All Forum Posts by: Kristy Farmer

Okay.  I've looked at your listing.  There are no house rules up front.  Please put them in a message to the guests, in the other things to note, and house rules section.  I created rules as people did things. I started out with very little to do that and then it grew.  What is the quiet time in the unit?  I would also put in there no unauthorized guests.  Is there anything you do not exactly want them to do?  Being up front about what you expect makes a difference.  Are there check-out procedures?  I would put it in the listing.  In my reservation message, I added the language that you have read and agree to these policies by accepting this reservation.  Guests were never like this before Covid, but it's just different and wanted to pass along the stuff I've learned in my 4 years of Airbnb solely.  I wish you the best of luck!

Your listing looks great for pictures.  I didn't read it yet.  Guests will tell you if something is unclear to them.  I ask for feedback so that we can adjust wording or cleaning procedures etc.  I did notice you had PriceLabs.  I signed up with Beyond Pricing and love it.  I love Smartbnb for messaging and the user friendliness.  Know that whatever software and integrations you chose, they need to be compatible.  Since I use Your Porter, the integrations with everything are not working as they should because they are not direct.  I just found out some listings were not working properly and my pricing tool was not integrating.  Ugh.  So much money lost.  They are working on integrations but it may take a year.  I absolutely hated Booking.com but have expanded to VRBO.  I want to make sure that Airbnb has less priority.  I don't know if this is possible since I'm an in-town host at the beach.  Airbnb has been okay.  I just have had so many problems with entitled guests and Airbnb will give their money back really easily.  Take a deep breath!  It's hard being a host and sometimes the one guests are going to make you love your choice!  I once had a guest tell me after he left that he appreciated so much seeing the fireworks inside with his son in my upstairs unit since he had terminal cancer and couldn't really go out too much any more.  That comment right there is why I do this.  Other guests will be complaining and demanding and make you question everything.  Take the good with the bad!

I have wooden ones in my STR. After one season my cleaner has suggested to reinforce the beds with plywood. My queen bed frame was cheap metal and was falling apart. She replaced it with a sleigh bed frame for $200. Find indestructible stuff for your units. New mattresses, linens, and towels but the rest can be gently used.

@Alexandro Paredes I thought about doing this myself. I’m targeting students. I’d add that I’ve thought about an extra fridge in the garage and putting smart locks on the bedroom.

I'd love to meet up with you all.  I'm out of town this coming weekend though.  I may be back the following weekend.  This is a great idea Tim!  Thanks!  We are all so busy and it's important to share our thoughts and ideas.  I've grown so much over the past few years and learned a lot about contractors and vacation rental business!

@Jay Hinrichs:  We actually had a construction company with experience in the mix at that time, roughly 3 and 1/2 years ago.  It was only for one lot anyway and not a large park.  It was just to see if we could do something simple that cost less and was right in our back yard.  I only needed $25k at the time.  I"m very glad I didn't do it because that family has been torn apart, and the business dealings would have been impacted.  I always pay attention to what you write in your posts etc.  I appreciate your no-nonsense approach and not sugar-coating the reality!

Hi @Andrew Lewis- I've moved onto some other investments. Wow! This was an old post. I no longer want to do this and it was entangled with my ex-boyfriend and his family. Since this time, I've bought a duplex under an FHA loan and occupied it for a couple of years while rehabbing it. Then I furnished both units and have a successful vacation rental in Galveston. I'm staying with a friend so that I can refinance the duplex and purchase the next property in the summer of 2021 under another FHA. Then I should be able to bank my salary for other investments out of state. The Texas coast is very expensive all around, but we are getting the appreciation due to rehabbing and tourism. Are you in Alabama? My friends bought a LTR in Florence, AL. I like their numbers.

@Todd Groom.  I am in the process of accepting a 2 month lease month to month for a retired service member and wanted to just document his service animal as being on the property.  Is it possible that you could send me what you had created?  It would really help me out as I don't want to make this complicated. I just didn't know where to put the service dog on the lease.  I am using a standard state of Texas lease, which points to an addendum for pets.

@Ronald Rohde: the city is behind STR. My neighbors are cool and the other houses on my block are vacation rentals so it kinda works out.

@Alberto Vazquez I have a duplex. Each unit is unique. Here’s my links:

Airbnb links

upstairs unit -

https://airbnb.com/h/sea-star-by-the-sea-upper

downstairs unit -

https://airbnb.com/h/sea-star-by-the-sea-down

Direct booking: https://theseastarbythesea.staydirectly.com/

The direct booking site uses Stripe payment, which is essentially like pay pal and connected with the square app payment method. I have had a booking directly, and they said it was easier than booking through Airbnb.