All Forum Posts by: Dan C.

Thanks for the replies. To clarify, I'm not arguing the price that my cleaner charges, or the seasonality of her charges. As @Michael Baum suggested, the amount of work doesn't change with the seasons, nor does the length of stay, as @Theresa Harris mentioned.

My question is... in order to compete with lower total trip costs from other listings (often resulting from lower cleaning fees), should I eat a part of the cleaning fee in order to have a lower total trip cost? Obviously, lowering the fee and raising the rate is an option but that feels a little bit like spinning my wheels.

At some point, if I'm dropping my rates far enough to compensate for a high cleaning fee, we get into the conversation of "is it even worth it to rent it at this rate and risk property damage, 4 star review, etc".

I have a great housekeeper that consistently gets mentioned in reviews for cleanliness and has a backup team in place. Only problem is she charges more than others are charging for their cleaning fees.

I've shopped other cleaners just out of curiosity and most are around $175 and she is at $200.

It's the off season now in my market (ski town) and to compete, my rates need to be around $100/night. Charging a $200 cleaning fee on a 2 night stay (or 1 night!) takes me out of contention with a lot of properties.

Are most owners absorbing part of the cleaner's cost to remain competitive during down-rate periods? Or are you negotiating lower cleaning fees during short stays? Or is the cleaning fee just what it is and you don't worry about it?

Thanks for all the great info! Sounds like I'll need to find that balance point between far enough ahead to not miss out on advance bookings, and late enough to use the algorithm boost to help as the season nears. 

Does anyone have experience with this process and care to share how much of a lift (or decline) they saw after making the switch? In my market (Western North Carolina ski mountains), it seems like self-managers get ranking priority and seem to do better than PM managed properties. My property (best location, guest favorite, good pictures, 4.95 star review) is always ranked on a back page somewhere with all the PM managed properties, well behind all the self managed properties. Seems like with full control over my pricing, and a little more effort and personal touch than Evolve can provide, along with automated systems to make sure communication is handled in a timely manner, I should realistically be able to expect a lift in revenue, on top of what I'll be saving by not paying Evolve.

Thanks again for the input!

I should lay this out right off the bat - I've only been with Evolve a few months and really have had no issues with them so far, I just want a little more control over my listing/communications and don't see much value in the automated messaging that they do. Off the top of my head, I believe I'm paying them around 18% total commission (they charge 10% on all taxes, fees, cleaning etc).

My question is - Should I relist my property now during dead season or wait until peak season? I have a Guest Favorite badge, Evolve is Superhost, we have around 25 reviews, total 4.95 stars. At this time, I have no remaining bookings with Evolve so could make a clean break. I'm just worried that I would lose the visibility I have through my reviews/guest favorite badge. On the other hand, I could price competitively during the off season and hopefully get a boost from being a new listing.

Interested to hear thoughts! Thanks

Thanks Dennis, I'll definitely look into wetland experts in the area! Good to know that's a thing. If I can't find one, I'll reach out to the Dept. of Environmental Quality.

I'm considering purchasing a property in Charleston, SC. The property is in FEMA Shaded X flood zone and on high ground but surrounded by wetlands/swamp far from any main bodies of water.

I'd like to hire someone to look at the property and tell me if the wetlands are going to help mitigate, or make worse, future flooding events. I currently live in Charleston and am a fishing guide by trade so I have a good base understanding of how water moves through salt marsh areas, but it'd make me feel a lot better about this purchase if I could have an expert look at it. This is intended to be a "forever" home for my family so want to make sure I'm not missing anything.

Any ideas on what kind of expert I should look for? Someone from FEMA? Site engineer? Thanks!

In the process of setting up my first STR, a condo on Beech Mountain. I'll be managing remotely from SC so trying to put together a reliable team nearby. Need a handyman or someone on call to deal with issues as they come up. Would be even better if that person could be the point of contact for guests! Does anyone have experience going this route?

I'm keeping the current housekeeper in place for the rest of ski season at least (seems reliable, good communication) but definitely would appreciate any other contacts for backups, possible replacement if needed down the line.

The unit is currently managed by Evolve and I'll be keeping them in place through ski season but if there are any small teams on the mountain (not the big PM companies), I'd love to hear about them too.

Thanks, all advice is appreciated!