All Forum Posts by: Elizabeth Howell

Ugh… this stinks! Michael and his wife are great people and have worked very hard to earn their success. I hate to see things like this. I took Michael's course when I first started learning about STR's and it's a FANTASTIC course. It's straight forward and low on frills, fat on solid, actionable advice and education. His course reminded me that "the best is the enemy of the good and DONE." 🤣 As a marketing person, I've often held on to things I should have released sooner, there's always an opportunity to do a new version!

I just got back from the STR Wealth Conference which included a half day workshop on marketing that was led by Bill Faeth and Mark Simpson (Boostly). Mark is on a mission to help people create direct booking sites to decrease reliance on Airbnb and the other online travel agencies (OTA's). Mark has 2 books that cover all of your questions and more. The new one is called The Direct Booking Blueprint and the first book is The Direct Booking Playbook. Mark is a very generous soul and you can contact Boostly and ask questions. They won't put a hard sell on you to build a direct book website with them. I second Safely as a good insurance option and general source of info. Also Super Hog is another insurance company. Finally, Jeff Hampton, who worked as a personal Injury trial Attorney for ten years did a presentation - terrifying but excellent- on how to protect yourself as a business owner not just in terms of direct booking but overall liability. But his checklist is worth looking at to achieve the security you want for offline booking. Jeff's company is called STR Law Guys. I think you are smart to look at this. The general consensus with all of the presenters & experts at this conference was that Airbnb continues to act in the best interest of the guest, not the host. And how small changes to Airbnb's policies and algorithms can have drastic impacts on the smaller owners, hosts and investors. Hope this helps!

Hey there,

I have just started offering marketing services to STR owners & investors. Charge is 10% for marketing plus a low monthly retainer for certain necessary subscriptions, etc. I'd be happy to share all the details. I agree with others who have said accounting is a separate skill set, lol. I'm also an etiquette expert, having worked at The Emily Post Institute for 15+ years and guest communications & hospitality is included. No hiding when things get strange & wacky! Pricing & listing optimization, art direction for photo shoots, outreach to any relevant media, local/regional listing & tourism outlets and connecting with influencers & corporate partners for sponsorships are all part of the day to day things I do to promote your property. Targeted marketing identifies your ideal customers and then finds more of them to reach out to. It's a fun and profitable way to grow both your ADV & occupancy rates.

Michael,

Congrats! Three at one address is a game changer! Ask yourself: What other commitments do I have now in this season of life - kids? Maintaining your own home? Commitments to parents? Full time job, check! But what else cuts into your time? Obviously there will be the upfront intensive time to do decor, listing optimization, photos, local marketing, etc. Are your STR's located in an area where your make or break season is summer? How will seasonality impact the timing of the workload? Can you piece out some of the set up: not just the building and units but setting up the systems & software? Scheduling cleaners & checking on the property may be totally do-able w/your full time job, but more than that initially may be overload. I have more thoughts—DM and we can chat.

I grew up in Peabody, MA, and my parents later moved to Byfield, MA. I am not familiar with the regulations, so you'd want to check that first, but there are dozens of (expensive) seaside towns on the North Shore of Boston. This includes towns like Marblehead, Rockport, Essex, Gloucester, and a bit further north to Rowley, Newbury, Newburyport is a great place with a bustling boardwalk, great restaurants and plenty of events including Yankee Homecoming in July. Salisbury has a campground and a boardwalk on the beach, plenty of rentals and that beach keeps going up to Hampton, NH. I think there was an episode way back on Real Estate Rookie that featured 2 partners who were doing STR's and LTR's in the Hampton Beach, NH, area. Another area that may work (again, IDK what the regulation situation is) would be the part of Western Mass where the 5 colleges are located. That would be UMass-Amherst, Mount Holyoke College, Amherst College, Hampshire College and Smith College. There are also many places in that area to hike, camp, rock climb, etc. lots of state parks. Northampton, MA, is in that area, again with great shops & restaurants. Hope this helps!

While I can certainly appreciate the desire to paste and copy to save time, it's important to consider the subtle differences in each platform's listing layout. The listing is the marketing anchor for your STR. It has to be optimized for each platform to make sure you land in the search results and attract your guest avatar. For example, does each platform allow you to add and edit your photo captions? This is valuable marketing real estate, (I know it's horrible,) that many forget to even use to their advantage. The listing tells guests a story: make sure you're telling it well. The owner/host page is another valuable spot to establish the tone you want to set for your property. I wouldn't want to trust that to paste and copy or a SAAS or PMS that claims they can do it for you. I'm a marketing cohost—and yes writing out each listing, along with providing four seasonal updates—is part of what my % covers. I'm happy to help. Holler if you have questions or want this off your to do list. Congrats on getting your STR up and running!

Zeona,

Ocala is a really interesting market. "horse capital of the world." Last few years, dramatic developments in the Hunter/Jumper equestrian horse show world thanks to the creation of the TheWorld Equestrian Center (WEC). It's a crazy cool place, built by Roby Roberts, made his $$$ in the commercial shipping world, family man. WEC is a world class facility mere miles from the HITS brand (horse shows in the sun) facility. HITS Ocala used it be one of the only winter horse shows accessible to the middle class. thousands of families (daughter and moms or one mom with all the kids from one barn) from the Northeast and Midwest head down for anywhere between 2-12 weeks beginning in January. The HITS facility sucks and owner refuses to make necessary improvements to property. He's lost several Olympic level events because of it. The WEC has had to fight with HITS and USEF (United States Equestrian Federation) the national governing body for equestrian sports, to be able to host hunter/jumper horse shows due to mileage rules. The facilities are less than 10 miles apart. WEC has created work arounds - and because the facility is so spectacular - yet still affordable, they are booking all kinds of events throughout the year - concerts, dog shows, horse events in other disciplines, holiday open houses and markets, impressive calendar. Great area for MTRs and STRs, but the market is very cluttered and many current STR owners have open calendars because of the mistaken belief that horse people have $$$ to burn - for that demographic, go to WEF - the Wellington Equestrian Festival further south. With the right targeted marketing to people in the Northeast & Midwest, appropriate amenities for the audience (you'll want to have super solid washer and dryer for assorted horse laundry, places to put saddles, a solidly equipped kitchen, places for kids to study and parents to work, etc) you'd be able to distinguish yourself in the marketplace. MTRs are always in high demand for barn staff and trainers who come for the entire circuit. Happy to talk if you want more.

Angie,

This is a great ask with interesting responses. Congrats on your success. Can I pay you to be my mentor? 🤣👍 I can help you create a marketing plan. What should you be doing and what is a waste of your time and limited marketing headspace? Creating content takes time and it better be solid to break through the ocean of RE content out there. It could be as simple as pitching yourself to podcast hosts as a potential guest or looking for speaking gigs in the market you want to expand in so that you can meet more people. Marketing can fuel your growth and goals, and it can help you establish and expand your brand. You mentioned that you are launching you own booking site-that's a great time to look at your branding and marketing. If you want to talk about how to create a marketing plan and trade for advice on getting your first STR, I'm your girl!

Well of course! We might need to see a pic thou…..😜😬. There are always more options out there than we know. He/she who is not afraid to ask questions WINS!!!! Kids help you focus, real fast! You are doing all the right things, my friend. You will figure this out and I can’t wait to watch you SOAR!!!!!

Cameron,

Your post is profound and thought provoking. I’m a 52-year-old mom of two kids who are now 21 and 24. I am carrying quite a bit of college debt for them and I wouldn’t change a thing. Both my daughter and currently my son were/are NCAA Div 1 athletes and let me tell you that is no “free ride.” Those kids have worked their butts off. And as their parents we have depleted our bank accounts spending family time together Participating in their beloved activities which both gave them a focus to stay on track with school and gave them access to academic opportunities they NEVER would have had otherwise. Why tell you this? Because the advice you need is this: yes, you need to work smart and hard right now to keep your family fed, houses and INSURED. Do not take on an 80-hour work week to do this. After a healthy maternity leave, I hope your soon to be wife will learn that she may be the best version of herself if she can find a healthy balance of paid work and mom work. I had to work full time, so we were always a 50/50 couple…we would trade off on those days when you have to ask the question “Who’s turn is it to stay home with a sick kid?” Now I have a little more schedule freedom and some space from those hard years and some hard won perspective. Don’t give up all the time with your little one to earn money. If she stays home full time you may both eventually grow resentful. What I think the other 2 replies to your query don’t address is this: you need cash money and insurance. I totally feel you on the entrepreneurial spirit—I have that too and I know exactly what you mean. I could go on forever but know that I hear you and I see you and you are so smart to have such a keen understanding of where you are in life right now. Don’t buy into the hype that you can have it all because you can’t. Lol! You find the balanced equation that you can handle for now, for this season, for this year. Don’t throw anything at me but have you thought about getting a job where you can work the minimum amount of hours to get good full benefits and then spend the remaining hours working on your own business? FEDEX, UPS, Costco, Starbucks, Home Depot and more companies over full health insurance at 25 hours/week and depending on which company and where it is you may make some great contacts. Maybe it’s a Starbucks right next to a new condo or neighborhood under construction. That would still give you 15-25 hours/week to pursue real estate. And finally don’t worry too much - you will not believe how fast five years will go by. We did the above scenario for health insurance as we had just moved to Vermont and the health insurance at my employer was super expensive and my husband’s preferred job was at a civilian helicopter company that didn’t offer health insurance (1995). My spouse worked as a FedEx courtier 25 hours/week and 25 hours/week at the helicopter place. When I had a traumatic, expensive birth and my husband had a tree fall on him (not at work), FedEx paid 100% of all the bills. Then not long after, the helicopter company said we gotta have you full time and if we need to offer health insurance then that’s what we’ll do. He worked at the helicopter company for 17 years. Sorry for the blah, blah, blah, but I’m here for you if you need support!!!!