Is Airbnb Really Passive Income?

We talk a lot about travel here — dreamy hotel rooms, weekend escapes, and beautiful places. But today I thought I’d pause that for a moment and talk about something a little more behind the scenes: running a business.

Specifically, owning short-term rental properties.

Last Friday I was having lunch with my sister when I got a message from our guests around 4 PM.

“The unit isn’t clean.”

I almost fainted.

In all the years we’ve been running our property, that had never happened. Thankfully we have an amazing housekeeper who is incredibly responsible, but something clearly went wrong with the timing that day.

So what did I do?

I left lunch, drove to the property, and cleaned it myself.

Vacuum, sheets, towels — the whole thing.

I actually filmed a little clip while I was vacuuming and wrote over it:

“When people say Airbnb is passive income…”

Because the truth is… it’s not.

Owning short-term rentals is a business, and like any business it requires constant attention. You have to be on top of everything — maintenance, guest communication, replacing things that break, making sure every stay feels perfect.

If you want to stand out, you can’t treat it casually.

There are pros and cons, like with anything. But one thing people don’t always see is the amount of work behind it.

Finding the property.

Figuring out how to buy it.

Renovating it.

Designing it.

Setting up the systems.

Managing the bookings.

Taking care of guests.

Maintaining the property.

And just to be clear — I’m not complaining at all. I actually love building businesses like this.

But I do think it’s important to show the reality behind the highlight reel.

For context, I’m also not a trust fund baby (unfortunately, lol). Everything I’ve done has involved figuring things out step by step — and a lot of work.

The building itself is from the 1940s, so it’s a constant process of repairing, improving, and maintaining it little by little. Anyone who owns an older property knows that it’s never really “done.”

And of course, there are significant expenses and a high mortgage attached to the investment — which means the business has to work.

The day after posting that vacuuming video, I shared another one explaining exactly that: short-term rentals are rewarding, but they require real work and real responsibility.

Interestingly, after that post someone I went to high school with messaged me.

She brought up something that is very real in Puerto Rico: the housing crisis. She said that short-term rentals are part of the problem and asked if I would be willing to be part of the solution by converting my property to long-term housing.

It’s a valid conversation to have.

But I respectfully said no.

Right now, that option simply isn’t viable for me. I’ve also had difficult experiences with long-term rentals in the past — situations where tenants didn’t take care of the property and things became very complicated.

With short-term rentals, I’m able to maintain control of the property and ensure that it’s taken care of.

So it made me think.

Am I part of the problem?

Maybe some people would say yes.

But I also see it this way: I made an investment, I took the risk, and I have the responsibility to make sure the business works.

Solving the housing crisis is incredibly important, but it’s also a much bigger issue than any one property owner.

For me, running my property as a short-term rental is what makes sense right now.

And like any business, it comes with a lot more work than people might think.

Sometimes that even means leaving lunch… to go vacuum an apartment.