All Forum Posts by: Jefferson Brown

Happy to help David!  This is a really good question.  For context, all three 8 bedroom properties we bought in Champions Gate we picked for less than $500K (the last one being purchased in January of 2021).  Now you can hardly find the same layout for less than $700K.  We'd love to buy two more in Champions Gate but can't make sense of the numbers anymore.  You are right about the wear and tear and expense to manage but I would say that the profitability is still higher with bigger homes.  If you have a tendency to create emotional attachments to your homes then don't get bigger ones.  If you're all about the numbers then bigger is better.  Large homes either bring lots of kids or lots of parties and both are destructive.  But if you have a good management process and can take the emotion out of it then bigger homes are right for you.

Soyoung (had to ask about the age on that one)

Hi @Peri Eryigit unfortunately I think finding a good short term rental manager is harder than finding a good long term rental manager.  I've yet to hear a good word about Evolve or Vacasa.  I agree with Luke in that managing yourself is how you cash flow.  Most short term rental companies charge at least 20% of revenue and that's just too much for me to give away.  You can build your own systems to automate it for way less than a PM company will cost.

@Reese Newell I have been looking into using Appsheet to develop my own app that will replace Properly.  So far its been quite the learning curve but I think it has massive potential to streamline our business.  Ill let you know how it goes.

Hey @chad!  Here's a few questions I would ask them besides the obvious questions like "how much do you charge?"

- What is your preferred method of payment?  (venmo, paypal, other?)

- Can you take my ical link to communicate bookings? Some other automated method?

- Do you have a separate person inspecting each clean?

- Do you use a checklist for the cleans?  Can I see that?

- Do you provide amenities like soaps, shampoos, toilet paper etc.?

- Are you willing to make occasional house calls?

- How do you keep your cleaners accountable for quality?  (This one is crucial, a company that has a solid check and balance process is much more likely to maintain quality.)

Hey Rachel!  We use Avalara for all of our properties and its been really nice to cross one more thing off our to-do list.  I don't ever wonder if I have the appropriate licenses, or when I have to submit taxes.  They just take care of it and its worth the money.

Hey Josh!  You can do it a couple different ways.  If you can find a maintenance person to do it then they can also fix issues while they are there which is great.  The trick is finding a maintenance person who also has the attention to detail.  For that reason we actually worked with a seperate cleaning/property management company and paid them $50/inspection.  Then they bill the cleaning company if they have to spend time cleaning something that should have been done in the first place.

As far as frequency I think it depends on your business.  We have larger properties with higher nightly rates and we're also in areas that charge a LOT for cleaning so we have some wiggle room with this expense.  If you're like us I would recommend inspecting every clean.  But if your nightly rates are lower and you're already stretching it with your cleaning fee then do what makes the most sense.  Hope that helps.

@Reese Newell We've been having this problem too as of late with the labor shortage.  Cleaning prices have gone way up and quality has gone way down.  We implemented two things:

1.) Properly - As others mentioned this will sync with your calendar and force your cleaners to check off each item

2.) A Third Party Inspector - You need someone else to go in there to inspect each clean and make sure it was done right.  If something was missed they fix it and give feedback to the cleaner so that it doesn't happen again.  This person is an extra layer of accountability but eventually even this person will need to have surprise checks of their work to make sure they keep their high attention to detail.  

Hey @Emily Taylor we've tried several including the ones you mentioned above and found OwnerRez to be the best so far.  They don't have the prettiest interface but their functionality is the best by far.  Not to mention half the price of Hostfully.  Plus their support is pretty great.

I DEFINITELY recommend getting a vacation rental specific insurance.  If your house burns down while a guest was there most insurance companies won’t cover it if they find out you were renting short term.