All Forum Posts by: JJ King

Thank @Anna Laud for the detailed response. I should have been more clear. I'll be living in the main house and self-managing the in-law suite as an STR. (I managed 60+ Airbnbs in a past job) I agree, it may make sense to check out some other home warranty companies. This home warranty was chosen by the sellers and came with the house but it may make sense to go with another company that covers the second unit. They got hung up on the term in-law suite. They did mention if it was in the confines of the main foundation it would be covered but not if it was an in-law suite. So I think it could be that rep and also the specific terminology.

In terms of zoning and taxes, I was thinking more along the lines of deductions and income tax. I read that if you have an owner-occupied duplex you get both homeowner tax benefits and investment property benefits. I realize this may be a better question for a CPA but wanted to throw it out there and see the community's thoughts. 

I just purchased a 1950s ranch that has a 1 bed 1 bath in-law suite attached on the side. It’s got a separate electric meter and separate gas, it does share the same water.

I’ve ran into issues with the home warranty because they don’t cover in-law suites but they do cover duplexes. 

I’ve also seen that you get certain tax breaks for owning a multi family property over a single family.

I’m planning on renting out the second unit as a short term rental. My question is, should I petition to get it zoned as a duplex or leave it as is? Are there major advantages to be a duplex instead of sing family with an in-law suite? I imagine changing it could affect my mortgage and insurance as well but want to explore all options and make the best practical and financial decision. 

We also use the TCL Roku TV's in our apartments. They are decent cheap TVs. We use Netflix and SlingTV and it works out to have a few subscriptions shared among all of our apartments. You can have up to 4 simultaneous streams with SlingTV, so we have that same account logged into 6 or so apartments and have never had an issue with all guests streaming at once. The TVs also are able to download a bunch of other streaming apps like Youtube and all of the cable channel apps that people can log into. It is a much better setup that when we used to have cable. Much cheaper and actually more simple. People used to always have issues with turning the cable box on. 

Crazy episode! Could definitely relate to guest reviews. 

The communication at this point is a careful dance. It's tricky because you don't want to make the guest mad and have them leave you a bad review but you also need to get paid for them breaking your TV. 

I say file the resolution ASAP, because as you know you need to get it in before the next reservation starts. 

We can assume the guest is not going to shell out $600 for the TV so you will need to wait a few days to escalate it. I'm not sure if you've dealt with airbnb escalated cases but it is a pain and they will do everything they can to not pay you. Make sure to document everything. Screenshot the conversations, take pictures of the broken TV screen, original receipt of the TV helps. If you can take a picture of the serial number and find the same TV online that will suffice. The new receipt helps but if its more expensive than the old TV they won't cover the extra cost. 

Good luck! 

@Tim Schroeder @Ethan Cooke

To sync prices and availabilities as well as doing markups for certain channels you'll need a channel manager or a PMS system. 

The main difference between a channel manager and a PMS system is that a channel manager will only sync calendars. A PMS will let you control your whole operation from a central location. 

There are tons of choices to fit different needs and different price points. My company uses Guesty which does all of that and more, but it can be over kill if you don't manage a lot of properties. Tokeet might be a good place to start your research. 

Also regarding your question about pricing automation we use Beyond Pricing and have been happy with it. 

If you want to rent your car I would suggest doing it extra through a service like Turo so you get insurance coverage. Sounds like a lot of liability otherwise. 

Hey Jim, you can call Airbnb and get them to cancel the reservation penalty free. That falls in the "extenuating circumstances" category. You'll just need some sort of proof that it is not fit for guests. Of course you won't get money for the reservation but you also won't get any derogatory marks on your account. Make you when speaking with airbnb you focus on the fact that 1. You want to provide a great expereince for the guest and current situations will not allow you to. 2. This is totally out of your control and you have done everything you can to mend the problem but are not able to. Good luck! 

Hey Ken congrats on the purchase! Professional photographs are definitely a great first step. I agree with @Eric A. I wouldn't mess with a website staring out. Once you get going you can make one to get some repeat business and avoid the fees that airbnb has, but it would not be my first priority.

Syncing is pretty simple. To sync airbnb and VRBO you can just export the iCal link for each calendar and import it in each platform. If you want to go a step further, there are tons of channel managers that will give you a central calendar and push to all the listings sites. This is nice because you will be able to manage all of you prices and calendar rules from one place. Still further you could look into a PMS system that will also integrate messaging on different platforms so you also have a central inbox. Most PMS systems provide a website for your property with the cost of the service. It all depends on how much you want to spend, might not make sense for just one property.

All good points, I think that a traditional vacation rental would be much easier and less of a headache! It'll be interesting to see how Outsite does, I think I'll leave it to them.