All Forum Posts by: Garrett Brown

How do you feel about this as hosts? I am slightly torn but do believe this is the way to go.  https://skift.com/2025/04/21/airbnb-makes-total-price-displa...

Why it’s good for you as a host:

• Transparency builds trust. Guests seeing the real price upfront means fewer surprises and angry messages like “I didn’t know cleaning was 150 dollars.”

• Fewer abandoned bookings. Guests are less likely to bounce mid-checkout when the price doesn’t spike at the end.

• You can stand out. If your pricing is clean and fair, you’ll look great next to listings that inflate fees.

Why it might sting:

• High-fee listings could suffer. If you rely on low nightly rates with big cleaning or service fees to look cheap in search results, this change exposes that.

• It forces you to get competitive. Pricing strategy matters more than ever now, no more burying the true cost.

It’s ultimately good for the guest experience, which long-term is good for hosts who run a tight ship and price honestly. If you’ve already been transparent and thoughtful with your pricing, this levels the playing field in your favor.

Hey everyone, I am actually the creator of the BP STR Calculator in conjunction with some other members. Full transparency, it is just an excel spreadsheet. I'd be happy to look if you want to send it over in a message! I am going to guess that they are not a cash flowing deal or your expenses are not being properly estimated.

I do alot of Meta ads but this is very property specific as some have mentioned. If you have a plain jane property, you are better off probably skipping and working on google ads or SEO more. 
Do you have a social media for the property? If so, the best ways are to take the most viral post you had organically and turn it into an ad. You also should have a meta pixel on your website page to be able to retarget and a conversion metric on your website to be able to track conversions. Attribution is one of the hardest things with ads though always because most people will just go Google it at some point if you don't have an irresitible offer attached to the ad. 

Hospitable, Pricelabs, and Turno. The holy trinity of STRs lol I get around 70% direct bookings on my unique stays because of social media. My regular style houses are about 70% airbnb and 20% direct, and 10% booking.com/vrbo.

I would be concerned if you are the only one doing this in your area and also, I'd rather Airbnb be the enemy of the guest by adding their service fee than me be the enemy because I have to raise my prices by 12%. Airbnb is trying to shift the consumer mind frame of "outrageous Airbnb fees being charged" so it's more like a hotel I would guess with this effort. Just like how people say "hotels don't charge cleaning fees!" when in reality, it is baked into their pricing. 

I love it when they highlight the success stories of STRs and the benefits added. Thanks for sharing, Mike! 

One of the most significant benefits to owning an STR is the benefits it brings come tax season. Luckily, while I am not a CPA (not even close), BiggerPockets partnered with Hospitable (the #1 STR Management software) and Amanda Han, CPA, to bring a FREE STR tax guide to the community. Learn how to save yourself $$$ and stress come tax season every year. Let us know what is the biggest takeaway you found from it!

https://www.biggerpockets.com/resources/real-estate-investme...

@Preston Dean is spot on!  https://www.biggerpockets.com/business/finder/property-manag...


@Andrew Steffens highlighted a good point and something to look into with companies if you truly want someone to handle most of the operations. 

I recommend everyone self-manage their first STR typically and use tools like Hospitable to manage it correctly.
1) you will learn what it takes to manage an STR to know later on if a PM is actually worth it. It's not as daunting as you may think with systems set up and continuous education.
2) Most PM's are expensive and will eat up a significant portion of your revenue and as you have found, often only take listings at certain revenues. 

What is your biggest fear or concern about self-managing? @Arthur Schwartz , Maybe I can help ease your mind or provide a resource. 

Your long-term goals matter the most here and only you can decide that. If you are buying in a non-historical vacation market and are concerned about regulations, I would only buy for a few reasons. 
1) The area has tremendous appreciation rates and you are looking for long-term benefits. 
2) The location could work as an MTR and/or LTR and has the metrics to support this. 
3) It is a fantastic deal with tremendous value add or under-market value purchasing. 

You mention a "million dollar" property and selling in a few years. Appreciation will not be able to truly work if you have to sell in 2-3 years (you still may benefit in a hot market, though).
Is this a million dollar house in Los Angeles? Or in Kentucky? Location matters. Your LTR chances are low for a million houses in a random midwest city. LTR could work on that type of house in areas. 

@Bryant Xavier pretty much gave you all of your possible exits and not it just depends on your goals and location. 

Most STRs do not drain the water after each guest. Hotels and gyms do not. It is debatable how often you need to (I do mine around every 2-4 weeks), but I have times before I had to drain more often, depending on the state it is left in. We charge the guests if the water needs changing due to their fault of not following rules we set out.  Getting a professional to handle the chemicals is the move, or even empowering your cleaners to get hot tub maintenance certified through a program they can take around chemicals from Pool & Hot Tub Alliance. Check with your insurance company about requirements that need to be met.