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Updated over 3 years ago,

User Stats

188
Posts
377
Votes
Clint Harris
  • Investor
  • Carolina Beach, NC
377
Votes |
188
Posts

Streamlining your Short Term Rental listings

Clint Harris
  • Investor
  • Carolina Beach, NC
Posted

Alright people, time for me to smack you with some more STR knowledge. So we bought a beach duplex in Carolina Beach, NC 2 blocks off the water, our downstairs 3/2 unit is on track to do 57k this year, which pays our mortgage, taxes, insurance, and cash flows about $1400 a month on a yearly average. So that's nice! The message immediately changed from "WHOO HOO! We're getting paid to live at the beach!" to "Uhhh, we have to move, our opportunity cost for our upstairs is another 50k, and with the bills paid, that's all profit".

So then when you go from 1 to 2 units, things slowly start to get more complicated. As we’ve grown to 8 units, there are quite a few things we’ve learned about streamlining that I thought I would share. When it’s done right, you can casually manage your properties from a distance if you decide to travel, and when dealing with one software platform or portal, it’s kind of like having 6 kids or 8 kids....after the first couple, you don’t really even notice when another one shows up.

First things first, you need high speed internet. We use 100 mbps, 5G. In our duplex and triplex units, one high speed internet account works fine for all the units on the property. In one triplex that is spread out, we use the Orbi WiFi extender, and it works great, highly recommend that if anyone needs to increase their WiFi range.

Once you have WiFi, get a Yale NEST Smart lock. This allows you to generate individual codes for each guest, lets you see through the app when they come and go, and you can set it so that after their check-out time, the code deactivates. You can also see when your cleaner arrives and leaves with their personal entry code, so if you pay them by the hour, it helps with your billing.

The smart thermostats are really cool, and you can also get the ones with body heat sensors or decibel meters if you’re worried about noise, but so far we’ve actually gone with the Mr Cool DIY split AC systems with the WiFi integration, and been very happy with them. They work great, are quick and inexpensive install, and are really good for our market where we often renovate little beach cottages and don’t want to run ductwork. It’s also easy to control the thermostat in between guests if you have a couple days before the next booking.

Here’s the number one most important thing. It’s your management software, 100%. There are several good ones, we started off looking hard at Guesty, but it’s expensive. We ended up going with Your Porter. It’s $7 a month per listing, but check this out. It links all calendars across all platforms in really time, so there is never any double bookings between AirBNB, Homeaway, booking, VRBO, travelocity, expedia, etc. It automates pretty much all communications. When someone books one of our listings, they get an instant greeting message, then they get another message the day before their booking with check in instructions. They get another welcome message once they have checked in, and a thank you message when they check out. We often get mentions of fantastic communication in our 5 Star reviews, but it’s not even us. It’s just a bot in the software, but people love it and have no idea. If people have a question, we write a detailed answer, and then save it in Your Porter with keywords, and then if anyone every asks a similar question, the answer auto-populates and goes out. The platform reduces our communications by about 90%. It also gives you one consolidated calendar, and allows you to print invoices for handymen, cleaners, or property management. The software is the key.

The software platform also automatically sends a notice to our cleaners when we have a booking, and then we ask them to send a confirmation reply. The only other thing we do for the cleaners is have a well working washer and dryer in place, a well stocked cleaning supplies closet, and then we have them do a deep clean once a month to clean fan blades, change vent filters, and restock the supply closet. When we have maintenance issues pop up, we have a great handyman on hand, but if its not an emergency, we forward the issue to our cleaner, and they coordinate with the handyman to go in and fix it the next time they are in to clean. That may seem like a lot, but when you control 5+ units, you would be surprised at how good of service your cleaners and handymen will give you. The cream rises to the top, and it’s true, rockstars know rockstars.

Ok, that’s probably enough for now. We’ve got a lot to share, so I’ll keep dropping little segments here and there. Thanks BP community!

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