All Forum Posts by: Mary Beth Blackwell

Hi BP,

Here's a video talking through Airbnb 'bed sizing' with my mattress supplier and expert.. PLUS.. a bonus strategy on how to hybrid a room to accomodate kids AND adults that could benefit you!

Bed Sizing an Airbnb: 2 Twins v. Full

This past week during a furnish and design project, an out of state investor client was considering switching an STR bedroom to 2 twins v. full to increase the number of "heads/bed".

We talked through room size, Airbnb bed sizing with our mattress expert, and discussed a quick strategy about Twin XLs combined equals a Cali King. 

I really like this as a hybrid strategy to accomodate a family OR a group of adults. I'm looking forward to testing this idea in Tampa Bay/St. Pete and will be doing this in the future!
Having this flex option could be a strong differentiator to separate you from the competition in the market.


Let me know what you think!

Thanks,

Mary Beth

I’ve been hearing host mention guests are reaching out to rebook or cancel their reservations due to bad weather. 

Some hosts are asking for advice on how to handle… 

If this is you, here’s a script I use…. you may want to wordsmith it to your style.

Cancellation/Rebook Request Script
1: Ask guest if they purchased travel insurance.

2: Yes? Great, they can cancel and rebook with no cancellation fees.

3: No? I’m really sorry but we highly encourage purchasing travel insurance in the event your trip is interrupted by a flight cancellation (..or, whatever is causing the interruption). We’re still open and able to accommodate you. Unfortunately, cancelled flights aren’t considered an extenuating circumstance by Airbnb to refund you 100%. You’re welcome to cancel but we will have to stick with our original cancellation policy since we are still open. 

Good Luck and Happy Holidays, BP!

Is it possible to share the listing?

Happy to run a market analysis to double check it’s priced right for the neighborhood in St Pete.

@Dustin Pavlik  

Yeah, incorporated St. Pete has a "30day min up to 3x per year" restriction, but if you search online you'll see Airbnb's all over Pinellas County. The city of st. pete is aware and considering sending out rules and restriction education to local residents, but since the address isn't shared before booking, and it adds more cost and resources to regulate, the city isn't proactively cracking down. Unless neighbors are complaining.. you're ok. 

There are a few muni's in Pinellas that are STR friendly. Largo, Palm Harbor and more.

I recommend to clients getting into STRs in St Pete... analyze the deal and check the numbers as an STR... AND... MTR and LTR, or could you sell and make a profit as a worst case exit strategy. Margins are tough here in the St. Pete market but there is always a deal to be found.

You may want to plug in with a wholesaler or someone who has access to off-market deals for bigger discounts in PP to increase your margin spread. 

$/sqft is still high here in the 'burg. I like to use this metric as one of the benchmarks for understanding whether a deal is terrible, ok, good, or amazing.  

This and run it through Mashvisor and Wheelhouse for STR market data inputs to plug in to the analysis.

@Dave Stokley

Thanks for checking out the video and the feedback!

Yeah, I was saying, "as we're turning the property"  I can see what you're saying and it does sound like "attorney". I guess learning how to text overlay on YouTube...like you see all over social... would be ideal to clear it up a bit. Working on those skills. :)

I honestly never thought about rugs in the bedrooms. I came in to PM after the property launched. My eye didn't notice since it was a completed room, perhaps? Ironically, our PM services offer Design + Furnish for clients who are in the pre-launch stage, and we usually add rugs to pull a space together -- living room, dining, bedroom. Thanks for this pointing it out. I can see where it would add visual appeal. The question I ask next is.. since there are no rugs, would there be a positive ROI to add them in? Right now, Columbus House is avg'ing a 82% OR across the last 3mths. When we took over property management. I don't see a rug addition resulting in an increased nightly rate so I don't know there would be an increase in to monthly RevPar. We haven't heard from guests suggesting it would be a bonus to have rugs or, any complaints the floor is cold, uncomfortable, etc. I like the idea from a design standpoint, but probably wouldn't do just yet until we see it as a business value add. Let me know if you see it differently.

@John Underwood Thank you! I put this in the PM agreement with clients. Vist 2x a month min. 

I think it's a good way to stay on top of the property's current condition, ensure the systems and teams are operating well, and catch any maintenance issues that may need to be fixed or addressed. Sort of like being the property expert. I like this in the event issues come up during a guest stay. As a PM, you can troubleshoot and resolve quickly, or... in some instances.. call BS on a guest, because you know the place better than anyone else. 

I know some PMs like bringing on VAs to manage guest communications. I think it's great way to automate a PM business. I often wonder how this translates to the guest experience when someone who's never stepped on site is the person on the other line problem solving an issue with the guest. This seems tough to do effectively. But, I could be missing something..

I lend toward the set-up.. whoever from our team is going on site is also the main POC for guests at that property. I believe having first hand knowledge is best for guest happiness... which drives more five star reviews.. leading to better rankings and guest conversion on OTAs.. and ultimately grows your business. Different styles, I suppose. 

Hey BP,

As a part of managing STRs, I like to walkthrough properties at least 2x a month to keep tabs on property condition, guest experience and take care of any maintenance issues that pop-up. 

Today I recorded a walkthrough between guests at "Columbus House " here in Ybor, Tampa.  

I touched on a few areas I typically check on during guest turns in the video. 

Enjoy!  

Hi Cash Buyers -- 

I have an off market property coming available next week. More details -- here.   Buy & Hold or straight forward Fix & Flip.

- 2/1 

- 716sqft

- 1.5mi from upcoming Amazon Delivery Station & Tesla Dealership in Lealman

Hi Gordon,

Yes, see below:

Checkout Copeland Morgan for LTR property management. 

Good Luck!

Hi BP,

I run STR property management down in St. Pete/Tampa, FL. One of the top question I receive from homeowners and investors is, "How much could I make each month if I STR'd instead of LTR'd?"

Since this question comes up quite a bit, I created a "LTR v. STR Estimator" on our website to help illustrate the difference. It's a simple, straightforward tool. 

I'm curious if would you find this tool helpful, putting yourself in the shoes of someone looking to switch or decide which rental model works best for their scenario. Of course, there's trade-offs across both options.   

Thanks in advance!