All Forum Posts by: Sarah Kensinger

Once you find out about the HOA feel free to reach out and I can help you run numbers on the property. It's something I do pretty much every day and it definitely gives a homeowner a good feel for how a STR should perform. Don't let the numbers surprise you too much, FL has some outstanding locations and properties!

I was just in Idaho Falls pretty much a year ago and stayed in a large cabin with some extended family to see Yellowstone! Frankly you are in a PERFECT location for a short-term rental! Yellowstone gets millions of visitors each year and all those people need a place to stay, and from what I remember there is hardly any hotels which gives you a major advantage. Plus, people want cabins/STR at national parks not a hotel, it's all about the experience and they want it all especially for social media! Right now, national parks are a huge attraction and not just with our own country, thousands of people come from other countries to see our parks. I had to book a place.... granted a needed a larger cabin...6+ months in advance out there. As we waited for the ferry on Jenny Lake at Grand Tetons, people were talking about how hard it was to find lodging because they waited to long and everything was clear booked. Some had to rent ridiculously expensive tiny homes or drive a good way to where they had lodging!

I would love to see the listing and see your STR! I wonder if you reevaluated your property, add some different amenities and stop lowering the price, you might see some bookings roll in. To be honest I hesitant to book a property less than $100 in a major vacation market unless it's a last-minute booking, because I have found that those properties are very much "value STR". If there's anything I can help you with, please few free to reach out!

Sage Vacation Rental Management is right in your area!

I know a lot of companies use Stayfi and like the handiness they provide at collecting emails. It's not something I've done, but I've heard a lot of good things about the service. 

I'm also curious to see how the KC and Airbnb work together on this, and if they keep on top of shutting down new listings in the coming years!

There really is to many variables going off the previous owner's numbers. Just underwrite the property and if the projections of income and COC return look good, the property would be a great STR if managed correctly.

Oh, I see...most of us running a STR business aren't worried about "keeping up with Joneses". We have our pricing SOP and stick to that but may slightly pivot as necessary for us, not because everyone else is doing it. We don't try to beat out prices, that never works! And no I would not accept $20, sometimes it's the opposite. You go higher than everyone else because your property is worth it and has those extras that no one else has. For example, I would rather 40%-50% occupancy with a $300+ rate then 100% occupancy with a $70 rate. And like stated earlier the lower you go the higher chance of your property getting trashed.

 Personally, I wouldn't worry too much until the bottom line looks like it's going to be affected. But I still wouldn't jump to lower pricing, first I would evaluate the property and see what could be changed to make it more eye catching and "book worthy".

I'm with @John Underwood! Plus, I would go off of a pricing software and not just randomly drop rates due to FOMO. Alot of times people's bookings are dropping because their property is lacking in some way, they need to educate themselves better on how to work the STR market, utilize softwares, and know how to relate to guests!

I would suggest a deep dive into all things STR before you purchase anything. If you need help analyzing a property, I can help you do that. Feel free to DM me if there's anyway I can assist you!