All Forum Posts by: David Bergmann

My experience is about 20%-30% more. 

Just relist- we relist properties all the time and I am not aware of any penalties or active enforcement by Airbnb.

Second Furnished Finder + Zillow!  Also, try to connect directly with businesses locally that drive mid term stays (hospitals, university, military bases, etc.)

Think of AirDNA like Zillows Zestimate.  It will give you a pretty good idea of the average for all homes in the area but might not necessarily apply to your subject property.  That being said, it's really not uncommon at all for occupancy rates in urban / suburb destinations can be equal to or greater than tourist areas.  We operate quite a few units in downtown and suburbs of Columbia SC and our occupancy rates range from 80-90% and we definitely don't have much in the way of touristy areas.  You'll just have different types of guest looking for a hotel substitute who are focused on price, cleanliness and convenience.  If I were you, I'd go on Airbnb and find a comp to your subject property and try to see what they are charging and how booked up they are in the next month (50%+ in next 30 days would be a good sign).

Kwikset Zwave Locks,  SmartThings Hub, Rboys Rental Lock Automater (http://smartthings.rboyapps.co...)

It's the most flexible and can integrate by iCal to your PMS so that it works with any channel. 

The biggest things we run into with converting homes that were previously a personal residence are that they tend to have too much stuff accumulated.  There just tends to be too much of everything...furniture, nick knacks, cookware, etc.  I would start by doing a cull of as much as you can while still keeping the essentials.  Also, get a serious deep clean before the first guest.

Also, find a closet to put your personal belongings while you are not there and keep that locked.

Will this prevent us from seeing names of guests who previously booked with us?  I have repeat offenders in our area that bop around Airbnb's smoking them out and trashing them, and the name is the only way we can identify them. They will make a new profile each time so that their reviews aren't saved but the name & picture will be the same.  We also just had a guest who tried to book our place that our cleaner knew by name and 100% had a meth problem and would have been a big liability.  I think the name has some value completely unrelated to race.

Hey Jacob,

That is just a tad outside our region but I'd be happy to discuss and maybe we can work something out.  I run a management company, Heartwood Furnished Homes, based out of Columbia SC.  Either way, happy to connect if you want to shoot me a message.

Thanks!

My opinion is go with Travelers Landlord Policy with a Homeshare rider.  It adds a hundred bucks or so to add that rider to the landlord policy.  Proper and Foremost will be 2 to 3 times the cost but will cover a lot more extras (damage to furniture, loss of use, etc.).  I personally find those extras / risks to be self-insurable with an emergency fund.  

Yes - I've done this as a property manager to help owners out.  I think the easiest way that will produce the least red flags for banks is that the management company just has a standard long term lease on the property. Then you can have a secondary service agreement with them that basically says that in addition to the rents they owe on the lease, the mgmt company will pay you the short term rental proceeds that are above and beyond the amount of the rent (less their fees).  And I would write in the reverse scenario too, that the owner is responsible for paying the mgmt company if the proceeds aren't sufficient to pay the rent (although if you set the rent correctly, this shouldn't happen).  As a mgmt company, I just wouldn't want to take on any of the owners downside risk if the property doesn't perform...at least not for free.

Example:  

LEASE: Rent - $1000 per month (PAID)

STR PROCEEDS: $2000

MGMT FEES (25%): -$500

NET PROCEEDS: $1500 - $1000 = $500 DUE TO OWNER IN ADDITION to rent