All Forum Posts by: Trent Reeve

I would go into the price labs data and compare your house to the other properties that are getting bookings and compare what you are doing to others. It really could be something as small as your cleaning fee is $15 too high or everyone else has something like carbon monoxide detectors in their amenities list and you have them, but the box is not checked. Below is a screenshot of what you want to look for on your pricelabs dashboard. 

Hey @Shawn Suarez, so I was going to put an Echo in our STR, but so many other hosts have said it is a bad idea. People believe that they are being spied on. Now there are ways to lock down Alexa, but no one will be happy. I just wanted to provide a way to stream music and provide a Bluetooth music player.

You might want to re-think this project.

I am surprised nobody has mentioned Craigs List.  Probably 20% of my bookings come from there.  

There is also direct marketing, but that is the subject of another post.

 LibreOffice is a replacement for Microsoft Office then?

I'm not sure if it matters whether you have a partner in it or not, I think for a vacation home you just have to use it or "intend to use it" for a certain percentage of each year. I may be wrong but I believe its about 1 week or so.

I was able to only do 10% but it was considered a second home loan, so maybe see if your lender has any options on how to make this work or at least lets you know what the exact requirements are.

@Hoa Nguyen AirDNA is a great resource. I have a friend within the company who i can connect you to if you are interested. It can provide stats like rating for a particular city based on average occupancy, nightly rate, competition, etc. If you are dialed into a zip code, you can purchase data on just that code. If you want a whole city, state, or nation-that too. Great tool! I sent you a DM. Let's connect. 

I own a single Cabin in a vacation town in WA state that I use as a family vacation home and STR. When I first bought it 5 years ago I lived 2 hours away, had never owned an STR before and worked full time so it made sense to pay 30% for a local PM to manage it. Fast forward, I now live 30 minutes away, don't work and have more experience, knowledge and local contacts. I'm not totally unhappy with my PM, but have been annoyed with little things more and more. For example, all my nice throw blankets disappeared this summer. I mentioned it to them and they said they'd look for them in the off site storage and they are still gone. I emailed them again and no response. They also put a lock on a hall closet without telling me. Last spring the grass wasn't mowed and not until I contacted them did they say they didn't have a lawn service lined up. We took over the mowing. I could go on. However, on the plus side, the place is booked solid, I have great reviews and have made a good amount of money. They take care of all the guest interaction, housekeeping, marketing, pictures, snow removal, etc.

Do I take over the management of it myself or continue using them? The hassle of switching and setting up all the services (housekeeping, hot tub service, garbage) is what gives me pause. 

Appreciate any feedback!

Thanks,

Jennifer