Investing in a 4-bedroom apartment in Miraflores, Lima

Let me keep this simple. A four-bedroom apartment in Miraflores yields about 5.3% gross on a long-term lease. On Airbnb, the same unit runs about 2.1% gross. That's not a close call.

The gap tells you something about demand. Big four-bedroom flats don't fill up night after night with tourists the way a one- or two-bedroom near Parque Kennedy does. Short-stay guests in Miraflores mostly want smaller, cheaper places, so a large apartment sits empty too often to make the nightly rate worth it. On a long-term lease you get a stable tenant, usually a family or a group, and the yield reflects that.

So for this size in this district, long-term is the stronger play. If you were counting on Airbnb income to carry a four-bedroom purchase here, the numbers say rethink it.

One caveat: these are gross figures. They don't account for management, maintenance, the higher furnishing and turnover costs that come with short-term rentals, or vacancy. Netting those out would widen the gap in favor of long-term even further, but I don't have those numbers here, so treat that as reasoning, not a figure.

Who does a four-bed in Miraflores suit? Someone who wants a steady long-term tenant and treats the roughly 5.3% gross as the realistic ceiling. If your plan depends on short-term tourist income, look at a smaller unit instead. None of this is investment advice.

Related: Miraflores overview · Best district by size