All Forum Posts by: Ken Boone

In my area you have to have a hot tub and multitude arcade cabinet to just be average.  You have to have a lot more to be above average - indoor heated pool, more video games, other games - i.e. pool table, foosball, etc.., theater room - those kinds of things.  As far as make or break, if you run your rental well in my area I think most folks do pretty good, because we have just about year round demand in this area, but to do REALLY well, you need the extra stuff I mentioned.

@Joe Prillaman Honestly Joe, with those numbers and that many reviews you are just going to get some 4 star reviews.  I would think I am in the top 10% as well in my market as well, but there are just some people who do not give 5 star reviews.  The review reads great and then 4 stars.  Kind of like those teachers who felt like most of the class should get a "C" cause that is average kind of thing.  Most guests can see past that stuff.   Getting to 4.81 on that one out of four units is just statistics playing on you I think.  I wouldn't spend any time worrying about it.

Well I would just handle it as the cost of doing business.  The maintenance guy should have no reason to be frustrated as he should be getting paid for going onsite whether it was a big issue or not.  This kind of thing happens every now and then.  Hopefully your STRs are doing well enough you can just kind of pay your maintenance guy for going out and just not worry about the incidental fee from time to time.  

Yea indoor pool is the #1 amenity inside a cabin, but they are hard to purchase as existing just cause they don't go up for sale much.. you pretty much have to do construction to get that now.  Hot tub is a must, arcade games are huge, and then think about games that more than 1 person can play at a time, shuffleboard tables, air hockey, pool tables, foosball like you mentioned, etc..  Then think theater, projector screen then once you have that throw a game console on it as well.  Anything along those lines is good, and the more the better as long as it fits.  In other words, don't do a pool table if it has to be crammed in there.  Shooting pool is no fun if the sticks keep bumping the walls.

Typical stuff mice, snake, deer, turkeys, bear and a bat!

Well once you have something picked out if you are not in a super competitive market you can always ask to see the last x months utility bills from the property.  They might provide or they may not.  But I have seen that used before.  If the market is competitive by the time you ask for this, its already gonna be pending though.  So really depends on your market.

@Steve Sanderson STR is Short Term Rental vs LTR which is Long Term Rental.

Not to mention that with Airbnb there are certain web pages you CANNOT get to through the menus.  You have to know the specific links.  Just ridiculous.

VRBO hands down.  They are so much easier to work with.  My wife tells me this all the time!  This is based on customer service, functionality, tech support and company philosophy!