I return the houses in the Hamptons and I made $ 360,000 on Airbnb last year

This is a test as told about a conversation with Blythe Graham-Jones, 39, a former advertising manager who turns and now rents houses in Hamptons, documenting his projects for 10,200 Instagram followers @Via_norfolk. Graham-Jones earns money by renovating Hampton houses, praising them on Airbnb, consulting on design projects and various sources of social media, including brand partnerships. The conversation has been modified for duration and clarity.

I used to work in advertising. I worked with some of the most incredible creative minds, but I didn’t really think of creative. I was the organized and left person for these incredible talents.

My husband Cody was a real estate agent When we started to be released in 2008. Now he works in technology sales, but we both always liked real estate. We were those who organize a Montauk Share the house for our friends. We loved driving together to look at the rentals.

We never believed that your first purchase should be your main house. In 2017, we still praised in Brooklyn and we were waiting for our first child when we bought a three -bedroom house East Hampton For $ 635,000.

It was not a hot property. Previous owners were in the middle of a divorceAnd it was a bit neglected. People just didn’t want to face the hassles.

There were boxes everywhere. They hadn’t even cleaned the pharmacy cabinets. It was also a strange arrangement: the refrigerator was in the corridor, the living room was at the back of the house and there was no main bedroom.

Renovation of my first Hampton house inspired me to change career

We had tenants this first summer. In September, I was on a mission to repair the house cheap. I have a white and ikea paint rattan furniture.

For two years, we continued to rent it on Airbnb And reinvested every penny in the house every penny. We started to charge $ 1,000 per night during the high season.

In 2019, we refined and produced a home credit line, or HelicalFor $ 250,000. With this money, I was finally able to make a great renovation. I ended up opening a bedroom to make a living room and an open kitchen. I added a bathroom to make a master bedroom.

Now the house is evaluated at $ 1.8 million, according to Zillow.

I realized that doing it was my thing. I could see the potential in houses. Managing through chaos was natural for me in my previous role. At the time, I also wanted to spend more time with my children, who were 1 and 3. I left my business role in 2021 to continue full -time renovations.

I cultivated my social media brand early, and it helped make renovations cheaper

One of the first steps I took was to hire a Independent designer on Washing To build a brand identity. For $ 2,000, she created my website, my brand identity, logos, colors and official fonts. I think it really helped me attract agreements with brands.

For example, I work with Home and cooking assales Kingston Brass Company. For three properties, they gave me for an entire product of products – probably $ 20,000 – for having shown them during my renovation videos on Instagram. This definitely helps for the return on investment for possible sale.

Now the goal is to sell a house each year while renting the other two on Airbnb. Last year, our two properties in Hamptons reported $ 360,000 in Airbnb income. The two have five bedrooms and swimming pools.

I only inquest in houses in East Hampton because I like it is rules Regarding short -term rentals. There are a minimum of two -week stays, but with four exceptions, you can use them throughout the year, which I usually spent a vacation like Thanksgiving.

There is the benefit of reversal, of our Airbnb rental income and brand partnerships that I bring via Instagram. I also offer design advice that starts about $ 1,000 or $ 5,000 per month to work on the system. I also generate income from my LTK pageWhere people can buy the products I use in my renovations.

Instead of a single job, I now have several income flows.