All Forum Posts by: Chuck Masters

I signed up for Houfy and they have an integration with Google Vacation Rentals.

I have one STR near Disney. I use Hubitat with smart switches to automate lights so when a guest arrives to the villa or comes back from the parks late at night the garage lights, front door lights and the inside lamps are on so they don't come back to a dark house. I use a smart thermostat to let me know when the temperatures and humidity are out of range and it uses ifttt to notify me. I use various water sensors with Hubitat under sinks, behind the frig and at the water heater to notify me of any leaks. One caught a leaky garbage disposal. I use Arlo cameras to keep an eye on things when the place is unoccupied. This really helped during Covid when no one travelled.

Since Airbnb support is off shore, wonder if the folks who decided to remove this hosts property from the platform realizes this property is in an area where this is common. I can imagine a host in Florida who has a guest report an alligator and support saying that’s a dangerous animal. Well no sh!t. 

After the phone conversation I would summarize the phone call on platform so there is written record

I liked the HGTV’s Vacation House Rules with Scott McGillivray

I live in Maryland and have a short term rental in the Disney area. One thing I found helpful was interviewing property managers first in the area since they will be your boots on the ground. I stayed away from the large management companies because their customer service to me wasn't up to what I was expecting. I work with a smaller PM company with lots of experience and they are very helpful and responsive to me and my customers.

While BP forums are great for info there are a few podcasts that discuss everything short term rentals and. I really like the podcast vacation rental formula. I have learned so much from Heather and her guests that have improved my standards for me and my guests. So much I've been able to raise my nightly rate more than my neighbors in a very competitive market.

Good Luck

Chuck

We bought our vacation rental home in the Disney area back in 2017 before the housing prices exploded. To give you an idea of the prices today, my villa has doubled in value. The Disney area is probably the densest area in the world for short term rentals. 

It's hard to find real deals in this area. The locals are having difficulty even finding houses and apartments to rent. Housing is so critical, Disney just recently announced they are setting aside 80 acres for moderately priced housing to be built probably targeting the lower paid workers who work at Disney. And there is also a lot of competition for housing by investors and homeowners so unless you heavily theme out your property it's not so easy to actually make money. Sure there are plenty that are making money but the majority aren't making lots or just breaking even.

We travel to Florida 4 to 5 times a year and stay in our STR 2 weeks at a time. We are just breaking even, but I look at what it cost to stay at a moderate/deluxe resort at Disney for 2 weeks and I think I'm doing alright. Besides the guests we host are paying down the mortgage and someday I'll trade up closer to the coast and become a snowbird :)

Good Luck,

Chuck

There is a a great podcast and web site that centers around all things vacation rentals called Vacation Rental Formula that also does a newsletter on current events in the vacation rental space. There is a vacation rental organization vmra.org. They actually have a conference coming up soon. 

Chuck

@Bruce Woodruff my lawyer recommended a separate agreement off platform. You hear stories where the OTA's can suspend your property for a variety of reasons with little recourse to the owner (the customer is always right and the OTA's have to protect their reputations) and that info may then not be accessible. We all know how we all read any terms of service for anything, we select the agree button and move on, my document requires a signature so if there is an issue the guest can't say they never saw it. The OTA agreement is the guest agreeing to the house rules when they elect to book, there is no legal basis that they even saw it or know it was there. Can't prove it.

Chuck

@Bruce Woodruff They can penalize you for cancelling. I have in my house rules that the terms and conditions have to be signed with 24 hours so I have VRBO do the cancellation. No penalty yet. But they change the rules so often so who knows how long I can go penalty free. My issue is if a guest refuses to sign the terms and conditions or don't communicate at all after the reservation is accepted then I don't really want them in the property.

Chuck