There are plenty of reasons to think about investing in a short-term rental property out of state.
You may have just gone on a vacation and decided the people who own the place you are renting were making a killing.
You may have been considering buying rental properties and then started seeing the comparison of long-term vs. short-term rentals.
Maybe you were thinking about buying a home you would like to retire into and can’t imagine how expensive they will be by then.
When thinking about short-term rentals and Airbnb, people usually jump to thinking about great vacation destinations. While this is true, there is a huge demand for vacation destinations and excellent properties in those locations.
Do not discount the fact that people are traveling to places within 50 miles of you. Anywhere there are hotels proves there is a demand for short-term stays.
Now that we have the idea that there is not a workable business model for Airbnb near you out of the way, why would you look out of state? There could be plenty of reasons.
For example, suppose you already have a house and a job tied to your local economy. In that case, having an asset in another local could provide a level of diversification that can help you rest easy.
A much better reason is for the economics of it. If you are in an area where housing is in high demand and prices are in high demand, but the short-term rental outlook is average, it will be hard to make money there.