All Forum Posts by: Katherine Lewis

QUESTION: Has anyone had success going all in on marketing to groups celebrating milestones?

Partner and I bought our first STR in Western NC. Big 5 BR home with gorgeous views of a lake and mountains beyond. As most know, this region was hit hard by Hurricane Helene. Currently it's slow season and it's even slower than usual from what I understand.

We are thinking about how to build demand through targeted marketing strategies. One idea I have is that we could go all in on becoming a home targeted at groups celebrating milestones (birthdays, weddings, family reunions etc). I’d plan for extra amenities like special decor or concierge services.

Has anyone had success with the strategy? If so, what were the key ingredients or tactics you used to make this work? How / where did you market?

Appreciate any insights on this. We are really worried about lack of demand being a continued issue since our town may not even open our lake this summer due to storm contamination 🥲

0 Votes

Quote from @Michael Baum:

Quote from @Katherine Lewis:

I would challenge the statement that if you have a great location on a lake or in the mountains that you don’t need the putting green etc. Most importantly, I think, is to ask the question - what are your direct competitors doing? What is table stakes amenities wise to compete with them? And then ask what are the top earners offering? You might not be able to beat that top earner if they have something you can’t achieve (ie lake front or better views), but knowing what amenities matter in your market is an essential step in determining what you need to provide.

There are markets where the supply of amazing homes replete with every amenity is significant, and if you’re in one of those markets, then you relying on a great view (that most everybody has) is not enough.

Well I hear what you are saying. I know that a putting green or some kind of amenity like that wouldn't make a lick of difference in my area.

I look at our direct competition and we are still the best value on the lake for the space.

We are lakefront and with a great view. People are rarely in the house. They are out on the lake all day, on the beach or riding the 72 mile long bike trail.

Of course we are not talking about Orlando. It is north Idaho and quite rural. There are only 14 rentals in our rather large area of the lake.

I personally think this advice is more for the high saturation areas vs those of us in outside the mainstream areas.

Totally get what you're saying, Michael! Mainly the point we're both making is understand your guest needs and understand your market. I'm not sure I fully agree it's only high saturation markets that should consider extra amenities. The question I think is what ROI is there for the amenity you add? What investments pay you back, and which do not. For example, in many markets, a hot tub will have an ROI. That is not necessarily true of other amenities like a putting green, unless you're in a place where that is desired by your guest and can help you stand out (eg Arizona markets). It's all about doing your due diligence!

1 Vote

Quote from @Michael Baum:

Hey @Lotus Eli, @John Underwood covered a lot of it, but it really depends on the area.

You need to do a lot more if the area doesn't have something else to offer.

For example, the big potato. There isn't much around it but you get to stay in a potato.

Or the Polly Pocket house. Or the submarine.

If you have a great location on a lake, in the mountains, on the beach etc., You don't need to crazy with stuff like putting greens or themed rooms.

Plenty of games for rainy days, a great kitchen, beautiful view of the lake we are on is how we succeed. Plus great communication with guests.

1 Vote

Quote from @Jason Smolarek:

@Jason Redeker happy to answer any questions about operating short-term rentals in the Lake Geneva area...I'm the owner of Elite Lake Rentals and we manage 7 fully-licensed homes there...3 in the city limits (180 consecutive short-term rental days with the remaining 6-months being 30-night min or 1 rental per month) and 4 other homes that can be rented year-round. The average length of stay is 3 to 4 nights, mostly long weekends in the summer months making the 7-night rule a non-issue. I manage one 5bd lakefront home and that will rent for 7-nights but anything in residential downtown off the lake will be 3 to 4 night stays. AirDNA Rentalizer numbers are way off on projected revenue...not even close. I use PriceLabs, Awning, Rabbu, and AllTheRooms and take an average.

Jason, found this post from a few years ago, and wondered if you'd still be up for a chat about this market? My partner and I were looking into the area for possible STR. We're not put off by the regulation, but wanted to better understand it. Also, would love to understand how much proximity to downtown affects rates.

0 Votes

Quote from @Nathan M kiefer:

Quote from @Katherine Lewis:

Quote from @Nathan M kiefer:

Quote from @Katherine Lewis:

Quote from @Nathan M kiefer:

Quote from @Katherine Lewis:

Quote from @Nicholas L.:

@Katherine Lewis

mostly that I am trying to minimize the amount of cash I leave in deals, and with an STR it seems like the strongest play is to just buy something near-ready with a traditional down payment. of course you could try to creatively finance one if you are so inclined and were able to find it.

in theory a great STR would return the cash in just a few years via the higher returns, but i am having success with other methods right now.

@Nicholas L. I'm reminded of the phrase, ‘If it ain't broke…'. That said, depending on how concentrated you are in one asset/strategy, diversification can be a wise move. I appreciate the point about cash availability. I'm contemplating joining a program called Creative Camp that teaches you creative financing strategies with a focus on STR, and includes access to their sourced, pre-vetted opportunities with creative financing available. Cost is roughly $3k, which in the long run would pay off. Of course this hinges on quality of deals!

All about timing we had 18 ltrs and were scared to death and bought 2 strs in ocean lakes Myrtle beach. The ltr portfolio did roughly 18k per month and the two strs do almost 12k. They are high end and was a gamble although we stole them 295k and 375k respectively. Had we not taken that chance we would not have quickly realized our goal of living off rei if needed.

str and ltr are awesome. For us it was ltr TO str. Wouldn't trade it that path for anything.

@Nathan M kiefer love hearing this! Congrats on getting there. My partner and I have been considering Myrtle Beach! AirDNA score is pretty low for the area, and I was also concerned about the sheer number of listings. Would you mind sharing any thoughts on getting in now? Yes, no? What does well there (amenities / unique selling points etc)? Any particular red flags for us to be aware of? Thanks so much!

We only would buy in ocean lakes Myrtle Beach SC. It's a campground and resort 318 acres to the ocean with 24/7 security.

check it out. As far as amenities - best way to answer is with our listings. Check them out.

It's always a good time to buy for us. We try to get boots on the ground and is how we bought our last one which was a 4/4 with elevator for 375k.

winter is the best time to buy in that area

Any other questions I'd be glad to answer - we have had good success with these two.

https://air.tl/TOC8nWuO

https://air.tl/uZ0G06GT

Thanks, @Nathan M kiefer, very helpful. Great properties! And yes, boots on the ground makes sense. I think we'll have to rely on an agent there, so worth really developing that relationship there.

One question I do have is how to mitigate the low season. Looking at properties' bookings over the next months, looks like occupancy is next to nothing. I've heard the booking window is quite short short, so hard to get a sense of true demand rn. How do you manage having a large property (ie large holdinig cost) over these months? And it sounds like summer months are the key in that you really need to be fully booked to ensure that you meet your numbers for the year?

I have an agent that's great If you need one just let me know.

our two houses are side by side which is very uncommon in ocean lakes so we can host large groups.

as far as riding through down times. As an example we get between 6-7k per week in the busy season. So say July that is 48k for two houses for one month.

We opted to go high end to get high dollar and the off season is what it is. I could drop the price in off season but it's not really what we want to do and it gives us good opportunity to use as a family and fix things up

we did 140k last year between the two.

currently as of today we have $55k in bookings for this upcoming year. Mostly june and July.

hope that helps!

Would be fantastic to get connected to your agent. I'll PM you to coordinate if that's alright. Also, would love to know which credit union you use!

And RE: low season, makes total sense. And what an awesome selling point that your properties are side by side.

0 Votes

Quote from @Nathan M kiefer:

Quote from @Katherine Lewis:

Quote from @Nathan M kiefer:

Quote from @Katherine Lewis:

Quote from @Nicholas L.:

@Katherine Lewis

in theory a great STR would return the cash in just a few years via the higher returns, but i am having success with other methods right now.

str and ltr are awesome. For us it was ltr TO str. Wouldn't trade it that path for anything.

We only would buy in ocean lakes Myrtle Beach SC. It's a campground and resort 318 acres to the ocean with 24/7 security.

check it out. As far as amenities - best way to answer is with our listings. Check them out.

It's always a good time to buy for us. We try to get boots on the ground and is how we bought our last one which was a 4/4 with elevator for 375k.

winter is the best time to buy in that area

Any other questions I'd be glad to answer - we have had good success with these two.

https://air.tl/TOC8nWuO

https://air.tl/uZ0G06GT

Thanks, @Nathan M kiefer, very helpful. Great properties! And yes, boots on the ground makes sense. I think we'll have to rely on an agent there, so worth really developing that relationship there.

0 Votes

Quote from @Emily Anderson:

Hi Katherine,

I like your idea about the top questions. Here are mine:
- Where should I buy?
- What should I buy?
- How much will I make on a yealy basis?

Of course, you will have to check with your legal advisor, or agent if STRs are legal in your municipality of interest. Additionaly, make sure you can refinance previous properties and get a loan with good terms for your next investment.

A hard lesson I learned: choose your rental management company wisely. Bad reviews can seriously dent your revenue, trust me on that one.

Thanks @Emily Anderson, appreciate the points.

0 Votes

Quote from @Nathan M kiefer:

Quote from @Katherine Lewis:

Quote from @Nicholas L.:

@Katherine Lewis

in theory a great STR would return the cash in just a few years via the higher returns, but i am having success with other methods right now.

str and ltr are awesome. For us it was ltr TO str. Wouldn't trade it that path for anything.

0 Votes

Quote from @Michael Keffer:

Quote from @Katherine Lewis:

Quote from @Nicholas L.:

@Katherine Lewis

yes, that is what i meant. i have a few markets i'm keeping an eye on for STR but haven't pulled the trigger yet. my portfolio so far is just LTR.

Gotcha. So, I've been doing a ton of research and my gut says stay away from the markets where everyone's attention is. I don't want to end up having to compete at high price points / OpEx just to stand out in an increasingly saturated market. Not at this early stage when my liquidity / cash flow / leverage is low compared to my competitors. I also am not going to consider markets where zero STR regulation is in place. I want to buy and hold in a market with higher than average appreciation, and I don't want to worry about regulations coming in and making STR impossible/too difficult. Also, regulation limits supply (sometimes this a huge advantage if you know your competition is significantly capped). Perhaps these are thing you've already been thinking of, but sharing my POV in case helpful. So all that to say that I am not clear on which place to focus on but getting closer! I really appreciated the new 2024 report from STR Insights. The list provides names of places I've never heard of, which means others probably haven't either :)

What’s been holding you back from pulling the trigger @Nicholas L.?

@Katherine Lewis Where does someone find the STR Insights piece you mention above? Thx. (Also, as a new member here, how do I reply to a thread without the quote reply?)

@Michael Keffer - ha, I had the same question about how to reply without Quote, no idea!

I was trying to find the page where I signed up to receive the STR Insights 2024 report, but couldn't find it. So, here's the PDF link instead: https://22210694.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/222106...

1 Vote

Quote from @Bradley Buxton:

@Katherine Lewis

True, right now Reno does not have many regulations on STR. That could be a concern for a smaller town. Most of the STRs in the area are near Lake Tahoe in Incline Village (about 90%) and I expect the county to implement more regulations in North Lake Nevada. It's also Nevada and people here don't like being told what they can and can't do.

South Lake in Douglas county, NV is very restrictive and becoming more so.

Reno has so many options for hotels that STRs are slightly less desirable in the city limits vs Lake Tahoe where there are only 2 hotels. Some of the best cash flow and wealth building is in the MTR and appreciation. I do believe that there will likely be more restrictions in the future but I don't expect them to be as restrictive as South Lake because of the availability of workforce housing.

Appreciate the thoughts and intuitively it makes sense to me that STR may not be the right strategy for Reno. I'm curious what drivers are there for MTR demand? I definitely remain interested in Reno given your points about its fundamentals, and it's proximity to where I live.

0 Votes

All Forum Posts by: Katherine Lewis

Katherine Lewis has started 2 posts and replied 24 times.

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