Man Who Abandoned Medical School to Rent Shortlets Says He Makes N267 Million Monthly
- A 30-year-old man said he began to make extra income by renting out extra rooms after listing them on Airbnb, a vacation rental company
- Chris Choi said the idea for the business struck him when he visited South Korea and stayed in an Airbnb
- He said began to use his savings and money he borrowed from his friend to start the business and now makes about $600 monthly
Chris Choi said he was about to go to a dental school when he visited South Korea and saw what his friends were doing.
He wanted to build a passive income stream while going to school.
Source: Getty Images
The beginning of a business idea
During his visit to South Korea to his friends, he stayed at an Airbnb and was shocked to find out that the host was not just he age but owned multiple Airbnbs.
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Choi said his host told him he was using the rental arbitage system where he sublets the properties. That was when the idea struck him.
He researched and found out that there were not many Airbnbs in his place and that one bedroom charged $150 to $250 per night and that hotels in the area charged the same amount.
He compared monthly rent and said if he rented a room for $180 per night, in just ten days out of the month, he break even and other nights would be profits.
The only problem was, I didn't have much money at the time.
He figured out that it will cost him about $8,000 to get started.
According to Choi, the amount would cover the first month’s rent, deposit and furniture.
How he raised capital
He said he borrowed money to add to his savings for his dental school to start.
In the first eight months, Choi said things were going smoothly and he got a letter from the leasing office that he has violated the terms of the agreement by listing their property on Airbnb.
They threatened him that if does not stop, he would be evicted.
After the threats from the leasing office, he needed to get creative and resourceful and targeted single-family home landlords because they write their contracts.
He started calling single-family home landlords and convinced them to get on board his business model.
Choi said he hit jackpot on one of his properties. He was making around $12,000 in revenue monthly. After expenses, he was making profits everywhere from $5,000 to $8,000 in passive income. It occurred to him that he could get and list other properties on Airbnb.
Abandons school to focus on his business
He also decide to abandon his dental school dream temporarily to pursue his business full-time and did not tell his parents.
He told the school he was differing his education to focus on his business and knew he was making the right decision.
Choi said he now manages over 100 properties including luxury apartments and mansions.
He said he plans to move to rent out mansions instead of short lets. He said he built a strong relationship with realtors over time.
He said he is currently generating $600,000 in revenue monthly and projects to make $10 million in revenue by the end of 2022. He has projected to get about $1 million monthly in gross revenue.
Projects $10 million in revenue every month
He said despite owning several properties, rental arbitrage (renting properties without owning them) is more profitable than buying and renting your own properties.
Choi said the model has the potential to bring in higher returns and suggests getting permission from a landlord to sublet the property to list on Airbnb.
Per Choi, people should look into regulations because they change regularly. They should also learn to do make research and use online materials to track Airbnb occupancy rates and other data in the area.
He said his number one piece of advice is to get a mentor early on, saying networking at industry events, conferences and seminars is a great way to stay relevant.
Student makes N290.5 billion yearly creating bags she started as side business
Legit.ng reported that two years, ago MBA student, Wilglory Tanjong from Senegal, launched her bag business for fun.
Now, she sells her bags everywhere, including Nordstrom and Revolve and also got pop singer, Beyonce to endorse her bags on Instagram.
Amina Iris, as her bag business is known, has made over N290.5 billion in lifetime revenue since launching in 2020 with about N250.5 million in 2021 alone. Her company has recently earned about N41.5 million revenue every month.
Source: Legit.ng
