All Forum Posts by: Michael Greenberg

@Jerry Murphy Allstate has a plan that will extend your primary residence coverage to your rentals.  Combine this with a large umbrella policy (inexpensive) to cover liability.

One other mention, be careful with the city and county of Denver.  Last I heard, it's a $900 per incident fine for not following the regulations.  @James Carlson is the local expert and maybe he'll chime in (knock, knock James).  

Like @Julie McCoy, I have a spreadsheet I use to track my 4 properties.  The first thing I do when I get a booking is add it to the spreadsheet, it feels less daunting of a takes if you do it immediately.  As for pricing, I too lower my rates to what I am willing to take.  My worst months just cover my nut, which is just fine by me - then it's time to put my foot on the pricing gas (like right now).

Welcome to BP @Bob Huggins and look forward to reading your contributions.

Mike

Hey regular BP contributors and followers!  I am simply curious why you contribute to postings on BP?  I do so simply because I like this "sharing economy" we live in and I'm just a firm believer in giving - it just feels good.  If I can help just one person gain just a little help from my own experiences then that's a great thing.  I have gained some valuable insight from you all these past couple of years- so thanks and lets keep on sharing!  

Here's my tidbit:  Find, read, and follow a mentor.  Mine is Adam Grant - brilliant mind, great writer and posts great information.

No matter what Airbnb tells you about "experiences" in the end it all comes down to rates.  I experience a huge swing in rates between high and low seasons in my market, and even though you're using Beyond Pricing, do you own research by identifying a handful of "like" properties and see what their base rates and nightly rates look like.  Use the calendar as if you're a guest and build a spreadsheet for weekday and weekend rates - you're bound to learn a lot.  You might consider VRBO but I would recommend doing some research on activity/availability on the site prior to signing up.  

Yep, cut the cord.  I have (4) properties with a total of (15) TV's and the only downside is having to enable the ROKU stations and updates, but it's WAY cheaper than the overpriced cable/satellite providers.  Netflix family plan and Amazon Prime (with a pin) - YES!  I use my own personal home cable account information to enable channels like ESPN and others on ROKU devices and TV's.  I rarely, if ever, get a complaint about the available networks - just make sure to disclose it in your listings.  Just another entertainment idea - I signed up for Spotify's family plan and gave each property it's own email address so I could enable multiple user devices under one master account.  You can then inexpensively add Google Home or Amazon Alexa to your homes and start a "smart home" entertainment network.  

@Bryan Hill -  Unfortunately I don't know of one that's free.  I have used Airdna in the past, purchasing their raw data in CSV format - they have negotiated in the past and offer free trials that might get you what you want.  I would estimate their accuracy at @ 90%.  

Mike

Generally speaking YES, I would get in touch a with your CPA, or if you don't have one I work with sharedeconomycpa - they're a young group who specializes in STR CPA services.

I would start trying to confirm their claims via Google as @Paul Sandhu hinted at about Keto diets.  Google their names, does this Ark Encounter Conference really exist?  I might also ask them a few clarifying questions, e.g., what church does he reside at (should be easy to confirm).  This really is a long laundry list of heart strings - odd!

Hi Sarah,

Instead of boring the audience, why don't you send me a request connect and we can take this discussion off-line.

Kind Regards,

Mike