All Forum Posts by: Julie McCoy

I've learned that JC Penney has OUTRAGEOUS sales - in a recent sale I bought sets of 6 towels (2 bath towels, 2 hand towels, 2 washcloths) for about $12 (the Home Expressions bath towel collection).  I haven't received them yet so can't speak about the quality, but I hope they're good!  

Anyway, I do recommend keeping an eye on their site/getting on their mailing list - they frequently run sales up to 60-70% off, and their promo codes apply to items already on sale, etc.  

Definitely interesting, but the article contradicts its own thesis - in the same paragraph!  It states that AirBNB "doesn't account for enough downtown housing to be the major driver of rising rents in major metro areas. But [it pushed down hotel prices and raised rents on residents]" (emphasis added)  

I appreciate what they're trying to communicate here - that the "disruptions" caused by popular tech startups are often not the predicted ones.  And certainly AirBNB's impact on the housing market is not invisible, but it seems to exist only on a micro scale (so far).  Thus, I think the author would've had a more compelling argument if he'd picked a different company to focus on (e.g. Uber, whose existence has unintentionally but substantially increased traffic in NYC).  

Personally, my three properties are all in destination towns where there's a significant percentage of second homes, with longstanding vacation rental markets.  I do have an interest in urban markets, but so far haven't found something that's both cost-effective and without onerous regulations.  As a traveler, though, I love AirBNB's disruption!

You want Ring.  EVERYTHING you just asked for.  I love mine.  (I have the Floodlight Cam which is hard-wired where another exterior light used to be, but they have a solar option also)  You'll just want to make sure there's a strong and consistent wifi signal (I believe minimum 5mpbs) so there are no hiccups with uploading to the cloud.  You'll get instant notifications on your phone if you like, and can pull up the live feed anytime.  Great at night, too.

AirBNB requires you to disclose that you have surveillance on the property, but I know of owners that have successfully used their video as evidence to support claims against guests.

 That is EXACTLY why I'm no longer with Booking.com.  It was such a pain to set up (I think their over-the-phone on boarding is mandatory, but it NEEDS to be, you literally can't set it all up on your own) and while I did get bookings, communicating with the guests to get whatever missing card information there is meant I got cancellations, too.  I didn't realize you couldn't charge the card until 14 days before the stay - that might explain some of my troubles, but it's one more reason to not use them.  (besides, the one successful booking I had through them resulted in a $58 fee to Booking.com, which they invoice you for later.  And I thought VRBO was bad!!)

I do wish they were easier because I'd like to tap into the international market more, but that process is not at all worth my hassle.

 That would always make my property the cheapest?  No thanks (besides, how would that even work?).  That is not my business model.  I want my prices to reflect average to higher-than-average, because that's what my properties are.  (and I as a consumer don't always want the cheapest, either - I want a fair price for the quality I'm looking for)

I'm in two different markets that, according to most other owners in both areas, are dominated by VRBO/Homeaway bookings.  However, my bookings predominantly come from AirBNB.  And while I'm aware of AirBNB's flaws, I personally have never had a problem with them and I find their fees to be very reasonable.

I have more of an issue with VRBO/Homeaway's fees, but only because I don't get a ton of business from them; if they booked up my calendar the way AirBNB does, I'd have no problem paying $400-500 annually to list with them.  I may go to the pay-by-booking model once my subscription expires.

So, I list on both.  Would I consider a new site?  Answer: maybe.  It'd need to convince me it was generating a lot of leads before I'd be willing to pony up an annual fee; I'd be far more willing to start off by paying per booking, a la AirBNB.  Then it only costs me anything if I'm making something.  It would also need to be easy/intuitive to navigate - VRBO sucks that way and Booking.com is 10x worse.  It DEFINITELY needs to support calendar syncing with the big boys.  And probably a ton of other things that I'm not bothered to list here.  But basically, I'm over creating new listings - it's a hassle, and unless I'm confident I'm going to get some traction off of it, I'm not going to bother.  

The fees charged to guests don't cause me problems in the least.  I think it'd be interesting to see what I could do with my nightly prices if the fees aren't a consideration for my guests, but currently I barely even think about them, and almost never get guest comments about them.  

Here's the thing: I find the "no booking fees" model appealing, of course, but from a business perspective, how on earth is a site like that going to handle the R&D and advertising costs necessary to even begin to compete with AirBNB and HA/VRBO?  It's a catch-22 - VR owners aren't going to spend a few hundred bucks to list on an unproven site, but in order to prove itself, the site will need some serious capital to invest in development and ADVERTISING.  

In closing, while I think fresh ideas and competitors are good in this space, it's going to be tough to convince me that any given upstart site is going to be able to compete for a top spot.

LOL @Paul Sandhu what he's proposing is pretty much exactly your business model - renting by the room to traveling professionals.  The only difference is his target demographic.

JJ, personally I'd also be leery of being the referee of roommate drama, but I haven't used this model, and I recall listening to a BP podcast recently where the guest had done it in Denver with lots of success (and no drama).  I also know of someone in my city (LA) who's about to start experimenting with it.  

Re: finding appropriate properties, I think you'd want layouts with equal numbers of beds/baths (ideally), kitchens with good storage, and appropriate parking options if the area demands a car.  When you're crunching the numbers make sure you consider that you're absorbing the utility costs, etc. And if you're particularly angling to get on that site, just make sure you're looking at all the things they're promising their users.  Look at listed properties to see what they're actually delivering.

Good luck!

INSURANCE.  Make sure your insurance company covers the rental, liability, etc. etc. etc.  and get a good liability waiver for renters to sign.

I use the Costco brand (Kirkland) TP for my CA house, where I purchase the supplies myself, but that's trickier to ship to my TN housekeeper - so I'm taking your idea, @Luke Carl, and ordering the Sam's Club TP... only I'm doing it through Amazon b/c I don't have a Sam's Club membership :D  I love the internet... 

@Kris Markham You may want to look into replacing your hot tub, or getting the heating element replaced - it shouldn't take days to reheat.  Mine gets drained/refilled between each renter and only takes several hours to reheat.

That is some serious B.S. especially when the "smoking" in question was unquestionably illegal!  But thank you for the tip, I've now updated my rules to reflect this.

Definitely the right choice to tighten your requirements for instant booking.  I require gov't ID, recommendations from other hosts, and information about the trip before someone can instant book with me.  I'm sure it helps weed out some bad apples.

I'm glad the damage seems relatively minimal compared to what it could have been!  $500 sucks a lot but based on some of the other stories in this thread, it seems like you got off easier than most.  I totally understand being spooked, and I think you're doing the right thing by tightening your security, but I do believe you'll come out the other side of this without a problem :)