All Forum Posts by: Ken Boone

So if I didn't need to be somewhere else, I would have definitely gone and been snowed in at my cabin on Cove Mtn for a few days.  Been there done that before and if you are prepared for it, it can be awesome!  But instead, for that cabin specifically I am shutting it down and winterizing until this cold spell is through.  Last year's bad hit on Christmas Eve busted a lot of pipes there including mine.  Cabin was shut down for 3 months after that for reno.  The other cabins which are much lower elevations, I am having cleaners, leave faucets dripping, cabinets under sinks open, and asking guests to do the same as it hits those low temps.

Just be careful with who the builder is there are a LOT of not only terrible builders but down right scrupulous builders in that market.  I know I have been down that road with 3 different builders personally and have friends that been down that road with other builders as well.  

 So apparently VRBO is liable for those taxes and submits them to the local jurisdiction. According to this document they are required in certain jurisdictions to collect and remit the taxes, TN being one of those jurisdictions.  

https://help.vrbo.com/articles/Tax-by-jurisdiction

I wasn't quite fully sure how it worked, but this doc explains it.  

Having said that, if we don't have any direct bookings in a given month, we still have to login to TNTAP and enter a $0 amount for that month, where VRBO/AirBnb paid the taxes.

 Nicole, I am still on GFH at this moment with the original connection.  I have made the decision to switch to Hospitable, whenever I switch, however let me explain why I have not switched yet.

Back then, we got s notice that GFH was going to force users over to the VRBO API connection.  This means, VRBO will no longer collect payments and no longer remit taxes on my behalf in my market.  I do NOT want to go that route.

From the research I have done, any PMS that uses the VRBO API is in the same boat. i.e. OwnerRez.  I have had extensive conversation with Hospitable and they claim to use an API, but they also emphatically state nothing changes with my VRBO connection.  I have confirmed with other Hospitable users that this is in fact true, that nothing changes with your VRBO connection.  I am a little perplexed how they claim API connection, yet they don't follow the same rules as the other PMSs.  All I can figure is that they are really logging in to VRBO on your behalf so perhaps they are just calling it API.

I have been hesitant to move until I need to.  The fact is, even though their support is the worst, I  really like the user interface for GFH, I also love the income reports.  And quite honestly when it is working, it works very well.  

This past week I literally sent a message in to GFH asking on the status of this project is and if I will be forced to move to the VRBO API connection.  Here is the response I got back a couple of days ago:

"Thank you for contacting us, Jelica here from Guesty For Hosts Customer Solutions. I hope you are well.

We received your inquiry regarding the Vrbo Standard connection and if you will be forced to move to the Vrbo Api connection.

To answer your questions, yes in the future the standard connection will be phased out and have to migrate to the new connection.

We don't have a specific time frame as to when, rest assured we will provide a heads-up for any updates on this matter and you will receive an email. We understand that some users prefer this connection so for the time being, it will remain the same."

So to me it sounds like this is still a long way off, and they are not sure of their plans.

Now someone told me this last week also, which may or may not be true, but they said they heard that VRBO will be forcing all PMS providers to use the API connection in the future.  I have no idea if that is true or not, but if that is the case, then I might be wasting time to move to Hospitable, if 3 months from now it will be forced to use the same API, that puts the billing and tax remittance back on me.  I was not able to confirm any of this via google so again could be speculation or flat out not true.

That was a lot but that is where things are with me and this move.

 Unless things have changed in the past few months there is no way to have an always signed in account on a channel on Roku when operating in guest mode so I don't use guest mode.  Guests just sign in to whatever apps they want to use and logout when finished.  Occasionally, a guest forgets to logout.  Hasn't been a big deal in over 5 years of doing it this way.

Xfinity is the cable company I use, so I can use their Xfinity streaming app across all my Roku devices at my cabins.  So basically I log in to that account and leave it logged in.  From what I have experienced, there are situations that cause that to be logged out though.  I don't know if it just times out after a certain period or what, but every now and then I check it on a Roku device and it is not logged in.  

If that happens, you just ask the guest to sign in and it will prompt them with a URL and a code.  You just need to go to that URL and punch in the code from your Xfinity account.  You can do this on your phone, and it will log you back in.  No need to give the guest a password or anything.  

I do check to see if that is logged on random devices when I am at my cabins, and it happens every now and then.  I have only had it happen on one guest though the whole time so it has not been a big deal for me.

It will definitely be worth it.  I did one on my last build in 2022 and it was well worth doing. I used Madison Specs.  It costs more than a DIY, but they will back it up if you get audited by the IRS.

Yea like others have said. It depends. I have 2 STRs that are in HOAs. Both of these are in vacation destination markets and every property in the HOA is an STR in both scenarios. The HOA takes care of the grounds, the lights, roads and resort pool. So in this scenario it works fine.

If you were doing an STR in a non vacation market, then I would avoid like the plague.

Just set up another account that’s what I ended up doing.   I used the gmail+1 truck to keep everything assigned to the same email account. 

Most of the times I get a local booking, it's because they want to have a pool party for their kid and invite all their friends.  We have thwarted a number of these incidents by asking questions and making sure they are aware of the no party rule and max occupancy for the property.