Richard Fertig, Short Term Rental University | What You Should Know!

Who is Richard Fertig?

Richard Fertig is a serial entrepreneur, real estate developer, innovator, author, and motivational speaker with over 25 years of experience as a dynamic business leader. He is a highly successful short term rental expert who is responsible for innovative developments in the short term rental market including HostZaver, which enables entrepreneurs to launch their own short term rental website with one click; Brilliant Transportation, which provides superior ground transportation across the globe for discerning travelers, event planners, and Fortune 500 Companies; STOMP Capital, the very first short term rental opportunities fund launched; and Short Term Rental University. A former associate at The Blackstone Group and manager of a $4 billion hedge fund at Ramius Capital LLC, he hosts large scale live events where he shares his expertise on the short term rental industry.

What is Short Term Rental University?

Short Term Rental University (STRU) is a virtual learning platform hosted by Richard Fertig where he shares his knowledge and experience gleaned from decades of experience owning, renovating, flipping, and renting real estate. The developer and owner of unique properties and Airbnb Superhost provides a variety of content, both free and to be paid for, on a number of different platforms in an attempt to help people “go from zero to Superhost in as little as 5 months”.

STRU.com

The Short Term Rental University website is the main hosting platform for all of Richard Fertig’s Short Term Rental University activities. Learn about his journey, his other ventures and find access to the numerous other content/platforms that he operates Short Term Rental University on. Sign up for a myriad of courses conducted by Richard Fertig for short term rental entrepreneurs and live events. The website also offers easy toolkits for property managers, such as creating a guidebook in 3 easy steps or a direct booking website (via HostZaver) and a variety of other resources.

STRU on YouTube

With over 59,000 subscribers and videos garnering millions of views, the page offers really valuable content for short term vacation rental owners. Often the first point of contact with Short Term Rental University’s offering for most short term vacation rental property managers and enthusiasts, it is chock full of content: Airbnb hosting tutorials and other how-tos, interviews with successful Airbnb entrepreneurs, Q&A live streams, short term rental news, short term rental product reviews, and so much more. The best part is that the content is absolutely free to watch and learn from.

STRU on Facebook

The Short Term Rental University Facebook page is designed to be a community for short term rental entrepreneurs where they can share ideas, best practices, and ask questions from fellow members in expectation of positive and constructive answers. A private group of over 45,000 members, it is full of information, learnings, ideas, and inspiration for short term rental property managers and vacation rental owners.

LinkedIn

Catch up with Richard’s journey from hedge fund manager to super successful short term rental serial entrepreneur while staying on top of his articles on the different aspects of the industry on his Linkedin. From not to be missed opportunities to emerging trends, Richard Fertig writes and shares his knowledge and insights that are valuable to small, medium, and large business owners of all types in the short term vacation rental industry.

STRU on Instagram

The Short Term Rental University Instagram page acts as a noticeboard, allowing you to stay on top of upcoming classes, events, webinars, etc.

The STRU Podcast

The Short Term Rental University podcast is another great platform for valuable content that is totally free. The podcast takes a different approach to the YouTube channel, focusing on all things being an Airbnb host, from maintaining a positive mindset as a host and using mindfulness to achieve peak performance to renovating your Airbnb and listing your primary home on Airbnb. It also focuses on the different aspects of Airbnb investing, from deciding where to buy and what to look for.

The Short Term Rental University podcast is available on Spotify, .

One-on-One Coaching

Richard Fertig also offers one-on-one coaching sessions, each 75 minutes long, that cover topics such as maximizing bookings overnight, expanding your portfolio, and leveraging your short term rental business to fuel your lifestyle.

Live Events

Richard Fertig has hosted massively successful live events including in Nashville, Tennessee and Miami, Florida where he shares his short term rental entrepreneurial knowledge with attendees. Highly popular, attendance usually requires adding yourself to a waiting list much in advance.

Richard Fertig on 2022

According to Richard Fertig, as the year 2021 draws to a close, we are heading towards what he likes to call “version 3.0” of the short term rental market. He predicts an era of great challenges with institutional investors entering the market and diminishing profits unless short term rental owners and managers understand the coming sea change and adapt.

In the beginning, or version 1.0, was an era of high profitability and low effort with high demand and limited listings. Not much was expected of hosts and it was not too hard for wise hosts to expand their investment.

In 2021 or version 2.0, many of the glitches and bugs of the early days have been addressed and everything works well. The industry has improved its overall standards; hosts use dynamic pricing, calendar fares, etc., which has led to a degree of professionalism in the industry. Most property owners have now even adapted remote hosting, something many were skeptical of only a few years ago. Hosts have expanded their properties to different geographical locations and people are making more units of profit, which is the holy grail of investing. However, there are still important elements that need to be addressed, especially given most of the properties are run by mom-and-pop types and the industry is fragmented.

Fertig expects the industry to get a lot more competitive as it reaches the next phase. Property managers and owners will have to become better entrepreneurs, find opportunities faster and be ahead of the curve. Resting on the assumption that you will be able to yield the same profits over time without adapting would be reckless.

In the coming years, Fertig predicts that institutional investors will flood the short term rental space with capital because they can obtain a yield that they can’t find anywhere else. Already, one out of five homes sold in the US in 2020 was bought by an institution.

The big companies are looking for new asset classes and short-term rentals are an asset class that they are very interested in, delivering higher returns in a space that is not crowded by other institutional players. While they are worried about regulations and scalability, Fertig believes it is only a matter of time before these concerns are solved. Once that happens, the market will be crowded out by institutional players. To adapt and keep the institutional investors from eating into your future profits, Fertif advises embracing the change and thinking differently before it is too late to act. The sooner you start the larger the advantage you have in not being crowded out.