STR Investing, The Podcast
Unlock financial freedom through short-term rental investing with hosts Taylor Jones and Mark Lumpkin. Each week, they sit down with the biggest names in the STR industry to uncover what’s working right now — from acquisitions and design to operations, marketing, and scaling portfolios.
Taylor has helped acquire and manage over 500+ STRs, while Mark brings years of hands-on experience transforming properties into high-performing investments.
Together, they break down real strategies, real numbers, and real stories that help investors grow smarter and faster.
Whether you’re buying your first Airbnb or expanding a multi-market portfolio, this show is your roadmap to building wealth and freedom through short-term rentals.
Subscribe and start turning your STR goals into results.
STR Investing, The Podcast
Transatlantic Host: Managing Your U.S. Airbnb from Italy with Chris Van Arnam
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
We sit down with Chris Van Arnam, an STR operator who’s not just building high-performing short-term rentals in the Smoky Mountains, but doing it while living halfway across the world in Italy.
Chris walks us through how he built a 10-cabin portfolio rooted in data, operational efficiency, and design differentiation. He opens up about why he sold off part of his portfolio, how he pivoted into new construction, and what it’s really like managing from a different continent.
We unpack:
- How Chris sourced and scaled his first 10 properties
- The power of data when choosing a market
- Why operational density matters—and how to achieve it
- What makes a short-term rental truly “differentiated”
- The hard lessons from new construction vs. heavy renos
- Building a property management company (even when you didn’t plan to)
- How to operate a U.S.-based STR portfolio from Europe with precision
Whether you're just getting started or are in the thick of growing your portfolio, this episode is packed with real-world insights from someone who’s quietly built a scalable STR business from scratch.
🎧 Tune in, take notes, and get ready to think differently about scale, systems, and strategy.
__
Episode Sponsored By:
STR Search
STR Search is the industry leading property finder service. They've helped investors acquire over 215 profitable STRs across the US. If you'd like the data professionals to help you find your next STR, reach out to STRsearch.com
