2025 was a tough year....

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2025 was a tough year....

Olympia, WA · Member since 2016 · 8k+ posts · 7k+ votes

2025 was easily the hardest year in terms of damage/missing stuff in our history.

Almost all our silverware is gone. Forks, spoons, knives etc. People also replaced our nice silverware with weird stuff from 1975.

All the 16oz glasses were gone. About 6 plates, 3 bowls.

Missing trim here and there. Just gone, pulled off the wall. Who knows.

Blankets. Missing. All our queen and king extra blankets are gone. No idea who took them as our cleaner was phoning it in the last few cleanings.

Towels destroyed.

I have to say, this week will be interesting. Lots to fix. At least the last guest gave us 5 stars even though there were only 3 forks in the whole place

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JD MartinBusiness Member

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Rock Star Extraordinaire · Northeast, TN · Member since 2015 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes

5mo

I agree. In fact I finally tossed in the towel and decided to sell this week. I use the place myself when I'm making repairs & improvements, so it's not a pure investment, and I can afford to keep it even without renting it out, but it's also been a tax shelter for me and I don't want to unnecessarily invite tax scrutiny by unilaterally taking it off the docket or reporting my deductions with no income to back it up, so I'm going to sell and repurchase and not STR any more. Just got tired of all of it. I just got home from going down and getting everything staged to sell and all the things like what you posted reminded me why I didn't want to do it any more. Walls stained blue from cleaners using too much Windex and not cleaning it up. Dripped bleach on carpets. Guests broke one of the doors on a game room cabinet, no one caught it until I got down there so no idea which guest did it. Coffee scoop gone. Pool not cleaned properly. ETC. Add all that to our depressed STR market the last 2+ years and I had my fill.

Personally, I found running a short-term rental far more work than any of my long term rentals. Some people may love it but I didn't care for it at all, especially in a place that I would stay myself.

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JD MartinBusiness Member
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Rock Star Extraordinaire · Northeast, TN · Member since 2015 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes
5mo
I agree. In fact I finally tossed in the towel and decided to sell this week. I use the place myself when I'm making repairs & improvements, so it's not a pure investment, and I can afford to keep it even without renting it out, but it's also been a tax shelter for me and I don't want to unnecessarily invite tax scrutiny by unilaterally taking it off the docket or reporting my deductions with no income to back it up, so I'm going to sell and repurchase and not STR any more. Just got tired of all of it. I just got home from going down and getting everything staged to sell and all the things like what you posted reminded me why I didn't want to do it any more. Walls stained blue from cleaners using too much Windex and not cleaning it up. Dripped bleach on carpets. Guests broke one of the doors on a game room cabinet, no one caught it until I got down there so no idea which guest did it. Coffee scoop gone. Pool not cleaned properly. ETC. Add all that to our depressed STR market the last 2+ years and I had my fill.

Personally, I found running a short-term rental far more work than any of my long term rentals. Some people may love it but I didn't care for it at all, especially in a place that I would stay myself.
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- Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
  Real Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
  5mo
  Quote from @JD Martin:
  
  I agree. In fact I finally tossed in the towel and decided to sell this week. I use the place myself when I'm making repairs & improvements, so it's not a pure investment, and I can afford to keep it even without renting it out, but it's also been a tax shelter for me and I don't want to unnecessarily invite tax scrutiny by unilaterally taking it off the docket or reporting my deductions with no income to back it up, so I'm going to sell and repurchase and not STR any more. Just got tired of all of it. I just got home from going down and getting everything staged to sell and all the things like what you posted reminded me why I didn't want to do it any more. Walls stained blue from cleaners using too much Windex and not cleaning it up. Dripped bleach on carpets. Guests broke one of the doors on a game room cabinet, no one caught it until I got down there so no idea which guest did it. Coffee scoop gone. Pool not cleaned properly. ETC. Add all that to our depressed STR market the last 2+ years and I had my fill.
  
  Personally, I found running a short-term rental far more work than any of my long term rentals. Some people may love it but I didn't care for it at all, especially in a place that I would stay myself.
  
  Ya I made it two weeks with the property I bought on the Columbia river.. calls , requests etc etc so I sold it.. its was a fixer we did well on it.. Sold it all furnished and everything ready to go to another investor they made itg 18 months its up for sale again.. I will say STR is more about what hotel motel owners go through than what passive rental investors encounter there is risk with both of course.. But when you have new folks each week there is a lot of moving parts and such.. I think these can work well in resort type settings ski areas stuff like that but random SFR's can be extra work and I guess its really up to the individual to decide if the extra squeeze of running these places is worth the little bit of juice.. But then again for many of us in the industry there are far more profitable ventures given the same amount of time and investment but for passive investors I can see the appeal.
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- Collin HaysBusiness Member
  Property Manager · Gatlinburg, TN · Member since 2020 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
  5mo
  Quote from @JD Martin:
  
  I agree. In fact I finally tossed in the towel and decided to sell this week. I use the place myself when I'm making repairs & improvements, so it's not a pure investment, and I can afford to keep it even without renting it out, but it's also been a tax shelter for me and I don't want to unnecessarily invite tax scrutiny by unilaterally taking it off the docket or reporting my deductions with no income to back it up, so I'm going to sell and repurchase and not STR any more. Just got tired of all of it. I just got home from going down and getting everything staged to sell and all the things like what you posted reminded me why I didn't want to do it any more. Walls stained blue from cleaners using too much Windex and not cleaning it up. Dripped bleach on carpets. Guests broke one of the doors on a game room cabinet, no one caught it until I got down there so no idea which guest did it. Coffee scoop gone. Pool not cleaned properly. ETC. Add all that to our depressed STR market the last 2+ years and I had my fill.
  
  Personally, I found running a short-term rental far more work than any of my long term rentals. Some people may love it but I didn't care for it at all, especially in a place that I would stay myself.
  
  Hate to hear that. What was the final straw for you JD?
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- JD MartinBusiness Member
  Moderator
  Rock Star Extraordinaire · Northeast, TN · Member since 2015 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes
  5mo
  Quote from @Collin Hays:
  
  Quote from @JD Martin:
  
  I agree. In fact I finally tossed in the towel and decided to sell this week. I use the place myself when I'm making repairs & improvements, so it's not a pure investment, and I can afford to keep it even without renting it out, but it's also been a tax shelter for me and I don't want to unnecessarily invite tax scrutiny by unilaterally taking it off the docket or reporting my deductions with no income to back it up, so I'm going to sell and repurchase and not STR any more. Just got tired of all of it. I just got home from going down and getting everything staged to sell and all the things like what you posted reminded me why I didn't want to do it any more. Walls stained blue from cleaners using too much Windex and not cleaning it up. Dripped bleach on carpets. Guests broke one of the doors on a game room cabinet, no one caught it until I got down there so no idea which guest did it. Coffee scoop gone. Pool not cleaned properly. ETC. Add all that to our depressed STR market the last 2+ years and I had my fill.
  
  Personally, I found running a short-term rental far more work than any of my long term rentals. Some people may love it but I didn't care for it at all, especially in a place that I would stay myself.
  
  Hate to hear that. What was the final straw for you JD?
  
  Kind of a perfect storm before we arrived - two-week stay guests from overseas (Britain) that come every year told me they loved the house but wouldn't stay again because my next door neighbor plays music and movies loudly (probably the 10th complaint I've had and maybe 3rd/4th regular I've lost); grass guy was skipping the backyard altogether I guess because he figured I was gone for the season; pool cleaning got skipped because there were guests there (what?) so the pool was filthy when I arrived; cleaners (I presume) dripped bleach on another area of carpet; unknown guest broke a console cabinet door and no one reported it. Most of these things by themselves aren't deal breakers and some of it goes with the territory (some guest stole the coffee scoop, or threw it away), but we're going on the 3rd straight year of depressed nightly rates and depressed occupancy, and I use this house myself and put up with a lot of things I wouldn't otherwise if I was just closing it up when I went home - such as heavy traffic, annoying HOA stuff, neighbors too close to me, a two-story house (I only want ranches as I'm getting older), etc. I had thought about selling last year but things picked up very nicely in February and were just slamming right up to August and then it went off a cliff. Last year was the first time I was vacant on Thanksgiving.
  
  I still plan on having my own house (my wife thinks we should just be renters ourselves when we go in the winter) but something further from traffic and tourists, and something more manageable in size (I have a 3000 sf house now) for just two people, on a bigger lot in a real neighborhood with neighbors further away and (preferably) no HOA. The house I have now was bought purposely because it was in a development that permits STRs and it's right down the street from Disney but yet still pretty close to my father, and was big enough to hold all of my family. But as everyone's getting older and busier we just don't have the kind of family coming down and staying now and if it's just going to be us and I'm going to close it down after the winter, we don't need a house this big in a tourist area.
  
  Of course the market's so soft I might just have to keep it anyway 🤣
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Michael BaumPro Member
OP
Olympia, WA · Member since 2016 · 8k+ posts · 7k+ votes
5mo
I hear ya @JD Martin. I still enjoy doing it and we have a lot of bookings for this year so far so I am going to soldier on.
Plus we will be moving into the lake house when my wife decides to retire. Next year is the plan. Finish the remodel on our primary, sell then move into it.
Start looking for a nice piece of rural property. River or lakefront. 5-15 acres. No neighbors preferably. I am planning a off grid system that will still be tied to the grid for winter, huge shop. Like 3500 sqft. A monster with 16' walls. :)
We started our silverware journey with 24 of everything. None went missing for 8 years. Now all gone. Crazy.
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- JD MartinBusiness Member
  Moderator
  Rock Star Extraordinaire · Northeast, TN · Member since 2015 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes
  5mo
  Quote from @Michael Baum:
  
  I hear ya @JD Martin. I still enjoy doing it and we have a lot of bookings for this year so far so I am going to soldier on.
  Plus we will be moving into the lake house when my wife decides to retire. Next year is the plan. Finish the remodel on our primary, sell then move into it.
  Start looking for a nice piece of rural property. River or lakefront. 5-15 acres. No neighbors preferably. I am planning a off grid system that will still be tied to the grid for winter, huge shop. Like 3500 sqft. A monster with 16' walls. :)
  We started our silverware journey with 24 of everything. None went missing for 8 years. Now all gone. Crazy.
  
  If I don't get mine sold I will just keep it and leave it empty when I'm done for the winter, but I prefer to be in a different neighborhood for a house I'm just going to use for ourselves. I'm pretty close to Disney and so I put up with a lot of unnecessary traffic & noise, and the neighbors are right on top of you which is not how I like to live and not how I live in Tennessee. I also prefer no neighbors. Your place sounds awesome, that many acres on a lake or river is my idea of heaven.
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- Ian Tyndall
  Investor · VA AZ, SC · Member since 2017 · 172 posts · 172 votes
  5mo
  Quote from @Michael Baum:
  
  I hear ya @JD Martin. I still enjoy doing it and we have a lot of bookings for this year so far so I am going to soldier on.
  Plus we will be moving into the lake house when my wife decides to retire. Next year is the plan. Finish the remodel on our primary, sell then move into it.
  Start looking for a nice piece of rural property. River or lakefront. 5-15 acres. No neighbors preferably. I am planning a off grid system that will still be tied to the grid for winter, huge shop. Like 3500 sqft. A monster with 16' walls. :)
  We started our silverware journey with 24 of everything. None went missing for 8 years. Now all gone. Crazy.
  
  Same. I had a guest report that there were only four forks in the house that accommodated ten.
  Had to send a quick Walmart delivery to the house to restock the forks…
  1 Reply
Lauren Kormylo
Rental Property Investor · Phoenix, AZ and Rehoboth Beach DE · Member since 2019 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
5mo
Quote from @Michael Baum:

2025 was easily the hardest year in terms of damage/missing stuff in our history.
Almost all our silverware is gone. Forks, spoons, knives etc. People also replaced our nice silverware with weird stuff from 1975.
All the 16oz glasses were gone. About 6 plates, 3 bowls.
Missing trim here and there. Just gone, pulled off the wall. Who knows.
Blankets. Missing. All our queen and king extra blankets are gone. No idea who took them as our cleaner was phoning it in the last few cleanings.
Towels destroyed.
I have to say, this week will be interesting. Lots to fix. At least the last guest gave us 5 stars even though there were only 3 forks in the whole place

I'm really sorry to hear that much has gone missing. That cleaner is really bad. Time for some Walmart specials on the silverware, that's where I got mine because I knew I'd probably be replacing pieces that got thrown away by mistake. The silverware and dishes are bad enough, but decent blankets aren't cheap these days either! I'm staying in my STR in a few weeks to do maintenance and now you've got me wondering what I'm going to find.
So you say you're moving into the lake house maybe next year. And you're also looking for some more acreage to build another house too, to move into after that?
1 Reply
- Michael BaumPro Member
  OP
  Olympia, WA · Member since 2016 · 8k+ posts · 7k+ votes
  5mo
  Quote from @Lauren Kormylo:
  I'm really sorry to hear that much has gone missing. That cleaner is really bad. Time for some Walmart specials on the silverware, that's where I got mine because I knew I'd probably be replacing pieces that got thrown away by mistake. The silverware and dishes are bad enough, but decent blankets aren't cheap these days either! I'm staying in my STR in a few weeks to do maintenance and now you've got me wondering what I'm going to find.
  So you say you're moving into the lake house maybe next year. And you're also looking for some more acreage to build another house too, to move into after that?
  Thanks Lauren! It's just the cost of doing business. I am all in on the Tramontina commercial stuff from Costco business. 36 spoons for 12 bucks. Not as nice as what I had but it does the job.
  
  Yes, the plan is to move into our STR and live on the lake for a couple of years. While we live here, we will be looking for acreage and at least a strong water view. Preferably on a lake or river. Lake CdA where we are at is really expensive so probably not here.
  
  Looking around Lake Pend Orielle or maybe on the Pend Orielle river or the Clark Fork. Pretty good options. Lakefront is still expensive on Pend Orielle but river front is doable.
  
  The biggest issue with being more rural is the wolves and the grizzly bears. Shouldn't be a problem but you have to prepare.
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Mike GrudzienPro Member
Lender · Eugene, OR · Member since 2019 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
5mo
Quote from @Michael Baum:

2025 was easily the hardest year in terms of damage/missing stuff in our history.
Almost all our silverware is gone. Forks, spoons, knives etc. People also replaced our nice silverware with weird stuff from 1975.
All the 16oz glasses were gone. About 6 plates, 3 bowls.
Missing trim here and there. Just gone, pulled off the wall. Who knows.
Blankets. Missing. All our queen and king extra blankets are gone. No idea who took them as our cleaner was phoning it in the last few cleanings.
Towels destroyed.
I have to say, this week will be interesting. Lots to fix. At least the last guest gave us 5 stars even though there were only 3 forks in the whole place

Michael,
I have 2 things to say:
1) OUCH!
2) I feel for you.
Sending good luck vibes your way!
2 Reply
Trent Reeve
Atlanta · Member since 2022 · 710 posts · 640 votes
5mo
maybe beach market, but i typically see that when i check in late fall. last property i took on as a cohost, sleeps 17, and had 2 forks and 5 glasses. i do use walmart for silverware and glasses. choose stuff that looks nice but isnt expensive as i know i will have to replace a lot every year.
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John UnderwoodPro Member
Investor · Greer, SC · Member since 2014 · 13k+ posts · 17k+ votes
5mo
Did your cleaners start to notice some of this over time?
Our cleaners are my wife's cousin and they notice everything and report back.
My wife is OCD. When she is there checking on things she rearranges the kitchen back to "how its supposed to be".
We haven't had any damage or things that are missing lately.
We have good enough silverware with plenty of spares in the owners closet, so Id be surprised if anyone wanted to take any of it.
I do need to find some more "Lake House" coffee cups as well have had breakage over the years. We still have standard coffee cups.
It seems my biggest repair item has been the.screens on the back porch. People push on them around the screen door for some reason.
2 Reply
- Michael BaumPro Member
  OP
  Olympia, WA · Member since 2016 · 8k+ posts · 7k+ votes
  5mo
  Quote from @John Underwood:
  
  Did your cleaners start to notice some of this over time?
  Our cleaners are my wife's cousin and they notice everything and report back.
  My wife is OCD. When she is there checking on things she rearranges the kitchen back to "how its supposed to be".
  We haven't had any damage or things that are missing lately.
  We have good enough silverware with plenty of spares in the owners closet, so Id be surprised if anyone wanted to take any of it.
  I do need to find some more "Lake House" coffee cups as well have had breakage over the years. We still have standard coffee cups.
  It seems my biggest repair item has been the.screens on the back porch. People push on them around the screen door for some reason.
  She never said anything but this last year is when it all disappeared. She has been phoning it in most of 2025 I think. Luckily no one complained so the house was at least clean.
  
  She quit this January saying she was dealing with health issues so I get why things just didn't get done.
  
  Turno has yielded some good results. I have 2 cleaners coming this weekend to check out the place and neither is worried about the drive.
  2 Reply
- John UnderwoodPro Member
  Investor · Greer, SC · Member since 2014 · 13k+ posts · 17k+ votes
  5mo
  Quote from @Michael Baum:
  
  Quote from @John Underwood:
  
  Did your cleaners start to notice some of this over time?
  Our cleaners are my wife's cousin and they notice everything and report back.
  My wife is OCD. When she is there checking on things she rearranges the kitchen back to "how its supposed to be".
  We haven't had any damage or things that are missing lately.
  We have good enough silverware with plenty of spares in the owners closet, so Id be surprised if anyone wanted to take any of it.
  I do need to find some more "Lake House" coffee cups as well have had breakage over the years. We still have standard coffee cups.
  It seems my biggest repair item has been the.screens on the back porch. People push on them around the screen door for some reason.
  She never said anything but this last year is when it all disappeared. She has been phoning it in most of 2025 I think. Luckily no one complained so the house was at least clean.
  
  She quit this January saying she was dealing with health issues so I get why things just didn't get done.
  
  Turno has yielded some good results. I have 2 cleaners coming this weekend to check out the place and neither is worried about the drive.
  
  I started to use Turno at one time and found the prices quoted were all over the place. They came in super high to start then I got some more reasonable ones with a little time.
  1 Reply
Drew SygitBusiness Member
Property Manager · Royal Oak, MI · Member since 2012 · 12k+ posts · 9k+ votes
5mo
I remember one STR guest that requested new pans and better silverware😤
Haven't been able to create a standardized, efficient & cost-effective system of monitoring EVERYTHING at an STR.
- You can only require pics & videos of X amount of stuff before it really eats into your budget, let alone keeping cleaners onboard.
So, all the little stuff is a gamble and a cost of doing business.
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Andrew SteffensBusiness Member
Tampa, FL · Member since 2022 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
5mo
Im not sure this is a 2025 thing, we have to replace these items at least 2x a year
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Lisa Graesser
Rental Property Investor · The Villages, FL · Member since 2017 · 341 posts · 397 votes
5mo
Another good reason to stay at your STR's, it's the only way I can keep up with what needs replacing. I have not had much go missing except food storage containers and hangers.
1 Reply
Collin HaysBusiness Member
Property Manager · Gatlinburg, TN · Member since 2020 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
5mo
We run a continuous "fitness" audit on each of our properties. We have 30 cabins under management, with 2 inspections per week, so every 15 weeks, a cabin is getting inspected all over again. We have a form created on Google Sheets that covers things such as missing dishes, utensils, etc. Of course we still miss things, but that catches probably 90 percent.
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Ian Tyndall
Investor · VA AZ, SC · Member since 2017 · 172 posts · 172 votes
5mo
I had to look up Lake Pend Oreille. Wow, I am glad that I did! What an amazing place! A lake so deep that the IS Navy uses it for sonar testing! If you could see that lake from your property, then I wouldn’t want to leave!

Found a nice place in the water with a pool. Asking price is only $9 million 🤣

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Cliff H.Pro Member
Rental Property Investor · Nashua, NH · Member since 2014 · 587 posts · 477 votes
5mo
It’s honest posts like these that are like group therapy on the hard days we all face in highly hands on sectors like STRs. Still in it myself, but significantly altered my expectations given endless regulation, excessive taxation, and continued competition across small town New England.
Continuing the original theme here, my favorite routinely missing items included:
Flower vases that look too nice.
Coffee beans left in any coffee bag ever.
Condiments in fridge, but never ice cream in freezer.
Teaspoons, never soup spoons, forks, or knives.
Firestarters, which I’m convinced some guests use as the actual firewood.
Any board game that appeal to twenty-somethings.
And while we’re at it: any monopoly piece ever.
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Michael BaumPro Member
OP
Olympia, WA · Member since 2016 · 8k+ posts · 7k+ votes
5mo
We have been here for 2 days now basically surveying and more things come to light.
One, I have hairdryers hanging in the bathroom cabinets on 3M Command hooks.
They have all been removed and the hairdryers are sitting in the bottom of the cabinet.
For some reason, this year was the best year for beach towels. It appears they are all accounted for! WOOT!
1 Reply
- Lauren Kormylo
  Rental Property Investor · Phoenix, AZ and Rehoboth Beach DE · Member since 2019 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
  5mo
  Quote from @Michael Baum:
  
  We have been here for 2 days now basically surveying and more things come to light.
  One, I have hairdryers hanging in the bathroom cabinets on 3M Command hooks.
  They have all been removed and the hairdryers are sitting in the bottom of the cabinet.
  For some reason, this year was the best year for beach towels. It appears they are all accounted for! WOOT!
  
  I can't believe guests brought their own Command Hooks? Jeez. I removed some of those from a long term rental I have after the tenant had been there 7 years. The part you pull to release the hook from the wall fell apart from age and the hooks pulled a chunk of drywall off. I don't allow tenants to use those now. They aren't good if left up more than a few years.
  1 Reply
- Ian Tyndall
  Investor · VA AZ, SC · Member since 2017 · 172 posts · 172 votes
  5mo
  Quote from @Michael Baum:
  
  We have been here for 2 days now basically surveying and more things come to light.
  One, I have hairdryers hanging in the bathroom cabinets on 3M Command hooks.
  They have all been removed and the hairdryers are sitting in the bottom of the cabinet.
  For some reason, this year was the best year for beach towels. It appears they are all accounted for! WOOT!
  For one of my properties in Arizona I have been replacing at least 10 bath towels monthly this year. Pool towels are doing ok, but bath towels are taking a beating. I switched from Costco to Walmart given the abuse
  1 Reply
- Michael BaumPro Member
  OP
  Olympia, WA · Member since 2016 · 8k+ posts · 7k+ votes
  5mo
  Quote from @Lauren Kormylo:
  I can't believe guests brought their own Command Hooks? Jeez. I removed some of those from a long term rental I have after the tenant had been there 7 years. The part you pull to release the hook from the wall fell apart from age and the hooks pulled a chunk of drywall off. I don't allow tenants to use those now. They aren't good if left up more than a few years.
  So I had the dryers hanging on Command Hooks on the inside of the door. Been there for 8 years with no issue. I think it has something to do with no light exposure of any kind. The guests removed the Command Hooks and took them with them I guess...
  
  I agree that it can be hit or miss when it comes to removal. I have quite a few holding up some art pieces and I am betting they will be tough on the drywall when I need to remove them!
  1 Reply
- Michael BaumPro Member
  OP
  Olympia, WA · Member since 2016 · 8k+ posts · 7k+ votes
  5mo
  Quote from @Ian Tyndall:
  For one of my properties in Arizona I have been replacing at least 10 bath towels monthly this year. Pool towels are doing ok, but bath towels are taking a beating. I switched from Costco to Walmart given the abuse
  That is nuts. 10 a month?!!? That is some serious abuse. At least the Costco Grandeur Hospitality towels are good quality and can be had for a reasonable price when on sale. I am assuming you are using those of course!
  0 Reply
Kenneth GarrettPro Member
Investor · Florida Panhandle/Illinois · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes
5mo
@Michael Baum
Thanks for sharing. I found out quickly anything I had in the house that was unique or cute last a guest or two. Usually glasses, coffee mugs, spoons, forks and knives go missing. The numerous towels either missing or stained beyond bleaching them back.
Still enjoy my beach property. It’s really great to have family visit and have a great place to stay. Have 10 brothers and sisters someone is always visiting which makes it so much fun here in Florida.
Started buying properties and went the MTR route to add to my LTR's and STR's. Way easier to manage and revenue has been fantastic. Mostly rent to active military on TDY training sessions.
Best of luck on future property search.
1 Reply
Stephen Delahoussaye
Real Estate Broker · Nashville, TN · Member since 2022 · 163 posts · 87 votes
5mo
Man, this thread hits home. I manage properties in Nashville and the damage/attrition side of STR is something most investors massively underestimate when they run their pro formas.
Here's what I've learned the hard way: you need a dedicated line item for what I call "guest attrition" — not just your standard CapEx reserve, but a separate monthly set-aside specifically for the silverware-goes-missing, towels-get-destroyed, blankets-walk-out-the-door stuff Michael is describing. I budget roughly 3-5% of gross revenue for this depending on the property type. Studio or 1BR? Closer to 3%. Large group house sleeping 10+? Budget 5% minimum because the wear compounds with headcount.
The cleaner accountability piece is huge too. In Nashville I've seen operators lose thousands before they realized their cleaning crew was either missing damage between turns or straight up not reporting it. The fix that worked for me: photo documentation protocol. Cleaners photograph every room at checkout before they start cleaning. Takes them an extra 5 minutes but it creates an audit trail so you can actually tie damage to specific guests and file Airbnb claims within the window.
On the broader "is STR still worth it" question — I think the answer depends entirely on your local regulatory environment. In Nashville, the city caps non-owner-occupied permits at 3% of residential units per census tract. That means if you already hold a permit, the regulation is actually working in your favor because it limits new supply from entering your market. The hosts who are getting crushed are typically in unregulated markets where anyone can list tomorrow and race you to the bottom on price.
The burnout JD mentioned is real though. The operators I see thriving right now all have one thing in common: they stopped trying to do everything themselves. Even if you self-manage, systematizing the repetitive stuff (guest communication templates, dynamic pricing rules, maintenance ticketing) buys back 10+ hours a week. That's the difference between "I hate this" and "this is a solid business."
2025 was rough in a lot of markets but I'd argue it was also the year that separated the operators running real businesses from the ones treating STR like a passive side hustle. The passive crowd is exiting — which is actually bullish for everyone still in the game.
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Michael BaumPro Member
OP
Olympia, WA · Member since 2016 · 8k+ posts · 7k+ votes
5mo
Whew, 5%? Man that is a ton. We have mostly had pretty good years and I have never had, even this year, spent 5% of our gross to replace stuff.
As many know, I find deals and post them here so I gots me a nose for bargains. There are ways to lower costs and grabbing spares when they are on clearance and storing them is a way to mitigate the costs.
For example, grabbing up beach towels at the end of the season. I get mine for about 3 bucks each. They are one of the things that grow legs most often. I think that kids just toss them in their bags when mom & dad are trying to hustle them up to head home.
I have 3 waffle irons ready to go! We have lost 3 in the last 9 years. I got them for $5 each. Towels from Costco, the Grandeur Hospitality stuff. Buy a set when they go on sale. Great towels that really hold up. You can get the washcloths for less than 50 cents each in the 24 pack.
BTW, more stuff I just found yesterday. Need to replace the interior pane of glass. Not a standard piece either. It is a large piece that is domed at the top so it will be more costly.
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Michael BaumPro Member
OP
Olympia, WA · Member since 2016 · 8k+ posts · 7k+ votes
5mo
Found another thing missing. A Krups espresso machine. Another thread prompted me to go look for it and, nope, gone.
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