Newbie STR owner again

[Holly Polf]

Thanks to all who offer great input and advice on this forum! I hope that in a year or two I can offer advice too!

Anyway, I am purchasing an STR in Villano Beach. Its currently an active listing with a management company. Although I would love to have a management company, I am not sure we can afford it starting out, so I am hoping to self-manage initially and hoping not to screw things up too much!

My question - We are set for a closing end of February. The property is already almost 100% booked for March, the calendar is not open after that. I know in her book Avery Carl recommends cancelling all current bookings and starting fresh, but the property is pretty turnkey and I really hate to lose those bookings and honestly would feel bad for the people who are planning their spring break vacations for next month thinking they have a great place to stay lined up.

One option Avery mentioned is having the property management company contact current bookings and asking them to cancel their bookings and rebook on the new listing. Has anyone done this successfully?

Has anyone kept a management company on staff for a month or two initially in a new market to give you time to get your own systems set up?

How have you navigated current bookings on an STR you have purchased?

Thanks in advance for any advice.