STR / MTR Question

STR / MTR Question

Member since 2021 · 35 posts · 16 votes

BP friends,

My wife and I have a house in Arvada, CO. It's a 5 bed, 4 bath 4000 SF single-family home that we're currently using as a short-term rental. An arbitrage company recently approached me offering to pay us, per month, about what we're making per month as an STR. My first thought was that to be able to make the same amount of $ per month without actively managing it sounds pretty enticing. But, my second thought was that if the arbitrage company is able to generate substantially more per month than I currently do, then why can't I?

We have it listed through RedAwning, a company that markets the property on many of the usual channels  - AirBnB, Booking.com, VRBO etc. 

The home isn't super close to anything, but is relatively close to a lot of things. Hospitals, Golden CO, Denver CO, Boulder CO, Olde Town Arvada etc. are all within a 20-30 minute drive. 


From your experience(s), what else can I be doing to generate more and higher-dollar bookings with this property? 


Here's a link to the  AirBnB listing


Thanks in advance for any advice from experienced MTR and STR investors.

Neil

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Rental Property Investor · Ocean Springs, MS · Member since 2022 · 349 posts · 301 votes
3y

Ditch RedAwning and do it yourself. Get Hospitable, Pricelabs, and Turno. List it on AirBnB, VRBO, and maybe Booking.com which can all be managed by Hospitable. Get a Schlage Encode lock for the front door, Hospitable will automatically generate codes for the guests. Fix the "Where You'll Sleep" the bunk rooms aren't correct from what I can see. Clean the windows, stage it up nice with everything in place and pay a professional to retake your pictures showing the actual foosball/ping pong/etc in place. Use ChatGPT to write an inviting listing. And take all the advice already given above, not a piece of it that I don't agree with. 

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  • Member since 2018 · 7 posts · 7 votes
    3y
    I'm a Realtor who stages the houses that I list.
    I had a vacation rental for 5 years. It's hard work.

    Comments about your house:
    It's a beautiful home. Pictures:
    #1 It shows 2 houses, the driveway and the garbage can. Not an inviting, attractive first picture. Try to avoid showing all surrounding homes. You are not selling the driveway. Show what you want to sell (rent).
    #4 The kitchen towels are messy. Every detail matters.
    #29 The foosball table is blurry, Not good.
    #31 Set all tables so they look inviting

    Rent it for 2-3 days. Most people don't want to be obligated to a min of 5 days.
    Check out your competition. See what they are doing to attract guests.
    Get more positive comments.

    Good luck!
  • Luke CarlPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Tennessee Florida · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    3y

    But isn’t arbitrage really just property management without license? 

    I wouldn’t do the arbitrage deal but I might look for a different manager if you think someone can do better. 

  • Michael BaumPro Member
    Olympia, WA · Member since 2016 · 8k+ posts · 7k+ votes
    3y

    Ok @Neil Smith, let's see what we have here. What is RedAwning charging you? I assume it is 10%.

    Do you handle the bookings, cleaner/handyman communication and guests?

    So I would ditch RedAwing and list it yourself. No reason to use them.

    You have a 4.4 star rating which isn't very good so you aren't losing much. You really just need to list it on AirBNB and VRBO. Maybe Booking.com after they get done fixing their STR piece of the platform.

    Arbitrage is a hit or miss. Mostly miss IMHO. Have you check out this company? Most of these "companies" are just a person without 2 nickles to rub together trying to build cash.

    Seeing as you are already doing the hard part, you can do all of this yourself and increase your profits after getting rid of your middle manager.

  • Real Estate Agent · Smoky Mountains, TN · Member since 2022 · 1k+ posts · 984 votes
    3y

    You could look at a company like Mount that helps you rent other items to make additional rent that are kept in or at the property.


    Mount (rentmount.com)

  • Drew SygitBusiness Member
    Property Manager · Royal Oak, MI · Member since 2012 · 12k+ posts · 9k+ votes
    3y

    @Neil Smith recommend a LOT of investigation of the arbitrage company, as many are one-man-bands that leave owners high & dry when things don't work out for them.

  • Rental Property Investor · Ocean Springs, MS · Member since 2022 · 349 posts · 301 votes
    3y

    Ditch RedAwning and do it yourself. Get Hospitable, Pricelabs, and Turno. List it on AirBnB, VRBO, and maybe Booking.com which can all be managed by Hospitable. Get a Schlage Encode lock for the front door, Hospitable will automatically generate codes for the guests. Fix the "Where You'll Sleep" the bunk rooms aren't correct from what I can see. Clean the windows, stage it up nice with everything in place and pay a professional to retake your pictures showing the actual foosball/ping pong/etc in place. Use ChatGPT to write an inviting listing. And take all the advice already given above, not a piece of it that I don't agree with. 

  • Investor · Member since 2022 · 1k+ posts · 754 votes
    3y

    Def self manage! Read Avery Carl’s book!

  • Member since 2023 · 40 posts · 17 votes
    3y

    List on Furnished Finders for MTRs! Might not necessarily generate more high-dollar bookings, but might fill up your calendar and improve occupancy if that's a concern. 

    As for pricing, would recommend not using Airbnb Smart Pricing. Always seems like they set rates too low. I'd recommend Price Labs (if you want to pay for a tool), or you can look at nearby Airbnb's pricing calendar for free on data.rabbu and just adjust manually.

  • Property Manager · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2021 · 54 posts · 29 votes
    3y

    @Neil Smith I think you can do it yourself. Up to now it seems you’ve relied on RedAwning to do the legwork for you and it’s not working out. A 4.5 with 7 reviews isn’t good. I’d recommend building g an entirely new listing and starting over. I’d be happy to consult with you about PriceLabs and help you learn how to price for your market. It’s not as hard as you think once you understand the market data. Let me know if I can help!

    Jeremy Rosen 

    Your Home Away Management, LLC

    www.yourhomeawaymanagement.com

  • Member since 2021 · 35 posts · 16 votes
    3y

    Thanks Jeremy. Let's find a time to connect later next week. How about Friday the 28th?

    -Neil

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