All Forum Posts by: Lisa Graesser

Houfy.com 

Add your listing and receive direct bookings. It is free to use for hosts and guests. You can receive credit card payments through Stripe or Square or take payments however you like....venmo, zelle, PayPal, check...your choice. Upload your rental agreement and have guests sign on the site when making the reservation. 

Quote from @Vincent M.:

Quote from @Lisa Graesser:

Quote from @Ryan O'Connor:

Quote from @Lisa Graesser:

I highly recommend that you list your property on Houfy.com, it is free for hosts and guests. It is a great platform to accept bookings, receive payments via Stipe or square or if you prefer you can accept payment with any platform you choose, such as venmo, zelle, PayPal or check....your choice.  You can upload your rental agreement and guest will sign when making the reservation. I have had great success with booking repeat guests from  other platforms that charge a booking fee.. 

To promote your listing, whether on Houfy or another platform, social media posts on local FB groups is a great way to get exposure to your listing.

 Thanks for the input!  I am familiar with Houfy, however our property is not in a destination location and there aren't currently any other listings on houfy in our general area, so I'm not sure how effect it would be in this market.  Definitely something to keep in mind though!

Houfy doesn't advertise, so the fact that your property is not in a destination area doesn't matter, I was the only the only member in The Villages for quite a while, it is just a resource for you to steer previous renters and new guests from social media posts to book direct. It is a way for you to have more control of your own property. For me it is like having my own website that I didn't have to create myself. I have been on Houfy since close to its inception  and have watched how  hard  the admistrators have worked on this with help from input from the members. It has come a long way since I joined them over 2 years ago, it has benefited me and I have enjoyed watching them grow and improve. 

@Lisa Graesser Following this thread - I am wondering how Houfy monetizes from the listings if they don't charge either hosts or guests.  is there a premium service? Very interested in listing

At this point they make a little on featured listings and last minute deals, but they have bigger plans coming in the near future, you can find this information on a post from 2 days ago on the Facebook group "Say Yes to Houfy"

Quote from @Ryan O'Connor:

Quote from @Lisa Graesser:

I highly recommend that you list your property on Houfy.com, it is free for hosts and guests. It is a great platform to accept bookings, receive payments via Stipe or square or if you prefer you can accept payment with any platform you choose, such as venmo, zelle, PayPal or check....your choice.  You can upload your rental agreement and guest will sign when making the reservation. I have had great success with booking repeat guests from  other platforms that charge a booking fee.. 

To promote your listing, whether on Houfy or another platform, social media posts on local FB groups is a great way to get exposure to your listing.

 Thanks for the input!  I am familiar with Houfy, however our property is not in a destination location and there aren't currently any other listings on houfy in our general area, so I'm not sure how effect it would be in this market.  Definitely something to keep in mind though!

Houfy doesn't advertise, so the fact that your property is not in a destination area doesn't matter, I was the only the only member in The Villages for quite a while, it is just a resource for you to steer previous renters and new guests from social media posts to book direct. It is a way for you to have more control of your own property. For me it is like having my own website that I didn't have to create myself. I have been on Houfy since close to its inception  and have watched how  hard  the admistrators have worked on this with help from input from the members. It has come a long way since I joined them over 2 years ago, it has benefited me and I have enjoyed watching them grow and improve. 

Quote from @Michael Baum:

Thanks @Lisa Graesser. Really appreciate the info. Man, social media. I am more of an antisocial media guy... :)

Here are my Houfy listings if you want to check them out. 
www.houfy.com/l/villagershomestyle 

Quote from @Michael Baum:

Hey @Ryan O'Connor. You are going to have to spend some time reading up on SEO. Search Engine Optimization. If you do your own site you will need to master SEO to help drive traffic to your site in addition to what @Lisa Graesser said about FBM.

Thanks Lisa for that bit of info. I am going to check it out to see what's what. How much traffic do you get from Houfy.com?

 At this point into Oct 2023 I have 24 reservations on Houfy.  These are either repeat guests or leads from local websites in our local area, zillow or Google. It has been a great platform that gets better with every host that joins. The owner and administrative staff are very receptive to all recommendation from hosts. They do not do any advertising,  you do your own promoting on social media.

I highly recommend that you list your property on Houfy.com, it is free for hosts and guests. It is a great platform to accept bookings, receive payments via Stipe or square or if you prefer you can accept payment with any platform you choose, such as venmo, zelle, PayPal or check....your choice.  You can upload your rental agreement and guest will sign when making the reservation. I have had great success with booking repeat guests from  other platforms that charge a booking fee.. 

To promote your listing, whether on Houfy or another platform, social media posts on local FB groups is a great way to get exposure to your listing.

Quote from @Kevin Johnson:

Quote from @Lisa Graesser:

I have 4 homes in a golf cart community and each house has a golf cart included with the rental. I have a separate golf cart waiver and golf cart insurance.

Hey Lisa, I’m in the process of purchasing a golf cart for our beach rental in NC and I’m having trouble placing the insurance. Also, we are looking to have a waiver as well. Would love to connect and pick your brain. Thank you! 

Foremost halted coverage for our carts and  we have switched to Progressive.The policy is a  Mortorcyle coverage policy and clearly states  all 4 golf carts on the policy and coverage for each. 

My homes in The Villages, Florida for December is  75% occupancy at this point

Congrats on 19,000 posts! Very impressive with a WEALTH of knowledge.

STR have seemed to become the cool thing to do over the last few years, many have jumped in due to FOMO and I think most likely paying more for a property than they may have spent otherwise, due to expectations of a greater return.

I was fortunate to get started in 2015,with additional purchases in 2016, 2018 and 2021(I paid $30,000 more for the comparable 2018 proptery, but the numbers still worked)

I am not in a glamorous market(at least according to the majority of STR's out there) but I do have a specific demographic that I think is a great benefit....retired or want to soon be retired folks!

I have not had any decrease in booking, I have a waiting list, I have booking right now into October 2023, with requests for 2024 and I have many repeat guests. 

My overall profits are not what key vacation destinations may be, but each year is better, I have some else paying my mortgage(with pretty good interest rates) and all of the homes have appreciated. I can guess that maybe the prices may come down a little, but I have no plans to sell for many years.

Point being, don't get drawn in by FOMO and make sure the realistic numbers work, even with a lower than expected occupancy and know what you are getting into, STR's are alot more work than long term rentals and you have to like being in the hospitality business.

I agree to keep the carpet until it needs replacing, then switch to a luxury vinyl or what ever new product comes out. Invest in a Hoover power scrub carpet steam cleaner, it does wonders on carpets when needed and I use it on my waterproof luxury vinyl also.