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All Forum Posts by: Calvin Baughman

Calvin Baughman has started 5 posts and replied 73 times.

Quote from @Wesley Myers:

New pool this year for our STR here in the Panhandle. Looking at pool companies for service. I'm hearing it needs to be serviced at least twice a week as a rental? Is this correct? If so, my budget for pool cleaning was way off ($150/mth vs $400/mth). How often are you having your pool checked and cleaned for your STR? Any other tips or advice on this would be great.


 Hey, have you ever tried Turno? It's mostly for cleaning the house, but there are lots of different professionals in the app with specialized services, including the maintenance of the pool.

Well, this is a tricky one. I think you should definitely get the documents proving that the dog really is a service animal. But this whole story sounds like they're lying. First the dog was a Christmas present (a common situation), and in the next interaction the whole tone of the conversation was changed, as if the dog was there because of special circumstances (being a service animal).

Quote from @Ryan Pritchard:

Hi BP Family,

I am exploring the short term rental market and was planning to self manage the property. One question that keeps coming up is how to handle the trash cans? I don't want my guests having to show up to a home with a full and smelly trash can that hasn't been dumped in the past week. How are other short term operators handling this issue? Thanks for all the insights!

Thanks,

Ryan


 Ask your cleaners to do it. You can create a checklist with detailed instructions on what you'd like the cleaner to do (and even add photos to make it more illustrative) on the Turno app.

Quote from @Pablo Flores:
Quote from @Calvin Baughman:
Quote from @Pablo Flores:

Hello,

     I am considering expanding to a third OTA. Potentially Google Vacation Rentals or Booking.com. Which do you all consider as the third best OTA? I think most people would agreer that Airbnb and VRBO are #1 and #2. I am currently getting about 65% of my bookings through Airbnb, 20% through VRBO and 15% through our website. I've refrained from expanding in the past because every OTA is so different and I have always been a believer in mastering a few OTA's instead of marketing on all of them and spreading myself too thin. But I don't think Airbnb has as much of a hold on the industry as years prior so I want to add another OTA to our mix. Would love to hear everyones thoughts! 

     FYI, I manage 31 homes and use Hostaway as a PMS. So integration with our system and visibility of fees on our PMS is very important.

Thanks

Pablo

Helios Vacation Rentals


 I don't know if "best" is the right term, but I believe that Booking.com will bring you more guests.


 What is your experience with Booking.com vs the other main channels?


 I'm probably not the best person to talk about all the other main channels, as I currently only use Airbnb. However, in terms of my experience with Booking.com and TripAdvisor (which I tried but didn't like), Booking.com seems easier to use and has better search results. So, I had more guests searching for my properties on Booking.com than on TripAdvisor.

Quote from @Pablo Flores:

Hello,

     I am considering expanding to a third OTA. Potentially Google Vacation Rentals or Booking.com. Which do you all consider as the third best OTA? I think most people would agreer that Airbnb and VRBO are #1 and #2. I am currently getting about 65% of my bookings through Airbnb, 20% through VRBO and 15% through our website. I've refrained from expanding in the past because every OTA is so different and I have always been a believer in mastering a few OTA's instead of marketing on all of them and spreading myself too thin. But I don't think Airbnb has as much of a hold on the industry as years prior so I want to add another OTA to our mix. Would love to hear everyones thoughts! 

     FYI, I manage 31 homes and use Hostaway as a PMS. So integration with our system and visibility of fees on our PMS is very important.

Thanks

Pablo

Helios Vacation Rentals


 I don't know if "best" is the right term, but I believe that Booking.com will bring you more guests.

Quote from @Brad Gibson:
Quote from @Calvin Baughman:
Quote from @Brad Gibson:

Does anyone have any recs for a management software for STR's?

I already use Hostfully guidebooks for a pair of MTR’s we are having great success with, but we simply manage the calendar and bookings between Airbnb and Furnished Finder. 

We are adding a STR to our portfolio in Arlington, TX in the entertainment district that is walking distance to Jerryworld and Globe Life Field & think we want to be available on several booking channels and would like dynamic pricing and a calendar sync feature

I saw a sales demo for Hostfully which ostensibly gets the property listed on multiple  channels and keeps the calendar straight to avoid double booking. 

Any insight from the resident experts on the best software to use to streamline management for a small set of MTR and STR (total 3 right now)?


 Hostfully is a solid choice, especially for listing on multiple channels and maintaining calendar accuracy. It supports dynamic pricing and syncs calendars to prevent double bookings. But I also recommend looking at the following software and seeing which one best suits your needs: Guesty, Avantio, Eviivo, Bookster, Hospitable, Hostaway, and Hosthub. I can't think of any others at the moment, but if anything comes to mind, I'll comment here.


 Thanks for the information. Very helpful. 


 You're welcome Brad!

Quote from @Brad Gibson:

Does anyone have any recs for a management software for STR's?

I already use Hostfully guidebooks for a pair of MTR’s we are having great success with, but we simply manage the calendar and bookings between Airbnb and Furnished Finder. 

We are adding a STR to our portfolio in Arlington, TX in the entertainment district that is walking distance to Jerryworld and Globe Life Field & think we want to be available on several booking channels and would like dynamic pricing and a calendar sync feature

I saw a sales demo for Hostfully which ostensibly gets the property listed on multiple  channels and keeps the calendar straight to avoid double booking. 

Any insight from the resident experts on the best software to use to streamline management for a small set of MTR and STR (total 3 right now)?


 Hostfully is a solid choice, especially for listing on multiple channels and maintaining calendar accuracy. It supports dynamic pricing and syncs calendars to prevent double bookings. But I also recommend looking at the following software and seeing which one best suits your needs: Guesty, Avantio, Eviivo, Bookster, Hospitable, Hostaway, and Hosthub. I can't think of any others at the moment, but if anything comes to mind, I'll comment here.

Quote from @Brooklyn McCarty:

I don't have back up cleaners. When hiring a cleaner, I do make sure they are not a one man or one woman show. Our very first cleaner was a one woman show and I learned my lesson. 


 I've never had problems finding a backup cleaner... But I think it would be more comfortable for me, to hire a crew next time. I'm not getting rid of the ones I already work with, but still...

Quote from @Kerry Baird:

@Spencer Martindale, Welcome to BP and thank you for your contribution.  Hope to see you more often!


 It was Definitely a great contribution. It gave another perspective to the whole conversation!

Quote from @Spencer Martindale:

Owner of a cleaning company here. Just be honest and tell the cleaners that they are back ups. Don't lie to them and say they are "trying out for the job". After about the 10th time they clean your property, they'll know they are the backups and may not respect you. We personally don't mind being backups. It just means we have a bigger network to get more buisness and grow.

On another topic if they clean your property once every few months I'd recommend reminding them anything specific that you want done with your property. Some people want the pillows arranged a certain way in a house and some people have asked us to pick up dog poop. Turno works well but I'd recommend asking other abnb owners in the area who they recommend. Helps cut out the middle man.


 Thanks Spencer, your opinion is really important and brings out the cleaner's point of view, which is what I'm aiming for.

Of course I don't want to mislead anyone, it's important to be honest. But I also don't intend to diminish anyone's work, and you saying that, helped me a lot to see it from another perspective.

I like Turno bc there's always someone available. When I asked my friends for recommendation, it was a nightmare to fit the cleaner's hours into my schedule. And some of the cleaners they recommend are people I've already worked with on the app. But thank you very much for sharing!