Best STR podcasts and YouTube channels for hosts

Category: Off-Topic & Lounge

By: James Wu

Posted: 2026-02-14T19:50:58.891Z

I learn best by listening and watching rather than reading. What are the best podcasts and YouTube channels for STR hosts? Looking for both beginner content and advanced strategy. Drop your favorites!

Reply by Omar Hassan:

My top picks organized by level: **Podcasts:** 🎙️ **Thanks for Visiting** — Great for beginner-to-intermediate hosts. Covers operations, design, guest experience. Positive, practical tone. 🎙️ **Short Term Rental Riches** — Focuses on the investment and scaling side of STR. Good for hosts thinking about growing a portfolio. 🎙️ **Get Paid for Your Pad** — One of the OG STR podcasts. Interviews with successful hosts and industry experts. 🎙️ **STR Secrets** — Advanced strategies for pricing, marketing, and direct bookings. 🎙️ **BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast** — Not STR-specific, but covers real estate investing broadly, and frequently features STR investors. **YouTube Channels:** 📺 **Robuilt (Rob Abasolo)** — Entertaining and educational. Great property tours, market analysis, and honest financials. He went from 2 to 30+ properties and documents everything. 📺 **Sean Rakidzich (Airbnb Automated)** — Deep dives into automation, passive hosting strategies, and tech stack walkthroughs. 📺 **The Overnight Host** — Budget-friendly STR tips, thrift store furnishing hauls, DIY improvements. Very practical for new hosts. 📺 **Michael Elefante** — Focuses on STR investing, deal analysis, and BRRRR for vacation rentals. **Pro tip:** Listen to podcasts while doing property work (cleaning, restocking, driving between properties). Turns "dead time" into learning time. Also check out the blog at https://strspecialist.com/blog for written guides on all these topics.

Reply by Brittany Simmons:

Adding a few more niche recommendations: **For revenue optimization:** Follow the PriceLabs blog (https://pricelabs.co/blog) and their LinkedIn. They publish some of the best data analysis in the industry about pricing, market trends, and seasonal strategies. **For design:** The Hostfully Design blog and Instagram inspire my property designs. Also: search "Airbnb refresh" on TikTok — there's an entire community of hosts sharing before/after tours and budget furnishing tips. **For legal/tax:** Don't follow generic advice. Find a CPA who specializes in STR. The tax code is complex and one good hour with a specialist CPA will save you more money than 100 hours of podcast listening.