All Forum Posts by: Lisa Graesser

Thanks for sharing, this gives me confidence that I do not need that. I had looked into Pricelabes a couple years ago and didn't think it worked well for my market, but sometimes think about retrying it because so many seem to rely on it.

I do the same as John... Cable, smart TV's and guests sign into there own accounts

I am from Buffalo and the only tiny homes, that I know of, are in the ski town of Ellicottville about an hour south of Buffalo.

This is interesting, I have also had more cancellations over the last few months than usual. I have not had any chargebacks. Most of my cancellations were within the cancellation period and I charge a cancellation fee for my direct bookings. If I have a direct booking outside of the cancellation period I and can get the house  rebooked, I will refund the cost of nights rebooked as a courtesy. I also have every guest sign a rental agreement, whether on or off the OTA's, that states the specifics including the cancellation policy, so I know they have read it outside of the booking information. So as you mentioned the information the credit card company's asked you for, maybe this would work for me in that regard.

Although the cleaner is probably the most important piece to the puzzle for your STR success, there is alot more involved with managing it. You can go to a local facebook or nextdoor groups and find recommended cleaners, handymen and repairmen. And as John said, have as many remote/wifi controls like locks, thermostats, garage door openers, sprinkler controllers (I don't have cameras, but many do). You can definitley do this yourself remotely. It still amazes me that I can sucessfully take care of everything with my phone wherever I am. The bookkeeping is the only part that is homework for me.

Depends on your clientele. We cater to us older folk that didn't grow up with all these subscriptions and when they go on vacation they want to press a button and tell the remote what channel they want😄 We have big smart TV's that they love and if inclined can use a subscription, but then they have to figure out how to sign out of them. Most want ease of access to the channels they are used to...News and sports, so we provide that and it seems to be appreciated. 

My motivation for a washer and dryer is based on the ease for cleaners to be able to turn the house as easy as possible and I did not even consider what guests would want. 

This is what we have recently purchases for both 2 and 3 bedroom homes

LG 7.3 Cu. ft model DLG7151W , washer LG 5.0 cu.ft. high efficiency top load washer (no agitator) model WT7150CW. dryer LG 7.3 Cu. ft model DLG7151W

The Cleaners love them and recommend them to their other clients to purchase.

If you have the time to shop around, first look at your local consignment shops, nextdoor or facebook. You can find nice leather sofas and well made furniture.  If I can't find what I want second hand then purchase from local furniture store for heavy use items like beds/frames, dressers, dining sets. We have bought beds/dressers for the extra bedrooms and a dining set from Wayfair, they look nice but are pretty cheaply made.(particle board vs wood) We have bought entertainment centers on Amazon which have been well made. Having to replace furniture can be a hassle and the less I have to replace the better.

Doesn't look to me like anyone in my area is getting a higher rent or reviews because they have quartz over formica. Mine have formica, but if I needed to make a change I would probably do quartz to increase resale value if I ever decided to sell. 

I use the netgear night hawk that has worked very well with xfinity