All Forum Posts by: Greg Janes

I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned either Proper Insurance or CBIZ as options you should look at. I'm not affiliated with either but they have been the best options for most of our owners to find insurance policies. You'll get a different opinion from every person you speak with, but I think having a policy from insurers who specialize in STRs is really important - others may say they cover you for STRs but you'll need to read through their exclusions to understand if you are fully covered. A company like Proper is going to cover you in almost every circumstance.

@Karina Busch Everything that everyone is saying is correct, however I'm not sure where the 8% fee for VRBO comes from -- they charge us either a $699/yr subscription or 5% per booking. Maybe they are changing this but that's our experience.

If you are only going to list on a single channel for each property (there are strategic advantages and disadvantages to this) then which one you choose depends on where your property is located. What we've found is the different channels appeal to different demographics:

- VRBO tailors a lot more to families & multi-generational travel groups who are looking for an entire home to stay in. 

- Airbnb tends to appeal to a younger demographic and groups of friends traveling together.

We prefer VRBO for vacation destinations, but Airbnb for more urban rentals -- it seems to match the type of groups that are coming a lot better. While I like Airbnb's platform better (great features, user friendly, etc), the VRBO demographic is much better and we end up with a better quality of guest. 

@Marc Zak I'm going to take a bit of a different angle on this since you are wanting to stay involved with the management of the property. Another option to consider would be to build a team out without using a PM which would give you the control you're looking for while still making sure things happen on a regular schedule.

1. Cleaning: You'll need to figure out a local cleaner you can rely on -- this will be critical to making the whole thing run smoothly. There are services online that I've used like Turnify (highly recommend them, use them in Chicago) or you could search with something like Turno to find the right folks. With a service like Turnify I've been able to basically automate the cleaning of my property in Chicago.

2. Maintenance: Finding a handyman is the next one on your list, and again if you know someone or have someone you can rely on then that is best. Otherwise you could always try another online service like Taskrabbit to get things done when you need it. I've personally never done it this way but have been considering trying it for a while.

3. Stock spare essentials: Make sure you have extra supplies at your property -- you can use a locked cabinet or closet which you can give access to the guests if necessary. Remember that anything you leave out the guests will likely use (i.e. extra toilet paper rolls), but it's always nice to have extras. We've used a cabinet or closet with smart locks or a smart safe (for remotes & batteries). This will help with all those unexpected little things that come up.

4. Clear instructions: If you put together clear instructions and have them available to guests - either in an online guide or with signage/book at the property, you can avoid a lot of questions from guests. We've moved towards QR codes which direct guests to web pages or how-to videos (e.g. for a gas fireplace operation instructions) which keeps it pretty clean in the home but still gives guests what they need. You can also do QR codes with your Wi-Fi connection info.

5. Screening guests: This is going to be huge since you won't be around to deal with things as they come up and you don't want to always call your handyman to help. Make sure you are screening guests, asking questions, looking at their reviews, etc. If you are able to get good guests, you'll avoid a ton of headaches along the way.

6. Implement smart devices: You can strategically use smart devices around the house to effectively hit the "reset" button between guests. You can also monitor things and *hopefully* be notified of any issues before they become a problem. We have smart thermostats that tell us when their is an issue, and I've had repair people at the home before guests even realize it's a problem. There are tons of ways to use smart devices at short-term rentals, happy to give you my thoughts/advice if you want to reach out.

Getting the above in place will help you to avoid any issues that can come up in off hours and are easy to handle if you are nearby but turn into a nightmare if you aren't and don't have someone you can just call and have over there in a jiffy.

Best of luck, happy to give you my two cents on self-managing properties out-of-state (I've been doing it for a while).

I agree with others that having your main door with a keypad and a backup physical key is critical (keep this is a lockbox on-site, Igloo is an interesting electronic option but not necessary). Your keypad lock will fail eventually, just depends on when - and you want an easy way for the guests to get in when it does. I've tested a ton but the new Yale Assure 2 lock is the best overall experience in my opinion. I personally lean towards Z-Wave locks because their batteries last a LOT longer that what we've seen on any of the Wi-Fi connected locks (Z-Wave is low-power, Wi-Fi is not).

I'd think it would be location-specific: at our lake house we want guests to be able to lock the home if they go out on the lake, but then not have to go around to the front to get back in (we actually have 4 exterior doors with smart locks at this home). Same with my other property in Chicago, they park in back but want to have access in the front too - so I want them to have easy access from either side.

At our management company I've seen it both ways -- with just one entry being the smart lock and the rest being normal locks or with all being smart. We've added smart locks at a few homes because the doors didn't get all the way latched in the winter and they were standing open for a few hours before we caught it. Having smart locks allows us to monitor for when a door is ajar/open (Yale has a built-in sensor for when it is closed or ajar).

VRBO has been pretty active this year - they were pushing the 10% weekly discount earlier this year and now this. It is our preferred booking channel, but like you we use a pricing tool so we wouldn't want this to automatically apply. 

At our lake house that we own/manage they always want us to do things like this, and we always politely decline because we are booked, like you, at nearly 100%. Happy to try some of these things during the off-season but would prefer to avoid any automatic adjustments during high season. In fact, all the pricing tools say our nightly rate at our lake house should be lower, but we keep increasing it and we continue to book at nearly 100%. You can't always trust the pricing tools.

Honestly, I'd like to see VRBO focus on helping people to make their listings stand out or add more features that show price reductions (like when Airbnb crosses out the original price and shows the reduced price).

I personally use Unifi for a captive portal but it is a bit more advanced (I'd recommend it if you are a little more tech-savvy). Anything that creates a captive portal on login you can collect email addresses and/or redirect them to a page to leave their info (StayFi is probably the most popular in the space). I prefer to use Unifi since it doesn't cost anything once it's set up.

Another option would be to ask guests to fill out a form as part of their booking - you can set things up to automatically send them a message and ask them for information on their party - including emails. You may get some pushback from certain guests but usually they are willing to provide.

Let me know how else I can help!

@David Marks I own a property management company in Colorado along with a few other STR properties in Wisconsin, Illinois & Florida. I'd be happy to chat about some of the realities and differences between running them on your own and being a property manager. Let me know if you'd like to chat

Hey @Ryan S. - If you are planning on managing these yourself, be sure to get a good team in place and prepare for things ahead of time that will inevitably go wrong. Managing out-of-state STR properties can be a little challenging, but definitely possible as we've been doing it for years. Here are the things I'd be focused on as you get started: Mastering Remote Management of Out-of-State Airbnb properties.

Here are a few other bits of advice for getting started:

1. Your photos are one of the biggest items to think about. Be thoughtful of your featured photo that will show up on search results (make it unique or really attractive). Also be sure to have photos on there that show what guests can expect to experience at your property - i.e. enjoying the amenities, etc - don't just do traditional "real estate" photos.

2. Focus on what makes your property unique. With so many properties out there to choose from, what really sets yours apart? Focus on that with the photos and the description as well as your headline. 

3. Make sure you're insured. As Mike mentioned above, if you are going to offer any extras, make sure you are properly covered for any of those. It can be done and generally guests really like if there are extras included, but it does carry risk so you'll want to be sure you have it covered.

4. Use the built-in new-listing discounts the channels offer, and do some price discounts up front to start building your reviews. Focus a lot of energy on getting your first reviews for your listings and build your price from there. If you use a dynamic pricing tool, I'd recommend manual adjustments for your highest-demand times of year, but then let it take over the rest of the time.

5. Look at some of the smart devices you can install at your properties - if you are self-managing this is really important! I recently wrote an article about automating your STR with smart devices.

Hope this helps!

Honestly, if the STR aspect of the property is a requirement for it to work, then I'd look elsewhere. STR regulations are changing in Colorado and if I choose to invest in an STR it needs to make sense without and then the STR aspect is icing on the cake.

I don't have any experience in Denver, but if you love the property and don't mind it if you can't rent it short term then go for it. Otherwise proceed with a lot of caution.

I own a place near the loop in Chicago and rent it on Airbnb when I'm not there. It does pretty well and stays pretty consistently booked, although I do see a drop in demand during the winter months. Being close to downtown as well as other venues that bring people in (United Center) means that it stays pretty consistent throughout the year.

Since I also have STRs in other parts of the country, I will say that being in a market that has more consistent demand throughout the year (less seasonality) is what really makes the difference. Lots of places only have a ~3-month booking window, but if you are able to get into an area that has continual demand or that has a dual-season (i.e. winter + summer) then I think you'll have a lot more success.