The short-term rental (STR) industry is extremely fast-paced and constantly evolving. Following the top Airbnb influencers and short-term rental experts is one of the best ways to stay up to date on what is going on in the short-term rental industry and gain insights on how to grow your business successfully.
Airbnb influencers are regularly updating their platforms with relevant, trendy content surrounding the short-term rental industry. By following them and staying updated on their posts, you can gain instant access to very timely and useful knowledge, which is difficult to get from anywhere else.
Now more than ever, it’s accessible and simple to watch a 15-second TikTok video, or a 10-minute YouTube tutorial to learn all you need to know in order to make your short-term rental stand out to guests and become the best and most successful host you can be.
Here are 7 short-term rental influencers who are must-follows across social media:
1. Michael Elefante
Who is Michael?
- Michael is a 29-year-old real estate investor and Airbnb influencer, as well as the founder of the Airbnb Investor Academy.
- He and his wife became financially free at the young age of 27, only 12 months after they made their first investment in a short-term rental property in Nashville, Tennessee.
- Since then, his portfolio has grown to 6 properties, which has allowed him to cash flow, on average, between $30-$45K per month.
Why you should follow Michael
- Michael is a devoted content creator on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, as well as one of the best Airbnb influencers to follow on LinkedIn.
- His content aims to help others create a path to financial freedom through short-term rentals, as well as educate them on how to successfully invest in short-term rentals.
- Michael’s advice: ‘It’s never too early or too late to start your journey to financial freedom’
2. Humza Zafar
Who is Humza?
- Humza is a 26-year-old Airbnb host who started his business in 2020. He has expanded greatly since and now rents 130 properties across the United States, which he then sublets on Airbnb, known as Airbnb arbitrage. He aims to grow to 180 properties by the end of 2022.
- Humza has been featured twice on Business Insider, in which he outlines the best short-term rental sites and management platforms that enable him to automate his Airbnb business, earning him approximately $450K a month in revenue.
Why you should follow Humza
- Humza is an avid creator on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. On these platforms, you can also find promotion of his free 7-figure Airbnb arbitrage webinar and 10-hour masterclass course, where he shares the real ways to reach the highest levels of success in your STR business.
- Humza’s transparency on his platforms is the reason why he has such a large and dedicated following – every month he breaks down the revenue he receives from his Airbnb arbitrage company, opening his followers’ eyes to the expenses in the industry.
- He is also open about the tools he uses to successfully and efficiently automate his Airbnb business.
3. The Real Estate Robinsons
Who are The Real Estate Robinsons?
- Tony is a short-term rental expert and co-host of the Bigger Pockets Rookie podcast, dedicated to real estate investing, and Sara Robinson describes herself as the ‘short-term rental queen.’
- Together, they form the real-estate and Airbnb influencer power couple.
- This husband and wife duo teach you how to build and manage your short-term rental business, while also posting relatable family content, which distinguishes them from many other influencers.
- The Real Estate Robinsons started their short-term rental company two years ago and now own $10,000,000 in cash-flowing properties.
Why you should follow The Real Estate Robinsons
- Not only do they post regularly on TikTok and Instagram, they also run one of the biggest and fastest-growing short-term rental YouTube channels – where they have nearly 30K subscribers.
- Every year, they host a prominent STR summit, where they teach all the insights necessary in order to buy, manage and scale your short-term rental business by yourself. They promote the message that in order to secure your future, you need to start making passive income monthly.
- They also have created a free Facebook group in which Airbnb investors can discuss their problems and successes in the industry and gain advice from global Airbnb experts.
4. Zoey Berghoff
Who is Zoey?
- Zoey is a 25-year-old Airbnb influencer and money coach. Zoey describes herself as a ‘remote traveling Airbnb superhost’
- Zoey also posts ‘van life’ and travel content, as well as sharing useful travel hacks for vacation goers.
Why you should follow Zoey
- Zoey is definitely one to follow as she is a relatable and honest content creator on TikTok and Instagram, where she shares both the highs and lows of being an Airbnb host.
- Not only does she teach you how to make passive income – she also educates you on how to manage your wealth effectively.
- One of Zoey’s main aims from her content is to inspire you to live your dream life – she encourages you to start your Airbnb journey so you can design the future you want.
5. Derek Cheung
Who is Derek Cheung?
- In 2022, at the young age of 24, Derek generated $500k per month in revenue by turning properties that he leases into short-term rentals.
- When Derek was 19, he discovered the phenomenon of rental arbitrage. He started by leasing two properties, which have since grown to 200! As a result, his Airbnb portfolio earns him an impressive $50K per month.
- Derek has also been featured on Business Insider.
Why you should follow Derek
- Derek doesn’t keep his secrets to running an extremely successful and profitable Airbnb business to himself – he posts all his tips and tricks on his TikTok and Instagram.
- Derek also runs the ‘Airbnb Empire Academy’, which is a six-hour, 50-module masterclass aiming to help others start, scale and automate a seven-figure Airbnb business.
- His TikTok is packed with useful knowledge about running a successful Airbnb business, making him one of the best Airbnb influencers.
6. The KarWells
Who are The KarWells?
- Emily Karnaz and Sarah Glidewell make up the two halves of the KarWells. Their goal? To bring transparency and clarity around real estate investing, Airbnb and interior design.
Why you should follow the KarWells
- The KarWells have built up a huge community online through their TikTok, Instagram and podcast.
- Their podcast puts a fun twist on being an Airbnb host and Investor. In each episode, they reveal a hilarious yet informative anonymous Airbnb horror story from one of their followers.
- Their content helps you learn how to design, manage, scale and automate your properties, while also placing focus on the most efficient social media strategy for a short-term rental business.
- They say that financial freedom is not why they have built their business and community (it was never their top priority), it’s freedom of time. They want you to be able to live your life, pursue other passions and not let life blur past you.
7. Thanks for Visiting
Who are Thanks for Visiting?
- Annette Grant and Sarah Karkaian both successfully run their own short-term rental business and are Airbnb influencers and superhosts.
- They founded Thanks for Visiting so that they could use their diverse knowledge to help fellow Airbnb hosts grow and manage their short-term rental business without losing focus on the main aim of hosting — hospitality.
Why should you follow Thanks for Visiting
- Not only do they post very regularly on their TikTok and Instagram, they also run a successful podcast which utilizes both their backgrounds and creative experiences in hosting and hospitality.
- They aim to teach STR hosts the creative techniques they need to make their listings stand out from the others, earn a lot of profit, while still focusing on guest experience.
- They also run a free live training workshop called The Hosting Business Mastery Method™ which successfully teaches hosts how to make their business extremely profitable without exerting all of their time and energy.
- Despite having the smallest following out of all the influencers, they clearly have an effective social media strategy for their short-term business and they are undeniably the Airbnb influencer pair for you to follow next.
Each of these influencers have a unique platform, combining all of their experiences and tips to help you reach your potential in the STR industry. They all have one thing in common – they promote the benefits of automating your STR business in order to save you money and give you back your time!
To ensure you don’t miss out, a great way to keep-up with these influencers and the useful content they are producing is to turn on their post notifications on every social media platform that they post on regularly.
Get following!