All Forum Posts by: Mike Shemp

Same here from time to time.  For me after I catch myself in that mode I think of my "vivid vision" as Brandon Turner likes to mention in his podcasts, decide if I want to stay in my lane or branch out, and also ask myself if this decision would make sense in 5 days, 5 weeks, 5 months, and 5 years....and go from there.

Mike

You might want to go on Airbnb and VRBO and look for similar homes in this area.  Then literally go month-by-month on each home looking at their availability and rates being charged.  Track the data in a spreadsheet....homes down the left, and platform/months across the top.  

If you do this with 10 similar properties again both platforms you should walk away with more information than when you started and have an idea of occupancy and rates.

To be extra conservative/cautious, do this for an entire year tracking all the months/seasons, etc. and then compare it against data from Airdna or another company.

Hope that helps.

Mike

We did these steps for our guidebook.

1.  Made a Word document with all the important stuff and pictures.

2. Convert Word to PDF.

3. Sign up for free Google drive account.

4. Put your file on Google drive and make it shareable.

Then when our automation software sends the guests their checkin steps/message, we have a section that says "Here's out guidebook" and put the link to it.

Hope that helps.

Mike

We have an STR in the Outer Banks. Many towns make up the Outer Banks, and each one has its own vibe. You might want to check that area.

Mike

I prefer SFHs over condos because I don't want another layer of regulation above me.  

You could find yourself in a situation where your town allows STRs, but your condo association bans them. Plus, as Rich Dad Poor Dad indicates there is very little you can do yourself to make a condo appreciate, where you can do lots of things to a SFH to increase its value.

Hope that helps.

Mike

Hi Chris,

A good place to look are Facebook groups. Many hot STR markets have their own Facebook groups for owners, guests looking for homes to rent, etc. See if there is an owner's group for the market you are interested in, and then ask the other owners for recommendations.

We have STRS in the Outer Banks and White Mountains, and I belong to owners groups for both that are super helpful.

Hope that helps!

Mike

What @John Underwood said.

The bed is important, but in my experience not the most important.

We have comfortable beds, but we get far more compliments on leaving them extra coffee, gift cards, and just the little things.

For us, hospitality brings them back as repeat guests and less so the mattress but this could simply be unique for us.

Mike

You might want to check out the Short Term Rental University youtube channel.  There is also a very active Facebook group as well that covers all things related to vacation/short-term rentals.

I think two of the important things to do is figure out:

a.  What niche are you going to market to? Families? Couples? College students? College parents visiting students? Nurses? Vacationers? etc?

b.  What kind of policies do you want in place?  Loose rules or strict rules? Rental agreement or no rental agreement? Guests with no reviews ok or only guests with reviews?  Instant booking or no instant booking? Strict cancellation policy or relaxed?  Security deposit or no security deposit? Dogs allowed or no?

The answers to A and B will help guide all the other decisions you need to make.  The choices in A and B will also impact how quickly your space rents, as well as how many headaches you may encounter with guests.

Hope that helps.

Mike

We do $75 per dog per stay.  

Doesn't look like the new Airbnb feature lets you do a "per pet" option.

Maybe in the future.

Mike