All Forum Posts by: Ken Boone

If you don't have a hot tub in that location you are not even in the realm of an average cabin.  Pretty much in that market you need a multitude and a hot tub to be average.  So it really depends on your goals.

Well its like this.  I clean after EVERY guest even if its a one night stay.  Over time you will get enough guests ask you about how you clean your hot tub and I guarantee they do NOT want to hear anything other than it was cleaned right before you checked in.  You can get some of the spa guys to clean it for you, however, most cleaners do that as part of their cleaning.  Drain, clean tub, clean filter, re-fill etc.. 

Let's say you do the once a week plan and you have 3 guests.  Hot tub is cleaned, guests number one has a number of folks with long hair.  They leave, lots of hair left in the hottub, guests #2 just gets drunk and uses the hot tub regardless that it is full of someone else's hair.  They do all kinds of stuff and used up all the chemicals, so when they leave the water is murky.  Guest #3 shows up and they are pissed and you have to deal with it.

That's what will happen if you don't clean after every guest.  Of course this is just my opinion and you know what that is worth.

IMO it depends.  A few barks here and there most people can handle but a dog that owners let bark all day and all night is a whole other story.  I would do what @Bruce Woodruff said and go talk to some of the neighbors.  Only way you are gonna know. 

@Collin Hays

Those are great stories man.  Here is a couple of mine from early summer.

Guest calls around 10pm and says "Uh we were putting the kids to bed and my daughter says mommy there is something flying in our room."  Yea its a bat.  The lady said well we wouldn't mind if it was our room but this is where the kids are sleeping.  I gave her two options - You can leave the cabin with a full refund - or I can call an emergency pest control but they won't be there until around midnight.  She said send pest control so that is what we did.

Guest calls and asks if the Ring Floodlight does video?  We explained that yes it does but it just monitors the driveway and that it is really there for security, etc.. and it is not used to monitor guests, and that we state this in our listing.   The guests then said well that is good cause I think a bear took a bite out of our motorcycles and I think I am going to need some video proof for my insurance company.  5 mins later we sent her the proof.  Not one bear but two, and each bear took a bite out of a different motorcycle seat.

Before you make a claim ask your insurance guy what impact putting a claim on your STR will be. If you get another STR, will rates go up, will they still insure you etc. This will be different for different locations, in some areas it might not be a big thing, but in other areas it could make a huge difference. I hadlightning take out a 55" TCL Roku, a full-size virtual pinball table, xbox, directTv and internet equipment in a single hit with a guest in place, and the next guests big thing was wanting to play the pinball table. Got internet and directtv back pretty quick. Got the TV replaced pretty quick. But the part needed for the pinball table took a few days. It got fixed on the last day that the guest that really wanted to play it was there. Found out most of theses TVs now just needs to have the power card replaced so ordered that for like $39 and fixed the TV, then same deal with the xbox. $29 power supply and back in business. So cheap fix for spare equipment. Didn't file a claim though.

Also if I take your numbers, 125-175 nt lets average at 150/nt  If that is the type of cabin you want and you book 300 days = occupancy of 82% and yes you can probably do more than that there, you are only looking at a gross of 45k.  If you are planning to do 4-5 cabins of this size @John Underwood is absolutely right.  Better to do one 6 bed cabin.  It takes just as much time to manage a 6 bedroom cabin as it does a 1 bedroom cabin.  Want to make the same income with less work go with the 6 bedroom cabin.  Will it get trashed more - yes, however, EVERYONE and I mean EVERYONE I know that has a larger cabin, tells me the extra trashing is still worth the exponential extra income  you get on the bigger cabins.  All of my cabins are 2 and 3 bedroom cabins but I have extra amenities in my cabins that most cabins do not have.  Hindsight, I probably would have gone with a larger cabin from the start.  

Right now it is cheaper to build than buy but there are plenty of challenges there.  Long delays, financing with covid terms is ridiculous and underwriters keep changing the rules.  Hope this slows down.  Everyone in that market is over booked which means delays in getting crews out to the build site, delays on getting wood packages, delays on getting concrete poured, etc..  So you do have to weigh the cost factor of buying an existing and paying 100k or more than a new build but getting immediate income for the next 12 months, or waiting a year or more for build to finish and you get it cheaper and you get more of exactly what you want kind of thing.  

Yes and there still are some cabins in that area.  Can beat that elegant "classy" look from the 70s...;)  Cousin Eddie will be the first to book it.

@Pearce Trenary - If you want to stick out in the smokies you need to do better than hot tub.  Having a hot tub and multicade is the baseline for 90% of the cabins.  If you don't have those 2 things you will not even be average there.

@Pearce Trenary - Yea there is a lot to learn, and there is some value in the beginning with having face to face time with your cleaner and handyman. I have a lot of things automated and that is the route you want to take, but there is value in slowly implementing the automation so you know what is supposed to happen, how to fix things when the automation fails for some reason, etc.. And look, your cleaners are not going to catch everything. It is just reality. Their job is to get in and clean and get the place ready for the next guest. During prime time they just don't have time to go over everything with a fine tooth comb. So being able to check your property first hand form time to time is very valuable. That is tough on an 11 hour drive. Again, I'm sure lots of folks do this on a long distance run but it will be easier to learn when you can visit it much easier. I tell you what I would do if I did a long distance STR. I would hire yet a 3rd party that would go into my place say once or twice a month. They would have the mundane task of flushing every toilet, checking every cabinet door, checking every knob on every cabinet door, checking the AC filters, going through the cooking pots and pans and dinnerware to make sure everything is there. Basically going over everything with a fine tooth comb. Not checking up on the cleaners but just going through the detail stuff that the cleaners dont have time for. I have fantastic cleaners but they just don't have the time to get catch all of these things all of the time. They definitely let me know when they find them and usually just fix those things on the spot. I like my places to be in top top shape so that is what I would do if I managed one from afar.