STR Admin Assistant - New Hiring thoughts?

Question

Hoping to get feedback from other STR operators. Has anyone hired an admin role that can help with the small operational task like purchases, re-stocking units, checking after cleaners, and any other small task that happen fairly regularly across a portfolio of STR units? We have 13 units to manage, days jobs and always furnishing new units. Hiring this out seems like the best way to get some of that time back to focus on higher priority items.

We are new to hiring someone into the business, so hoping to hear how others have approaching finding and hiring the right person for this type of role? This would be our first hire (our cleaners are contractors), so any advice appreciated!

We are new to hiring someone into the business, so hoping to hear how others have approaching finding and hiring the right person for this type of role?  This would be our first hire (our cleaners are contractors), so any advice appreciated!

David Bergmann · Answer

@Collin H. - Hey Colin - thanks for your input.  I probably was a little vague in our current situation so that may have implied we want to offload everything to a magical person who can manage everything for us, but that is definitely not the case.  My wife and I are very much involved on a part time (and sometimes full-time) basis daily.  My wife is an architect and quit her formal W2 job, and is consulting part-time with clients while also support the daily operations of the STR business.  I have an actuarial & economics background, and my focus in the business has been pricing & revenue management, as well as technology integrations (PriceLabs, iGMS, SmartThings Hub/RBoys, Lodgify, website).  The issue we have is that if we continue to shoulder the bulk of the calls/emails/restocking/and other administrative task as we add new units, we will eventually be limited in our abilities to work ON the business, because we will always be working IN the business.  Even if I personally quit tomorrow, I don't think it would be worth my time to do these tasks, there are higher value items we can both work on to move the business forward (marketing, pricing strategy, furnishing new units, meeting new owners, etc.).  Based on your response, it sounds like you have two FULL TIME people for 30 properties.  Can you share a little more about how you established that ratio?  Is 1 admin per 15 properties something you landed on intentionally, or is that just what you found is currently working?  When did you hire the first, and when did you hire the second?

@Justin Anderson  Thanks Justin - I totally agree about having standard operating procedures.  We are working through this now in order to be ready for the new hire.

@Erik Stenbakken  Eric- I think you hit the nail on the head here.  I think the list you made is part of what makes it daunting for any business to make the first hire.  With all of the cost involved, you want to be damn sure the value is there to support the investment.  One idea that we are currently exploring is hiring a part-time person from the local university from the hospitality department.  We reached out to the department head, and seemed enthusiastic about offering this opportunity to a responsible student who wants to get some experience make some money while they are in school.  The biggest issue here is finding a responsible student and being okay with the turnover as students graduate and land a full time gig.

Collin Hays · Answer

I am glad that works for you!

Mark Miles · Answer

My offshore assistants do all this & more for around $4/hr

They can do everything remotely or they know who to contact to visit the house in person. STR isn’t exactly rocket science 😉

https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

David Bergmann · Answer

@Collin H. I can definitely sympathize with the issues you mentioned with the cabins.  We are constantly handling something at our units.  It's usually me over my lunchbreak or after work.  Today's lunch break was a door that sticks in the frame and I had to shave a 1/8" off the door before an upcoming check-in. We primarily buy & renovate older homes (1920-50s) that have some historic charm, and that charm also produces a lot of issues with heating & cooling, electrical/plumbing problems, pest issues, door issues and the list goes on!  I can only imagine how many more calls you get for a cabin type property!

I am actually not surprised at all on the low margin for property management.  We manage units for 2 other people, and we've looked at the effort involved and really been asking ourselves if this is worth our time or if we should cut these from our portfolio.  Compared to our own & leased properties, it is just so much more time consuming to manage someone else property.  Perhaps its a system issue for us, but we currently just aren't set up to efficiently track & invoice and communicate to the owners as expenses are incurred.  On top of that, we have preferred ways of doing things (pricing, door locks, auto messaging) that not every owner may buy into and I absolutely hate the inconsistency & inefficiency that this creates.  I think I'd MUCH rather have a portfolio that I have 100% control over that is consistent with our current operations and brand, and also not have to justify our decision making to each owner at each juncture. 4% is definitely not worth that extra headache :)

Collin Hays · Answer

David, I was actually in your shoes back in 2010, except I only had 4 properties.  I was self managing and I realized "good gosh I don't think I have time for this."  So I just hired a person @ $30K a year to manage all of my properties.  It wasn't long until a couple of neighbors of mine wanted me to manage theirs, so I just decided that I was a property management company.  When we got to 20 or so properties, it was just too much for one person, so we added another.  We have to have two full time folks for everything to work right and calls get answered.  We are running to cabins to take care of things constantly - internet down, no propane, a mouse in the house, car stuck in driveway, guest is lost, locked themselves out of the cabin, broken refrigerator, can't get the TV on, hot tub not heating, etc., etc.  That is in addition to answering anywhere from 20 to 50 emails per day, processing reservations, and so on.

As a side note, everyone thinks property management is some big money maker.  The margin is extremely small - about 4 percent.  So for every $100,000 in rents, I net $4000.  That ain't much!  Were it not for my own cabins, I'd shut it down in a minute - there are far more profitable ventures.

Erik Stenbakken · Answer

@David Bergmann Yes. I've hired lots of university students in the past. They generally don't stay as long. I'd say a GOOD one is worth the likely 1-year turnover **IF** the work is fairly quick to learn/teach. But the harder it is to move someone into that role, the more stability you want. You may pay for more in turnover than you do in extra wages for someone who will stay -- and <sigh> there is no guarantee there either. Great idea RE the hospitality school. Hmmmm. Internship?

Erik Stenbakken · Answer

@David Bergmann I've run a small media company for 20+ years and have had many employees during that time. I have a hand full of STRs right now (fewer than you do!). This isn't an STR thing you're wading into. It's a business hiring thing. It just so HAPPENS that your business is STR. This is far from all-inclusive, but here are a few things you may want to consider.

• • Hire from a company. An LLC or whatever works for you. I was an S-Corp. When hiring, I've been advised to do so through a business, not an individual. 
• • Check ALL the labor laws in your area. Unfortunately, there isn't an all-in-one clearinghouse for info you'll need, but start with state division of labor and employment. They'll get you started. Don't forget State unemployment & Federal unemployment. 
• • Ask your CPA what you'll need. You'll need all kinds of paperwork collected and filed for state regs, but you'll also need tax documents from your hire. And you'll have to report that. Collect taxes for them, remit, report, etc. 
• • Ask your insurance company what you need. I'd give it 99.9% that you'll need a worker's comp policy. Probably an umbrella policy to cover yourself and employee (don't forget their car insurance has to be up to snuff if they're driving as part of their work for you). 
• • Have a super clear "this is what I expect in this job" outline. Also, have a clear "this is what will get you fired" section as well as a "this is how we part ways amicably" section. 
• • YOU shoulder the load of outlining expectations for your new hire. That means systems, systems, systems. This falls on you to accomplish. It's your job to give them a paint-by-numbers head start. 
• • Interview carefully. And even then, know that your best hire will at some point move on. (See systems above, as you'll be passing that along). 
• • You will be shocked/horrified/broke when you realize how many government entities show up with their hand out wanting you to put money in it as soon as you hire. I figured it cost me about $1.30 for every $1 paid to my employee. Plus a huge volume of extra paperwork and accounting.

An alternative is to offer your cleaners more $$ to shoulder more of this. We pay a premium to our cleaners, and they act as wholesale suppliers for us. One also acts as conseriege to our guests. It takes some of that pressure off of us.

Do tell us what you end up doing.

Nancy Bachety · Answer

This is a personal decision that comes down to how you want to spend your time. I bet @Collin H. has come across owners, or will eventually, who don’t want to “do the work” but want to micromanage its management. For 25%, do you bypass Airbnb and their fees altogether?

Justin Anderson · Answer

I'd add that you want to be very clear with roles and responsibilities and have clear procedures in place.- Formalized call lists for vendors for issues- Standardized service levels for owner clients- Generic email templates- Standardize interactions for comping guestsetcAs I was telling one of my team yesterday, we want to have as little to keep track of as possible.  If we can push off onto our cleaners reordering K cups so we never have to worry about it, let's do it.  If we can have our handyman take photos of repairs without sending an inspector for another touch point, great.Streamline, optimize, then outsource.

Collin Hays · Answer

My company manages around 30 properties.  I always tell people "manage your own property if you have time for a part time job."  But if you don't have time for a part time job, you need to find another solution.  Consider this:  You can probably find a good property manager for 25% of your rents.  "But I don't want to pay 25%!!!" you might say.

Well, you are probably already paying 8 to 10 percent right now without a PM.  Your various listing fees, exorbitant cc fees, etc. charged by Airbnb and VRBO.  And since you are trying to work day jobs, you definitely are missing out on lost revenue - missing reservations, yield management on your rates, etc.  I hear people say all of the time "I have everything automated and I don't have to do a thing".  Baloney.  Property management - doing it yourself or paying someone - is constant.  Even with only 30 properties, I have two FULL TIME folks taking calls and emails 24/7.

So consider pony-ing up the extra 15 points and wash your hands of the entire thing.  A good property manager will likely put more net dollars in your pocket than you make right now.  Just my $.02.