All Forum Posts by: Jon Martin

Super helpful thanks for posting. Would be curious to know how much game rooms help 

Word of warning to cohosts as well . ..  yikes 

The Geodome structure itself may not cost a lot, but I think you are greatly underestimating the time and money that all of other aspects will set you back . . . Land acquisition, permitting, grading, hardscaping, wells/plumbing/septic, electricity, shared recreational amenities . .. The list goes on. Plus the furnishing costs of a bunch of smaller units. I'd be surprised if you could get a project like that going in under a year. Unless you start with a property that has that infrastructure already in place, where you will then pay a premium for that. 

I don't think that your idea is bad on its face and destined to flop, although I do think it is risky given your lack of exit options and timeline. You are also jumping right into the deep end instead of learning the game with a smaller property first. Maybe look for a campground or mobile home park that has some of that infrastructure in place where it will be relatively cheap to add the geodomes? Might be tough to find in Sedona but there are plenty of other areas out there where this could work. 

Very noble pursuit . . . Although you are talking about a lot of startup capital and a long time before you have a property ready to list. Especially if you have never managed an STR before and don't have contacts in the area. IIRC Robuilt talks about a campsite property in the Smokies that has taken years to get off the ground.

Much safer bet would be to buy an existing home with a view in a nice neighborhood. More exit and pivot options as well because you have an asset that the banks will recognize and a much wider renter and buyer pool. 

I use the ATTO app. Has a big start/stop button, you can write notes, and can be exported into Excel. I think I pay ~$10 month. 

Good to hear all of this! Natural market cycles are a good thing because it washes out the low performers- seems like this is what is happening?

Which platform you use more of depends on your market. Most likely one dominates while the other plays 2nd fiddle. As a general rule, it seems that places that were vacation destinations before OTAs are better represented on VRBO, while mid- and large-cities tend to have more options on AirBnb. Plus, once you start syncing calendars then the other platform will know that you are making more money for their main competitor, leading to your searchability being downgraded. It is what it is. 

That said, as a self manager I find AirBnb to be much easier. Better interface that is more intuitive and easier to automate, while VRBO hasn't been redesigned since 2005 and I have to click around a lot more to find the basic info I need to prepare for the booking (set door codes, automated welcome messaging, etc). VRBOs dynamic pricing tool rollout was an absolute disaster that seized up my calendar and never actually changed prices. 

Another vote for self managing. With the proper systems in place it shouldn't require more than a few hours a week most of the year. If you do your job on the front end with preventative maintenance then you shouldn't have too many surprises going forward. With a few cleaners, a handyman, and Costco or Instacart account you should be able to manage 98% of issues in a timely manner. The exception to this would be if you are in a rural area where services are sparse, in which case a management company would make sense. 

I'll refund a guest for unused nights if it's a legitimate complaint that I can't immediately address and only if they leave the property. Thankfully I've only been in this situation twice since I launched. 

If they don't allow you to remedy the problem during their stay then you have to put them on the spot and call their bluff. Once you tell them they have to leave for the refund to be issued they will sometimes back down and decide to stay. Otherwise no refund, especially long after the fact. 

I've gone down the rabbit hole on this with my personal home. I would scrub like crazy with a wet mop only to still have dirty feet/socks shortly after. 

Basically, to really get your floors clean you need something that sucks the dirty water back up, like a carpet cleaner. Otherwise, anything with a wet cloth pad will get dirt and oil stuck in the pad, which then gets spread throughout your floors as you mop. Sure, the pad absorbs much of it, but some still gets spread throughout. Which is why old school janitors use the double bucket mop where they squeeze the dirty water out. 

Tineco and Bissell seem to be the top brands but they are pricey and you will have to instruct your cleaners how to use them. The water looks and smells absolutely disgusting, even if you mop several times a week, but that's how you know what's actually on your floors. I can do a wet paper towel test afterwards and it comes up pristine, but I also have a dog so it doesn't last long :/