All Forum Posts by: John Carbone
John Carbone has started 38 posts and replied 1080 times.
Post: My cabin isn't booking - I need to find a new manager!
- Rental Property Investor
- Gatlinburg
- Posts 1,091
- Votes 957
it will be very interesting to see how this ends up settling with the trend shifting to more last minute bookings. I was talking to an operator of a glamp site today (I saw him closing up shop when driving by) so I stopped and talked to him and he said last year at this time he was booked over half for January and February and he didn’t have any bookings for this year yet. He’s shutting down and going to florida for the next two months until March.
Post: My cabin isn't booking - I need to find a new manager!
- Rental Property Investor
- Gatlinburg
- Posts 1,091
- Votes 957
Quote from @Luke Carl:
Quote from @Collin Hays:
You might, you might not.
I’d you were using Collin H you wouldn’t have this problem!
If someone’s bookings are down January and February is it due to poor self management?
I used the “enemy method” in my area and I’m seeing well more than half of the properties having 0-3 days booked in January and February. I’m holding around 50 percent occupancy for January and 40 percent February.
Post: VRBO Guest - damaged our place and harassing
- Rental Property Investor
- Gatlinburg
- Posts 1,091
- Votes 957
Quote from @Andrew Simms:
@John Carbone western North Carolina - our nightly rate ranges from $150 (low season) to about $250 (peak/holidays). I'd say average is in the $185-$200 per night range.
Post: VRBO Guest - damaged our place and harassing
- Rental Property Investor
- Gatlinburg
- Posts 1,091
- Votes 957
Quote from @Andrew Simms:
Thanks for all the input everyone.
We did end up letting it go. This was the first guest we've ever charged for anything.
The reason we have the bag fee, and it is the only set fee we have, is to prevent guests from leaving our cleaners with all their trash to haul. We have in our listing and house rules that guests are responsible for trash hauling. If it's just one bag and all other check-out instructions were followed, our cleaner doesn't worry about the fee.
How much a night do you charge for this place and what region are you in?
Post: STR slowing down/crash or ramping up?
- Rental Property Investor
- Gatlinburg
- Posts 1,091
- Votes 957
Quote from @Brian Barch:
Quote from @John Carbone:
Quote from @Leslie Anne Morris:
Booking lead time greatly reduced, back to school was a bit lower than it had been during covid since there was no school. All in all still booking well.
Are you in the smokies?
Post: STR slowing down/crash or ramping up?
- Rental Property Investor
- Gatlinburg
- Posts 1,091
- Votes 957
Quote from @Leslie Anne Morris:
Booking lead time greatly reduced, back to school was a bit lower than it had been during covid since there was no school. All in all still booking well.
Post: STR slowing down/crash or ramping up?
- Rental Property Investor
- Gatlinburg
- Posts 1,091
- Votes 957
I’d bet a good amount of money that 2023 will not be as good as 2022. Looking at other properties in the area, I see A LOT of empty calendars for February and March in the smokies. Will be interesting to see how it all plays out. If we get through these next 3-4 months unscathed I think the bull market will continue….but we are at an inflection point.
Post: Allow for Auto-Booking?
- Rental Property Investor
- Gatlinburg
- Posts 1,091
- Votes 957
Quote from @Rob Anteau:
Quote from @John Underwood:
Quote from @Rob Anteau:
Quote from @Luke Carl:
Quote from @Rob Anteau:
After five years of having STRs and dealing with multiple parties, I decided to turn off auto bookings back in April. Since then bookings have remained about the same, but I have had zero issues with parties.
Curious what other hosts do with auto-booking. Do you have it enabled or not?
Yes you will want to do instant-book on both airbnb and vrbo. It makes your life easier. You have to manage it though. It gives you options. Caveats. Choose the ones you like and keep an eye on things. ALSO you can cancel up to 3 instant books per year penalty free. Today is the last day before that resets so get to canceling lol.
I think the instant-book-off and the lack-of-parties -was a coincidence. There are plenty of old boring people using instant-book. In other words turning it off is not going to be a filter for Miller Lite.
In order to get rid of the parties you have to make yourself more clear. It's exactly like LTR. If you don't want someone under 600 credit, you don't take anyone under 600 credit. Simply tweak your listing and your messages to make it VERY CLEAR parties are not allowed at your property. In fact I wouldn't even use the word party. "this is a quiet family property" something like that. VERY FIRM.
Just one mans opinion.
Do you have exterior security cameras?
What about noise sensors?
I have exterior cameras at all my properties. Ring doorbell and camera on the driveway.
I purchased and used noise sensors at a townhome, but I thought it wasn't very helpful. It could have been the brand or I did not have the placement/settings right. I eventually stopped the service and just left them plugged in so people thought there was noise monitoring in place lol.
have you tried including things in the initial “welcome” message after a guest books to get the point across? In my first message that’s automated after a guest books I mention things like “as mentioned in the listing, I have a steep driveway but it is maintained. There are no parties allowed this is strictly enforced etc etc if these are issues for you, you may cancel your reservation free of charge within 48 hours of now.”
I’ve had a few guests cancel immediately after, and if someone is going to cancel immediately after my message, I consider myself fortunate.
Post: Short Term Rental Plan - 2023 and Beyond?
- Rental Property Investor
- Gatlinburg
- Posts 1,091
- Votes 957
Quote from @Leslie Anne Morris:
I just added 2 STR in the last 3 months. I am building one also. My plan for 2023 is the same as prior years. If the numbers work, I like the look and feel of the property, it would be a good portfolio add - then I will continue to acquire properties.
I am also looking to scale my property management company but am being picky about who I want to work with. Not all owners and properties are created equal. We have goals around hospitality and client satisfaction, not just making a quick buck. Creation of jobs is also important to me and my STR portfolio has allowed all of this to be possible!
In 2023, I would like to see more women begin investing. I am looking at ways and working on initiatives to make this possible.
Good goals for 2023, especially focusing on non-financial goals regarding property management. Have your smoky purchases this year been on the mls? My last purchase was in august, but I haven’t seen anything really strong since then.
Im kind of shocked to hear that women are underrepresented in short term rentals. At least on Airbnb, I believe women make up a majority of all hosts and female hosts have higher property ratings according to Airbnb. My wife hosts the properties we own and she does an amazing job.
Post: ISO local point person in Pigeon Forge, TN
- Rental Property Investor
- Gatlinburg
- Posts 1,091
- Votes 957
Quote from @Erin May:
Quote from @Brent Huling:
I've always thought there could be a need for a concierge for STR owners. Pay maybe $200-500 per month and they can do check in/outs, inventory after a checkout, monitor things, be the local contact, do gifts for incoming groups, etc.
Not a property manager, just another set of eyes and ears for your property if you are out of state. Would be a nice little business for someone.
We have this person at our other out of state STR and it's been awesome for transitioning to self management!
I’m curious, what the hourly rate is that you pay for these services. I’d consider providing high quality concierge services in my local area, but my number would probably be too high for someone to want to pay, but then again with inflation, maybe my number isn’t that high.