All Forum Posts by: Brian Barch

My primary cleaner gets a text via hospitable that she has a cleaning.  When cleaning is done, she sends a text and a Venmo her.

She recently got a different primary job, and thus she can't do same day, weekday turns.  So I started using a backup cleaner on Turno.

I agree that Turno is expensive, at the same time, part of self managing and scaling is that I make it manageable.  I don't want to get into a scenario where I have 6 STRs and have to text and Venmo all of them.  TBH, despite the cost I prefer using Turno.

It depends. Is it costly? Yes, but that doesn't make it bad if it unlocks future profits for you. I would use the minimum I needed to make the STR successful, and have a backup plan if the STR lost money.

In other words, this might be best suited for someone with a big W2 shovel, they just don't have the full downpayment built up yet, but if they ran into future issues or slow STR months, their W2 could cover it (and the HELOC payment).

Also, you have to really research your STR investment first to be almost certain it will profit.  
But STR investing can be fickle over a SHORT TERM horizon.  I remember when people were doing whatever they could to buy a rental cabin in Blue Ridge GA near me.  So many gold rush stories.  Two years later and that market is down 30% while costs are up.  What seemed like a great investment 2 years ago would be a poor one now......which is why you need to go in with a long term horizon in mind.

I certainly view STR as higher risk, higher reward.

You are dealing with discretionary spending from your customer base vs necessity spending with an LTR.  Factor in regulations and being dependent on OTAs, and it seems pretty clear to me.  That said, I might find a different lender.

I use it. Cuts down on the back and forth. Haven’t had any issues yet

I’m in Atlanta. Columbus has some strong dynamics…cheap prices, 3 F500 companies, military, hospital, kayaking enthusiasts, Kia car plant.

It has as many bad parts as good, so do your research, but I do believe if it is just about the investment, there’s some money to be made there

In general, I price myself 10-15% high outside of my avg lead time, and discount fairly aggressively inside the lead time.

This strategy attempts to capture both the planners who will pay a small premium to secure a good data ahead of time, and the last minute deal seekers.

In general, it seems many people don’t vary between weekend and weekday pricing enough IMHO.

2 ideas I’ve toyed with… in 2+ years I’ve never not booked a weekend. Can the prices go higher still here?

And 2, this idea that people will pay a higher prices simply by virtue of you charging a higher price. In other words, your price determines the perceived value in the guests mind, no different than a luxury purse fetching $1000 while another brand only $75, even though they are both made out of leather. 

I’m guest favorite, top 5%, all 5 star reviews…. What would happen if I did something radical like double the price? A part of me feels like some people might pay it! It would be an extreme high/low strategy. Price at $400/night, but discount down to $100/night within the final week….

Don't compete on price!  Compete on photos/amenities/good reviews; put all of your energy there.

I think these photograph well, but ultimately will lead to an underwhelming experience for many guests who underestimate the work involved.  I'm open to being wrong though....

1) continue to maximize and hone your listing over a 2 week period.  Don't assume all professional photos are the same.  If you need to get better ones, do it.  It will pay for itself the first month

2) Automate guest communication.  Airbnb CAN do this for you, but I recommend Hospitable which is much easier

3) I like Pricelabs for dynamic pricing, but worry about this in month 2.  

4) don't fret over bad guests, rather focus on all the things in your control that would discourage them.  Pricing, booking lead time minimums, the copy in your listing, etc

5) make small connections with your guests, which will lead to 5 star reviews.  If a guest shoots a message like "we are so excited to stay for our 5th anniversary..."  Make sure to chime in, wish them a happy anniversary.  Relate to them based on where they might be traveling from, suggest a local hike/restaurant/attraction you like.  These little things are the things that make guests feel connected to you.

The rest will sort itself out!