The portfolioThree properties. What they make, and what I gave up.
Most agents who sell short-term rentals will show you someone else’s numbers. Here are mine, including the parts that don’t flatter me.
The three
Three properties · gross revenue, three years running
| Property | Gross / yr | The honest version |
|---|---|---|
| Mariposa, CA | ~$50K | Payment is $1,600/mo at a 3% mortgage rate. That rate no longer exists. Model this one at today’s cost of money and you get a very different answer — see below. |
| San Antonio, TX | ~$60K | $275K purchase, no mortgage, has a pool. This is Texas, not a Yosemite comp. Different market, seasonality, and rules. It’s here because I own it, not because it tells you anything about Oakhurst. |
| Oakhurst, CA | ~$25K | Part of our own home. We block it constantly for family, which is exactly why it earns the least — and exactly the point. |
On pace for similar this year.
Go look at them
All three take direct bookings at sharpvacationhomes.com — photography, listings, and pricing, the same way I’d set yours up.
- Mariposa Retro Retreat — mid-century modern, an hour from Yosemite, walk to town.
- Alamo City Oasis — San Antonio meets Palm Springs. Mid-mod, pool.
- Perfect Mountain Getaway — the Oakhurst apartment. Two bedrooms, mountain views, thirty minutes to the South Gate.
Direct booking is also the argument behind Hostmade — a listing link in, a site on your own domain out.
Read the caveats before you read the total
I’d rather lose you here than at the closing table.
The 3% is doing a lot of work. My Mariposa property carries a $1,600 monthly payment because I borrowed at 3%. You cannot. Anything you buy today is financed at current rates, and the same house with the same revenue is a materially different investment. When we underwrite yours, we use your actual rate. Never mine.
San Antonio is Texas. No mortgage, a pool, a different tourism market. It tells you I know how to run a rental from a distance. It tells you nothing about what a house near Bass Lake will do.
Oakhurst isn’t really a business. It’s a unit inside our house that we take offline whenever family visits. Run properly it would earn more. I don’t, and I’m not going to.
What I gave up, and why it's the point
By my own analysis, a hot tub is the biggest amenity revenue lever in this market — $15,000 to $20,000 a year on a three-bedroom, and it works mainly by lifting your nightly rate rather than filling more nights. Roughly one in five listings here has one.
Neither of my Yosemite properties does. Not because I doubt my own data. Because Teresa doesn’t want to deal with a hot tub, and it’s her house too.
On Mariposa alone — the one that’s a straightforward rental — that’s $15,000 to $20,000 a year I’m choosing not to make. And the portfolio still grosses six figures, still holds Superhost, still books.
That’s the answer to the thing most buyers are quietly afraid of: that buying near Yosemite means the house stops being yours. That optimizing means a hot tub you didn’t want and a calendar you can never touch.
You get to decide what you’re not willing to do. Then we build the model around that, instead of around a version of you who behaves like a spreadsheet.
Which buyer are you
There are two kinds I work with.
One is underwriting. Cash-on-cash, cap rate, DSCR — they use the word “underwriting” every other sentence and they want an agent who can keep up. I like those clients and I have the tools for them.
The other wants a second home near Yosemite that pays for itself, plans to use it thirty or forty percent of the time, and would be pleased if it also appreciated. Lower bar, easier to hit honestly. That’s my favorite client.
Tell me which one you are on the first call and we’ll skip a lot of wasted motion.
Sharp Mountain Homes Team, brokered by eXp Realty
CA DRE #02142596 · Oakhurst, California
559-580-9315 · lenny.sharpmountainhomes@gmail.com
sharpmountainhomes.com
Run your own numbersWant this math on a property you're looking at?
Send me the address. Same amenity-filtered comps and permit check I ran on my three, and whether I’d buy it.