Big Bear Vacation Rental for Newbies

[Stan Esperon]

Hi BP Community 

My buddy/partner and I are going into the world of REI together and have set our sites on Big Bear and a short-term vacation rental property. We plan to visit next week and are hoping to connect with other BPers or get BP referrals in the area (investors/property managers/agents etc.) who wouldn't mind giving us NEWBIES a few pointers. We really want to see what those of you who own or manage VRs think about BB and drop some knowledge as to what the pros and cons are. We are from Torrance which is about 130 miles away. Thanks and looking forward to connecting.

[Kris Markham]

@Jonathan Whitmore we were booked 170 nights in 2017 but could have done better if I wasn't so stubborn on price the first half of the year.  We didn't have any bookings in April and only 2 nights in May because I refused to lower the price.  This year we should easily go over 200 with smarter pricing in the low months.

We use Laura's Cleaning Personel and have been happy with them.  They have been the key to self-management for us.  Even though they only charge us for cleaning, we can ship them supplies, ask them to do odd jobs, and they always let us know if anything is damaged by a guest.

Hot tub is really the only stress that the Cabin creates for us.  Whenever it needs to be cleaned and refilled it takes a couple days to heat back up which is obviously a big negative for guests expecting to use it.  I've refunded guests $100 here and there when the Hot Tub isn't hot enough to enjoy.