All Forum Posts by: Marylin OShea

If you don't mind sharing your recommendations, @Marek Ma, I'd love to hear them! I will message you, I hope that's ok. Thank you!

I agree 100% with starting out on your own, and then you can delegate cleaning if you must. Use property management as a last resort. You'd be giving up a big share of the income!

Good luck!

As a follow up I wanted to post a quick update that is available in its long form here: 

https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

Short version: the Ambassador program has become a nice income stream I didn’t suspect could be this significant! And the amount of work is minimal so I am trying to ramp it up and continue to provide free mentorship to new Airbnb hosts. 

Congratulations! Long term or STR objectives? If you're considering listing on Airbnb, I'd love to mentor you at no cost as part of the Airbnb Ambassador program: http://www.airbnb.com/r/newtoa...

Welcome to the BP community.

Welcome! For me it was an accident; you can read my post about it here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

I was renting at the time, and not sure on where to buy. I used my savings to invest in this first property, and I still own it to this day.

Cheers,

Maryline

If you find that Annapolis MD is a viable market I will be happy to help. I have helped other members from this forum get into their next property with good success. 

STR is a GREAT opportunity here, you can read more about why that is in this post: https://hostwannabe.com/blog/f...

If you research on Airdna you may not find the proper return, but happy to share my stats if you send me a PM.

Cheers,

Maryline 443-761-7437

As much as our market in the Annapolis area continues to see major increases, no sign that it will slow down or correct in the other direction.  
Run the numbers. If the deal makes sense, pull the trigger and buy!

I couldn't tell from your profile how much experience you've got with STR but happy to help if you have questions!

I am an ambassador for airbnb and help onboard new hosts at no cost to them (I get paid a referral fee from Airbnb). www.airbnb.com/r/newtoairbnb 

One of my long-term rentals needs a total rebuilt and it's a little intimidating because I don't have construction experience and all I hear is "raw material costs are going through the roof". Well done on getting this done! Wow.

I am here to vouch that the higher price per night properties are easier to manage, far less hassle! I don't have any problems with my STR guests and I think that is the main reason (coupled with the fact that I do take great care of my properties and my guests!).

Also sound advice above not to stretch yourself too thin, run the numbers and don't just run with Airdna, research comparable listings and educate yourself about the market you want to enter.

Good luck!

@John Underwood I think it was more of an accident than anything. I have never had pushback on the cleaning fee. It's important to me, and I advertise in my listing, that my space be impeccably clean. I hire professional cleaners before and after every stay. I have the laundry professional cleaned. It's a big deal for a pet-friendly home.

So I am happy to continue paying a fair wage for my cleaners and deliver 5-star cleanliness - vacuum, dust, wash and lint-roll EVERYTHING.

@Bruce Woodruff

I have compared my cleaning fee to other comparable listings near me, and yes, I am on the upper end and I have not had problems with occupancy for the most part. The few gaps I end up with are weekdays between long bookings or weekends. Those are hard to fill regardless.

I think I will bump the cleaning on VRBO to $250.