All Forum Posts by: Andrea Cole

1.Turnoverbnb for cleanings so there's never any confusion. I get notified when my crew accept cleanings, when they start cleaning and end cleaning, and Turnoverbnb then processes payment. They get paid as soon as they clean so it's a nice incentive. Plus calendars update automatically when booking change. Does all you'd need it to do. Turnoverbnb also helps you source cleaners. We found our crew there and they're GREAT!!

2. Superhost Tools or Smartbnb for messaging. This automates a lot of the communication after they book, like a booking confirmation message to set expectations, directions and access message a few days before check-in, check up message after 1st night to make sure they are comfortable, and checkout message morning of with reminder of what to do and to leave a review. 

3. I've been very underwhelmed with the reporting available in ALL tools so I've created my own using Google Sheets and Google Data Studio. I also use Google Data Studio to setup reports for the cleaners so they can get extra booking details, like why they're in town, guest count, pets, etc. This allows them to bother me less (lol). These are more advanced tools though but provide real value once you figure them out. 

We BRRRR'd our STR. We used a conventional loan. STR revenue doesn't count towards your income so you will need enough income to qualify for the new loan without including the STR revenue. And I haven't heard about many banks that will count STR revenue as income. I'm sure if you dug you'd find one but I think this is the reason you don't hear about STR BRRRRing often.

What is making you consider doing this? We run a STR that's a duplex (2BR/1BA and a 3BR/1BA ) and I would NEVER convert it to a single. In fact, we've considered doing other STR in our area and really only consider multi-family properties since the return is so much better. Just like long-term, having both keeps us covered if something happens in one unit or if there's vacancy. Also, I noticed that despite only have 1 extra bedroom, our 3 unit definitely has more wear and tear. So I'm really liking smaller units as STR since they have been easier to manage in our experience, both from a cleaning and maintenance standpoint. Also worth mentioning, we're not in a tourist area. We're a regular college town with a decent influx of business travel as well.

Our Airbnb is in a college area--we probably have 5-6 big schools in a 30 mi radius--and it's a smaller town (High Point, NC). The hotel selection isn't the best so our area has that going for us. BUT, the most important piece of info I discovered is the in-state/out-of-state ratio. The university closest to us is heavily out of state so we get a lot of booking for those visiting.  We don't get many from the other schools which have a high in-state %. I also track academic calendars (move-in weekend, parents weekend, graduation) and pump up the rates during those weekends since the area is flooded with traveling parents. Good luck!

We have 2 Airbnbs. One is a 2 BR/1BA and we pay $75 per turnover. It has 2 queen beds and is 1,200 sq ft. The other is a 3BR/1BA and we charge $90. It has 2 queen beds and 2 twin beds and it about 1,300 sq ft. In my listing, I make it clear that we 1. are clean freaks so we pay our cleaners more to guarantee our place is sparkingling clean and 2. pay our cleaners a living wage. The avg in my area is $50, so I think the explanation helps. I was worried when we went high on cleaning it would torpedo our bookings but so far, we haven't really felt it.

$1,600 per month for Chicago? That sounds LOW. As everyone has mentioned, you'd need to gross way more to make it worth it. Think 2-3x what it would rent for LT. That said, I think you need to do more research on what revenue to expect as an Airbnb. When estimating, I try to project weekday and weekend rates, then factor in occupancy for those days. Depending on how you plan to furnish it, you may want to use a service like AirDNA to determine an avg occupancy and shoot higher/lower based on your design plans. Good luck!

What @Greg Downey said is correct and I know because I'm currently in the refi stage of my BRRR on our Airbnb. Our local credit union has had no issues so far with it being a STR and we're getting a 70% LTV. Luckily our income is high enough to qualify for the refi since we don't have 2 yrs worth of tax returns--we just started hosting in January. Finding a lender was not an issue for me. The only snag some will experience doing BRRRR on STR is having enough income to qualify for the cash-out refi since the STR income won't count for a while.

1. We use duvets over the comforters and wash the duvets every time.

2. Replace when worn. No washing.

3. One on the roll, one extra in the closet. More downstairs.

4. Our cleaner is pretty thorough each time so it doesn't ever get dirty enough to need a deep clean.

I've heard hotels only wash 2-3 times a year, which is horrifying. 

We run an Airbnb in High Point, NC. This time of the year is Furniture Market, which carries our highest daily rates of the year. We have a guest that was supposed to arrive last night from Texas but her plane got delayed due to weather so she won't be arriving until today. And, she's given indication she could be a difficult guest. Even though she hasn't asked, should we offer a partial refund? My husband thinks we shouldn't but I'm leaning towards a 50% refund as a gesture of good will. The nightly rate is $175, so we're only talking ~$88. Is this giving money away? Am I being too generous??

What @John Underwood said. I've also used data from AirDNA before. If there are enough rentals in your market, I've found the data to be OK from a benchmarking standpoint. For me, it has underestimated performance, which is good. Always nice to exceed your monthly goals.