All Forum Posts by: Estrella Carolina Mckinney

I have automated messages set up through Guesty for Hosts including:

An imediate "booking confirmation" with info on when exactly they will receive the address & check in information & asks them to confirm the number of guests that are staying.

A "Check in instructions message" 2 days before arrival so they know where they are headed and are reminded when they can check in, and also gives info on when trash days are and when any lawn maintenance might be done. 

A "How are you doing message" making sure their check in went alright and seeing if there's anything they could use/need. 

A "Check out instructions message" 1-2 days before they leave depending on length of stay. Generally basic information just to remind them. 

A "Review Request message" nicely asking for reviews and private feedback so we can improve for future guests. 

All of the messaging is centered around being extremely pleasant and guest focused and I've only had 1 review less than 5 stars out of 80 so far and it was when I foolishly lowered my rate too low to not leave the home empty. 

Inbetween I might have 1-2 message exchanges with guests if they respond but overall it's very little manual work and I'm sure eventually a VA could do it.

Once the situation gets tense it is very important (especially on Airbnb) to keep all communication on the app.  Most of the times when guest want refunds they call and try to catch you off guard.  Keep all non emergency contact in the app for documentation purposes.

Your most important first line of defense to protect you from troublesome guests is your listing. 

Make sure you are clear and concise and use simple wording. No fluff. Explain it to them like they are 5. 

And also make sure you send a message immediately upon booking with your RA. 

Typically this helps ward off those bad guests and the ones who will be trouble are going to cancel once they see that RA and realize they have to sign it or they are going to keep scrolling before booking. 

We have a burn pit in the yard, with the charred remains of the last problematic guests still hanging from the stake. That tends to put the next guests on their best behavior 🤣

Hey @Estrella Carolina Mckinney, so I am not sure what you are asking.

Do you mean how we deal with troublesome guests? Like @John Underwood, we rarely get any bad guests. In 6 years maybe 3 in total and it was easy to figure out.

I think the best way keep things from having issues is solid communication. All our gets get my cell number. I don't allow instant booking so they have to let me know who they are etc.

We do get the folks that have no interest in communicating after the initial contact. They never leave a review. I do leave a review that points out their lack of communication.

Still, not sure exactly what you would like to know.

This is from the NE Florida market. For my own new constructions, the cost is pretty simple: Property tax, insurance premium, property management, then depend on how we marketed the property, if we marketed it as a premium property, we would take care of the lawn service and pest control. If we marketed it as a value property, then the tenant took care of lawn and pest control. New construction shouldn't have any maintenance at all. Other than that, the rest would be debt services depend on how we financed the deal. 

For older houses, we would plan for capital expenses and they can add up quickly so depend on the age of roof, major appliances and HVAC, water heater, etc. When were those items replaced? Do we need to upgrade electrical/plumbing? Without major capital expenses, we were budgeting about $150 per month per unit for routine maintenance services. 

Vacancy and turnover cost that should be 8% of gross rent and this in our market is average. We have always done better than the average with our properties and services. 

So far we have been good with using those expenses for our analysis.