All Forum Posts by: Cody Z.

@Cody Z. 15 day 👌🏼 and 45 days to close 💪🏼

 Hi Cody,

We listed on multiple platforms and were able to link all calendars together so a booking from one platform would automatically populate in the calendars for the other platforms we listed with. I also used the message template features quite extensively.  I created templates for each season. For example, summers I would have instructions for where to find water toys and kayaks, winters would have directions on how to use the pellet stove in the living room, etc. I also had welcome templates and templates for replies to frequently asked questions (even though the answers were often in the post or guidebooks). When I needed to reply, I would load a template, add the name of the person on the booking, and send it off.  We typically replied to ever message in under an hour and as quickly as possible. We only had one rental, so this system would likely need to be changed if we scaled up. We had a lot of comments from guests saying we should teach others how to run their short-term rentals. We basically just tried to treat people as we expected to be treated if we were renting somewhere else. Hope this helps!

Hi Joe!

You'd be surprised how inexpensive it can be to furnish a house as a short-term rental.  My wife and I purchased a lake front home and operated it as a short-term rental for about 18 months and realized a total net profit of over $30k during that time before we sold it to my wife's sister to use as her primary residence.  It cost us about 10k to furnish and outfit inside and out, right down to the silverware, towels and dock system.  While we enjoyed the positive cash flow, the amount of time we spent on this one property far outweighed the other long-term rentals we owned.  While I enjoyed interacting with guests and some of the unique aspects of short-term rental operation, I prefer the passivity of our long-term portfolio for sure.  Hope this helps.

As much as you feel for them - you'd feel even worse if you had to evict them. Take the strongest applicant and don't worry about it. If their income is tight you might do them a favor and make them realize they need something slightly less expensive.