All Forum Posts by: Ben Hooper

@John Underwood i'll have to double check on those. the towels are a good point, my cleaners fold them differently, so i could see how that might tie into the expectations. I don't have cable since i figure netflix is usually enough for most guests.

@Michael Greenberg good points, i like the digital antenna idea! i'll have to retake the fuzzy photos, i didn't notice those at first. 

@Paul Sandhu haha, great idea :D

I purchased a cabin in the smokies a few months ago and have gotten a handful of visitors and reviews. One of the consistent areas of improvement is the value rating. While i know some guests will nitpick, i expect most will provide an accurate value judgement. 

From my other listings, i've seen small amenity additions have a lasting impact on overall ratings and value ratings. I've added the same things to the cabin (his and hers toiletries, spare toothbrushes, snacks, wine, roku streaming, etc), but they haven't had the same effect. 

I already have a hot tub, rocking chairs, fireplace, and indoor jacuzzi at the listing.

For the cabin owners out there, what are the touches you've added that guests comment on or have seen a boost from?

A few from the last few years:

1. make everything standardized and as part of a process. I have king beds in all properties with the same linens, templated messages are sent out automatically, cleaning is handled by someone else, etc. 

2. invest the money upfront to get nice things/ extra amenities. I think guests are more forgiving of some dust/hair if there is a lot of little nice touches.

3. lots of oxyclean

I agree with Paul. Picking a strategy and going all in on it will be the best way. If you're buying a place, each of those strategies would lead to very different properties you'd likely buy.

 check out airdna and pay for your state's data. See what areas in town are the hot spots. That's the biggest first step for short term rentals. 

I just stumbled on this youtube channel, after watching a couple of videos, it seems to have good content that could a newbie or a more experienced STR host wanting to rent out properties from landlords:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvwmrPfn8ff-rTlc9YoH7Bg

I just recently bought a second property and have never managed rental properties during recessions. For people with multiple properties, what's the experience like during a recession. I imagine there are less visitors, and some months where expenses aren't fully covered.

@Julie McCoy interesting, thank you for your insight. I was planning on a THOW so it could be moved if a current location wasn't working out or had new regulations against it. I thought partnering with a land owner and paying rent might make the most sense, instead of parking in a rv park or similar. 

@Ethan Cooke Those are good points. Did the operators mention anything that stuck out to you about their experience?

@Stephanie D. It seems there's a good amount of regulations around tiny homes in your area. Do you think that's the norm?

Ive recently found a site to buy and sell tiny homes. It got me thinking what the logistics of running one as a str would be. I've searched this forum and an airbnb specific one as well and it seems it's very rare/not talked about much. From rough calculations, it seems that it'd be a smaller capital expenditure than a regular property while still demanding high nightly rates for the novelty of it.

Does anyone have experience as a tiny house host?

@Kevin Wattenbarger another thing you could consider is asking for higher rent payments and possibly add an amendment to the lease that he will pay for repairs (except for structural, plumbing, AC)