All Forum Posts by: Jeff Minc

Thank you for all that info. The "resting" water temperature is roughly 55 degrees (the property is located in Northern California) Our average booking is Friday-Sunday with weekdays usually vacant. So you're saying it would be cheaper to leave the spa running at 100 degrees all week long, or just from Friday-Sunday while guests are there? 

Pool heat would be ideal around 75- 80 degrees. 

I just launched an STR in December with a pool and spa that each have a gas heater. It's my first time owning a pool and spa and now I'm getting hit with huge gas bills. I'm not heating the pool this time of year but allowing guests to turn on the spa heater whenever they want. I can see huge spikes in the gas bill when they use it. How do hosts with spas usually handle this? Do people usually install timers? I'm worried about turning on the pool heater because I'll have to add on a huge surcharge to cover the cost. Any experience or advice anyone has here is much appreciated, thanks.

Does anyone happen to have a template for their house/pool rules they wouldn't mind sharing? I can't find one I like online and typing one up is taking longer than expected and I'm worried I'll miss something. Thank you again everyone for your help.  

Thank you all for that feedback and suggestions. I think I’ve decided to go with a child safety fence around the perimeter of the pool area as well as the self latching door locks on all exterior doors with pool access. I’m still debating the pool cover. Seems like guests would not be opening and closing it between uses (especially a true pool safe cover with straps) so I don’t see any real added protection there. I feel like with a fence and safety latches you’re not relying on the guests to do anything while still providing a kid safe pool environment. 

Thank you for the advice I will definitely add that wording to my house rules. 

I just closed on a new home in Windsor CA that I will be furnishing and then converting to an STR. It has a big pool which was the main draw of the house but as a first-time pool owner, I'm just learning about the seven drowning prevention safety features outlined in the Health and Safety Code below. The inspector recommended we implement 2 of these to comply with the CA safety code. I have stayed in many STR's here in CA with pools and I rarely (if ever) see any of these on or around the pool area (latches, fences, approved pool covers, alarms, etc). I want this property to be as kid-friendly and safe as possible but curious to hear others' thoughts on these prevention measures. Are they standard, and most people just ignore them? Is there a good relatively low-cost solution? I just got a quote for an approved safety pool cover and it's over $2k. I have never stayed in an Airbnb/STR where I had to open and close a pool cover so this is all a bit surprising to me.

7 safety measure

(1) An enclosure that isolates the swimming pool or spa from the private single-family
home.
(2) A removable mesh fencing in conjunction with a gate that is self-closing and
self-latching and can accommodate a key lockable device.
(3) An approved safety pool cover.
(4) Exit alarms on the private single-family home’s doors and windows that
provide direct access to the swimming pool or spa.
(5) A self-closing, self-latching device with a release mechanism placed no lower
than 54 inches above the floor on all private single-family home’s doors
providing direct access to the swimming pool or spa.
(6) An alarm that, when placed in a swimming pool or spa, will sound upon
detection of accidental or unauthorized entrance into the water.
(7) Other means of protection, if the degree of protection afforded is equal to or
greater than that afforded by any of the features set forth above and has been
independently verified by an approved testing laboratory.

Hey Scott thanks for the insight. Yeah I have no desire to own an old town party house so I've narrowed my search to the Kierland area and North Scottsdale. Bigger luxury homes like you're saying seem to be the best bang for your buck. Curious, what kind of your return are you looking for in order for it to pencil out for you? 10%+ cash on cash? Higher, lower? 

Hi all,

I'm continuing my research into the STR/Airbnb market in Scottsdale AZ and just curious if anyone can comment on current market conditions. It seems so popular that it must be over saturated and looking on Airbnb there looks to be a ton of competition. However, assuming the occupancy numbers on AirDNA are relatively accurate and after speaking with some local agents it still seem to make sense as an income investment property. Just curious to hear from any current STR owners in the area about their experience and sense of the market in their area. Thanks

Yeah I was thinking a 1x $500 fee per occurrence, or just pay the fine if they don't want to show up at 2am. I'm starting my search in Northern Scottsdale and shooting for a more high-end luxury family vacation home rental vs the South Scottsdale/Old-town "party house". So I expect there to be very few occurrences, if any. I'm just trying to play with some options for the actual emergency contact person. Does anyone have good Scottsdale broker/agent recommendation who is familiar with STR's? Please feel free to reach out if you do. Thanks.

Yeah great idea, I was thinking the cleaner, maintenance person, etc. Just need to find someone willing to respond at 2am to complaint I guess.