All Forum Posts by: Lauren Kormylo

You should call them and complain.  Do they want guests to book on their platform, or do they want to scare them away with the only bad review you (and others) have?  Most companies put the best reviews as "the most relevant" which is what Airbnb is doing now.

I don't require it through Airbnb, but I do through Vrbo, because they are notorious for not backing you up when a guest does a charge back on their credit card.  If you want to take the guest to small claims court, a judge is going to want to see an agreement between you two, not between Vrbo and the guest.  That's the consensus of everyone I've heard of who had to sue.  Without an agreement, they lost.

Cleaning costs have gone up in the past 5 years, because covid made people realize they don't want to do a hard physical job for peanuts anymore. And you're asking the cleaner to drive to the house, spending time, gas, and wear and tear on their car. And you're having them wash sheets and towels and make up beds, which normal cleaners don't do for someone living in their house full time. With an STR, it has to be absolutely clean, a guest does not want to find evidence of prior guests at all. So no, $100 to clean a 3 bedroom is not out of line. If that is way more than neighboring STRs are charging, then there are probably a lot of owners cleaning them themselves.

FYI, my cleaners charge $330 to clean my 4 bed/3.5 bath beach house.  Most of the surrounding STRs do not supply linens, guests need to bring their own, so that's why mine is higher than others.   However, because I believe it hurt bookings, I only charge the guests $230 and increased the daily rate to make up the difference, which has worked great.  Your cleaners can make or break your business, and price isn't the only consideration.  You need those 5 star reviews, and cleanliness is the basis of that.

Take the cushions to an upholstery shop and see if they can add some cushioning to them, probably by wrapping them in batting. There's no way you should be able to feel the metal bars of the frame through the cushions when seated, no matter what.  But it may be uncomfortable because the foam is hard, and you start to feel that the longer you sit.  If the back of the sofa isn't comfortable, they might be able to work on that, but it will require taking the whole thing into the shop unless it has removable cushions there too.  Having a comfortable sofa to sit on is even more important than the mattress, because all guests will sit on it. 

Some trash companies have a service for an extra charge where they will wheel it out to the curb, because handicapped and the elderly often can’t do it. Call and see if yours does. 

I agree Rooms To Go would be fine.  I bought my 6 mattresses from Mattress Firm with 0% financing for 1 year when I was furnishing my place.  I paid it off within the year, so it cost me no interest. 

Thrift stores take a lot of time to shop at, wasted time in my opinion. I found nothing good at the ones near my STR, it was total crap that I would be embarrassed to have my guests use. And if they don't deliver, you need a truck and an extra person. Your time is worth money, it's time that guests aren't renting your house.

Sinistar has been asked about before here, but I don't remember anyone having direct experience with them.

As far as PadSplit, you'll have to check city and county laws concerning the number of unrelated people allowed to live in a house.  Some localities have limits, some don't.  For instance, Sedona AZ has a limit of 4 unrelated adults living on a residential lot, so PadSplit won't work there. If PadSplit is already operating in your city, there shouldn't be a problem with that.  Not to say the law couldn't change of course.  You are aware that PadSplit requires you to convert your living and dining rooms into additional bedrooms, right?  So you'll be putting out quite a bit of money to do that, and when you sell, you'll most likely have to convert it back. 

Remove it.  It's in the way of the only full-height headroom there.  It's a burn hazard to someone trying to walk around it, they're going to be constantly brushing by hot metal. 

As an alternative, you could supply guests with a dog blanket to put on the the sofa.   https://www.amazon.com/couch-covers-pets/s?k=couch+covers+fo...  I supply a similar cover for the master bed because I've had dogs' nails snag the stitching on the quilt. 

But my sofa has a medium gray fabric that wipes off pretty well with a wet microfiber cloth, and dogs have not stained it or even gotten it very dirty so far. If you go with white or a very light color, you may need to have cleanable covers.  So if you still want removable covers, search for "sofas that come with slipcovers".  Wayfair has a selection.  

Wedding photographers would love to use the front porch for photographs, it's very impressive, especially with the Juliet balcony.  The back patio and large trees on the grounds would be great for that too.