All Forum Posts by: Jesse Watson

Quote from @Nathan Gesner:

Quote from @Sarah Ellenberg:

Has anyone in Dayton OH (or anywhere else) ever used Soda LLC (www.sodastays.com)?

They answered a request for info I sent via Yelp to local property managers. I'm looking for a traditional property manager for 2 of my rental homes in the Dayton area, buy I am intrigued with their model. They say they will pay me market rent for my home, not charge any fees, and then furnish and maintain the home while renting it out to corporate travelers. They claim to have a growing portfolio in the area of 96 properties. Info online is sparse, so looking here for anyone with experience with them.

thanks!

It's not property management; it's rental arbitrage and most everyone will tell you to avoid it. They are using your home to make money and you will have no control over who stays, what they pay, etc. Does your property even qualify for short-term rentals? What will your neighbors think about guests coming and going? How do you know it will be a corporate traveler and not a bunch of party animals from AirBnB? How do you know they are complying with the law, paying their taxes, or properly maintaining the home? What do you think this "company" will do when the property stops producing as much income?

They pay you $1,000 a month. They furnish it and rent it on AirBnB for $200 a night and earn $3,000 a month. If your home can produce that kind of return, why not hand it over to a professional short-term manager and earn more money yourself while maintaining control?

I agree with Nathan - except I would add that if you do decide to get into short term rentals, don’t hand it over to a professional short term rental manager… at least not one of the big corporate ones. They will take 20% or more of your revenue and not leave any meat left on the bone for you — and they won’t do a very good job. Find a good cleaner, a good handyman, and learn to self-manage instead.

 
of course, this is after having done your homework that short term rentals are allowed, and that it would be profitable in your area.

Quote from @Kerry Baird:

Your place looks fantastic!  I love the multitude of plants you have.  Your furnishings are also all-of-a-piece.  Good job!

Thanks! Credit to stylehousehomestaging.com for their awesome design work! (All the plants are artificial BTW, but amazingly real).

Quote from @Alena Dube:

Amazing job on the property and outstanding photo shoots. 

Thanks!  We are very pleased with the result. Shout out to Jamie and Suzanne and Nicole in Scottsdale at stylehousehomestaging.com for their design work!

Quote from @Melanie Johnston:

@Jesse Watson Your photos are amazing! As an agent (and I'm honored to be your agent!) I've seen thousands of real estate shoots. Ensuel did such a great job that I want to contact him for my upcoming listings. I'll tell him that you sent me!

It helps that you found us such an awesome house! This find was all Melanie!

Quote from @Josh Myrick:

Quote from @Jesse Watson:

Oh - and regarding photographers, look for photographers who do "architecture" style photography and specialize in STRs. Standard real estate photographers use a fish-eye lens and take shots from four corners of the room. This is designed to show everything in as few photos as possible, but it distorts the scene and pushes the amenities and decor elements into tiny background elements. Find a photographer who understands that STR photos are different is willing to use some longer lenses and do some detail shots. Most importantly: Do a twilight photoshoot with some landscape lighting and your property will really stand out. In Scottsdale, this gentleman named Ensuel Kola did an INCREDIBLE job with our latest property: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/6...

Not sure if he travels cross-country, but you can always ask: https://ensuelkola.com/ 

 Thank you for all the detail. Especially the websites. 

No problem. Sorry that the Airbnb link might not have worked. I just added a post with the Zillow link so you can see it https://www.zillow.com/homedet...

 
Best of luck!

Quote from @Kerry Baird:

@Jesse Watson the link reverted to the Airbnb home page, at least for me.  

Ah thank you - sorry, I forgot that I paused the listing while we are trying it out as a 30 day rental. Try this Zillow link https://www.zillow.com/homedet...

Oh - and regarding photographers, look for photographers who do "architecture" style photography and specialize in STRs. Standard real estate photographers use a fish-eye lens and take shots from four corners of the room. This is designed to show everything in as few photos as possible, but it distorts the scene and pushes the amenities and decor elements into tiny background elements. Find a photographer who understands that STR photos are different is willing to use some longer lenses and do some detail shots. Most importantly: Do a twilight photoshoot with some landscape lighting and your property will really stand out. In Scottsdale, this gentleman named Ensuel Kola did an INCREDIBLE job with our latest property: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/6...

Not sure if he travels cross-country, but you can always ask: https://ensuelkola.com/ 

Google "staging companies" in your area and then start calling them and asking if they work on STRs. Many have begun a side-business of outfitting STRs with furniture and decor (some will do the whole kitchen, outdoor areas, etc) and we did both of our STRs this way.

I use allstate, and their host advantage plan. It is for hosts who live at least some of the time in the home, such as a vacation rental. It is very reasonably priced and I have had to submit a claim once and it went very smoothly.  I am not sure it is available in all states… My properties are in Arizona.

@Greg R. - Sorry I missed your message. We had a previous guest who had stayed at our other property message us out of the blue looking for a place to stay. That said, we are now experimenting with having our realtor list the property on the MLS as a furnished rental, which will put it out on Zillow, but also put it in the hands of realtors looking for short term housing solutions for client relocating to the area. So we will see how that works.