All Forum Posts by: Monica Smith

Hi Keegan,  I'm curious where oh where in Tahoe is there a property for under $500k??  Perhaps South Lake?  Would love to hear more about this.  I am a realtor and investor in Tahoe City.  Thanks!

I don't have anything to suggest... but I did chuckle at your post as I sit here looking at the ALMOST 50 FEET we've gotten so far this season here in Tahoe. Hahahhah! My husband has NEVER in 14 years said he's done with winter, but this year, shoveling and blowing 2 STR's, helping our one LT tenant and our personal residence, put a fork in him, he is DONE. lol

Good luck on your STR journey in a more temperate climate :)

Hi Andy, I'm a realtor in Tahoe City, but I also own two STR's in Tahoe Vista and Kings Beach. We've been running them here for 7 years and you're right that there is definitely a learning curve. Once you get past that first year like you have, it'll keep getting easier! We don't do a ton of off-airbnb listings, except the few we do are now from previous guests who like to return year after year. Its a longer game than the other great suggestions here, but it's all we've ever done. We post an advertisement at the house stating that return guests can book off of airbnb and save the 14% airbnb service fees, just email/call/text at xxxx, etc. We love those because then we have a history of them as a great guest and its not a crapshoot. We've only ever used the Airbnb claim feature one time, but I was sure glad to have that coverage the one time we needed it.

For filling up in off-season, you've gotten a lot of great suggestions already such as updating your listing regularly and adding in season info. Truckee sees so much more seasonality than the basin, so I'm not the most helpful, but I will say that we've had some great luck snagging some 30+ day off season renters through Airbnb for our listings in recent years.  We simply advertised on our airbnb page to "ask about month long rentals in (insert months you want to offer it)" and we had some great rentals.  It was a nice way to fill the calendar and make sure we more than covered our costs and still made profits those months.  It was also less work and costs with no turnovers AND stays over 30 days are exempt from Placer's TOT so we got to subtract that income from our reporting to them.  

I have not been in a partnership like this personally yet, but have many clients who purchase their vacation homes in partnerships with friends.  The best scenarios I've seen are when the partners use the existing prices in the calendar to apply a debit against their own portion of the profit.  I have zero idea how they worked it up in their actual agreements, but in practice they were loving it.  Let's say next weekend is available and shows as being 400/night on your rental calendar.  You then book it for 3 nights and there's a debit of $1200 plus cleaning, etc against your share of profit.  Again, no idea how they wrote it up or how it is calculated or accounted for, but I am sharing what I've seen working well in practice. Good Luck!

I agree with the posters saying to give it some time. First time stays and first time reviews can be hard.  Think of it this way: with your precious time off would you book a place with zero reviews and be its first stay?  Yeah, me neither, so its often a certain kind of guest who books a place for the first no-review stay.  Have you already discussed with your PM their process for approving guests?  Vetting guests is a HUGE job and another one of those "no one does it like you would" aspects of having a professional PM.  Trade offs for the gain of your time freedom away from managing the asset yourself. 

I agree with all the posters who say this could be value-add, but also just based on the industry you're in (hospitality) then the answer is definitely YES to being transparent and also to marketing the potential.  The greatest asset you have in your hospitality business is the trust and comfort of your guests.  The more they trust and feel good, the better the reviews, the better the reviews, the more consistent your bookings, higher prices, etc, etc, the cycle goes on.  If you hide info of any kind from guests, they feel crummy and lied to, leading to bad reviews, lower demand, etc.  

Leaving out important info is a huge "no" in my book, so if I was in your shoes I would try to make the best of it.  Maybe reach out for some "ghost stories" from past guests and quote them in the listing, look up history of the area and speculate who it could be, highlight all the interactions guests have claimed to have in a positive and friendly framework and sell the house for what it is.  There is a hotel in a town nearby to us that claims to be haunted and they charge a premium for the rooms that the ghosts apparently love the most haha.  The town is Virginia City in NV, I forget the name of the hotel.  Silver something??  Maybe check out "haunted hotels" or "haunted tourist experience" on google and see if you can find some good marketing examples out there of people in similar situations.  

Also, I too am a non-believer, so take my advice with a grain of salt that I would feel nonchalant about it like you do, too :) Good Luck!

Hi Daniel,

I have nothing to add, just wanted to say: right on! My husband and I live in a resort area and we have completed 2 "live-in flips" into STR. Love the model and good luck in the new market!

There are companies that specialize in exactly this and can be worth their weight in gold!  @Amanda McKane runs a STR outfitter that I have had clients use and LOVE. Most companies like hers offer a variety of different packages to choose from (selecting and ordering, just selecting, flying out and doing the install, ec). When choosing an interior designer for STR, just make sure they actually have experience in STR's. Pretty for a primary residence doesn't always transfer to the kind of wear and tear that a STR gets. There are also different considerations that normal designers don't need to consider which an STR-specific designer will know all about (supply back up storage, charging stations, "instagram worthy" spaces, etc).

I have absolutely nothing to add.... but just wanted to say thank you to all for this very entertaining thread!! :)

Agree with the above answers.  Like @Joe Splitrock mentioned, maybe a booking fee is the way to go?  

I have never run into this problem in my role as a realtor because the situation is communicated before getting into contract, but my husband ran into this as a Property Manager for STR's when one of his clients sold (not with me). The way he managed the reservations was to reach out to each guest and ask them to cancel at zero penalty to themselves (as guest) and re-book under the new owners profile with a 10% discount. This was a specific situation because there were only 9 reservations booked at the time and all reservations were through Airbnb. It was a big task to be managed and probably not easily replicable, but once it was done, it made all of those remaining reservations SO much easier to manage through the season. I would warn against keeping any reservations under the Seller's name, profile, account, etc. I have heard nightmare stories of funds going to the seller via Airbnb despite the payout method being changed, etc. A simple accounting mistake made a huge task for the buyer. Best of luck with this tricky situation!