Investing in a 2-bedroom apartment in Barranco, Lima

Let's start with the numbers, because that's the whole point. A 2-bedroom apartment in Barranco yields about 6.4% gross on a long-term rental. The same unit on Airbnb runs around 3.3% gross. That's a gap of nearly two-to-one, and it points in one direction.

For a 2-bed here, long-term is the stronger play. I say this plainly: 6.4% versus 3.3% isn't a close call. Short-term letting means more furniture, more turnover, more cleaning, more empty nights, and more of your time or a manager's cut. Even before you subtract those costs, the Airbnb gross is already about half the long-term gross. After costs the case gets worse, not better.

Barranco is a tourist-friendly district, so the instinct to go Airbnb is understandable. But the instinct doesn't survive the math for this apartment size. If the short-term gross were beating the long-term gross, there'd be a debate. It isn't.

Who does the 2-bed in Barranco suit, then? Someone who wants a steady tenant, less operational hassle, and a 6.4% gross figure they can actually plan around. If you specifically want to run an Airbnb operation, these figures suggest a 2-bed in Barranco is not the unit for it.

One caveat: these are gross figures. I don't have net numbers, financing costs, vacancy assumptions, or price levels here, so do your own arithmetic before committing. This is not investment advice.

Related: Barranco overview · Best district by size