For some residential property investors, accepting negative cash flow has been part of a strategy built around longer-term capital growth.
But changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax announced in the 2026–27 federal Budget are reshaping the investment landscape, with the federal government seeking to direct more investment towards new housing supply.
Against that backdrop, investors may be looking more closely at the income their properties can generate and how effectively those assets are being used.
Let Go Short-Term Rentals founder and director Steve Yarwood said professionally managed short-term accommodation could provide an alternative for owners seeking stronger income alongside greater flexibility.
The Perth-based business has been operating since late 2017 and now manages about 120 properties across the metropolitan area, providing an end-to-end service spanning furnishing and interior design, photography, listings, bookings, cleaning, maintenance and guest management.
Mr Yarwood said the key difference for investors was the potential to generate more income from the same underlying asset.
“In almost all cases, that’s still going to outperform traditional leasing by 20, 30, 40 per cent, sometimes even 100 per cent or more - net,” he said.
“We’ll run that feasibility and do an appraisal, and we’ll base that on actual data of other similar-sized properties in that area and how they performed over the last 12 months.”
Rather than relying on a single booking platform, Let Go distributes properties across channels including Airbnb, Booking.com, VRBO and Homes & Villas by Marriott, as well as its own direct booking engine.
The company also works with relocation and insurance partners, which can generate longer stays from guests moving to Perth or requiring temporary accommodation following events such as fire, flooding or storm damage.
Dynamic pricing is used to adjust rates according to demand, while a property management system synchronises availability across multiple channels and gives owners real-time visibility over bookings and property performance.
Mr Yarwood said this level of distribution was difficult for individual property owners to replicate.
“They generally don’t have the ability to list on multiple platforms, so they get far less exposure,” he said.
“We generally achieve more income than a mum-and-dad host, even after the commission that they pay us.”
Greater control over the asset
Unlike a conventional long-term lease, short-term accommodation allows owners to retain access to their property, including for their own use or for visiting family and friends.
Mr Yarwood said this flexibility was important to investors who wanted to retain control of an asset while still generating income from it.
The model also challenges a longstanding perception that short-term guests inherently expose properties to greater risk.
Let Go screens prospective guests, uses house rules and noise-monitoring technology, and can deploy security when required. Its cleaning teams also take extensive timestamped photographs after checkouts, providing a record of a property’s condition.
Mr Yarwood said that across nine years of operation, significant damage claims had been rare despite the volume of guests passing through the portfolio.
“The perception probably did have some weight five to 10 years ago, but certainly these days, with the sophistication and the tools, the team we have, security [and] the technology we’re running, we get far fewer issues,” he said.
Beyond traditional investors
Let Go is also increasingly looking beyond individual landlords to developers and builders.
Mr Yarwood said short-term accommodation could provide a way for developers to generate cash flow from completed stock while properties were awaiting sale.
Furnished properties could continue accommodating guests between scheduled home opens, rather than sitting vacant, while establishing an income history that could add to their appeal for investor buyers.
“This is the part we want to explore now, working more with developers and develop-to-keep options,” Mr Yarwood said.
Properties within new villa or apartment developments could also operate as display properties while generating accommodation income during the sales period.
For existing investors, suitability is not necessarily restricted to Perth’s obvious tourism locations, with demand also coming from corporate relocations, insurance accommodation and other longer-stay guests.
Mr Yarwood said Let Go considered three main factors: location, the specification and condition of the property, and its furnishings.
Character homes with renovated kitchens and bathrooms could perform particularly well, while larger suburban homes appealed to families and groups seeking space, kitchens, parking and outdoor areas.
Let Go plans to remain focused on metropolitan Perth as it enters its next phase of growth.
“We’ve built out our systems and procedures and our operations so that we can go to our next phase of growth,” Mr Yarwood said.
“We want to become a household name and the go-to when someone thinks of short-term rentals in Perth.”
