All Forum Posts by: Cliff H.

Wouldn't a sand volleyball net with that natural sand backyard / beach front access be cheaper?

Not sure I understand this post: Instant Book, at least as it exists on AirBnB, does little/nothing to screen guests. Email, phone, picture, and a recommendation from their friend whose AirBnB bedroom they stayed in for a 5 star review: is that what we’re supposed to place our trust in? Don’t get me wrong, no disagreement with the SEO impact of Instant vs manual approvals on new listings, but as others have said once you’re established as one of the more active listings on any of the booking sites you’re similarly ranked unless guests go out of their way to check the Instant Book filter.  

And while others have rightfully point out the rarity of having to cancel a guest with an instant-approved booking, the new AirBnB penalties of $50 - $1000 for any cancelled guests stays is worth understanding before finding one’s self in a situation where you’re paying a lot of money just to cancel a potentially problematic reservation. 

Circling back on the trends of twenty-somethings complaining on social media about having to strip a bed… it’s worth pointing on that asking guests to do simple things strip a bed or throw towels in a washer before they checkout is actually a way many hosts like myself pre-screen guests they don’t want. If you run a tight ship you do not want or need to accept everyone who comes knocking at your door. 

Being clear about expectations up front may turn some guests away that think cleaning fees are a “license to loaf.” but it can also be the difference between hosting higher quality guests with a psychological stake in the space, who come back again the next year, and ensure you’re not managing constant turnover in cleaners tired of picking up after poor quality guests.  

As with any market, there’s countless ways to run your business and others may well be chasing higher occupancy rates by running a space like a hotel, but I’m not terribly interested in competing with the scale of a Marriott or Hilton, but rather providing a more personalized XP at a higher price for travelers willing to treat that space like their home. 

Here in the northeast (NH/VT), the answer is quantitatively, yes. 

Total revenue is down 20-30% year over year, total occupancy down 12-29% year over year, including both peak winter and summer seasons. These are on existing, well-managed/reviewed listings so there’s little new listing bias in the data. Others I know in the areas have reported similar experiences: demand/bookings in rural New England have dropped substantially year over year, likely due to pent up demand for the primary Boston or NYC traveler audience for air travel / international travel after 3 years of COVID restrictions. 

Additionally, there’s the elephant in the room few want to talk about: over-saturation of key tourist markets. Anecdotally I’d say the number of listings in VT has at least tripled to quintupled over the past 3 years, with NH not far behind. ME’s seacoast sold out nearly a decade ago so that ship’s long sailed, but we now have the parallel challenge of investor capital driving up home purchases and/or cash buys from deep-pocketed investors with no need for covering typical mortgage overhead and trying to squeeze out competitors by renting out at loss-leading ADRs (news flash: that didn’t work so well for ride-sharing and won’t with STRs either).  As far as I can tell these are often folks with nothing better to do with their time than pick up properties they call a good deal by avoiding mortgage payments and calling it a win in a game they can’t lose. Silly .0001%rs.

Either way, the markets have shifted and, as wisely called out by David in others in recent podcasts, STRs are no longer some insider secret that anyone can throw money at and expect 10x returns. We'll have to work for that more going forward. Municipalities are catching up, licensing new technologies that scrape AirBnB/VRBO for listings in parallel to new or pending STR legislation/taxes. Regulation/taxes here in the northeast I fully expect will reduce revenue by 15-20% over the next 5 years.

None of that to say STR is all doom and gloom, just that this market will continue to evolve and look very different 2-3 years from now, just as it does today versus 2019. And looking 5 years out I fully question whether STRs will continue to show greater returns that MTR/LTR rentals, particularly those rentals already focused on niche markets for better returns.

Thanks @Gururaj Iyer for that insight. Looks like Guesty just got some big checks so hopefully some do that can translate into investment into Guesty for Hosts, rather than the typical tech acquisition model of trying to just milk your purchase for whatever you can on the way to up selling one’s main offering. 

https://www.guesty.com/blog/gu...

@Kathi Miller there's a lot of posts on the BiggerPockets forums that are not accurate around the service animal vs emotional support animal distinction, in some cases due to discrepancies in state-state laws and/or misinterpretation of ADA guidelines in this area. 

There is no federal statute in the ADA that requires owners of public accommodations accept an untrained emotional support animal, even if they do require acceptance of trained service animals. 

It goes without saying that consulting with a local lawyer versed in fair house law is always advisable, but in the interim a few resources:

ADA Network: Service Animals and Emotional Support Animals

Frequently Asked Questions about Service Animals and the ADA

NoLo's List of State Laws on ESAs

@Ling Lin depending on how far out of Boston you are, there's less demand than there is overhead of trying to manage 6 different rooms in a STR scenario. Boston rents are as high as they've ever been and I'd be shocked if you could not find a way to make it work for area students or working professionals looking for longer term leases, even if in a shared common space layout.

Just be aware of any MA regs on occupancy caps and subdivisions. 

@Account Closed once something appears in a headlines as "the next big thing" the party's already over. The market's getting oversaturated and returns in some markets are no where close to what they were even a year ago. I can have one STR that's red hot and rented 29 days out of 30, another that's 10% occupied in otherwise busy summer months.

What no can disagree with is that there are a lot more STRs on the market today than there were a year ago, platforms have changed the way guests are finding listings, and there's a lot more folks in urban areas hopping on planes in 2022 than there were back in 2021 given relaxed COVID-19 protocols in most major travel destinations.