All Forum Posts by: Alice Horn

@Mark Vivanco this sure isn't what anyone predicted or expected a few months ago! #notcomplaining

@Melissa Wesling I can confirm that in Orlando!  Over the past few days, several investors we have been working with have lost deals as they are being snatched up by someone else. Demand is high.

@John M. you should be able to find a property manager that charges less than 25%. At least in our market, which is very competitive, 25% would be considered on the high side. When you are interviewing PM's, make sure you dig into the technical questions. How do they handle pricing?  (they should be using some type of dynamic pricing software). Can they show you booking history for a home similar to the one they are buying? What does an owner statement look like? How will you find out about bookings? You should be able to determine how transparent the relationship will be. Of course also find out about how they handle cleaning, maintenance, all the hands on management.

As far as the large national companies, do your homework and read the reviews :)

Hi there @Lou Smith, respectfully pushing back on behalf of us property managers :) In a competitive market like Orlando, it's critical to monitor pricing, online positioning/visibility of each home and much more on a daily basis. We do this through dynamic pricing software and a F/T revenue manager who is monitoring our prices every day. When we take over a vacation rental listing from owners who previously booked on their own, they nearly always find their net earnings will improve at the end of the year, even after paying our 20%. Or if they have been at it a long time, they may come out about the same, with far less work and aggravation.

Also with investors who would like to grow with multiple STR properties, it can be very challenging to scale if they are self-managing.

I would agree that if you are in a less competitive market and/or have some time on your hands, it may be possible to self-manage. So I guess it all depends on where your property is located, your plans for growth and how much time you have to devote to the listing (especially when a sudden problem occurs at 2AM lol)

We use Key Data Dashboard, which is a much more precise tool. (We moved away from AirDNA) Instead of scraping websites it pulls data directly from participating property managers' PMS systems. It provides extremely granular data including owner bookings, RevPAR, community benchmarking and much more. The drawback is that since it is based on participation, it only works well in areas where they have a decent number of subscribers (they do here in Orlando). We pay for a monthly subscription, not sure how it would work if you're doing high level analysis for different regions/parts of the country. Might be worth reaching out to them to see what they can provide.

@Shannon Tennyson re “Coming into fall (after this summer season), could potentially see having more coastal properties for sale from distressed buyers though not sure if this trend is yet occurring.” People have been predicting that here in Orlando too, but I’m now not sure this WILL occur. Occupancies have returned almost to normal...will be interesting to see what happens.

Pool heat is a big thing here in Orlando. Most property managers charge an extra fee for heat ($25-$35/day), and turn it on a day before arrival. It does cause some issues. 1. The pool hasn't heated up enough. 2. Pool heater breaks down in the middle of a stay. 3. Guest complaints - "It's 45 degrees out and my pool isn't warm enough to swim!" Having said that, we would lose MANY bookings if we didn't offer it :)  

I'll take a look at some Championsgate properties and share some thoughts. I'll DM you!

@Aaron May where is your rental near Disney?  Some communities are doing better than others.