All Forum Posts by: Patricia Andriolo-Bull

Hi and congrats in getting into the STR space! I purchased one STR last year that was already operating as such (it wasn't my first, however). I chose to keep the existing rentals - here was my thinking.

1.  It was the tail end of high season and while I knew I could get a higher ADR on my own (I own the unit next door and know the market very well), I would have had to make some changes before listing it myself to do better and in this case, time was money.

2.  Most places in SWFL already come furnished (even non rental properties) so it was already set to go.

3.  These rentals wouldn't count against me (e.g. if they had bad reviews, they wouldn't be on my listing since the old property management company just paid me out).

This gave me the opportunity to get the tail end of the high season and get some money in the door.  It also gave me a month to order furniture and think through the decorations and line up contractors so all in all, it was a win to keep the rentals. 

I would look at the value of the rentals before you make a decision to see if that makes sense for you.

Regarding the furnishings, if you have to pay more for them (again here in FL, properties are generally listed fully furnished and you don't really get a discount to tell people to take the crap out - in fact, I had one guy refuse a good offer because one of my conditions was for them to take their crap! I had to buy it and get rid of the stuff...ugh), and you don't love them, I wouldn't keep them. My guess is that if it is a STR, they probably don't want them either and it would be more work for them to take them.

Generally speaking, I like to put my own touch on everything.  Paint walls, make sure everything is in great condition.  With that said, when you start renting it yourself, under your listing, make sure you stay in it yourself to see what it needs and how it operates.

Hope this helps and good luck with you venture!

Can you share your general metropolitan area? I ask because there are some places now where it can just be sketch (e.g. Portland ME is a favorite of mine. We stayed at a STR last summer with many homeless around it but it is also near some upscale hotels. It is what it is there now and I can imagine this being the same in other areas, too).

Also, what was your motivation in purchasing? Was it to get into real estate, STR, etc.? Might help with advice. Are there a lot of student rentals in the area? I lived in a college town and student rentals did very well as did STRs for parents coming in to visit their children.

Agree, STR are saturated but given the numbers, I expect unsuccessful players will leave the market. While opportunities still exist, I think they are still rare with interest rates and property values high. People seem more angry with Airbnb and VRBO but ultimately, guests still see more value in them than hotels so the question will be if new entrants (or existing platforms like BDC) will continue to invest in the STR space (e.g. GVR)...2025 will be interesting to watch!

Happy New Year!  Such a nice post to read after some of the others today, Lol.  Hope 2025 is great for everyone!

Okay, here we go again...First, I agree. Listing on multiple platforms does affect ranking by platforms but not as much as you think. I am listed on 5 platforms plus have a direct booking site and I rank highly across my 5 listings. Just to disprove your theory...by your logic, my first page search impression should be much lower than 80%! Yet, it is higher than yours with only one platform. And as you state in other posts, you are in a market with less competition (a city near the airport in the Midwest I believe). I am in a highly concentrated beach vacation market and still have 80% first page search impression. Please stop telling new STR hosts to only list on one platform. This risk here far outweighs any small gains in ranking.

 Out of curiosity, how long after a guest leaves do you or your cleaners check on the property?  I assume it would have to have been quite a while for it to get cold enough inside for the pipes to freeze.  Perhaps this is their argument as well?  It is always important to have eyes on as soon as possible after a guest leaves.  Not laying blame here, trying to help find ways to help you get airbnb to help cover by thinking through what they may be thinking.

I think the issue you will have is proving the pipe wouldn’t have frozen in the absence of the windows being open. I would find someone that can demonstrate that the pipes were properly insulated etc. 

did they say why they wouldn’t cover the chair? That seems odd. I’ve never had difficulty filing a claim with Airbnb as long as I showed the broken item and the cost to replace or fix it. 

 To clarify, I am not at 100% occupancy and never strive to be.  I am happy with 70% but attain closer to 85%.  I said the market is close to 100% during season.

Well, Joel did say this would be controversial and he is certainly sticking to his one point of view.  

I agree that the algorithms favor most favorable nation pricing.  I think it was Airbnb that had suggestions for me to lower my pricing because they were scanning the competition (Booking.com in that scenario) and saw a lower price.  They were wrong BTW, my pricing is much more favorable on Airbnb than BDC.  I have no doubt this goes into the ranking algorithm.

HOWEVER, I have found that I do prefer guests from Airbnb.  My cost to Airbnb is better than VRBO and the same as direct (I pay a 3% merchant fee).  My pricing is best on Airbnb (except for direct where the guest pays no platform fee).  I rank on page one for almost all of my listings and almost all of the year.  That said, I am still on VRBO, GVR, BDC and direct.  Why?  Because even though my prices may be higher on VRBO, I do still rank there - especially during high season when occupancy in my area is close to 100%.  As others have said, there are customers that use one platform over another.  It would be ridiculous not to pick up guests from other platforms.  

Also, I am not one of those that buys into platforms aren't host friendly. I have never had a bad experience with a platform (albeit Airbnb did once threaten to remove me because they thought I was going off platform). But given my parenthetical statement, and this shows where perhaps you may have less experience in the STR world, for no valid reason, your preferred platform can make a unilateral, unfounded decision to ban you and there goes your business.

Which brings me to my final point.  Every top company in the world that I am aware of does NOT put all their eggs in one basket.  Not sure where you are finding this.  They don't rely on ONE supplier, ONE broker, ONE anything.  If they did, they would be out of business very quickly.  You mention Amazon, look at how they play suppliers off each other and even create their own supply chain.  What would happen to Amazon if they only had their own delivery network when their workers decided to strike?  Ever hear of disruptive innovation?  It takes many shapes and forms and relooking at your supply chain (which is how I consider my platforms) is a necessary and consistent need in our business.  

IMHO it is foolish to list on one platform and detrimental advice to those seeking advice on this forum which is the only reason I chimed in again... but you do you.