Cost Assumptions tab. Include the management cost with any other fixed monthly costs for that property.
Convert a percentage fee to a monthly amount
If a manager charges 15% or 20% of booking revenue, calculate the expected monthly dollar amount and enter it manually. The existing input is one combined fixed-cost amount per property; it does not automatically recalculate a percentage-based fee when booking revenue changes.
How to use the template
Build the operating assumptions before reviewing the return.
Set the property rollout
Enter the properties you plan to lease, their start months, lease costs, annual lease increases, and costs due at signing.
Build booking assumptions
Set base daily rates, seasonal changes in rates and occupancy, annual rate growth, and any introductory discount periods.
Add operating costs and funding
Enter fixed and variable monthly expenses and pre-opening startup costs. Include manual management-fee estimates and optional investor participation where needed.
Review and compare plans
Check the monthly and annual pro forma, cash flow, minimum equity requirement, DCF, IRR, ROI, and portfolio charts. Change the assumptions to evaluate alternative plans.
Also available in these bundles
Need more real estate and hospitality models?
This template is included in the Real Estate and Hospitality bundles. The Super Smart Bundle includes the complete public template collection.
Real Estate Model Bundle
Explore financial models for property acquisitions, development, rental operations, and real estate investment analysis.
View the Real Estate bundleHospitality Model Bundle
Explore financial models for short-term rental and other hospitality businesses.
View the Hospitality bundleSuper Smart Bundle
Get the complete public SmartHelping financial model collection across industries and financial-analysis needs.
View the Super Smart BundleQuestions before you buy
A few useful details.
What is Airbnb arbitrage?
It is a business model in which you lease properties and generate booking revenue by offering short-term stays through platforms such as Airbnb or Vrbo. The model helps compare that revenue with lease costs and the other expenses of operating the properties.
How many properties and years can I model?
The template supports up to 100 properties over a period of up to 10 years, or 120 months. Each property can start in a different month.
Can seasonality affect both nightly rates and occupancy?
Yes. Define property-specific seasonality assumptions that vary daily rates and occupancy. The variable expense assumptions also respond to seasonality.
Can I use a discounted nightly rate when a property launches?
Yes. Set an introductory discount for the first defined number of months of each property’s operation.
How do I enter a property-management charge based on revenue?
Calculate an estimated monthly dollar amount manually and include it in row 11, the fixed cost per month input on the Cost Assumptions tab, for the relevant property. Combine it with any other fixed monthly costs in that input. It does not automatically follow a percentage of changing booking revenue.
Does the model support an investor or joint venture?
Yes. The optional joint venture allows an LP investor to contribute part or all of the initial investment requirement in exchange for a share of future cash flow, using IRR hurdles.
Which financial outputs are included?
The model produces a monthly and annual pro forma, cash-flow analysis, DCF analysis, IRR, ROI, and a minimum equity requirement. It also includes charts for monthly cash flow, cumulative cash, cumulative properties, and total monthly lease.
How do I receive the template?
The Excel model is available for immediate download after the one-time $45 purchase.
Plan the portfolio before taking on the leases
Put bookings, lease costs, and cash flow in one forecast.
Get the Airbnb Arbitrage Model for $45 and evaluate up to 100 properties across 10 years.
