All Forum Posts by: Matt Mertz

Be sure to check on local regulations. There may be an HOA out there that prevents parking the trailer on your lot.

Also like Nathan explained, make sure the work maintaining a relatively low revenue property is really worth it to you.

We have 21 nights / 6 different groups booked for this June.  But we didn't cut prices.  Two of those booked in May.

Pretty simple explanation.  We started off pretty slow.  I guess it was the new listing and lacking reviews.

For comparison, we had 66 nights booked 1st half of 2022.  This year we have 101 nights and there's still some days in June left.

I look back at those numbers in 2022 and wonder why we weren't so scared.  But 2022 was a good year despite the slow start.  

That's the pricelabs dashboard showing your occupancy rate at 7/30/60 days.  Luke is doing way better than our cabin.  We're 43%/60%/55%.  

We've noticed a couple of things this year.

1. We're doing far better than last year.  Revenue first half of this year is +57% above last year.

2. We've noticed time between booking and stay has shortened.

Our listing started in Dec 2021 so I think the better performance this year has to do with getting more reviews and superhost.  We're super happy but the tighter booking times worry us because we have a big cabin that typically requires more coordination to book.  We're hoping that the rest of this year will continue to be as great as the first.

The other thing I wanted to note is that we didn't get the better numbers by cutting our rates.  We have a new construction with fantastic views so we've held firm on that.

This is a fun topic because that's our goal.

I would recommend keeping your W2 job but start looking for another one to get a bump in pay.  The biggest pay raises you get are typically from switching jobs.

If your rentals are replacing your income, great!  Sock away every penny you make from your W2 then re-assess in 2-5 years.

Maybe set some goals before you quit: pay off a mortgage, build up a large emergency fund, pay off your car loan, etc.  Basically give yourself sound, financial goals that will benefit you when you lose the income from your W2.  This will justify and set your decision later when you achieve those goals.

I'd recommend not going around your OTA to get the direct booking.  Give the guest your direct booking site during their stay for the (potential) return visit.  To me, the marginal reward is not worth the risk of losing your account.

We've used StayFi since the beginning (late 2021).  We've never had a guest complain and we have 53 5 star reviews (1 4 star unrelated to StayFi).  There's a "Do not email" checkbox on the form.  Sometimes we get bogus emails but that's to be expected.

Airbnbust 

Yes.  We require a $750 security deposit on our large 16 person cabin ($750 is 2x our cleaning fee).  We do this primarily as a psychological tool to respect our property.  Also we prefer to have this under our control rather than leaving it up to Airbnb's aircover.

We use OwnerRez which has integrations to payment processors, VRBO and Airbnb that allows us to charge the security hold.  Airbnb doesn't give you this capability without software as far as I know.

Since we've implemented this, we only had to draw from a security deposit one time.  We didn't need to appeal to Airbnb.  We just took $375 from the security hold to cover the big mess that guest left with no issues.

I believe the buyer's remorse problem will get worse in the Smokies because new construction hasn't stopped.  Travel demand seems fine, but increased competition from all the new construction can only drive ADRs down.

I'm with @Collin Hays though.  If your property has a great view or anything that can stand out from the competition, it will help.

We had great results from C&C Construction of East TN.  However I know they're super booked, even now.