Getting started with a vacation rental

[Gary Dawson]

Hi there! 

Just about to buy my first vacation rental in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge/Sevierville area. Have been pouring over properties as well as monitoring prices/bookings on AirBNB and VRBO. Very excited but want to really make sure I cover all the bases I need to before I pull the trigger. Have some questions...

Besides AirBnb and VRBO, do you list with other local sites in the area?

How do you interface with housekeepers to keep up with check-ins and check-outs?

Since I am managing out of state, do housekeepers inspect for damage and stolen items? If so, do you create an inventory list for them to check each time?

How do you deal with supplies like tea, coffee, sugar, snacks, toilet paper?

If you want to leave items for visitors like a welcome basket, how do you coordinate that?

If buying a property that has a great history of reviews, can you keep that history going on the STR sites so you are not starting from scratch to get reviews?

Any other advice that anyone can give me as to what other things need to be dealt with before going on the market would be appreciated!!

[Jon Crosby]

Hi @Gary Dawson, here are my quick and dirty answers to your questions (from my personal experience).  Feel free to reach out for any other questions I can help with! Best of luck on your new venture! 

----------------------------------------

Besides AirBnb and VRBO, do you list with other local sites in the area?

ØI use Evolve who feeds my listings to Airbnb, VRBO/HomeAway and Flipkey.(Here is a link to a BP article I wrote on supplementing OTA listings as well)

How do you interface with housekeepers to keep up with check-ins and check-outs?

ØI use a MailChimp automation that is tied to a Google Calendar.Basically I just plug the name, date and email of the guest into a Google calendar entry and emails are automatically sent to my Housekepers and they confirm back via email.

Since I am managing out of state, do housekeepers inspect for damage and stolen items? If so, do you create an inventory list for them to check each time?

ØDepends, but in my general experience you are going to get a better job of this pre/post inspection from a dedicated Property Management service.I personally however do rely on my housekeepers because they have historically done a decent job.

How do you deal with supplies like tea, coffee, sugar, snacks, toilet paper?

ØQuarterly trips to Costco and I drive the 2 hours up to the property to restock.I also have agreement with my housekeepers that if we run out of something they can restock and I will reimburse them.

If you want to leave items for visitors like a welcome basket, how do you coordinate that?

ØI tried this at first and it was more hassle than it was worth, nobody ever really appreciated it or mentioned in my reviews (which were more based on providing a good experience and clean home).I will say that a more expensive basket with maybe champagne could go a lot further but I really don’t think it’s going to persuade anyone reading the review to choose a property over another.

If buying a property that has a great history of reviews, can you keep that history going on the STR sites so you are not starting from scratch to get reviews?

ØNot generally, reviews are meant as a reflection of the host and the property, so usually you want to bring your own reviews in.Also, new listings often get priority on search results for some OTAs