All Forum Posts by: Eric A.

Pools are not a great investment with a STR. Someone earlier mentioned they would not rent a house unless it had a pool. That's a very very small portion of your market. Simple math on this will scare you. Here you go: Families that will rent for one week breaks down to 10 weeks in the summer, one week at spring break, and depending on your climate Christmas week. If you get all those weeks it's 12 - 15 weeks maximum. The rest of the time you will NOT be renting to families. So, you bought a place with a pool that will rarely be used. The STR market is one that can never be based on families in my opinion. Best Regards, Eric

@Nancy Bachety your time is so much more valuable then that. I would ask for a portion of each rental. A quality person like yourself is very hard to find. 

Best Regards,

Eric 

@Jon Crosby

Jon,

I go through this thought process once a year and once I crunch the numbers I don't really do anything. I quickly say to myself that the broken items are so small in value it doesn't make sense. Also, in each instance I evaluate the guest and realize I should have never rented to them. 

Here is an example of an Air BnB rental that received damage to the linens, smoking inside, and tape and balloons all over the place that had to be removed. More of a pain then anything else but here was the communication. 

Hi, we absolutely love your home. We are 6 ladies from different cities coming to celebrate our 30 year old birthdays! How big are your decks? 

Huge red flag that got past our team and we paid for it. Now, we requested additional money from them through Air BnB with examples and they paid it. So, it worked out but we should hve never rented to them. 

Hope this helps!

Best Regards,

Eric 

@Kevin Boyd

It's really very simple. All sites can have you upload your agreement and right at the top ours say:

When agreeing to rent this property you agree to these terms and conditions. Your payment is acceptance and you have agreed to this contractual agreement. 

The ones that do the charge backs are pros. That's why we only rent to those with active recent reviews with ID. We have not experienced a charge back issue in the last 10 years. 

Best Regards,

Eric 

@Leah Dexter

Do a ton of research through VRBO, Air BnB etc. Check every month of the year on calendars and occupancy rates. I would also subscribe to airdna.co for accurate rental numbers. 

This may offend people but I never trust what a realtor tells me. They often have inaccurate information and once they sell something they are gone. I have been doing this almost 20 years and this has always been the case. Good luck!

Best Regards,

Eric 

@Julia Ann

@Michael Greenberg

Hello,

I find Airdna to be very accurate. Now, it's only as up to date as the data received. I believe seasonality and demand is not accurately measured as of yet. Feel free to PM me for further info. 

Best Regards,

Eric 

@Nick Winikoff I think you are seeing a huge shift because of VRBO and now Air BnB. Ironically, the guy who started VRBO / HomeAway' business plan to venture capitalists was to buy vacation rental properties all over the world and then list them. He quickly realized it was crazy to buy them when you can just list them on the internet. The reason I'm telling you this is because I just don't see small management companies buying properties and then renting them out. You can just manage the property and put it on the various sites. There is a benefit in that for sure. 

I have seen several management companies in my area decide to go this way. AirBNB provides a much better product to the end consumer because of their inherent vested interest. Just my opinion. 

Best Regards,

Eric 

@Kevin Boyd we use several sources for linens. Believe it or not going to your local Bed Bath and Beyond or other like store and talking to the manager can be a homerun. They may want to get out of a discontinued product or out of business provider and make you a deal that is out of this world. We outfitted several places for 10 cents on the dollar doing this. 

Best Regards,

Eric 

@Kevin Boyd great homes to be able to Air BnB!! Definitely spend the money on a great photographer. Believe it or not the MLS logo on the pictures will drive people away. They somehow believe it's for sale and don't feel a personal attachment to you.

Do you use the Smart pricing feature? I have a love hate relationship with this because sometimes I get a booking that is lower then I want, but I have to be honest with myself and ask if I would have ever gotten a 3 night stay in the middle of the week. You can turn it on and off. 

Lastly, are you providing a welcome gift? You can provide bottles of wine, passes to local breweries, or anything you can think that will leave a lasting impression. We do multiple things including fresh flowers that always get rave reviews. As your reviews state this you will get booked more often for sure. 

Best Regards,

Eric 

@Jeremy VanDelinder Congrats Jeremy!