All Forum Posts by: Joel Oh

 I am honestly shocked your handyman had to break the toilet to fix that haha. Toilet is held by 2 bolts and nuts and any skilled person can replace it in 10 minutes unless it has cast iron waste line or an uneven floor. I train my team to not waste their time snaking if they can’t fix it in 10 minutes and just replace it since toilet is under $300 (I use $120 Costco ones) but yeah these things are difficult to know for regular hosts.

Besides that, it is unfortunate but I kinda see why Airbnb made that decision. Did the guest start the claim? Who initiated the claim first is so important. I ask my team to send the Airbnb team a message right away if an issue happens during guest’s stay. Tell Airbnb what was broken and we fixed it and tell them how much it was to fix and note that we will charge this after the guest leaves. Honestly why it broke is not that important to Airbnb. It is just a matter of whether they broke it or not.

It goes the same with all issues such as guest complaining about not being able to check in before check in time, or not able to find the item when we clearly stated where they are and sent them photo proof… I call this stacking the bullets before the battle and I tell my team you guys are sending me without weapon to fight if you don’t do this for me 😂 (I handle all the claims as I do this for my job)

You are in an expensive market! One of my mentors told me once. The higher I move up, my intention doesn’t really matter. The important thing is how my team thinks what my intention is.

I think it goes to the same way. We can’t expect our guests to understand how expensive the house it. It is a matter of if guests can justify their sprnding. If a lot of guests are complaining about the value, I think there is a disconnection between your absolute property value (not the inflated market value) and how much guests think your price should be. 

 I would say test it by telling people in the listing what is the size and the value of the house like a 700sqft 1 million dollar beach house. I think this may help change their perception before complaining. Who knows?

 The stat comes from my own properties and people I speak to everyday. We don't expect to collect money back when we send them to the collection companies. I haven't recovered any collection I sent since 2023 to give you an idea hahahaha. That is why we just offer cash to key even they owe thousands since we all know it is lost money. Damage after deposit, legal charge, skip out, unpaid utilities lists go forever.... and of course eviction process takes at least 60~90 days here while lawyers are asking $600 to just start with the case.

Unfortunately screening is getting more and more difficult with workforce, big name companies changing their policies to not sharing rental history. That is why I am moving to STR because I am tired of all these regulations popping up everyday.

Sucks that you had to replace the toilet, and they rejected the payment. Hope at least it wasn't cast iron waste line. Plumbing is historically one of the most difficult things to fight since age and the structure matter so much and it is nearly impossible to pinpoint one issue that caused the damage. You bring 5 different plumbers and all 5 plumbers will give you different answers. I usually suck up all the plumbing issues with LTR because I know it will just waste my time and of course plumbing is the most expensive repair every single time. 

Well, yeah you gotta fight for the claim. A lot of times they will not say yes to 100% payment. It is always partial or rejection. I think I called 18 times for one claim once. People just need to have more insurance and legal experience to deal in this issue and you can't rely on your hired property manager. They just simply can't care as much as owner wants. Sucks that our education program teach us nothing about this matter.

I agree that competition is important for the market! Good luck brother!

 Thanks for sharing! I had over 50 claims with Aircover so far and only failed once or twice and it was definitely my fault for not having enough evidence. It was one of my first claims and I learned how their claim system works and never failed again. Maybe it is more difficult if the damage was more serious like fire or flood but it goes same with any insurance claim. I think most of horror stories came from people who do not understand how insurance system works. They can't just pay people because he or she says this. Record keeping and providing evidence are the key.

I think you are trying to catch too many rabbits at once. This is your first property and you want to set the deadliest deadline (Your first guest) without knowing anything. So many things can happen while you are purchasing the home while flipping into STR. If someone is selling existing STR, that means the listing has a critical issue the owner doesn't want to deal with. This can be very profitable purchase if you can fix whatever issue, but you are making it more difficult by setting a deadline. Peak season will come back. Don't get too hang of it. It is actually better to start with a slower season and welcome expensive guests when you know what you are doing.

I think you have a good reason to follow what you believe. It sounds like you are pretty big and you already have your own ecosystem. I think that is absolutely right path for the big owners like you. The issue is new hosts don't have the advantage you are getting from your direct bookings. They will mostly just split their occupancy rates on multiple platforms without getting too much benefits out of it. 

Out of topic but how do you handle guest resolution on your direct bookings? Do you just suck up the cost if guests damage your property or throw a party? I am moving to STR because of how Aircover works and I doubt I will leave Airbnb unless they change the Aircover and resolution system. Successful collection rate on LTR is not even 15% on top of dealing with insane lawyers and social workers who believe that less fortunate people can hurt wealthier people. I love how Airbnb just pay me based on the evidence without going through 6 months legal battle or 3 years of collection hunting.

Quote from @Patricia Andriolo-Bull:

Quote from @Joel Oh:

Quote from @Patricia Andriolo-Bull:

Okay, here we go again...First, I agree. Listing on multiple platforms does affect ranking by platforms but not as much as you think. I am listed on 5 platforms plus have a direct booking site and I rank highly across my 5 listings. Just to disprove your theory...by your logic, my first page search impression should be much lower than 80%! Yet, it is higher than yours with only one platform. And as you state in other posts, you are in a market with less competition (a city near the airport in the Midwest I believe). I am in a highly concentrated beach vacation market and still have 80% first page search impression. Please stop telling new STR hosts to only list on one platform. This risk here far outweighs any small gains in ranking.

 Also since you focused on my credibility… I think it is a bit funny someone who joined the real estate world not too long ago and only been in the entrepreneur world 3 years questions my credibility. My family has been running businesses over 50 years and I have been in the real estate world for over a decade. Confidence is a great thing but ego can hurt you badly. Watch what you say and accuse on the internet. Good luck with your journey!

Questioned your credibility?? I will now. Sounds like you need to learn how to work with people given how you are reacting and responding to everyone on here. Further, I’ve had rental property since 2010 and a short term rental since 2016 - not sure where you get your stats from. Good for you and your family! We all bring different experiences and amazing that you bring your family experience to the table. Mine moved to the US as immigrants and started a business. Seems to me you have a lot more to learn than just how many platforms to list on. Done engaging with you. Clearly you aren’t opened to the many comments and experiences on this forum. 

 Yeah.. sorry I don't like you hahahaha. You sound like a lot of people I fired

• How real is this threat? 
• It is very real. Historically industries have been killing competitors in this way. That is why you need to vote.
• What can we as investors do to protect our investments? 
• Always have a way out. You don't jump out of the plane without checking your parachute. I never buy properties that I can't sell when I need to sell. You make money when you buy the property in real estate. It applies to STR in the same way.
• Is anyone here adjusting their investment strategy because of this?
• You don't change your business because of one potential threat. It is never late to change and adapt when things happen. You will actually see more opportunities open up during the crisis. Use your energy on something more meaningful.
  

More insurance will cancel short term rentals. They already cancelled many large complex deals or doubled their price for the past few years. As many cities require insurances for any rental properties, this will be very challenging for market being affected. I wonder how long Aircover will last and continues its amazing program. 

Beside the government regulation and insurance shutting down certain markets, STR industry will continuously grow. Airbnb already became a synonymous for family vacation. With growing Latino population that tends to have a lot bigger family, I am not worried about finding guests. More big name companies will join the STR industry and hosts who are not exceeding expectation will be weeded out by their money power. I have been buying underperforming properties and I believe all the big names soon do the same just in a bigger scale.

 Pretty funny that a person who has almost over 7,000 posts says it isn't worth his time while continuously commenting. You may not see the exact listings I posted but you see very similar ones right? Pretty sad that I thought I could have a reasonable debate with these hosts.

Quote from @Trent Reeve:

Quote from @Joel Oh:

Quote from @Trent Reeve:

Quote from @Joel Oh:

Quote from @Patricia Andriolo-Bull:

Okay, here we go again...First, I agree. Listing on multiple platforms does affect ranking by platforms but not as much as you think. I am listed on 5 platforms plus have a direct booking site and I rank highly across my 5 listings. Just to disprove your theory...by your logic, my first page search impression should be much lower than 80%! Yet, it is higher than yours with only one platform. And as you state in other posts, you are in a market with less competition (a city near the airport in the Midwest I believe). I am in a highly concentrated beach vacation market and still have 80% first page search impression. Please stop telling new STR hosts to only list on one platform. This risk here far outweighs any small gains in ranking.

 That is an impressive rate! If all of your listings have that percentage year-round, I think you are possibly the highest ranked Airbnb host on the entire platform! Are you in the OMG or luxe category?

I have properties all around popular spots, including smoky mountain. I don’t think the competition in the smoky is light. (I also have a small hotel near the airport so great guess!)

congratulation on your success, but you should stop telling new hosts to post on multi platforms because the occupancy rate matters a lot. 

I'm just wondering where this confidence comes that you are right, when last December you had just finished your first year in STR's and made $75k and was asking questions about how Airbnb places a property on the first page of search. and a year later you feel yourself to be an expert that knows more than anyone else?

If you really have gone from 3 to 200 properties this past year while having a two W2 jobs, you seem to have found your niche and doing well, good for you. You may be right, you may be wrong. Personally, i would be cautious telling the majority of experienced owners/hosts they are wrong without rock solid data and evidence.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/530/topics/1155394-have...

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/530/topics/1155264-afte...

I don't have 200 so I am a bit confused where you got the number from but sure I do have hundreds of LTRs. I started STR to offset my W2 incomes and found how easy industry was and focused last 2 years on it. I clearly stated multiple times i don’t have much STR experience like you guys but I know how the industry works. We can all do the digging game and question who should have a bigger voice. Have you seen the post that I was asking about Lamborghini to write off my Airbnb tax? I think you get the idea of how much I make.

This is the monthly statement for my business. I know making more money doesn’t make me right. It is just ridiculous how old hosts keep questioning about what my proof is when you present 0 proof for yourself. Anyway, you don’t need to listen to me if you don’t want to. I think I shared enough to help others here. Good luck!

 well, if you have 1000+ reviews, you obviously have quite a bit of experience

Yes, you can collect 1000 reviews very fast if you have multiple listings at the top of the ranking with 80% above occupancy whole year around. That is the whole point of what I have been arguing. You can grow so much faster if you focus on single platform and it is not late to expand to multiple platforms once you get too big to be on one platform. Obviously I don’t have all my LTR just on Apartments.com or Zillow. I use 5-6 websites for them. However, I use single platform for smaller apartment that fits the best for the location. It is obviously for a different reason but the idea is same either what kind of business you are in. I hope it clarifies the idea for you.