All Forum Posts by: Caroline C.

@Kevin Merlander congrats, and good luck with it! Never been to Tahoe but I know it is hugely desirable. I'm sure if your reviews are strong and photos great, you'll do well.

@Sean McMorrow you definitely need property management that specializes in STR. Your options depends on your market. I've opted for using small boutique pm's - essentially people that are managing their own but expanded their business to manage a handful of them. And generally there will be bigger companies that can offer the service as well. Is your STR in NYC?

@Monica Painton how are you planning to deal with the listing histories (the reviews), since you can't transfer listings between accounts? Buyer would have to create a new account?

@Jacob G. I've been using it and it is super helpful to adjust pricing on a daily basis depending on demand for the dates and many other factors. For instance, it will automatically lower the price if there is a small gap in between other stays. I've also found it useful to set a specific rate for specific dates I want to override, such as holiday weeks. I saw they just released several new features, the one that will be useful for me is to set a separate floor price for low season vs the rest of the year.

Optimal is in the eye of the beholder - you have to develop your own pricing strategies and then pricelabs gives you the tools to implement that in a more automated fashion. Things like higher pricing on weekends, or last minute discounts, or minimum number of nights. You also have to experiment with the pricing inputs so that it uses price ranges you are targeting. 

@Daniela Bovio best way to research your potential occupancy rate is to search other places in the exact area of your place, focus on the ones that are similar in size to yours and with photos that are most similar to yours, and look at their future bookings. Perhaps message the owners also to ask about their occupancy. 

Occupancy is so subjective. Your photos and reviews matter a lot so your occupancy can be lower than your comps if your reviews aren't as good or photos as good. Also, it will vary based on overall demand and supply in your area. My occupancy is going to be lower in 2019 than it was in 2018 because the supply in my area has increased significantly. Really took a hit in the low season.

@Tato Corcoran it depends on how in demand your unit is. Ideally you would have it on strict, but that reduces your rental pool as there are a percentage of people who would skip your booking when they notice that. We went with the most flexible cancellation policy for the first year as we were building reviews, and only had 1 cancellation that year. Now that our ratings have built up and are pretty good, we switched over to moderate.

I stay in AirBNB quite often and if the place I'm looking at doesn't offer flexible cancellation, I won't book it unless I'm absolutely sure of my plans or the place really looks amazing and has fantastic reviews. I've definitely passed on places because the cancellation was too strict.

@Cesar Perini I don't do this, but many people do - manage their STR from long distance. It can definitely be done. In addition to a cleaning company, you also need a handyman or someone who can respond to fix small problems that might occur.

@Matthew McNeil at the end of the day it is just a buzzword. From my perspective, building passive income streams on the side and understanding how to keep your expenses in check are very good things even if you have no intention of retiring early. Smart for career management/diversity (your job could end tomorrow and not be your choice, so if that happens you want to have options) and smart for financial planning. Then maybe someday you find that you have enough money to actually really not work if you so choose. But for many people the 'retire early' part simply means not having a W2-income job, and instead working on things that ignite their passion and / or improve passive income streams. 

Some people could simply pick up and move to a much cheaper geography with less expensive healthcare and make the money they have already saved, and their side passive incomes streams, go a long way. It just depends on what lifestyle you want to have for yourself, and everyone is different - sort of to @Anthony Gayden point.

@Richard Gray so many questions. How long have you been with this PM? How long has it been vacant? Any other issues with this PM? How long ago was it you found out about this tenant and PM hasn't returned calls? Hard for us to give advice without having a bigger picture.

The reality is that some PM's don't share a lot of detail about tenants they select due to privacy concerns, but yes, for 30 days lag they should have called you and asked for your approval on the timeframe. You should make this clear to them for the future and that you are unhappy about it. I would look for another PM, but not be so rash to make a switch over just this. If you continue to be unhappy in the future, then you will have another option in your back pocket...

@David Mills 

At the end of the day, Roofstock and other TK companies are shortcuts to buying and renovating properties. It does not eliminate the need to do your own due diligence - inspection, appraisal, etc. It is really important that you visit any market you are interested in, look at some sample properties and streets firsthand, and do a deep due diligence on the property management company, because it is their ability to put a good tenant in place and collect rent that makes or breaks your investment, and there are no guarantees.

Shortcuts can be helpful, and a big time saver, but you have to be very careful when doing so.

You'll find plenty of info on them if you search the forums...

Good luck!