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.

In This Episode We Cover:

Rental arbitrage and how any investor (no matter their budget) can use it to make passive income

Breaking out of the “not enough time” matrix to start investing on a busy schedule

Furnishing your short-term rental and why IKEA may not be the best bet for bed sheets

Building your short-term rental dream team and how to manage a large-scale portfolio

The mega-niche investing opportunity of renting soon-to-be destroyed homes

Leaving a lucrative career to invest in real estate and why it’s almost always worth it

And So Much More!

Links from the Show

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David's BiggerPockets Profile

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Rob's BiggerPockets Profile

Airbnb Rental Arbitrage—The Ultimate Guide

The Ultimate Guide to Short-Term Rental Properties

Creative Ways to Furnish Your Short-Term Rentals on a Budget

How to Build Your Dream Short-Term Rental Team

Get Exclusive Short-Term Rental Investor Discounts with HostGPO

Books Mentioned in the Show:

Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat by David Greene

Short-Term Rental, Long-Term Wealth by Avery Carl

Connect with Jeff:

Jeff's Website

Click here to check the full show notes: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/real-estate-665

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665: Building a 150-Unit “Lease Arbitrage” Empire and the STR Furnishing Playbook w/Jeff Iloulian 01:13:14

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665: Building a 150-Unit “Lease Arbitrage” Empire and the STR Furnishing Playbook w/Jeff Iloulian