All Forum Posts by: Jon Martin

Agreed with @John Underwood it is basically a job. 

I wouldn't touch arbitrage with a 10 foot pole unless it was a super unique property and situation with an owner where I saw some longevity and buy in from them. Otherwise you spend year 1 paying yourself back for the furniture (if you're lucky) and then hope to make a profit in year 2, only for your lease to possibly change terms, losing all of the time you put into building your brand. Plus the gray area between who's responsible for repairs. 

If I found myself out of work I would consider co-hosting to the pay the bills. Almost zero risk/investment and direct payment off of top line. 

 I'm sure I would like it if it worked. I had to go into the app to delete it (based on your rec, thank you btw!) because the desktop version put me into an endless loop. 

 Problem is that they are putting all of the onus on the host instead of working on their own backend issues. A few examples: 

-OneKey points that can be redeemed for some listings but not others

-Certain photos being denied from upload with no explanation for why

-Completely failed dynamic pricing tool that puts you in a catch 22 with your calendar 

At least AirBnb has their IT game in order and a modern and relatively intuitive interface with updated fonts, graphics etc. VRBO needs a facelift, badly. 

If they want to do that, at least improve on the interface/user experience. VRBO's is a decade behind AirBnb in that regard. 

Agreed with the above- unless there is an extenuating circumstance where the blame falls on you then you don't owe them anything. They've already blocked dates off your calendar that you most likely will not fill on short notice. These types of people are never satisfied and probably make everyone around them miserable with their constant back and forth with everything. 

The only times that I've allowed this was a situation where there was a cleaning or a maintenance issue, which ultimately falls on me.  In that case I don't go back and forth, I simply tell them they can have a refund for unused nights if they leave immediately. 

@Angela Marquez ok that's where the confusion is. From what I can tell there is no need to upload a formal rental agreement on your end. You put your house rules in the listing and the platform walks them through it. 

Are you looking to find a long term tenant on airbnb? I think there are better sites for that, you will lose a lot to platform fees. 

2 properties in Greenville SC. Thankfully both are undamaged but power is still out. Of course I had guests checking out and back in on Friday . . . Sigh. One in on standby in Clemson and ready to move in, was supposed to stay through the weekend but I will probably have to refund them everything or close to it. Getting lots of inquiries from neighbors and people from Asheville leading with "do you have power". 

Reminder that some geographic diversification in my portfolio would be a good thing. 

Microwave popcorn from Costco is the only food item I do. I applaud the efforts of others but I don't feel the need to supply a bunch of snacks, especially with a larger home where I would have to leave a lot for everyone. I don't like the idea of staging photos with flaming hot cheetos against my new penny tile backsplash, but then again I see other listings getting mentions in the reviews so who am I to question it?

There has to be a dominant website out there for wedding venues, just a matter of finding it.