All Forum Posts by: Lynette Guy

Brian Gainous Im interested to know how many sort term rentals you own. 

I'm sure I shouldn't stress about it. Maybe I just have 1 too many things going on right now. My mistake and I admit it.

I'm a great host, have awesome reviews, and go above and beyond for each and every guest. That being said, this is my house. I could tell the door was being left open for the unit to be running as much as it was. I'm considerate when I stay in other people's home and I treat it as well as I treat my own home.

I enjoy being a host and my guests enjoy the cabin. As far as doing the math, if the a/c ran 24/7, I'm sure I would have to raise the rates. Fortunately all guests don't run it that way.

I posted this to get feedback from others who have short term rentals and I appreciate the feedback I received from people in the same situation. Unfortunatley, I posted at the wrong time. I should have waited and given it some more thought. 

My tenants are always responsible for mowing their own yards. I have a house outside the city limits and trash is an additional fee. I have the tenant pay for the trash as well.

I would never provide the lawn mower. As someone else mentioned, you would then be responsible for repairs and it becomes a liability issue.

Jow Garvin, I'm interested to know if you are still using Evolve or if you have migrated away. I was wondering how smoothly the transition would go to still have their bookings but transition away from.

Lynette Guy

i bought a cabin in north Georgia this past February.  I live 2.5 hours from there and initally I started out completely on my own, with a local housekeeper that I found from Angie's List.  I hired a professional photographer and then listed on VRBO and Airbnb.  I was doing really well, with the bulk of my bookings coming from Airbnb.  

I decided to give Evolve a try, thinking their marketing would increase my bookings from VRBO, as well as overall bookings.  

The pros that I found were their photopraphs are amazing.  I thought the first ones I had taken were pretty incredibe but they do some editing and seem to enhance them.  Next, the description of my cabin is quite professional and inviiting.

That being said, I miss being the first point of contact with my guests, as well as being able to negotiate with them on any special needs/issues they may have.  If I'm able to speak with the guest, I may make an exception; for instance I may allow them to bring a larger dog than the 50 pound size limit that is listed.  The personal aspect that people like seems to be lost.  Also, you can charge extra fort extra guests when you list on your own.  With Evolve, you cannot.  It cost more and takes more time for housekeeping to clean when there are extra people.

I can't see that my bookings have increased whatsoever and as a traveler that booked a house through VRBO/Evolve last year, I found the booking process to be a little cumbersome.  I booked the house and then received an email telling me to call Evolve, so there were some extra calls and emails that aren't necessary when that middleman isn't there.  It was a great house and the owner was a teriffic host, but the booking process was just a little confusing.

Overall, I think it depends on where you are located as to how well you will do using Evolve.  They use their case studies to sell you, but all houses/locations aren't going to produce those same results.  You also have to weigh how involved you want to be in the day-to-day process.  For me, I've found that I really like hosting (not just getting a booking and the money) and most people like to know who their host is and I like to know who my guest is.  There will be no pictures or bios like what you see on the other sites.

I would be interested to know what other people think who have used Evolve for their short term rentals.

Mark, you are probably correct. I've had the same thing as you where they turned it way down at night and then got cold and cranked it up the opposite direction. Makes no sense, but I usually just shake my head. Honestly, I think it's just been one of those days. Most of my guests are very respectful and adjust the thermostat when they leave the house. 

On the cleaning, I've thought it's probably a good thing that I never see the house when someone leaves. The housekeeper fills me in and I haven't had any issues ao far, although I might be a little more concerned about things than she is.

I've been doing REI for several years, but this is my first vacation rental. I know you have to just let some things go.

Thanks.

Thanks Eric. I actually have ceiling fans in all the bedrooms and the den, as well as small oscillating fans that can be moved from room to room. 

It was already what I consider to be pretty cool at 70, although I know people have different preferences on what is comfortable. Like someone else said, I should probably not check as often as I do. Thanks for your input.

Mark, you are probably correct. I've had the same thing as you where they turned it way down at night and then got cold and cranked it up the opposite direction. Makes no sense, but I usually just shake my head. Honestly, I think it's just been one of those days. Most of my guests are very respectful and adjust the thermostat when they leave the house. 

On the cleaning, I've thought it's probably a good thing that I never see the house when someone leaves. The housekeeper fills me in and I haven't had any issues ao far, although I might be a little more concerned about things than she is.

I've been doing REI for several years, but this is my first vacation rental. I know you have to just let some things go.

Thanks.

Hi Jean. 57 for a week-what's up with that?! I know my housekeeper turns it down like that as well but it's only for a few hours. I realize she works hard and gets hot while she's working. People don't really understand how a thermostat works; it's not going to cool down any quicker by turning it down to an extreme temperature.

I know how to lock the thermostat, but hadn't really wanted to until now. I wanted to give guests the freedom to control the temperature, but if everywhere let it run like this, I'd have to raise my rates.

I went ahead and put a lock on it. I appreciate the input from someone who has experience in this.

Thanks for the response. They're not checking out today; most people who stay are out doing sight seeing by 11:00 and come back later in the day. I've just asked that it be adjusted to AWAY when they leave for the day. If they happen to be staying in, that's fine too. The thermostat read 70 when it was switched to the AWAY position at 11:00. Instaed of just turning it back to 70, they now turned it down to 64. It will never stop running at that temp. 

I have a Nest thermostat in my short term rental cabin in North Georgia. I have not put any restrictions on it right now but in my house manual, I ask that the guest turn it to the AWAY setting when they leave and also State that at 11:00 am it will automatically switch to the AWAY position should they happen to forget. I also state that should they happen to still be home, they can feel free to switch it back to the HOME setting.

I gave a guest here now that checked in yesterday.  Check in is officially 4:00 pm.  She texted me at 10:20 yesterday morning and requested an early check in. I told her that was fine since the previous guest had checked had the day before. When I checked the thermostat, I saw that she had actually already entered the house before she ever texted me.

They had the air conditioner turned down to 68 and it ran for 12.5 hours yesterday. Ok, seems somewhat excessive to me, but you have to deal with some things. This morning it was switched to the AWAY setting at 11:00 and a few minutes later I noticed that it was turned down to 65.  

To me, it looks like they're being spiteful. All they had to do was turn it back to HOME, which had been set at 70.  

My question is, "Do I just leave it alone from this point and have an exorbitant power bill or put some sort of reasonable temperature control on it and risk a bad review?"

Thanks for any input and experiences that you've had in this situation.