Panel: Short-Term Rental Strategies That Still Work in 2026

The short-term rental gold rush is over. Operators who got into Airbnb arbitrage in 2020 and 2021 with no systems, no design standards, and no operational discipline are mostly gone. What's left is a more competitive, more regulated, and ultimately more sustainable market — and for operators who know what they're doing, the returns are still compelling.

Sofia Reyes manages 180+ STR units across San Diego, Malibu, and Sedona through her company Coastal STR Management. She's an Airbnb Superhost, a licensed broker, and one of the most operationally sophisticated STR operators on the West Coast. She joins two other active operators to break down the strategies keeping them above 85% occupancy when the market average is closer to 60%.

Topics covered: market selection framework and which indicators to use before entering a new STR market; the design and amenity standards that move the needle on ADR and review scores; pricing strategy — the dynamic pricing tools worth paying for and what they get wrong; OTA algorithm changes in 2025 and how to position listings to benefit; building a cleaning and maintenance operation that scales without killing margins; STR regulation by market — what California cities are actually enforcing vs. what's on the books; handling HOA and neighbor relations proactively; and what the institutional operators are doing wrong that creates opportunity for local operators.

Q&A runs the final 20 minutes. Attendees with specific market questions are encouraged to submit them via the conference app before the session. 1.0 CE credit.