A Colorado broker who only does short-term rental investments

What an STR investment broker does differently

Any agent can get you a house. On a short-term rental, the house is the easy part. The deal comes down to whether that exact address can be licensed for an investor, what it will really earn and what it will cost to run. Plenty of buyers find out after closing. My clients find out before they write an offer.

Every client gets a full pro forma on any deal we pursue, built from real booking data and conservative assumptions. I'll also tell you plainly when a deal doesn't pencil.

Find, price, manage

Most investors end up juggling a broker, a designer, a contractor and a property manager. I set Covest up so one person is accountable from the search to the first booking.

Find

I screen MLS listings and off-market leads with Covest Signals, a tool I built that pairs Colorado listing data with short-term rental performance. Most of what's for sale gets cut before a client ever sees it.

Price

I've run revenue management on my own rentals from the start, and I price a deal the way I'd price one I was buying myself. That work is what my revenue management brand, Altimeter, is built on.

Manage

After closing, Covest Setup furnishes and stages the home, and AirSimplicity, our management partner, takes it live on Airbnb, VRBO and the other channels. More detail on the services page.

How working with me goes

1. A 30-minute call. We talk budget, financing, goals and whether you want mountain, foothills or metro. No charge and no pitch.
2. A plan. I narrow it to the markets and property types that fit you, and we set what a good deal has to look like.
3. Search and underwriting. I send you deals with the numbers already run, including the ones I'd pass on and why.
4. Offer and closing. As your buyer's agent under a written buyer agreement, I write and negotiate the offer and run due diligence through closing.
5. Setup and launch. Design, furnishing, photos and listings, then management.

Markets I cover

Colorado only, and not all of it. I work where an investor can legally license a short-term rental and guest demand holds up:

• Summit County: Breckenridge, Keystone, Copper, Frisco, Dillon
• Grand County: Winter Park, Fraser, Granby, Tabernash
• Foothills: Evergreen, Conifer, Morrison, Bailey
• Denver metro: Arvada, Golden, Wheat Ridge and parts of Jefferson County

Which one is right depends on your budget, your financing and how hands-on you want to be. That's the first thing we sort out on a call.

Questions investors ask

What does a Colorado STR investment broker do?

It's a licensed real estate broker who represents buyers of short-term rental properties and focuses on what decides those deals: whether the address can be licensed, what it should earn and what it costs to run. At Covest that also includes design, setup and a handoff to management after closing.

Can I buy an investment Airbnb in Denver?

Not inside the City and County of Denver, which only licenses short-term rentals in the host's primary residence. There are places close to Denver where an investor can license one, but the rules change from one town line to the next, so I check them address by address.

What return should I expect on a Colorado STR?

It depends on the market, the price and how the home is set up. My best deals have returned 17% cash-on-cash, but that's the top of the range, not a promise. I'll walk you through what's realistic for your budget on a call.

How much does it cost to work with Covest?

As your buyer's agent, Covest earns a standard 3% commission, set out in a written buyer agreement before we start. Design and setup is a separate flat-fee contract with Covest Setup LLC. If you only want advice, a 45-minute consulting session is $600.

I already have an agent. Can you still help?

Yes. I consult for investors who already have a broker: deal reviews, underwriting, market selection and revenue questions. Most people start with the 45-minute session.

Do you work outside Colorado?

No. Every deal, design and rental I've done is in Colorado, and it's the only place I take clients.

Covest LLC is a licensed Colorado real estate brokerage, license IC.100112047. Shalom Kaiser, Independent Broker, license IR.100066325. Past results don't guarantee future returns. This page is general information, not tax or legal advice.