All Forum Posts by: Theresa Holl

Hey Eric - great detail here. Aiming for a niche audience in STRs that matches your location is a good start. Even though everyone targets travelling nurses, not everyone does it well. Something as simple as not having blackout curtains can make or break a listing. If you're just looking for general guidance around a successful STR journey, I have some friends with deep insights into everything from REI tax strategy to marketing and creative financing. Happy to get you connected to the beginnings of an A team so you can keep educating yourself.

Drowning in "information" without actionable insight is definitely a risk.  Figuring out what you don't know is all about having the right people around you.  

This website has some amazing resources for MTRs : https://www.shorttermgems.com/  I just saw her speak live and am happy to share some resources from the event with you.  There are a lot of very specific things you can do like target people who've been forced to relocate due to damage to their homes.  Upper-middle class families in those situations will get insurance money for a temporary place to live and it's generally a large sum.  Let me know if you'd like to connect on this strategy.  Happy to share what I've learned. 

Hey Mike - a friend of mine as a few listings in Sedona and is a marketing coach for STR hosts. Happy to gather a few pointers for you if you want to share a bit more about your listing. Remember, there's always a new listing boost, which eventually goes away. There are also a bunch of free tips and tricks for optimizing your listing that can help with search rankings. Below are a few of my favorites:

• High-quality photos (professional photographer)
• Updated Bio and room detail. Make this long!
• Keep a low "bounce rate" - do not have your friends check out your listing without booking. Do not post your listing on Facebook where it will get clicks that don't book. This gives you a high bounce rate and Airbnb will change this frequently. Search online for the latest algorithm changes.
• Change last and 2nd to last photos
• Add any amenities you can. This gives you a nice boost in search performance!
• Any table with outlet nearby can be called a work space. Describe it in detail.
• Use more than 12 photos
• Define your company brand, voice and ideal client. What makes you better? How do you express that?  Have a specific avatar and target them with your marketing strategy
• What is your average rating and what % of people leave a review?  Almost all 5 stars?
• Describe each room with LONG descriptions with tons of details like mattress type, kitchen gadgets, bedding quality, etc...
• Turn on smart pricing, get on multiple OTAs with a channel manager
• How long is your description? Update it all the time. Updated listings are prioritized.
• Get your own booking website so you can add Google Analytics and track your traffic
• Are you doing paid advertising on social media? Do you know how facebook and google interact? Has someone mentored you on a comprehensive marketing playbook for your STR?
• Set up Google My Business - also name your business on Google Maps "XYZ's House!" This gets some attention

Hey Laura,

As far as benchmarks go, be sure not to limit yourself to what you see on AirDNA. I have a business partner who exceeds 100% occupancy because he has AI booking on top of last minute cancelations...plus tons of other tricks.  You can also rent out the interior to a content creator,  the swimming pool to a family having a cookout (swimply app) and the garage for storage all at once.  Revenue goes thru the roof when you parse it up like that. 

 That's interesting.  What kind of results are they seeing?

Hi Merritt,

Very solid business goals. According to AirDNA, the most profitable niches in STR in 2024 will be luxury and eco so building a realistic plan towards a luxury listing seems very wise. Along with growing your portfolio, how are you doing on revenue mgmt and the profitability of each site? I'd love to exchange some ideas with you on that.

I can send a decent resource to you that might help you maximize revenue and automate a few things. Will DM you. 

Hi Justin- I think a lot of it depends on your overall business goals.  Do you want this to make you money the rest of the year? 

TREVPAR is total revenue per available room, it's more comprehensive as far as operating expenses. 

GOPPAR is gross operating profit per available room.   Better to keep an eye on profits than to stop at top line revenue. 

Hahaha... love your writing style. AirDNA is a real standard for this stuff, but don't forget you will compete against hotels too. Hotstats.com is my favorite hotel intelligence site. Get familiar with the metrics like REVPAR, TREVPAR and most importantly GOPPAR and NOI and you're off to the races.