All Forum Posts by: Blair Russell

@Richard Ibeh Not to be contrary, but in 5 years, I (and no one on my team) has ever had to go anywhere at 2 am, lol! 

I have one person for each rental who takes sole responsibility for responding to clients helping them with checkin and cleaning. I share the calendar with them and have never missed a clean.  

Airbnb solicits reviews for you. 

Check comps on the listing sites and pricing is relatively easy. On Airbnb you can set parameters within their auto-pricing system to maximize rents.

You said it yourself you don't even really need to screen don't even need to screen. You can set, ID and positive review requirements and they do it for you. 

I stand by it being much easier than people imagine.

@Chad C. Not all of my rentals are in Vegas but the ones that are are just about a mile from The Strip. They aren't financed because they were so cheap when they were bought (Vegas was hit hard by the bubble) .

@Paolo Ruggieri I agree with @Sean Walton I did it with no experience, no books, no BP, it seems daunting but it's not that hard once you start. Ask other hosts, get feedback from guests,  I wouldn't waste the money on a PM unless you really feel it will be too much.

My properties are 2-4 bedrooms in areas just outside of the central tourist zone. I haven't tried anything larger yet but maybe that should be a goal. 2-4 are the easy for me to manage myself, can be picked up cheap, and turned over quickly. @Chad C. All my properties are out of state, and often I am out of country, so my team is crucial and I have worked with the same people for years now, very little turnover in personnel. We own them all. 

@Myka Artis I wouldn't go that far, I just wouldn't put all my eggs in the basket of one corporation with its own interests in mind. 

@Ariel Smith Oh believe me I know the game, I've had a lot of experience with the resolution center and host guarantee. Most times the guest will just pay and it is fine, but when they are fussy it is a different story. I've had a couple of experiences where the terms for the Host Guarantee were not practical for the situation, and I think they generally side with guests. For example you need to submit a claim before the next guests checks-in, well often I have same day changeovers so that gives me three hours to clean and process all the information or worse try to get a repair estimate done. If I don't they will deny the claim outright. Once I replaced an appliance that a guest broke because I only had one day before the next rental. Well Airbnb rejected that because they said I should have tried to get it repaired even though to do that would have easily cost more (expedited service) and wouldn't have been done in time, leaving my only option to cancel the next guests one day before. Once I was denied because I couldn't "prove" the guest did it, like it wasn't broken before they got there and it is now wasn't enough. Just silly things like that. I've learn to let a lot of things go and not rely on Airbnb for big things, that's why I have STR insurance.

@Jennifer L. Sent you a PM.

There are a couple of threads on tiny houses, and airstreams you may want to read. 

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/530/topics/22...

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/530/topics/31...

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/223/topics/32...

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/311/topics/30...

I've had the cord cut since 2012 actually, still using the same Rokus I bought then. I have Netflix, Amazon Prime, and HBO sometimes. I also increased internet speed and got a local antennae. I have a simple step by step guide for using the TV and haven't had any complaints, Maybe once or twice in 5 years someone has complained because they wanted to watch a game on ESPN or something and I tell them somewhere in Vegas has it on! I have made it blatantly obvious on our listings now that we don't have cable.

I actually use my own account there and haven't had problems with people buying things I just say if they do I will take charge them for it. 

Left my job Jan 2015, haven't looked back.