All Forum Posts by: Kelly Cochran

 I have contracts that are form fillable. 

check out Furnish Finder instead & think about changing your target audience to traveling nurses if possible

Hey @Kelly Cochran!  Here are my thoughts, but feel free to ignore them haha.

Drawbacks: 

- I do not like how many fees the AirBnB platform takes away; I use furnish finder, costs $97 for the entire year. 

- AirBnB platform continues to side with guests over hosts, so without extra layers of protect/leases/contracts you could be put in a precarious situation but everyones risk tolerance is difference.

I personally have used Furnish Finder because of the cost, its vast network, and less competition.  With that, you would need use a property management system; I use Avail which screens tenants, creates leases (have them reviewed by a lawyer), manages payments, and maintenance requests.  You are now protected with additional layers and specific to your needs, rather than relying on a guest oriented platform service like AirBnB.

I do not require monthly cleanings, I include it at no charge to my guests. MTR is still a hospitality service, and for my dozen of close friends who travel as nurses cleaning fees and non-refundable deposits are an immediate deterrent. This makes them feel that you care about their experience, you also have monthly eyes on the property as well, and much easy to keep it in tip-tip shape.

You will also want to make sure your amentities are curated for the MTR stayers; folks who may meal prep and need more appliances like slow cookers, instapots, aire fryers, and tupperware to store food or take with them to work (13 hr shift nurses). If they are traveling digital nomads, then desk areas, included your WIFI/Internet speeds as an incentive, etc.  

Sorry that was a lot! I hope there are some helpful snippets and happy to talk further DM. You got this and good luck!

@Kelly Cochran Airbnb is definitely one of the safest when it comes to hosting any length of stay. I just ended a 9-month stay through Airbnb and faced very minimal issues. They were very polite, clean, and after the first two weeks, they didn't ask me a single question and were very self-sufficient. I couldn't have asked for a better LTR, but this also depends on the guest. Earlier in the year, I accepted a 3-month stay that developed into moving into a new unit on-site for an additional 5 months. After the first 3-month stay, my cleaners walked into a horror show. All of the furniture was destroyed with burn marks, stains, damage from a dog they acquired after they checked in, urine stains, holes in the wall, etc. I fought with Airbnb and the guest for over a month trying to get something back for the damage as the entire unit had to be repurchased, repainted, renovated. Airbnb also prohibited me from ending the current 5-month stay without absurd penalties like a full refund, no superhost for the year, a large cancellation fee, and the cost of rehoming him for the remainder of the stay. All I could do from that point on was wait. 

I lucked out by just happening to run into a family member visiting who footed the bill for both stays. I presented the documented damage and the family member paid for the damages of both units once the second stay was over. The moral of the story, even after a few horror stories myself, I still wouldn't issue a full credit/background check for MT/LT stays. I do require all guests, regardless of the length of stay, to sign a rental agreement set up through my PMS system, and I HIGHLY recommend you do this. A lot of guests will be deterred by having to sign a binding lease, but the rental agreement does the same thing and is just a little less scary to guests. Since establishing a rental agreement, I have won almost all of my cases with Airbnb and guests.

I think you should have some sort of screening process, however. I use SuperHog for every guest as well. This just ensures you're not homing a sex offender in an area they should not be in.

As for cleaning, I've hosted a good number of MT/LT stays and can honestly say you should require a monthly touch-up clean when pets are involved. I had a 4-month guest that came with 2 cats and a dog as they were in the process of renovating their home. I required a $50 touch-up cleaning each month and they seemed to have no problem with it and actually enjoyed the cleaner space. My cleaners didn't do anything extra; just the important "please don't destroy these items" maintenance cleans, i.e., scrubbing appliances, checking furniture for pet damages, floors, dusting, rugs, and bathrooms. They didn't do linens, they didn't do dishes, and they didn't replenish any amenities. They tidied up and made it look nice while checking for damages and maintaining the items that most people miss in their own homes.

The last piece of advice: make it VERY apparent what you will be supplying to them in terms of amenities. Some guests will book for 3+ months and expect to never run out of toilet paper, shampoo, paper towels, or ever have to wash towels and linens. Good luck to you!

I may be in the minority here, but I treat our MTR bookings through Airbnb like a STR. We don't require a lease and only do cleanings after check out. This is all up to your risk tolerance and your confidence in your screening process. I'm confident in my screening of Airbnb bookings and I have plans in place for if things go wrong.

There's nothing you HAVE to do for a 3 month stay through Airbnb, just want you WANT to do =)

Context: we manage many MTRs (currently at 26) in Los Angeles and get most of our bookings from Airbnb and Furnished Finder. 

I'd require them to at least be insured in case they did something get you sued.

A PM should be licensed and insured so your taking a risk with a Co-host that isn't licensed and insured. 

You can definitely manage STR's (one or more on your own). Our team of partners (two husband wife teams) started out this way and eventually built our own management company. We quit all four of our W2's and invest/manage full time now. It was totally doable as a side hustle but the interruptions (during W2 work meetings, dinner, playtime with kids) over guest issues was a lot. At first, this is tolerable and it's really fun, but then it wore on us. We saw an opportunity to invest and manage (added construction and RE brokerage to the family of businesses).

There are professional managers (aka a company) and accredited investors (meet crieria). Neither of these means you manage well or invest smart.

A few starter tips: invest in VA's when you are answering too many messages (and train them), build relationships with maintenance/housekeepers (backbone of your ops), develop simple systems that keep everything in order.

Always best to know what goes into that 20-30% commish before you blindly start paying it so you'll know exactly the questions to ask, or business to build, when you are having success (or want your dinners and kid homework help time back). Some of the best run STR's are "mom and pop" operators.

So don't give it away until you know it's the right thing to do, there's a lot of margin to keep in your pocket. Good luck!

You can do it 100%- If I can do it, you can do it. I self manage 6 properties + co-host another and I spend no more than 20 min a day on all 7 of them. I am not kidding! You just need the right systems set up, and its all automated and then you just adjust and tweak. You got this! I am sending you GIRL POWER and positive energy and vibes! :)