All Forum Posts by: Jonathan Conaghan

@Jenniffer Gonzalez That is a VERY high HOA. There are certainly opportunities to make money in STR in Kissimmee. Proximity to the parks is important. Additionally, you want to invest in making sure your property stands out against similarly sized ones in the area with tasteful decor, themed rooms, game rooms, etc. Happy to discuss. Feel free to shoot me a PM.

@Doug Wolff I have an STR in Kissimmee just south of Orlando. We have had cancellations due to the virus, but we have also had them rebooked and those cancelled on short notice do not receive a full refund. Separately, we are continuing to see requests for booking for the remainder of the year. There is no question that the fear the virus has caused us resulting people changes their travel plans, but I am not sure that should impact whether you should purchase an STR that I imagine was intended to be a long term investment. Separately, consider that you still need to close and I imagine renovate some before marketing your property. It's optimistic, but by the time you accomplish that, let's hope most of this has blown over.

@Jonathan Conaghan @Jay Hinrichs after writing this earlier and providing the refund to the guest that requested it, my STR was booked for the majority of the dates the guest cancelled for. I thought that was a bit of a sign that making the compassionate (if that's the right word) decision can also result in being the right business decision.

@Jay Hinrichs I own an STR in Kissimmee just south of Orlando and received my first cancellation request for later this month due to a convention cancellation and concerns by the guest and their family related to the virus. Even though it is against our policy, we provided a partial refund. Even though I firmly believe this is all vastly overblown especially compared against past flu variations in the last two decades, it is hard to ignore the human element and the fact that some people are legitimately scared right now. I'm just hoping the media moves on to their next big thing soon so we can all get back to business.

@Arian Moreno not related to SXSW, but I own an STR in Kissimmee and just received my first cancellation request for later this month related to the coronavirus. A conference a guest was schedule to attend in the area might be cancelled and that coupled with concerns over the virus prompted them to ask about cancellation.

@Yitzchok Carmen it’s a balancing act when you are just starting out. Reviews are everything and you don’t want to give someone a reason, legitimate or not to leave a bad one. If there is damage, depending on the amount, consider not refunding the entire deposit (if there is one).

@Mark Miles this is great. The first time I heard of doing something like this was Neal Bawa discussing that a lot of the number crunching for his data analysis and research is done by individuals he employs in the Philippines. With the ease of accessing individual contractors via the internet and various platforms such as Upwork, I have to imagine there are economical options for a large number of tasks we pay for.

@Zachary Bellinghausen Sure thing. Messaging you now.

@Nolan C. I agree that listing on multiple sites gives you the best exposure and with the right tools, managing requests and bookings does not need to be too time consuming. Platforms such as MYVR help streamline and automate a lot of the work that needs to be done in regards to marketing your property and corresponding with guests.

@Patricia Steiner This is an interesting report considering the demographic differences between a lot of the metros with high percentages in both categories.