An operating Airbnb comes with a story. The seller has a revenue number, a stack of five-star reviews and a house that already has beds in it, and the listing usually leans on all three. Some of that story will hold up. Some of it is the best year the house ever had, presented as a normal one. The only way to tell the difference is paperwork, and the time to ask for it is before your option period runs out, not after.
I spent years on the operations side of vacation rentals before I focused on sales, so I tend to read an STR seller's package the way an operator would. Here's what I ask for and why.
The numbers: P&L, booking history and HOT reports
Start with a profit and loss statement for at least the last two full years plus year to date. Gross revenue is the headline, but the expense side tells you more. I want to see cleaning, supplies, utilities, internet, pool and yard service, repairs, platform fees, insurance and property taxes, and whether the owner paid a manager. If the seller self-managed, their P&L will look better than yours might if you plan to hire help, so adjust for that honestly.
Then ask for booking history straight from the platforms, by month. An annual total can hide a lot. Monthly data shows you seasonality, how much of the year leaned on a few event weeks, how often the calendar was blocked for personal use, and whether a strong year was really one huge booking. Platform exports or screenshots of the earnings dashboard are better than a spreadsheet the seller typed up, because the platform data is harder to round up.
Hotel occupancy tax filings are one of the best cross-checks you have. In Texas, the state hotel tax is 6%, and the Comptroller says platforms that have agreed with owners to collect it must collect and remit it. Inside Austin's full-purpose jurisdiction, platforms now collect City HOT too, but the City still requires owners to file a quarterly report showing what each platform collected, and a zero report if there were no rentals. So a seller who has been operating legally in Austin should have a filing history. If their reported numbers and their P&L tell different stories, that's a conversation to have before closing. And if they booked direct, ask how they handled the tax on those stays, because the platforms weren't collecting it. The Comptroller also says that in an audit, an owner should get transaction history from the platform, which is one more reason I like platform-sourced records.
The rest of the file: legality, reviews, inventory and contracts
People are often surprised that I don't spend much time on the seller's license. Austin STR licenses don't transfer, so whatever the seller has, you'll be applying for your own after closing anyway. What I care about is whether the property can legally be used as an STR by its next owner. I run a permit search on every property I'm evaluating, and then I check the things that actually decide whether a new owner can get licensed. Is the property inside the City's full-purpose or limited-purpose jurisdiction? An Austin mailing address doesn't prove it. Does it fit the two-per-site and 1,000-foot spacing rules, including against anything else you own? And if it's in a condo or an HOA, do the governing documents allow short-term rentals at all?
If all of that checks out, the door is open. STRs are allowed as an accessory use in every zoning district as long as they have a valid license, and the City has paused requests to delist unlicensed properties until after its new licensing system launches. Plan to submit your application right after closing. Single-family processing is currently listed at six to eight weeks, and the City has said that for applications under review, it will pause enforcement based solely on operating without a license. Just keep your submission records.
Reviews are next, and I don't mean the star rating. Read the last year or two of reviews and the host's responses. You're looking for patterns: the same complaint about the water heater, the stairs, the neighbor's dog or the Wi-Fi. Recurring complaints are a repair list the seller hasn't mentioned. Keep in mind that reviews, photos and listing history generally stay with the seller's account. Airbnb says reservations can't be transferred to a new host or account, so you'll be building your own listing either way.
Get a furniture and contents inventory, ideally with photos, and make sure the contract clearly says what conveys. "Sold furnished" means different things to different people. Does that include the hot tub, the outdoor furniture, the smart locks, the art, the linens, the kitchen? If the seller is valuing the furnishings at a premium, the inventory is how you decide whether that premium is fair or whether you're paying full price for a used couch.
Finally, ask for every contract tied to the property. That includes the cleaning crew, pool and yard service, pest control, security monitoring, internet, any property management agreement and any leased equipment. Some of those you'll want to keep and some you won't, and a few may have cancellation terms or notice periods you need to plan around. Also ask for a list of future reservations with dates, amounts and platforms. Whether those bookings get honored, and who keeps that revenue, should be negotiated, not assumed.
If any of this feels like a lot, it's because you're buying two things at once: a house and a small hospitality business. The house gets an inspection. The business deserves its own version of one. A seller with a well-run STR usually has most of this ready to go, and how quickly and completely they hand it over tells you something on its own.
If you're looking at an operating STR in Austin, or you own one and want to know what buyers will ask you for when you sell, reach out. I'm happy to go through it with you.
ATX|STRS, a division of E-Rae Realty
Sources
Texas Comptroller, Hotel Occupancy Tax FAQs (state rate; short-term rental platforms; audits): https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/hotel/faq.php
City of Austin Development Services, Short-Term Rentals (quarterly HOT reports and zero reports; non-transferable licenses; processing times; jurisdiction; accessory use in all zoning districts; spacing; platform rules): https://www.austintexas.gov/development-services/short-term-rentals
City of Austin memo, "Update on Short-term Rental Program" (Apr. 30, 2026; delisting pause; enforcement pause for applications under review): https://services.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=472516
Airbnb Help Center, article 1431 (reservations can't be transferred to a new host or account): https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1431
