All Forum Posts by: James Carlson

Prices are down everywhere. It's tough to swallow, but if it's not renting, it's likely as simple as the market won't bear the price you're asking. Lower the price for mid-week and see what happens.

Unless it's cost-prohibitive, I'd remove it for the same reasons people have stated: 1. It's a liability. 2. It breaks up what is already a small space.

@Patrick Albright

The bill is dead ... for now. 

It does seem like there is a contingent within Colorado that wants to bring this up every year. STRs continue to be a scapegoat for a lot of the housing affordability issues in Denver, Colorado Springs and elsewhere in the state, so it wouldn't surprise me if someone brought it up again. 

All that said ... my gut says this might go away for a little bit. They've tried three times, and it's failed every time before even getting to a full vote in either chamber. 

Congrats on going under contract! That's really exciting. 

A couple thoughts on your question:

I tell our STR investors in Colorado that their main goal should be to set up the right way right out of the gate. If you want to change the design, then do upon closing. If you have to cancel on future Airbnb guests, so be it. If you set it up well, don't worry, you'll get guests when you repost.

If you really want to capture the existing bookings, then go for it and plan to re-furnish it at the start of slow season. But I find from personal experience and from my buyers' Airbnb experience that it's a bit of a hassle trying to get guests to rebook at the new listing.

I don't know how strict Joshue Tree is at enforcement, but in Denver and Colorado Springs here, you could probably get away with an STR listing for three months without the license. But again, if you're going to take it down to change out furnishings anyway, then the timing could work out well.

Yep, this. 

My two most recent STR investors/buyers went above and beyond with their listings. Great amenities, great photos/drone shots, great design. And because of that, they each got more than 10 bookings within the first two days. They'll roll up good reviews quickly and organically.

Don't worry about manufacturing reviews. Just be the absolute best host you can be for the first year -- communicate clearly and quickly, make sure cleaning is top-notch, make sure all amenities work (hot tub is hot, TV remotes have batteries, etc. etc.) Real reviews from real guests are always going to come across as more genuine.

After you build up reviews, the unsaid truth is that you can then afford a less-than-stellar review. But at first, just be a great host and you'll get great reviews.

@Marc Shin

Like @Andrew Steffens said, for big items, go with quality. Couch, lounge chairs, bed, rug. For other items -- side tables, kitchen items, etc. -- you can buy lower quality and it won't matter. 

Several of my STR investor clients here in Colorado have used a designer, and they generally pick a few statement pieces that they spend money on and then go with FB marketplace or even IKEA for smaller items.

I want durable, stain resistant everything in STRs. LVP all the way.

I'm looking at an excel sheet of Airbnb bookings for a client of mine. It looks a little different than others I've seen. Anyone ever seen a printout from Airbnb that includes a column title "m_nights_altered" as seen below?

Is it as simple as the guest or someone has altered the total nights stay? And if so, just that "-4" means they shortened the stay by four nights and "30" means they extended the stay by 30 days?

Finally, would the "nights" column would be the total number of nights stayed before or after the "nights altered"?

Agree with everyone above, especially @Ken Boone. If you're doing it, then do it up big. Finish out the space with carpet or flooring, drywall and couches around the game area. 

Adding a second (or maybe third) living space can add value to most vacation rentals. Just throwing a ping pong table on a concrete slab in the garage is marginal.

I had an STR buyer in Conifer, in the mountains outside of Denver, turn a massive unfinished walk-in closet into a little arcade area with two comfy lounge chairs and two vintage arcade games. I don't have exact numbers, but he said his occupancy and ADR went up.

Our Colorado STR and MTR clients have seen dips in their rents in the last 6-8 months. So even popular rent estimate tools seem a little inflated unless you're outpeforming the competition with what youre offering. Something to be aware of.

We've filled vacancies at our medium-term rental in Denver in January before, but had trouble in November and December, so I don't know if the winter is tough or if its simply the holiday season.

I'd be more interested in buying the right place whenever it comes up. I've got two buyers -- one buying a new build A frame in the mountains outside Colorado Springs and the other a new build in STR-friendly Wheat Ridge -- and both intend to do short-term rentals. They might have a little trouble in the first few months, but the long-term potential of the places was too much to pass up just to try to time the first few months of rent.