Demand is high and inventory low for accessible short-term rental properties. Wheelchair users across the U.S. have taken matters into their own hands by renting their own accessible properties. Here they get candid about what it takes to manage a rental, how to market it to the disability community and how much you can make if it’s done right.
Lorraine Woodward founded Becoming rentABLE in 2021 after years of struggling to find accessible short-term rental properties for herself and her two sons, as all three have muscular dystrophy and use wheelchairs.
She started by buying and renovating a home in Carolina Beach, North Carolina, three hours away from her home in Raleigh. She made the house wheelchair accessible for her family’s needs by including an elevator, zero-threshold floors, wide doors, a Hoyer lift, a hospital bed, a wet room, shower chairs and more.
When she began renting it out to others, the response was overwhelming. “We’ve had over 400 renters rent that space, and their stories were all the same about how hard it was to find a place. But what surprised me were the families that traveled 2 ½ days to get to us from Canada, or a family that was from Texas that said it took them 28 years to find an accessible property,” says Woodward.
With the help of a group of volunteers, she began vetting other properties for accessibility and created a database which became Becoming rentABLE. The site now lists over 1,200 accessible properties across the U.S., but there’s a long way to go. “There are 1.3 million short-term rentals in the United States right now. And of those properties, less than 0.01% or 1,300 are actually accessible,” she says.
Woodward isn’t the only wheelchair user trying to improve this statistic. We talked to individuals with properties in Alaska, Florida and California who are trying to expand the market while reaping personal benefits as well. Andrew Kurka has been a Paralympic alpine skier for 12 years and owns 5 acres of property in Alaska, where he built two wheelchair-accessible cabins.
Jeff McCaffrey, a T9 paraplegic, and his wife Natalie, moved into their gorgeous home in Fallbrook, California, in April of 2022. The property had a guest house, so they put some work into making it accessible and started renting it out shortly afterward.
Originally from the Northeast, United Spinal member Matt Ficarra, a C6-7 quadriplegic, moved to Florida during the pandemic to take advantage of the ability to work remotely. He bought a duplex and made both sides accessible, so he can live in one and rent the other. The property sits right on the water, with a ramp leading to his fully accessible boat.
It’s no surprise that one of the benefits of hosting short-term rentals is the financial gain. All of these owner/renters say they enjoy the extra income their accessible properties provide. Kurka’s two cabins have allowed him to travel and earn income remotely — he was in Chile at the time of this interview. With two cabins, he makes around $50,000 profit a year and is hoping to double that once he adds new cabins.
In Florida, it has been a challenge for Ficarra to market the property while he works full time as a life insurance broker. But even without his place being fully booked, Ficarra made $14,000 renting for two months last winter.
Because their guest house is on their property, Jeff and Natalie McCaffrey use it to not only make money but to offset living costs. “For [investors] that buy the property individually, the financial situation obviously differs. But if you do have a situation where you can have a granny flat, where you’re already paying the property taxes, the maintenance and upkeep, it’s definitely financially beneficial,” says Jeff.
The Woodward family often hosts guests for a month at a time at their home in Raleigh, charging $750 a month for one bedroom and one bathroom with a separate refrigerator and shared kitchen. Their Carolina Beach house rents for $215 a night. “It doesn’t cover our mortgage, but it did take a nice slice out of it. I believe in multiple revenue streams. It really can impact your budget greatly,” says Woodward.
Besides making money, the property owners enjoy providing meaningful experiences for others in the disability community. Kurka enjoys providing accessible Alaskan adventures. “I take guests with disabilities flying, fishing, hunting and doing outdoor things. That’s a passion of mine and why I built this place,” he says.
The McCaffery property is located near San Diego, where there is a lot to do but a lack of accessible lodging. “There is great recreation within our area, but there are not really any hotels that have adequate and ample accessibility. So we decided this is a great opportunity to provide that and make it available to others with disabilities so that they can enjoy all those things,” says Jeff McCaffery.
Having an accessible property is one thing, but connecting with travelers who need it is another. Many hosts use the popular home-sharing app, Airbnb, to market their properties and find potential guests.
The company recently unveiled their Adapted category, specifically for homes that have been vetted for accessibility. “These properties have been reviewed and verified to ensure they have step-free paths into the home and into at least one or more bedrooms and bathrooms,” says Cristina Calzadilla, global product communications lead for Airbnb. The Adapted category now features over 1,100 listings around the world, with Adapted hosts collectively earning over $5.5 million.
Airbnb partnered with virtual-imaging company Matterport to provide Adapted listings with dimensionally accurate 3D scans of the house. These models will help validate the property’s accessibility and provide images of access features. “The blueprint of the home is uploaded and tethered to the listing. A prospective guest can look at the home, look at the floor plan and feel really good that the building meets their needs,” says Calzadilla.
Airbnb’s Accessibility Review requires hosts to submit photos of their accessible features such as a step-free entrance, fixed grab bars or a bath or shower chair. The photos are then reviewed and confirmed by Airbnb agents, allowing guests to book with peace of mind. Since Accessibility Review was launched in 2021, the number of listings with an accessibility feature on Airbnb has increased by over 450% to over 140,000 places to stay.
The McCaffrey’s guest house is listed in the Adapted category, and Natalie believes going through the Matterport process helped increase the number of bookings. “It makes it easier for people in wheelchairs to understand if it’s going to work for them. We definitely had a lot more inquiries about people interested in booking because of it,” she says.
No matter where the hosts are on their journey, they are continually learning how to better market their properties. Ficarra encourages hosts to harness the power of social media. “I’ll go on the Spinal Cord Injury Facebook group and post videos of people having fun — like on the boat, or in my garage, which is set up as a gaming room with a pool table and TVs. I’ve had other quads that have never played pool before and then they figured out that they can and then they love it,” he says.
Kurka’s Alaskan cabins are booked solid for two to three months at a time in the summer. Being near a ski resort ensures interest during the winter. Kurka stresses that finding a good manager has been key. “It can be difficult to manage the properties with a disability, especially with cleaning. So find a good manager and a good cleaner, someone who’s got your back and who you can trust,” he says.
Jeff McCaffery makes a point about communicating access details and answering questions with guests prior to their arrival. He enjoys offering advice on accessible excursions in the area. He advises prospective hosts to think about the way the space is furnished. “Consider table heights and bed frames that are conducive for someone in a wheelchair, configuring the couches and chairs in a manner where there’s actually [room] to get from the kitchen to the bedrooms,” he says.
Woodward advises people to start small: You don’t have to own a separate property to be successful. “That’s how Airbnb got started,” she says. “It wasn’t about renting the whole house. It was giving people a place to sleep, a bathroom and possibly a microwave. It’s a way to get into the industry, bring in revenue and possibly down the road, invest in something that’s even greater.”
She also says that having a room or a property for rent isn’t always about destination. The other property she owns, her Little Yellow House in Conway, Arkansas, brings in $110 a night. “Renting space out of your current home doesn’t always have to be in the biggest city in your state.”
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