Realtor · West Michigan · Member since 2017 · 105 posts · 53 votes
Just wondering what everyone is using for TV/Video Streaming options in their STR units? What is most requested by renters? Do you include a dvd player too? Thanks.
Investor · The worst town to live in, KS · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
8y
I have a 40" or so HDTV in the living rooms, half are mounted on the wall and half are on a tv stand with drawers. Half have a Blu-Ray player that is capable of streaming (Netflix, Hulu, etc) and I leave several pornos* in the aforementioned drawers. The other half have a Roku device. Bedrooms have an old style tv. Cable tv is about 120 channels.
*99% of my renters are guys doing temporary work at a refinery. Welders, fitters, boilermakers and such.
Washington, DC · Member since 2015 · 69 posts · 54 votes
8y
@Rachel Kokosenski - I have a 1 bedroom that has a Roku and an HD antenna that gets spotty reception. I supply Netflix.
From my informal survey - I start up the Roku and Netflix at each turnover to ensure everything is working - I’m guessing one in every three or four guests actually watch something. That home sees an average stay of two or so nights and is high occupancy.
I have a 5 bedroom that will come online soon and have two Roku TVs and a DVD player each on each one. I plan on supplying Netflix and am 80% sure I’ll also provide this new DirecTV Now streaming service. I figure for the larger home and its larger groups, guests will occasionally want to congregate around the television or use it as childcare. Plus the expense is small compared to the hoped for* revenue.
Investor · The worst town to live in, KS · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
8y
I have a 40" or so HDTV in the living rooms, half are mounted on the wall and half are on a tv stand with drawers. Half have a Blu-Ray player that is capable of streaming (Netflix, Hulu, etc) and I leave several pornos* in the aforementioned drawers. The other half have a Roku device. Bedrooms have an old style tv. Cable tv is about 120 channels.
*99% of my renters are guys doing temporary work at a refinery. Welders, fitters, boilermakers and such.
Rental Property Investor · Niceville, FL · Member since 2017 · 88 posts · 136 votes
8y
I tried Amazon Firestick and ran into quite a few issues with my the “not so technical people” having trouble accessing content. I switched over to Cox cable that everyone seems to be used to for now. No complaints since I switched. I don’t like Cable TV and don’t even have it in my own house. I use streaming Netflix or Amazon Prime. But as if now, cable TV still seems to be the most accepted TV medium out there for most people. Maybe in 5-10 years that will be different. Hopefully so, since I own a lot of Netflix stock lol. But for now, I suck it up and pay the stinking cable bill each month so I don’t have phone calls or complaints. :-)
Realtor · West Michigan · Member since 2017 · 105 posts · 53 votes
8y
I think the basic package from Direct TV streaming is very reasonable at $35/mos with no contract. I think I will be doing that plus Netflix. That provides a lot of options for under $50/mos.
Investor · Greer, SC · Member since 2014 · 13k+ posts · 17k+ votes
8y
I charge a lot for my lakefront VRBO and I provide DTV. There was already a satellite dish on the roof so it was easy to add a box to the HD TV. I also have a blue ray player and a bunch of Dad's.
I had mostly a full cable package at our first rental which cost over $70/month to have. For the next I dropped down to about 15 channels (10 channels I pick plus basic cable) which was maybe $35 less per month. I recently stayed at an Airbnb that had Netflix, Hulu and Amazon from the SmartTV but the owner did not provide the service...you had to use your own.
So, I will say going from one extreme to the other, if you are going to offer Netflix, Hulu, etc. just pay for it and all those services are still going to be less per month then even basic cable most likely. If you have a good enough signal, try and partner that with a simple HD antenna so they can watch the news.
Otherwise, my other package which is 10 channels plus basic cable for $35/month is actually a really good compromise.
I charge a lot for my lakefront VRBO and I provide DTV. There was already a satellite dish on the roof so it was easy to add a box to the HD TV. I also have a blue ray player and a bunch of Dad's.
Pool table and games in the loft for rainy days.
A major hotel in Vegas has removed DVDs from their rooms. Pain in the butt. I doubt they lost one booking due to their removal.
No idea if it's used much but it wasn't very expensive. So easy to provide and list as an amenity. It has Netflix so someone could log onto their account if they wanted to.
I also have AT&T Uverse which is a big improvement over satellite internet. Rural on the lake, but that is the attraction.
I would not be happy going some where that had no Internet and a antennae for TV.
Also I cater to a family crowd and don't want them to have to figure out how to use something nonstandard to them. Mine has the satellite remote programmed to the tv so one power on button and they are watching tv and have hundreds of channels.
Real Estate Agent · Sevierville, TN · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
8y
I have TCL Roku TVs in all three of my rentals - dead simple SmartTV interface, good picture, and dirt cheap. I provide Netflix, Amazon Prime, and HBO Go (which I get for "free" as a promo with my cell phone provider). I also provide basic cable or satellite as appropriate. I'd like to just do streaming services, EXCEPT - one house is so rural the internet is basically DSL, so streaming can't be counted on. Thus, DirecTV. The others, internet is good, but the cable didn't cost much when packaged with internet and a landline (all houses have sketchy cell service), and I want to provide access to live events like sports. I'm a football junkie so I understand the frustration of not being able to get The Game.
I've only had one pair of guests who had a hard time figuring out the Roku TV, and they were very good-natured about being behind the times.
I have DVD players in 2 out of 3 houses. The first house, I didn't have satellite for awhile, so wanted to give them DVDs. I since decided that was a pain because I don't want to feel responsible for giving them a well-rounded DVD collection (there's no RedBox or other video rental near that house). The second house only has a DVD player because it was there when I bought it; I don't provide DVDs there because there IS a RedBox close by. The third house came with a DVD player but it was so ancient I tossed it.
Washington, DC · Member since 2015 · 69 posts · 54 votes
8y
I second @Julie McCoy on the TCL Roku TVs. I have two in my larger home. The interface is as intuitive as anything these days... and the TVs are dirt cheap at Costco (in a full range of sizes).
@Rachel Kokosenski - I have a 1 bedroom that has a Roku and an HD antenna that gets spotty reception. I supply Netflix.
From my informal survey - I start up the Roku and Netflix at each turnover to ensure everything is working - I’m guessing one in every three or four guests actually watch something. That home sees an average stay of two or so nights and is high occupancy.
I have a 5 bedroom that will come online soon and have two Roku TVs and a DVD player each on each one. I plan on supplying Netflix and am 80% sure I’ll also provide this new DirecTV Now streaming service. I figure for the larger home and its larger groups, guests will occasionally want to congregate around the television or use it as childcare. Plus the expense is small compared to the hoped for* revenue.
*fingers crossed
FYI DTV Now is limited to 2 streams at once, as in living room/bedroom then you maxed out. I also have it and while I don't care that much it's probably not a good fit for rental, it has lot of issues while it's getting better it's nowhere near the same as normal tv. I'm in at 35 mo and got a free apple tv, if I was at market rate I'd probably switch to sling or PS Vue
Rental Property Investor · Tennessee Florida · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 5k+ votes
8y
I have LARGE (55”-65”) in the living room and I generally move whatever used to be in the living room to the bedroom as the properties come furnished in my market.
I have one of the TCLs in question and just last night a guest messaged me and said the Netflix screen is “broken” they sent me a pic and half the screen is fuzzy. I contacted TCL, their website was very easy and even let me upload a pic. We’ll see what they say about the problem as this TV is less than 6 months old I hate to say it but it’s looking like you get what you pay for. I’ll keep you updated.
I have had good luck the 65” Sharp Aquos from Walmart I have 2 of those.
Investor · The worst town to live in, KS · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
8y
Keep your HDTV out of harms way. A lot of my tenants are eff ups, yet they make quite a bit of money each week. They travel with all their belongings in a big plastic storage container. When they ingress and egress a house, they hit the HDTV with the storage container and break the screen.
Raleigh NC · Member since 2018 · 19 posts · 22 votes
8y
We also use the TCL Roku TV's in our apartments. They are decent cheap TVs. We use Netflix and SlingTV and it works out to have a few subscriptions shared among all of our apartments. You can have up to 4 simultaneous streams with SlingTV, so we have that same account logged into 6 or so apartments and have never had an issue with all guests streaming at once. The TVs also are able to download a bunch of other streaming apps like Youtube and all of the cable channel apps that people can log into. It is a much better setup that when we used to have cable. Much cheaper and actually more simple. People used to always have issues with turning the cable box on.
Washington, DC · Member since 2015 · 69 posts · 54 votes
8y
@JJ King & @Matt K. -- You have convinced me to go with a Netflix / Sling combo for my new STR (with two TVs).
I am a satisfied Sling user myself and between my own apartment and two STRs, I only have 4 TVs. I'm thinking I can try just using my own account. If I have to add a second, just for the STRs, that's fine.
Specialist · FL · Member since 2017 · 139 posts · 88 votes
8y
@Rachel Kokosenski Go the streaming route. It's becoming the norm for vacation rentals. Ditch the cable and just keep high-speed internet. Emphasis on high speed...rentals with slow internet speed always disappoint guests.
To maximize short term rental income, we put new flat screen televisions in every bedroom and in the main common areas of each home. Normally cable TV is installed. We also put PlayStation units or Xbox units in the kids' bedrooms and DVD players in the common areas. We have found the more fun you can build into a home the better.
To maximize short term rental income, we put new flat screen televisions in every bedroom and in the main common areas of each home. Normally cable TV is installed. We also put PlayStation units or Xbox units in the kids' bedrooms and DVD players in the common areas. We have found the more fun you can build into a home the better.
Good luck - Keith
Keith -
Same thoughts as you...maximize that income from the weekly people.
One STR here at the beach in DE - BIG flat screen in the living/dining/kitchen (open floor plan) and a "medium" sized flat screen in each of the 3 bedrooms. Full cable with every movie channel, Netflix and Amazon. No game system, still debating that one. We figured on those rainy days when all the kids are in the unit everyone could branch out and watch whatever they wanted. First summer season is almost here so we'll see how it goes!
Real Estate Agent / Investor · Houston, TX · Member since 2016 · 73 posts · 36 votes
8y
I have a 2 bedroom, 1 bath house STR. I have one TV in the living room hooked up to the Roku Express Plus. It has Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video. There are no TV's in the bedrooms. I was going to put a TV atleast in one bedroom; however, I've had no complaints at all so I just stuck with the one TV in the living room.
Investor · The worst town to live in, KS · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
8y
@Shenice B. Maybe nobody is complaining because they want to be polite. I have old style tv's in all my bedrooms. These days, you can buy one for $3-$5 at a garage sale. On some of mine I put a Roku on there that has the proper cable connections for an old style tv. I think its red, yellow and white plugs that go into corresponding sockets in the back of the tv.