Why Your Insurance Payout Might Be Half What You Think
Monday, July 20
I had a host call me last year, pretty rattled, holding a check from her insurance company after a kitchen fire. She was expecting something in the neighborhood of fifteen thousand dollars to replace everything that got destroyed. The check was for six thousand.Same policy limits she thought she...
Wildfire Isn't the Only Thing That Can Take Your Short-Term Rental
Monday, July 13
I've had this conversation with hosts in California, Colorado, and half a dozen other states now. They call because a claim got denied, or worse, because a renewal notice came with a number that made no sense. Almost every time, wildfire is somewhere in the story. Sometimes the fire takes the hou...
Most Hosts Don’t Know Their Smoke Detectors Are Expired
Monday, July 06
I had a conversation with a host last fall that I keep thinking about. She runs three properties, all in good shape, all well-reviewed. We were doing an insurance review and I asked her when she'd last replaced the smoke detectors. She thought about it for a second and said, "I honestly don't k...
Seasonal Short-Term Rentals and the Off-Season Coverage Gap
Monday, June 29
I was up north last fall helping a buddy shut his lake place down for the winter, and he said something that stuck with me. He looked at the house and said, "Eight months a year that thing just sits there making me nothing." We both laughed. Then I asked him whether his insurance knew it sat empt...
Direct Bookings and the Coverage Gap Most Hosts Miss
Monday, June 22
I was talking with a host last fall who was proud of his numbers. He'd moved about 40 percent of his reservations off Airbnb and onto his own booking site. No platform fees, more repeat guests, better margins. He'd done everything the direct-booking crowd tells you to do, and he'd done it well. T...
The Five Risks That Keep STR Property Managers Up at Night
Sunday, June 14
I've been in enough conversations with STR property managers to notice a pattern. The day-to-day stuff. The bad reviews, the guests who can't find the thermostat, the cleaners who run late, that's just the job. What actually keeps people up is a different list. It's the risks that live in the de...