All Forum Posts by: Jen Faulkner

@Luke Carl, sorry that this has nothing to do with your post, but I tried to message you twice, and it doesn't look like either sent.  My friend is looking for a 2-bedroom rental in the Pigeon Forge area (sometime in September) with mountain views and a hot tub.  I don't know what you own down there, but I thought you could point me in the right direction even if it's not something you have.  

We only have two-bedroom rentals, but this list should help with your studio.  

@Anthony R., thanks.  I didn't realize that.  We have donated a 5-night stay at an auction that our children's school does every year, so I'll have to check into that.  The school principle ended up being the one who stayed.

How would you respond to a request to use your rental for a fundraiser?  I don't feel like it would really benefit me to do this.  My name on a banner probably wouldn't get much attention.  Our rentals are in Branson, MO.  Here is a message I received through AirBnb.

"Hi Jen!

My name is Cora McCall. My husband and I are the youth leaders at Redemption Road Church in Winfield MO. We are putting together a fundraiser to support our youth mission trip this summer, where we will be serving the Cincinnati OH community through serving in local food pantries, nursing homes, and helping with childcare programs like the Boys and Girls Clubs. This fundraiser will be a 5-star event with an elegant candlelit dinner, DJ & dancing, and “datenight raffle baskets” that will include a fun night out with dinner and all the trimmings. I would LOVE to be able to top off this event by having a “Weekend Getaway” basket to include a 2-night stay in Branson, and tickets to Silver Dollar City. I have been searching for the perfect getaway location and I would LOVE to be able to feature your beautiful condo in this give away! For your generosity, I would include your name/condo displayed on a banner showing all of the amazing sponsors for this event! I'd be happy to send you our Datenight Fundraiser flyer, Mission Trip flyer, and official Donation Letter. Please let me know if you would consider partnering with us on this fundraiser. Thank you so much for your consideration, we greatly appreciate it and I look forward to hearing back from you!

Thanks!
Cora McCall (Phone number hidden by Airbnb)"

Do any of you offer services like Netflix or Hulu, with no cable TV? Today, we discussed dropping the cable service at our STR's, but I wonder if that would be a negative. I know guests typically don't visit the area to watch TV all day, but I wonder if elderly guests would expect cable. If you only have streaming services, what is your experience?

Welcome @Joshua Feit! We live in central Illinois and manage some units in Branson, Missouri from afar (about 6.5 hours away). It's so easy if you have the right team in place on the other side. Our next STR search has us checking into Pigeon Forge, as well. I'll definitely be speaking with the Carls when the time comes! I have a cousin who owns some STR's there, too. Congrats on your purchase!

We get a lot of requests for properties without stairs.  Even if you can't avoid stairs, maybe have a section of the house that's easily accessible without stairs, so that the guests don't even need the rest of the house.

Yes!  VRBO and AirBnb are the best.  I tried TripAdvisor for a little while.  It brought me some renters, but Trip's calendar-syncing system was a joke, and I had double-bookings.  Thankfully, I caught them before guests arrived for the same rental, but that still meant I had to cancel one of them, and TripAdvisor penalized ME for it, saying that it's the owner's ultimate responsibility to make sure the calendar is syncing.  How would I know that it WASN'T syncing until I got a double-booking??!  It only happened twice, but it was in the same week, so I dropped them and will never go back.