All Forum Posts by: Tyler Divin

I found the tool I was looking for through a Facebook ad, so I'll update my own post for posterity.  It's not exactly the look we want, so we'll continue using Canva, but this is the tool I had envisioned.

https://app.thehostreport.com/

Surely buyers for those types of deals are people who want to own a home in the mountains, and STR is a way to cover the costs of buying a second (or third) home they were going to buy anyway. In other words, I don't think they see it as an investment.

I would put it into BNBCalc.  Dig into every expense, analyze the comps in detail, and stress test it based on high, medium, and low performance using percentiles.

We had a 4-bedroom townhouse with two propane, ceramic log fireplaces.  We sold the property, but if we had kept it for one more winter, I was going to remove the propane fireplaces and replace them with electric ones.

We had guests who requested that the pilot light be turned off for their children, and other guests who asked that it be turned on so they could use it.  

We received a good number of messages late at night asking how to use it, and it's challenging to guide people through it without a phone call.

The upstairs of the unit had two loft bedrooms.  The heat would rise and shut off the upstairs thermostat, causing the upstairs bedrooms to get cold.

The downstairs unit was a small one-bedroom, and the fireplace would heat the living room to the point where it was concerning from a temperature and CO2 perspective.  We put up signs suggesting opening the windows when using the fireplace for fresh air, but that whole concept scared the crap out of me.

I found paper ashes and matches in the fireplaces when they had push-button start, so that also concerned me.

I found what I think was melted marshmallow on the logs, so that concerned me.

Long story short, I would go electric.  They photograph well and are guest-friendly IMO.

Our best suggestions for hiring cleaners are...

(1) Find and hire experienced turnover cleaners with a verifiable history of consistently producing 5-star reviews for cleanliness (the only part of the review they can affect).

(2)  Ask for referrals and call them.  Ask specific questions...how do they handle it when...how are they for same day turnovers...how reliable are they on a scale of 1-10?

(3) Write out a scope of work in detail, everything you expect.  Divide it by area in the order you will walk through the house with them, and include the price you think is fair (based on your research of the competition) in the document.  When they arrive, hand them a copy and review it as you walk, discussing each area and reviewing the scope.  Ask them to let you know if they disagree or would like to make any changes.  Have a pen with you and make notes.  At the end of the walk-through, discuss the pricing and see if you're on the same page.  Do you want them to check for and report guest damage?  Adjust the thermostats?  Re-stock supplies?  If so, how much?  What else?  Be specific.

This process is to be sure you're on the same page with them and there are no surprises for either party.  It's not fair to them to walk the interior and then after the first clean you say oh by the way I need you to blow of the porch, check and wipe down the grill, knock cobwebs off the front door area, etcetera.  It starts the relationship off on a bad foot.

(4)  Once everything is agreed to and you hire them, take the big bullet points from the scope of work document and put them in Turno or another similar app, along with example photos of how you want the beds, living room, etc.  Don't make checklists for 'did you wipe the mirror?  Did you dust the table?'  The goal is not to micro-manage, it's to remind them of what was agreed to and hold them accountable for the home being 5-star ready.

Like anything in life, the more effort you put into the preparation, the better the result.

I received this response from Truvi when I asked them if they would be contacting/going after guests for reimbursement with these new plans...

That said, our approach is always to avoid unnecessary guest involvement. We only contact them if absolutely required, and we do so as soon as possible to avoid any impact on reviews. This is also why we allow for the 14-day reporting window, but in practice, most guest contacts happen quickly since guests usually find it more frustrating when they are contacted weeks later.

This sounds to me like they're going to pay claims and then go after the guest for reimbursement during the window in which the guest still has the ability to leave a review. To us, this defeats one of the main purposes of having supplemental guest damage insurance, which is to protect our host and property reputations by NOT arguing with guests about the damage.  If Truvi is going to go after the guest for reimbursement, is this even insurance, or would it effectively be outsourcing guest damage reimbursement activities to Truvi?  Not a good look.

Disappointing.

Understood. We've operated our own properties without guest damage insurance for 4 years. We started testing it on our own property (as we often do) when we noticed clients and prospective clients wanted it. Specifically, Evolve clients seem to value that layer of protection and cite it as something they like about being with Evolve. Guests seem to enjoy it too. My personal preference is not to have extra fees (and I know we're going to be extremely respectful whenever we're staying in a STR). Still, a fair number of guests seem to take comfort in the fact that if something happens, there's a layer of protection and they don't have to worry about coming out of pocket.. Unfortunately, neither Airbnb nor VRBO has a fee line item for insurance, which is wild to me. That must be intentional, but seeing as how it's such a common fee (perhaps the most common), I don't understand not having a line for it. I digress.

Neither.  I'm interested to know what other hosts think of these new options/products.  

We went as far as to get set up with Truvi, signed their agreement, and opened an account in their portal, but I pumped the brakes because of the guest journey.  When I saw/experienced the guest journey, I didn't want our guests to have to go through that 16-step process.  To me, this is a significant change because the new Truvi products don't require that arduous guest journey. With that pain point eliminated, I'm curious to know what others think.

We have no affiliation with Truvi whatsoever.  We currently offer Waivo options to our clients, and we use them with our own properties, but these prices and coverage levels are IMO better than Waivo, so now I'm wondering if we should switch.

I'm curious to get others' thoughts/opinions.

I received an email from Truvi this morning about their new products.  The pricing and coverage levels are interesting, as is the fact that these plans don't require a Guest Journey (Guest Verification Journey demo video).  We previously passed on Truvi because we didn't want to require our guests to go through what we perceived as a cumbersome Guest Journey/verification process.

I'm curious to get the community's thoughts on these new plans, specifically versus Waivo's offerings.

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This is an example Truvi sent me of their Guest Journey that was required for bookings to be covered by some of their better insurance products (https://truvi.storylane.io/share/ws8egjzstevc).  We didn't like the idea of our guests having to go through this journey after booking.  Although I received an email from Truvi literally this morning, announcing new products and plans that don't require a guest journey, and they look promising on first glance, so we're re-examining their latest products as we speak. Here is a photo from their email announcing the new products I received this morning.  I like the $0-$50,000 for $25 per listing, which includes screening (which I think costs an additional $1).