All Forum Posts by: Patricia Taveras

@Michael Reilly

I guess I could have also mentioned it's been good enough we just listed our third str on airbnb!

@Michael Reilly

They are in a cute little neighborhood in James City. We have actually been killing it during Covid. A bunch of people cancelled at first mid March, but some construction teams booked and stayed March and April where the travelers cancelled. In May, the travelers were booking again, and the summer is hot! We have had very low vacancy the entire time. It's been great!

@Anna Zimmerman

I have always had a flexible cancellation policy and it has served me well. Sometimes people cancel. Then people book in their place. We stay booked. I believe it makes people feel comfortable booking with you. We did well even during March and April when Covid wiped out tons of bookings. But we still picked up bookings in their place and stayed full throughout those months. We just listed our third airbnb yesterday. Already have our first guests arriving tomorrow. We are in a small but growing town called New Bern NC about 30 minutes from the beach. We get a mix of tourists, business travelers, and people coming g to visit their families, and their marines at two nearby bases if that helps. Plus, it just makes me feel like a good human being to be understanding with people, and we have had some really nice interactions with people who have appreciated the understanding.

@Ryan Hazelwood

Hi Ryan. I'm 41. I started in 2014 by moving out of a single wide trailer I owned free and clear that I now rent out long term. I bought a double wide mobile home in 2017 that I rent out long term. In 2018 I bought two 3 bed 2 bath houses with a one car garage and put them on airbnb. This year- my husband and I are just a couple of days away from listing our third 3 bed 2 bath home on airbnb. We plan on continuing to expand our airbnb portfolio. Airbnb is fun, rewarding, and makes good money!

@Anand S.

Hi Anand. We have always had a flexible cancellation policy, even before COVID. It has always served us well. Yes, sometimes people cancel. But then people always book those vacant days. It felt good to be gracious with worried guests who cancelled due to the pandemic and weren't sure what our cancellation policy was. We have been very fortunate to stay almost completely booked with people in town for work during this time. It's working well enough for us that we are currently renovating another property to put on airbnb. Ultimately though, you gotta chose what's right for you. Good luck!

@Kyle Joseph

We are doing well. We are in a town where get get a mix of business travel, family travel, and vacation travel. We have always had a flexible cancellation policy pre-covid, which has always served us well. We bought our homes using long term rental analysis so did not fear at the beginning of the pandemic. Yes, alot of people cancelled. We dropped our nightly rate by 20%. Then more people booked for business travel. We ran 100% occupancy for April so we increased May pricing back to close to normal. We are getting bookings. We also just closed on another house thinking we would do LTR, but we will do airbnb after all. We feel very fortunate, and very grateful for the opportunity airbnb has given us to make the money we have made.

@Andrea Cole

We have been giving full refunds. It made me a little nervous about the finances, but honestly we're getting bookings in the gaps where people have cancelled so things are working out so far.

@Paul Sandhu

We leave unopened food, but we remove the alcohol. My thought is we may host a newly sober alcoholic, and I don't want our house to be a temptation or a negative experience. I have an alcoholic family member so that is no doubt why I feel that way. Just my two cents.

@Jason Maddox

I invest in New Bern. Demand for rentals is high. We are a small town but growing. Real estate prices allow for good long term rental investing. We are also doing well with airbnb since we are close to military bases, the beach, and apparently a ton of wedding venues. They have restricted airbnb in downtown neighborhoods, though, so do some research if you consider that route.

Demand for rentals in Jacksonville is high too due to large military base. Real estate prices are good there for rentals too. I haven't personally invested there but would consider it.

@Jasmine Feeney

I think I'll use that in my Airbnb! Thanks for the idea!