All Forum Posts by: Chris Watson

Chris Watson has started 5 posts and replied 266 times.

Be careful not to put too much on a "hot" market you've read online. An example would be a couple years ago AirDNA said Weeki Wachi FL was a top market. About an hour North of Tampa this is a small town with some beautiful springs and manatee/dolphin viewing places. Real Estate is cheap, which is why the numbers looked great. Once it made the list on AirDNA a bunch of people bought up properties and saturated the market. Demand was nowhere near the supply.

You reminded me of when every 12 to 18 months Navarre Beach, FL is on a top 10 STR list and they say the avg price is $400k. There are a few 1 bedrooms in that price not on the beach. Beachfront homes are $1k sq ft and condos $600-$750 sqft. So many people reach out to me because they know I live in the area and I have to crush their dreams as a $1M is beginning pricepoint for beachfront townhomes needing a remodel. Due to this, no post/blog/article has credibility to me. Plus articles say the Smokys are in a freefall , yet 5 of 6 of mine are outperforming 2024 and the one not is just off by 3%. I believe even within markets it is design, location, location, location and management styles that make the difference between a great performing STR and a time/money pit. I am becoming more reluctant to advise on which markets to buy in as I might recommend a great market but they pick a bad location, design or management style and it becomes a curse instead of a blessing to someone.

0 Votes

Quote from @Trent Reeve:

Quote from @John Underwood:

Quote from @Trent Reeve:

you dont realize what people are willing to do at other people's places until you become a host. I bought some fun games to put in my places, probably a quarter of them missing. I guess they were too fun to be stay at my place. I've left out a full box of dishwasher pods and used to leave a big bowl of tide pods, have them stolen. I now leave about 5 of each out. missing silverware, had grill tools go missing, ceiling fan remote go missing (why, its not like it will work with your fan at home). Sorry you dealt with that, hopefully thats your worse guest of the year.

We mounted our celling fan remotes to the wall. It is hard to find nice ceiling fans anymore that don't come with remotes.

We have 2 ceiling fans in the main room. We synchronized one remote to control both fans, so we have a spare remote in the owner's closet. That was over a year ago.

I have the holder on the wall. but you have to be able to remove them when you need to change batteries, otherwise i would glue them into the holder.

To make it easier to find for people searching for it, I just made another post on a solution to the missing fan remote problem.

0 Votes

After seeing @John Underwood mentioning missing fan remotes in another post, I thought I would give a tip on how to never have missing remotes again. Buy and install universal in wall remotes from Home Depot or Lowes. The remote looks like a normal mounted wall switch and it doesn't walkoff. When you do this set a Google reminder or put on your annual reoccurring calendar to change the battery out each year. Make sure to put the type of battery in your reminder. I have used the Hampton Bay and Hunter brands from HD. Here is one of them https://www.homedepot.com/p/Hampton-Bay-3-Speed-Universal-Ce...

8 Votes

Quote from @Don Konipol:

Quote from @Kate Stoermer:

Quote from @Collin Hays:

They are on a roll.

Both VRBO and Airbnb switched to the "all in" pricing in the name of "transparency." What they actually meant to do, and did, was completely disguise their fees.

Eventually, both are going to face a class action lawsuit and end up in court over this one.

What would be interesting, is if you placed in the body of your Airbnb description texts something like: "Please be aware that Airbnb assesses a 15.5% service charge on all reservations, which is then included in your total price."

Think they'd delete that?

Actually, they were mandated as an FTC ruling that went into effect in May. I already put details like that in my descriptions and I am adding precisely that statement to my listing descriptions. But we know less than 1/4 of people actually read the listing description - at least prior to hitting "Reserve". But..it’s there. I'm thinking more about that lack of transparency and how we will need to rethink modeling investment potential - I'm sure the data clearinghouses like AirDNA are scrambling to update their processes so their products continue to be (mostly) relevant, but like Pricelabs allows you to see your comps cleaning fees which won't be available anymore for Airbnb listings etc. https://www.theceohost.com/blog/airbnb-pricing

The customer doesn’t care how the total fee is divided, the only people who care about that are the government regulators/bureaucrats. Today they demand a TOTAL fee be produced with no “breakout”, next year they’ll say having a “total” fee is not transparent and demand “breakout” of all fees. The year after they’ll reverse that decision. The bureaucrats are (1) trying to stay relevant in a world where their relevancy is tangible at best and (2) trying to fulfill some 1932 New Deal quasi socialist view of the world.

Hosts are getting up in arms over nothing. As long as everyone operates by the same rules, there’s no disadvantageous. The customer just wants to be able to compare total cost.

When Airbnb started out, the main driver was cost: less than a hotel room. Then it became value: same cost as hotel room but larger space. Now it’s comfort, convenience and or luxury.

This policy change is not about the compliance to the FTC ruling. This a strategic move by Airbnb to hide their fee. The reason is they are seeing alot of transactions not completing at checkout due to the fee. The guests either says heck no I am not giving Airbnb money and reverse image search the listing to book direct or the guest (like me) hates unnecessary fees and books something somewhere else or not book at all. Even before Airbnb there were several times I would go to book properties with a management company and when I saw "Admin Fee" I left the site as to me it is an unethical practice (like requiring you to pay for nitrogen in tires when buying a new car). Airbnb is trying to improve their conversion rate which will also reduce owner's direct booking rates. Remember they hold the money when booked with Airbnb so they not only fail to get their fee but millions of interest on the billions they lose out to direct bookings every year.

5 Votes

Quote from @Austin Fowler:

Quote from @Chris Watson:

Quote from @Austin Fowler:

Quote from @Chris Watson:

Honestly, I am late to see this post, because I have been too busy touring properties and working numbers in the Smokys and Emerald Coast markets this past week. After going through the over 2k Smokys listings there were only about 15 I would consider touring because my buy box is very specific (location, quality, uniqueness). In the Smokys I have decided to buy lots and build (yet again) my more unique properties. Put an offer on one lot yesterday 25% below list and have my builder looking at three more lots today. Two of these three lots are not on the market but I cold called owners after driving by Saturday.

On the Emerald Coast the numbers are tight with interest rates and property taxes (insurance is not as bad as people make it). Today I will put an offer in on one beachfront property 10% below asking as that is the only way to make numbers work. I went through yesterday for the Emerald Coast market and identified potential off market properties and started cold calling. Hopefully, one of these cold calls will pay off, but we shall see.

So if you are looking to buy be specific on your buy box and your ROI and then make offers based on that alone. Keep emotions out of it. There are good deals and don't be afraid to put in a low offer if that is the only way to make numbers work.

What does your current portfolio consist of? How quickly are you looking to expand it? To what scale do you wish to expand it? What limits your rate of growth? Deal flow or capital?

I have 9 currently and seek to have between 13 or 14 by May. I have a few currently under contract. Honestly the only thing that limits my growth is me. I am content so I took 12 months off of acquisitions and building. I got a little bored so now I want to add properties. Adding properties is more of a hobby than a goal or sense of accomplishment/purpose/identity. I also believe this to be a good time to get some great buys. It is hard to resist some clearance pricing on properties:) There are fire sales out there...you just have to put the offer in.

How do you fund/afford your acquisitions?

I was military for 29 yrs with a stay at home wife. Initially we funded the first couple STRs using w-2 income and buying stuff on clearance from Walmart and selling it for regular price on ebay and Amazon. Plus we reinvested all profits for the first six years. Now it is only reinvesting profit after paying ourselves first. If you are hungry enough you will a find a way to eat. If you are hungry enough to get a deal you will find a way to fund it. I personally do not do partnerships as I have seen too many of them fall apart. Could I have been larger faster yes, but I did it peacefully and contently.

2 Votes

Quote from @Austin Fowler:

Quote from @Chris Watson:

What does your current portfolio consist of? How quickly are you looking to expand it? To what scale do you wish to expand it? What limits your rate of growth? Deal flow or capital?

1 Vote

Quote from @Kate Stoermer:

Quote from @Don Konipol:

Quote from @Patricia Andriolo-Bull:

There is no end in site for these platforms to play games. They just don’t want guests to see how much they charge. I’m on the higher end and guests end up paying Airbnb $2-3k which is outrageous. Now they want to disguise that fee and make it look like I over price. Hopefully more will come to my direct booking site now.

From the view of the consumer WHO CARES? The customer is just concerned with their total cost, not how the pie is divided. It’s not like the customer is going to say, well, since the host is only getting $200 of the $275 then I’ll go $75 over budget because it’s not their fault. The point (from the users point of view) isn’t that the Airbnb fees aren’t disclosed separately; it’s that those fees increase the cost to a certain amount. Since Airbnb fees increase the total charge, either of the following result - (1) host lowers amount charged so TOTAL amount still attracts customers (2) total amount is enough to decrease demand and hence increase vacancy time while consumers find cheaper alternatives either through less expensive platforms, direct with host, or at hotel, or (3) consumer stays home or goes somewhere else.

Here's what I don't understand. How can someone be in the STR business for the long haul and NOT do everything possible to establish a business model where they're almost exclusively direct to customer of through low fee platforms? I understand that 10 years ago (when I owned some STRs) competition was less, Airbnb fees were lower, and Airbnb was all you needed to have an outsized profit - if you were in the right location. But now? It will only get worse as Airbnb growth slows down - they will look to "make it up" by "squeezing" hosts even if it's detrimental to themselves long term.

It .. depends. These platforms making getting warm leads easy, and it takes a lot of warm leads to get enough bookings. While inching toward more direct bookings is a good goal, for most STR operators getting the eyeballs needed in order to hit conversion rates is a lot more skill and time than paying these platforms to do it for them, esp. in markets where direct booking was never a thing. I would also note hospitality science research tells us the biggest driver on the "buy" decision is trust. The platforms offer that immediately. An operator with a listing or two ? Much harder sell with trust in the equation. I agree from the consumers standpoint this is a non-issue and frankly probably not worth the hype its getting There are SOME muncapalities where there are minor tax implications but most folks just want to know how much their stay costs and compare it to other options based on total cost.

While there is a large percentage of guests who trust Airbnb, I would say a large percentage of guests, like hosts, do not "trust" Airbnb. When reading your remark on trust, it reminded me of the movie Tommy Boy Guarantee clip. Easy to find on youtube. As a guest and a host, I find Airbnb guarantee to be the same as the guarantee on the side of my oil filter box.

0 Votes

Quote from @Tyler Divin:

Quote from @Jon Martin:

Quote from @Denise Supplee:

I think many investors will start leaning toward direct booking instead. It actually came up in a meeting I had about a boutique hotel investment, and the consensus was that relying too much on Airbnb just eats into profits.

While I want this to be true, the reality is that it's pretty tough with a single family home unless you really have a differentiator like a special view, location, unique design featured in a magazine etc. Whereas hotels have more OTA options, where a 10-room boutique hotel can land right under a brand name luxury hotel in the search listing, plus more ways to market themselves independently.

I agree with you, Jon. It's one thing for a glamping resort or a massive home decked out with big amenities that jump off the page to fill an entire calendar with direct bookings, but for an average home, townhome, or condo to do it is impractical at best.

While direct bookings may not fill an entire calendar for small operators it still can cover a large percentage. People are becoming more educated to reverse image search or search for the name of the property to avoid the fees. For example one market I am in I have only three properties with thier own website for the three. Direct bookings represent 42.4% of income YTD and the website has only been active 30 months. This year specifically consumers have become more price conscious and are looking for ways to save and will spend a few minutes to search for a way to save. Still there are others who just book and do not pay attention to what they are charged. I had one Airbnb booking where they paid an Airbnb fee of $1,747 for their stay. For me any market share I can take away from platforms is a win. I hope to hit 50% of income from the website in that market next year. In the larger market I have 6 properties with thier own website and 21% income direct YTD and next year I want to get to 30% direct. Please note I use income and not the number of bookings as Airbnb brings alot of bookings last minute, for shorter stays at reduced rates to fill the gaps. While they bring double the bookings they bring a smaller share of nights booked.

4 Votes

Quote from @Trent Reeve:

Quote from @Jeremy Jareckyj:

I think it is ridiculous they are targeting hosts who use PMS... I mean whats even the thought behind that?

you dont think non-PMS hosts get moved a month or 2 later? i would bet on it

AirBnB already has published that everyone else starts in December.

1 Vote

After almost 10 yrs of doing this we only had one time where a guest couldn't get in and it was our fault. Seven years ago, we had programmed the door code into the wrong property. The guests tried calling at 2 am when they arrived but I was active duty military and was hard asleep due to a 20hr work day. The guests were chill about it and slept in their car and we refunded the night. We got a 5 star review. We made process and procedure changes that day.

First, our check-in time in our house rules and rental agreement is 4pm to 10pm. The guests agree to it when booking. We have guests message every few days about arriving later and we make sure they know their door code and know we might not be available if they have an issue finding the place or getting in.

Second, we double check door codes daily.

Third, if we are flying or traveling overseas we let guests know and give them the alternative person to contact. We confirm they have everything they need.

Lastly, what I do not like about this policy is I believe guests will get the benefit of the doubt. Just last week we had a guest call and say they didn't get their door code. Our PMS shows they opened the email with their door code 42 times since booking in February. Including 7 times that day! Who is responsible for guests not reading the email with the door code? With this policy being enforced it might just be the host.

1 Vote

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All Forum Posts by: Chris Watson

Chris Watson has started 5 posts and replied 266 times.

Post: Looking for STR markets in US

Post: Dirty and inconsiderate guests at our STVR

Post: Fan remote tip for STR owners

Post: Airbnb does it again

Post: Is anyone still expanding the portfolio of STRs?

Post: Is anyone still expanding the portfolio of STRs?

Post: Airbnb does it again

Post: Airbnb does it again

Post: Airbnb does it again

Post: VRBO's New Penalties