All Forum Posts by: Jason O'Day

@Ben Taub Of course!

Update on my experience with Awning - I fired them effective 10/31/23, and since 11/1 I have been managing the property myself. I'm now kicking myself for paying Awning so much money for doing very little work (on top of creating a list of additional problems that otherwise wouldn't have existed). If you have just a single property, it is very, very easy to manage yourself and you'll save a ton of money by not paying a property manager (thousands of dollars). 

AirBnb already has all the tools you need to automate messaging. I also have PriceLabs and Turno to automate pricing and housekeeping/maintenance. I spend literally just minutes each week between communicating with guests and my cleaning/maintenance team, as well as ordering more items that the cleaner says we need to stock up on for the property.

I can see the need for property management services if/when you have a larger portfolio of properties, but for a single property I highly recommend doing it yourself and saving the money. I thought I wanted to be entirely hands off as well, but the amount of actual work is so small day-to-day, and property managers charge so much, that it is worth being hands on right now.

I can assure you of this - it is NOT worth 25% of your revenue to pay a property manager when they literally spend a minute or two each day thinking about your property. I now know this after managing myself for a couple months. 

Hi Andrew, I'm in the market for new management options for my STR in Michigan.

When you manage a property, am I am able to "own" the listing and add you as a co-host? Or do you require that you control the listing?

Thanks and please let me know your thoughts!

I have an STR in Michigan and I'm looking for a new Super Host to act as Co-Host/Manager for the property. Any good recommendations out there? If you know of a good one who is interested in taking on more properties, I'd love to meet them.

It is not required that they be local.

Thank you in advance for any and all recommendations!

I've been using Awning now since April, and I DO NOT recommend them. It has been a horrible experience for me so far. Their communication is horrid (and sometimes non-existent), they are extremely unorganized, and I've had to be pretty hands on with my STR property (even though I told them from the beginning I wanted to be hands-off).

My housekeeper/maintenance team also hates working with them.

I strongly encourage you to look elsewhere. 

I own a property in my own name that will soon become an STR. I want to run everything through my LLC. In order to do this, does my LLC require a real estate license since the property is in my own personal name?