What cap rates should I expect on a short-term-rental property in Guatapé?

Short-term rentals in Guatapé run 8 to 15 percent gross yield, but a true net cap rate sits meaningfully lower once management, maintenance, insurance, and the market's documented 35 to 55 percent occupancy range are factored in against that gross figure.

Gross yield versus cap rate, the distinction that matters

Gross yield measures annual rental revenue against property value, before any expenses. Cap rate measures net operating income, revenue minus operating costs, against that same value, which is why a property can show an attractive 8 to 15 percent gross figure while its actual cap rate lands considerably lower once real operating costs are subtracted.

What eats into the gross figure

Property management typically takes a percentage of revenue, cleaning and turnover costs recur with every booking, and maintenance on a heavily used short-term rental runs higher than on a long-term lease. Add property tax and insurance, and the gap between the advertised 8 to 15 percent gross range and the actual net cap rate can be substantial depending on how the property is managed.

Occupancy is the other half of the equation

The market's own documented occupancy benchmark is 35 to 55 percent on a year-blended basis, with well-managed properties landing at the higher end. A cap-rate estimate built on an unrealistically high occupancy assumption will overstate the actual return a specific property is likely to deliver.

Building a realistic cap-rate estimate

Input	What to use
Gross yield assumption	8-15% range, weighted toward the lower end for a new or undifferentiated listing
Occupancy assumption	35-55%, per the market's documented benchmark, not an optimistic outlier
Operating cost deduction	Management, cleaning, maintenance, insurance, and property tax, subtracted before calling it a cap rate

Why management quality changes the answer more than location

Whether a specific listing lands near the top or bottom of the documented occupancy range depends more on pricing discipline and review count than on which zone it sits in, which means two otherwise similar properties can post meaningfully different real cap rates purely based on how well they're run, a pattern documented across both town and lakefront listings.

A worked example of the gap between gross and net

Take a property generating gross yield near the middle of the 8 to 15 percent range at, say, 40 percent occupancy, closer to the lower end of the documented 35 to 55 percent band. After subtracting a management percentage, cleaning costs per turnover, routine maintenance, insurance, and property tax, the resulting net cap rate typically lands several percentage points below the initial gross figure, sometimes substantially so depending on how heavily the property leans on a paid manager versus self-management.

This is why quoting a single gross percentage without walking through the deductions can mislead a buyer comparing this market against a different investment entirely, since gross yield and net cap rate answer genuinely different questions.

Running this same exercise at both the 35 percent and 55 percent ends of the occupancy range, rather than a single assumed number, gives a more honest sense of the realistic band a specific property might land in once it's actually operating.

Comparing cap rates against long-term rental

A long-term rental typically shows a lower gross yield than a short-term rental but also carries lower turnover and management costs, which means the gap between gross and net is usually narrower for a long-term lease than for an actively managed short-term listing, even when the headline gross number looks less impressive.

How tax obligations factor into a true return

Beyond operating costs, non-resident rental income tax reduces what an owner actually keeps from either short-term or long-term rental income, which means a genuinely comparable cap-rate figure needs to be calculated after tax, not just after operating expenses, if the goal is comparing this investment against alternatives in your home country.

Skipping this step and comparing a pre-tax Colombian cap rate directly against an after-tax figure from a domestic investment back home is a common apples-to-oranges mistake that overstates how attractive the Colombian number actually looks side by side.

A disciplined investor builds the full chain, gross yield, minus operating costs, minus tax, before ever comparing the resulting figure against a return from a different country or asset class entirely.

Is 8 to 15 percent a net or gross figure?

Gross; it does not yet account for management, maintenance, or vacancy, which is why the true net cap rate runs lower.

Does the Airbnb market being roughly 1,200 listings affect achievable cap rates?

Indirectly, yes; more competing listings makes pricing and differentiation more important to hitting the higher end of the occupancy range that supports a stronger cap rate.

Do I need an RNT registration before renting short-term?

Yes, and the Airbnb rules and RNT requirements should be confirmed before assuming a property qualifies for short-term rental use.

Should I hire a property manager or self-manage?

Self-managing can improve net cap rate by avoiding a management cut, but only if you can match the pricing discipline and responsiveness of a professional operator.

Does seasonal demand affect cap rate calculations?

Yes, the December-to-February dry-season tourism peak concentrates a meaningful share of annual bookings, which should be modeled rather than assumed flat across the year.

Is a lakefront property automatically a better cap-rate investment?

Not automatically; location affects guest appeal but management quality has a larger measured effect on where a specific listing lands within the occupancy range.

Talk to a Guatape Properties agent about your specific plans.