All Forum Posts by: Allen Duan

Hi Jamie!

Properties formerly occupied by the owner are always the hardest for us to onboard (We do STR and MTR property management). There's always so many personal items left behind in the home we have to sort through. I've learned the easiest way to do this is ask the owner to remove everything unnecessary for guest use AND give us permission and the freedom to remove items as we see best.

Less stuff in the home, less issues and less work each turnover.

Quote from @Tanya Maslach:

Quote from @Allen Duan:

I love this stuff! Operations and systems are my thing. Here's what we do for direct bookings, our booking flow is different for Airbnb bookings.

1. Initial inquiry (FF, email, social media)

2. Simple google form application

3. Send Keycheck screening request

4. Send lease with esignatures.io and first payment invoice through Hostfully

5. After lease is signed and payment paid, booking is confirmed

6. Booking added to Hospitable for booking confirmation auto message to trigger

7. 5 days before check in, auto message for check in instructions are sent

8. Guest checks in, enjoys their stay

9. 5 days before check out, auto message for check out instructions are sent

10. Guest checks out, cleaners arrive to clean, conduct post stay inspection, and reset the home for next guest. Cleaning and inspection tasks are auto created in Breezeway based on check out dates and assigned to my cleaners so they can see it in their Breezeway account.

I could make this simpler by removing either Hostfully or Hospitable since they offer a lot of overlap features. Otherwise this is as simple as I've been able to make it =)

 So interesting !! 

I appreciate this.
I'm trying to simplify / streamline this even further (with fewer tools, if possible) and fewer "clicks" for me (goal for me is less management of tools and property and more "just click here" to get a process started).

I like seeing how you have worked out your process, and thank you for sharing. It really helps me with a real 'picture' of step by step events.

You're welcome! We also use Breezeway and upgraded from using Hospitable's task management. Happy to share my experience to help you make the decision.

I love this stuff! Operations and systems are my thing. Here's what we do for direct bookings, our booking flow is different for Airbnb bookings.

1. Initial inquiry (FF, email, social media)

2. Simple google form application

3. Send Keycheck screening request

4. Send lease with esignatures.io and first payment invoice through Hostfully

5. After lease is signed and payment paid, booking is confirmed

6. Booking added to Hospitable for booking confirmation auto message to trigger

7. 5 days before check in, auto message for check in instructions are sent

8. Guest checks in, enjoys their stay

9. 5 days before check out, auto message for check out instructions are sent

10. Guest checks out, cleaners arrive to clean, conduct post stay inspection, and reset the home for next guest. Cleaning and inspection tasks are auto created in Breezeway based on check out dates and assigned to my cleaners so they can see it in their Breezeway account.

I could make this simpler by removing either Hostfully or Hospitable since they offer a lot of overlap features. Otherwise this is as simple as I've been able to make it =)

Quote from @Zachary Engen:

Quote from @Allen Duan:

Is your manager focused more on MTRs than STRs? Those who use an app built for LTRs, like Buildium, usually are MTR focused in my experience. I'm curious how they handle the calendar, pricing, guest communications if they don't have a STR PMS. If you need a referral, let me know what your market your property is and I'l check with my network.

As for visibility for bookings, I'm fine giving my clients access to that through their owner portal. But I do keep boundaries to prevent micro managing. For example, I handle pricing strategy and calendar management. I'm the expert after all  

yep, MTR is his specialty. He just does STR in between bookings to fill in gaps.

Got it. It seems rare, the property manager who truly understands both STR and MTR. That's how we're differentiating ourselves in the marketplace. Let me know any way I can help =)

Is your manager focused more on MTRs than STRs? Those who use an app built for LTRs, like Buildium, usually are MTR focused in my experience. I'm curious how they handle the calendar, pricing, guest communications if they don't have a STR PMS. If you need a referral, let me know what your market your property is and I'l check with my network.

As for visibility for bookings, I'm fine giving my clients access to that through their owner portal. But I do keep boundaries to prevent micro managing. For example, I handle pricing strategy and calendar management. I'm the expert after all =)

Sending some challenging questions with the intention to get you thinking =)

Why would a STR owner hire you over another co-host? What is your experience with STRs? What makes you different?

Quote from @Braedon Page:

Quote from @Allen Duan:

Yep! I'm in SoCal and a few of ours are like this. It comes down to your goal for the property. Is it to maximize revenue? To reduce the number of turnovers/management burden? We love Pricelabs and using the custom settings to set up min stays and pricing to make our calendar available exactly the way we need it for STR and MTR bookings. Happy to share more details.

Curious - do you feel like you make more with this strategy? Or is it mostly just a play to decrease volatility in booking rates?

It's going to depend on the property and the STR and MTR demand. The two reasons are clients do a hybrid approach is either to maximize revenue or because they prefer MTR bookings and we just use STR to fill the gaps.

We have a few in Las Vegas, over in the southwest. 3 bedroom single family homes are the ideal property for the Las Vegas MTR market. Henderson and Summerlin are great spots.

Yep! I'm in SoCal and a few of ours are like this. It comes down to your goal for the property. Is it to maximize revenue? To reduce the number of turnovers/management burden? We love Pricelabs and using the custom settings to set up min stays and pricing to make our calendar available exactly the way we need it for STR and MTR bookings. Happy to share more details.

Quote from @Brad Smith:

@Allen Duan - For corporations, who do you typically reach out to? The HR head? Or is there a separate relocation/leasing departments in these companies? 

Also, can you suggest a few relocation companies that you might know of? Thanks in advance.

Hey Brad, HR is the best place to start. If the company is bigger, they may have a specific role or department, but HR can point you in the right direction. 

Most of our insurance bookings come through CRS and ALE Solutions. But I've heard it can depend on market since these companies have different markets they focus on.