First time getting into STR

[Priyo Lahiri]

Greetings everyone,

Relatively new reader of this forum. We have been doing LTR for a while some 2000 miles away with a property manager. That is not working out very well (primarily due to the PM) and moving our assets to GA. We are closing on a property in Blue Ridge area this friday and did some research on STR PM's and honestly kinda astonished by the amount they charge. The lowest we found is 25% and some are at 35% !!

Reading this forum it looks like this can be done all remotely if you have a good cleaning company and a handyman who can be your boots on the ground. We have managed to get a few contacts that we are meeting this weekend. We are 2 hours away from the cabin and we will be there at least once a month. Upon speaking with the cleaning company and the handyman, everything sounds unicorn and rainbows... they wont do the guest management, but everything else they are already doing for 15-20 cabins and seems confident.

We have never done this so its giving us some jitters. While I scour through this forum, can anyone point us to the right direction for automation software they use? I have come across some like Lodgify, OwnerRez, iGMS, but unsure what the main differences are. also need something that would integrate with the Nest thermostat and the door locks. while I can do those remotely, it would be nice if the thermostat can be set to certain temp and the door codes changed when the guests check out automatically via some workflow.

any inputs is highly appreciated.