All Forum Posts by: Paul Cox

@Jason Stoltzfus,

Definitely following...I'm a little more hands on but have just signed on up for Price Labs and are in my 30 day window trying to learn how to best use it.

Will have to look in to this Guesty for Hosts, though again, I like my messages to be a little bit more personalized for each guest. 

We have 3 properties now and our cleaners take care of all supplies for our cabin in TN, Our cleaners in Branson let us know when we're running low on supplies and we send her an Amazon order with all the things she needs. Our property in Virginia is still being set up, so not sure how supplies will go with that one. We're meeting our possible new cleaners next Saturday, so that will be part of the discussion.

We use instant book on both AirbnB and VRBO and haven't ever had any issues thus far after 2.5 years.

We use labels for our cabinets / drawers / light switches, but use a more transparent type of tape that doesn't jump out at you from a distance, and our guests like that as well.

I have yet to send a lease agreement for a guest to sign for staying in any of our properties. When the guest agrees to our rules by booking via AirBnB or VRBO, that's all I've felt I have needed. Again, have never had an issue thus far.

As we grow, I know that automating as much as possible will be crucial, so thanks for starting the thread.

All the Best

Paul

Yep, I wished we had gotten a local contractor to do all the stuff we've been doing over the last 10 months. We had contractors for the major stuff (HVAC, Electrical, Flooring) but man, kick me if I ever want to tackle a fixer upper on my own again.

Congratulations and welcome to the Nut! Have you joined the STR owners Facebook page?

@Eric Bender

Where in Massanutten did you purchase? The place that we're still working on is on Link Rd. Best of Luck my fellow STR friend

Paul

 Magaly 

yes we did...I can share, but like a lot of places, they are all about 3-4 months out from being able to get started with new homeowners

Just did this for a 4BR 2 Ba chalet style house in central VA that only had window units and BB heat. I had an air handler and duct work installed in the crawlspace to handle the first floor and 3 split units installed on the 2nd floor. House is just under 2000 sf and after waiting almost 10 weeks for them to fit me in, it cost me...drum rollllllll...21K

Matt, 

That's outstanding...We've been looking at RV parks as well. I get weekly listings of RV parks for sale all over the country and they intrigue me as far as the potential for value add...Looking forward to seeing your progression in this and what you learn that you'll be able to pass on...All the best!

Counting my blessings that we've had a pretty uneventful 2021 thus far. Only issue was a call that the NEST thermostat gave an error code and that the cabin was starting to get warm. I called our maintenance guy and he went over there and found the issue down in the crawl space. A simple clean out of the drain tube and problem solved. However, we purchased our 3rd STR back in May in Massanutten, VA. My wife had said she wouldn't mind tackling a fixer upper, so we purchased a 4BR / 2BA cabinish home that was built in 1981 that has needed A LOT of work which we've been working on when my job doesn't have me out of town. Finding a contractor has been near impossible. We are putting in a whole new HVAC system which has taken almost 8 weeks for them to start. Anyway, I was working in one of the upstairs bedrooms where I had identified some water damage and so I begin to cut away the paneling under the window and when I pulled it back, HELLO, there was an active yellow jacket nest that was about the size of a Cantaloupe Melon. Needless to say, they began to swarm the room with me running to get out and tripping over molding and other tools. Fortunately, no stings. After they settled down, I went back into the room with this Home Defense spray from Home Depot and sprayed the nest directly, ran out and shut the door stuffing a drop cloth underneath the door so they couldn't get out. Today, all are dead and my pest guy came out and removed the nest. After doing so, I find that there doesn't seem to be any plywood on the outside of the house, or at least where the yellow jackets were getting into the house. Now we may be looking at another big job of getting siding put on along with all new windows. If I ever say I want to do another fixer upper...just shoot me :)

We closed on a 4BR/2BA chalet/cabinish home in Massanutten back in May...it's a fixer upper, so we're still working on getting it up to speed. New HVAC system, new electric panel box, new flooring etc. It's a slow go though because contractors are so backed up. Probably a fall opening, but we're excited to get it up and going.

This forum has all kinds of training as well as motivation, success stories and the what to do about this issues spread throughout. There are people on hear that are willing to give their advice and experiences as well as hard cold facts about stopping the talk and walking the walk when it comes to STR. Before you pay any money for a coach, read everything you can on this forum...Ask questions after if you haven't found an answer already by reading everything on this forum. You'll find there are many here that started just like you (Myself included). There are some great mentors on this forum that will help you break the friction from the seat of your pants on the cushion of your sofa. Its not for everybody, but when I have been asked what do you wish you'd done different when starting in the STR world, I always answer "I wish I'd started sooner"! Good Luck and devour the information contained here.

All the Best

Paul

When we started our first STR over a year ago, we hired a couple that was referred to us by both our realtor and lender. I had no checklist and still don't. My thought is that unless you're close enough to go behind your cleaners and see if they checked every box on your checklist, then you have to trust that they know how to do the job that you are paying them to do. The proof that they are, is the reviews that will come from each guest. As @Luke Carl told me, your cleaners are pretty much in charge and are your eyes and ears and will be in large part responsible for you earning those super host and premier partner ratings from AirBnB and VRBO. If the reviews fall then you fire them and bring on new cleaners. I set my expectations with our cleaners when we first hired them, and then let them run. Just my experience though.  All the Best

Paul