Know what it earns before you own it.
Most short-term rentals are bought on a hunch. A listing feels like a good Airbnb, a projection tool confirms what you already wanted, and six figures later you find out what the seller knew and you didn’t. This is the other way.
Walking away is not failure. It is the method working.
The willingness to output “walk” is the integrity of the whole process — without it, this is just an elaborate way of talking yourself into what you already wanted.
Ken & Moya. Superhosts, 586+ reviews, 4.9 rating.
- 586+Guest reviews
- 4.9Superhost rating
- 2Countries
- 25+Years in hospitality
We’re Ken and Moya. At peak we ran fifteen rentals across two countries and three very different markets, seven of them short-term — while Ken owned and operated a live music venue and Moya, a former teacher, worked full time as a nanny. We ran all of it together: both underwriting, both cleaning, both answering the midnight messages. More about how we got here →
B — Baseline
Your goals, capital, time and risk become a written buy box — and a clear decision about what you’re actually building, before you look at a single listing.
U — Underwrite
Demand, competition, regulation, red flags and physical due diligence. The research that separates a good market from a good story.
Y — Yield
Revenue, the full cost stack, cash flow and a downside stress test — producing a defensible Buy, Negotiate or Walk verdict.
- Orientation plus the three Buy Smart phases — four modules.
- The Student Workbook — set your buy box, run the regulation gate, build the cost stack, compute returns, stress-test the downside.
- The Deal Calculator — the Deal Underwriter, and the Buy Smart Score: 80–100 Buy, 60–79 Negotiate, under 60 Walk. Any single gate under 40% forces a Walk.
- Two worked case studies — one seasonal market, one year-round, each carried end to end with real 2026 market data and every number shown.
- The Plain-Language Glossary — every finance term in one plain sentence.
The daydream said one number; the discipline said negotiate. A deal that only works at the asking price isn’t a deal — it’s a hope with a mortgage on it.
THE BUY SMART METHOD™ · MODULE 3 — YIELD
- A written buy box every property must pass.
- A completed underwrite on a real listing, with your own numbers.
- A defensible Buy, Negotiate or Walk decision — and the exact price at which a walk becomes a buy.
- The confidence to pass on a property without second-guessing it for a month.
Who this is for
You haven’t bought yet. You’re shopping, or about to be, and you don’t want to make a six-figure mistake you’ll be paying for every month for a decade.
What you get
- Format
- Written, not video. PDF you can read on any device, plus one Excel workbook.
- Length
- 65 pages across 11 files.
- Inside
- Orientation and Modules 1–3 · the Student Workbook · the STR Host Advisory Deal Calculator · two worked examples · the Plain-Language Glossary.
- Delivery
- Instant download the moment you check out.
- Access
- Yours to keep. Re-download any time from your Gumroad library.
Our promise. Work through the first two modules and run one real property through the calculator. If it doesn’t change how you look at a deal, email us within 30 days and we’ll refund you in full.
Do I need a finance background?
No. Every term is defined in one plain sentence the first time it appears, and again in the glossary. If you can fill in a form, you can run the underwrite.
Does this work outside the U.S.?
Yes. The ratios and the discipline don’t change with the border. Dollar figures are illustrations of the method, not benchmarks — use your own currency, rates, taxes and rules, and confirm them with qualified local professionals.
What if the numbers tell me to walk?
Then it did its job, and it just saved you more than it cost. That is the most valuable outcome this course produces.
Is this a market-timing course?
No. Prices, rates and hot markets change from place to place and year to year. The ratios and the discipline do not.