All Forum Posts by: Tyler Divin

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.

New Names, Same Great Protection

Our screening and protection products consistently get amazing feedback... our product names, not quite as much! After a lot of brainstorming, user feedback, sense-checking, and more brainstorming, we've decided to simplify our naming conventions.

Our new products will be called screening and protection, eliminating confusion about tiers, types, and customization.

Learn more about our new, improved product offerings or view our pricing tables.

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).

As mentioned, shockingly, there is no option to transfer a listing (as simple as it would be for Airbnb & Vrbo to create).

What we do is get the guest contact information and booking details from the previous owner/host/property manager, and draft a message to existing guests from the previous owner/host/property manager, explaining the situation and asking the previous owner/host/property manager to send it to the guest then almost immediatly after we reach out to the guest following up ideally by phone.  We explain the situation, explain that nothing will change, and sometimes we offer a little discount.  We've done this several times, and the guests have been great, very understanding.  They re-book on the new listing, and they cancel on the old listing (so that the previous owner/host/property manager does not get penalized on their cancellation rate).  It's extremely tedious and unnecessary, but it's the only way to transfer bookings.  If you want to preserve those existing bookings, DO NOT let the previous owner/host/property manager cancel them and then reach out after that because Airbnb/Vrbo will send the guest a message that their booking has been canceled and suggest alternative places to book, with really good suggestions.  By the time you make contact with the guest, they will have likely already chosen and booked another place to stay.

Using bookings alone to judge your Airbnb performance is a blunt tool. Rankings shift for many reasons—sometimes it’s the algorithm, but often it’s simply increased competition in your market. What worked a few years ago may not hold today, especially in highly competitive areas where new listings are constantly raising the bar with better photos, amenities, and pricing.

Airbnb’s algorithm weighs multiple factors: guest reviews, host reliability, listing quality, and increasingly, AI analysis of your photos and descriptions. If competitors have improved while your property has stayed the same, it’s natural for your visibility (and bookings) to drop.

To move from guessing to clarity, I recommend using a tool like Rankbreeze. It shows exactly where you’re ranking now versus before, helping you identify what’s changed and where to focus improvements.  

We have a property that we personally own in Helen, GA, and we allow up to 3 dogs.  It certainly increases the wear and tear on the home, but the gross income stays very high.  We look at the pet fees as a wear and tear fund.

Nice post @Dan Gandee. You hit the nail on the head; each STR is a mini-business. It certainly isn't passive investing. Even LTRs aren't as passive as people think. I personally know more than a few people who got into LTR and were shocked at how much time and effort it takes. One friend of mine sold his LTRs because of all the headaches, and then called me to get my thoughts about re-investing the proceeds into a STR. My advice was...if you thought your LTRs were a lot of work, multiply that times at least 10 for a STR :)

We use QuickBooks for our VRM/co-hosting business and REI Hub at $25/month for property-level accounting on our personal properties.