All Forum Posts by: Sarah Kensinger
Sarah Kensinger has started 6 posts and replied 2203 times.
Post: How many emojis are too many emojis?
- Real Estate Consultant
- Ohio
- Posts 2,235
- Votes 1,298
All depends on how serious you want to be taken!
Post: So many options with tools & software, what are you using?
- Real Estate Consultant
- Ohio
- Posts 2,235
- Votes 1,298
I'll have to completely change the thought here. :) To optimize guest experience and not leave money on the table you should use software. Do you need a bunch probably not, but it's best to plan ahead especially if you plan on expanding and also not rely on the OTA to handle all the details of your property.
Here are some I would suggest..... PMS; Hospitable, Dynamic Pricing; Pricelabs, Digital Guidebooks; make your own with a google doc for free or Hostfully offers a paid version, Remote Lock management; Remote Locks, Manage cleaning and handyman; Turno and possibly Whatapp chats. You could also check into Breezeway but with one property that might be a little ahead of the game.
Everything else you mentioned should be covered and automated by your PMS, and of course you can always change and adapt over time. I believe Rankbreeze was mentioned but I would postpone that until you notice a slight slug in bookings and need some insight to your listing.
Hope that helps!
Post: VRBO Withdrawals Money in response to Guest Credit Card Dispute
- Real Estate Consultant
- Ohio
- Posts 2,235
- Votes 1,298
Quote from @Kyler J Sloan:
@Alex Scattareggia The ratio of Airbnb to VRBO bookings is about 7:1. It is for this reason that I am even willing to consider cancelling it, because I am fairly confident that I can fill the vacancies. Right now, I have only four that would need to be filled.
(I have not done it yet. I have only canceled my checking account which they would have withdrawn from)
@Sarah Kensinger After reading the authorization form, it says that the third party is "Hyperwallet".
Post: STR Insurance pool w/diving board, slide
- Real Estate Consultant
- Ohio
- Posts 2,235
- Votes 1,298
If it was me, I would be removing the diving board and slide. I was just recently looking at a STR safety chart and those were some of the biggest "no" for a STR and I would have to agree.
Post: Can you self manage a STR from afar?
- Real Estate Consultant
- Ohio
- Posts 2,235
- Votes 1,298
You can definitely manage from afar! It might look big, but you'll figure it out! :)
Post: VRBO Withdrawals Money in response to Guest Credit Card Dispute
- Real Estate Consultant
- Ohio
- Posts 2,235
- Votes 1,298
Quote from @Alex Scattareggia:
Quote from @Kyler J Sloan:
So, a guest who booked my place but did not show up apparently filed a credit card dispute to get their money back, and I am now discovering that the financial institution that VRBO has partnered with is going to withdraw this money directly out of my account with no due diligence and give it back to the guest. I reached out to them, and I have no recourse to stop this.
Has anyone else had this happen?
I am fairly certain I am going to remove my listings off of VRBO after this.
What is the financial institution in question here?
Unfortunately, this is the cost of doing business with the OTA´s. I know delisting is the gut reaction. But I would look at a few things first.
1. How much business are you doing through VRBO as a percentage of your total revenue?
2. If you lost all of that revenue tomorrow how easily could you replace it? Are you getting a different demographic from VRBO vs. Airbnb etc.
3. What percentage of VRBO bookings have you lost to cancelation (either full refund or partial in line with your cancelation policy)
With those three numbers you can really calculate how big of a risk you are taking with your business continuing to list there and determine if its worth it.
Quick anecdote. We do a substantial amount of our business through Booking.com which is even worse as far as host protection and we have also had some pretty rough cancelations. But when we did that analysis above, we realized that we were keeping about 88% of our booking income after factoring in charge backs. We also realized that the business we were getting there was unique compared to the rest of our lead sources (lots of Europeans and South Americans in our case) and that it would be difficult to replace that business. So instead of de listing ourselves we simply increased our prices on that platform in line with the cancelations and felt a lot better making sure that it was still ¨worth it¨ for us to be listed there. For some people they don´t mind losing the business just for the peace of mind.
Sometimes things warrant changing the business model, and sometimes they are just the cost of doing business. It really is a case by case choice.
Sorry to hear about the chargeback, that always sucks. Good luck!
Post: Does anyone know if BNB Investor Academy and Michael Elefant are serious?
- Real Estate Consultant
- Ohio
- Posts 2,235
- Votes 1,298
Quote from @Alex Scattareggia:
Quote from @Ramires Lima Barreto:
@Alex Scattareggia thanks for your msg. You are right. Its a false profile.
This is the profile that got in touch with me
https://instagram.com/_melefaante6_
And the true profile:
https://www.instagram.com/melefante6/
I have all the screenshots and the MoU that he suggested to me. I will not pay him, but for sure he will get money from other people.
Happy you figured it out.
Just like @Michael Baum said above, there are so many free tools at your disposal including forums like this.
I would be a little leery about shelling out 10k or any amount for a course at this time. If the STR market does what a lot of people think it is going to do, that 10k would be better spent on your first deal IMO. Good luck!
Post: Does anyone know if BNB Investor Academy and Michael Elefant are serious?
- Real Estate Consultant
- Ohio
- Posts 2,235
- Votes 1,298
Micheal Elefante is legit but with all these guys you have to be sure it's their real account and not someone coping them. Anytime there are double letters or extra symbols in a social media account name, you can be sure it's fake. In this case BNB Investor Academy is a group you can join to learn how to start your own STR business, not invest money. Micheal Elefante doesn't partner with other people to purchase his STR but does it all himself.
Post: VRBO Withdrawals Money in response to Guest Credit Card Dispute
- Real Estate Consultant
- Ohio
- Posts 2,235
- Votes 1,298
Quick question....you mentioned happened with a financial institution that VRBO has partnered with. Would this happen to be the book now pay later through companies like Affirm etc.?
Post: Sandestin, STR Condo, is a 1 bedroom worth it?
- Real Estate Consultant
- Ohio
- Posts 2,235
- Votes 1,298
Quote from @Brittany Barbosa:
Quote from @Sarah Kensinger:
We almost purchased a 2/2 condo in Sandestin earlier this year. Our realtor wouldn't even let us look at studios and was very hesitant over 1-bedroom condos. Most people looking to travel to the area want 2+ bedrooms or at least a bedroom and bunks. When I did the "enemy method" I noticed on the OTA that studios always had nearly wide-open calendars and selling them is near impossible! Maybe things have changed in 6+ months, but we found the numbers on studios were pretty tight. Once you started adding bedrooms, the cash flow started flowing in the right direction.