All Forum Posts by: Erica Calella

Hey Biggerpockets people,

Im looking to connect with investors and hear your story! I currently live in NY, invest in NEPA (scranton, archbald) and would like to expand into Allentown PA. I began investing about 3 years ago and acquired 12 units. My biggest deal is a 6plex and I'm now looking to scale into 8-12 unit buildings. I love to hear stories from other investors on how they got started and where they're at today so feel free to reply below or send me a PM!

Hello All, 

I am hoping to have invested in my first property before the end of the year.  I am wondering if anyone has any recommendations on well-established groups that host meet ups in north / central New Jersey. 

Thank you!

Being a business owner means dealing with difficult situations like this. We get really invested in our businesses and it's hard to not take it personally. I totally get it and sympathize! My advice would be to thank them for taking the time to provide the feedback and you'll use the information to improve your property and service for future guests. 

As you continue with this journey, you will need to build up some skin to not let it bother you. I actually read somewhere recently that hosts should aim for a review average between of 4.6 and 4.8 ( or something like that) because only 5 star reviews means you are leaving money on the table and giving in to guests demands too often. 

I'm not an STR owner, but a customer. When I look through bad reviews I'm usually less interested in the review and more interested in the owners response. If you own up to the problem and commit to fix it, that gives me confidence that the bad review wont be reoccurring. Of course, if it is something outside your control that can be trickier to deal with.

Having an occasional negative review that you rationally address and fix makes your reviews look real as apposed to 100 all 5 star reviews.

Without knowing the review details, I can’t give you any specific direction. I’ve had a few myself (it happens, especially when you get a crazy). Luckily, most of the time their review says a lot more about the guest than it ever would about any of my properties. I usually say something like, “we encourage future potential guests to read all other guest reviews of our property for an honest assessment of what to expect.” Or something like that. Simple yet effective. 
If something truly was wrong that you could have prevented or handled a lot better, thank them for leaving a review, apologize, own up to the mistake you made, and explain how it’s fixed so it won’t happen to future guest. This response needs to be clear but brief. Do not write up an essay. No one will read it and you’ll come across as the crazy one and as super defensive. 
Hope that helps! Thankfully, these are few and far between if you’re a good host and take care of your property. Don’t sweat it. It’s not worth it. 

Not knowing what they said take it as an opportunity to fix and improve rather than they were difficult.