All Forum Posts by: Matt Mertz

It will be interesting to see if (or how) this impacts their search algorithm.

Bedroom ensuites where the bedroom is just big enough to accommodate a king size bed, 2 nightstands and a closet to stow luggage (save sqft for other parts of the house).  Put windows in smart places (don't cover them with the headboard).  Design the layout where you can mount a TV on the wall opposite of the bed.  Put conduit in the wall (if running a game console) or electrical outlet behind the TV so you don't have cables running down the wall.  Add some 2x4 block in the wall where you intend to mount the TV.

Focus on making the bathroom special.  Walk in shower, beautiful tile, twin vanities.  This is where you can really stand out and give guests something they don't have at home.

ADA compliance.  Doesn't cost much to put in a ramp at the front door, one wheelchair accessible shower and grab bars in a bathroom.

We built a 4 bedroom, 5.5 bath, 3500sqft cabin in the Smokies.  Has an excellent view.  Went live 12/2021.  It's doing better this year than last.  I'm assuming it's because we're superhosts and got the good reviews now.  It's work, but we love it and the income is outstanding.

We're trying to build a 1 bedroom cabin in the same area.  However we have sticker shock at the construction costs.  Almost all trade costs (HVAC, plumbing, electric) are the same as our first cabin from 2021.  And this new one is 1/3 the size!  We're so happy we built the big one first!

We also have a SFH near Austin TX that we converted to an MTR and that's been a bit of a flop. Basically we're on the verge of putting it back on the LTR market but we managed to get a 30 day stay all of November through Airbnb. Just don't have a lot of confidence that it will be worth the effort to manage it as a STR/MTR going forward.

Quote from @Cameron Masters:

It doesn't perform as well as our Smokies property.  It was an LTR for a while and now it's our mid-term rental attempt that hasn't been working out.  So we just threw it on Airbnb while we figure out what to do with it.  

Since our minimum stay is 1 week, we don't think there's enough variability in the stays that call for nightly price tweaking.

We've been using Pricelabs for our Smokies cabin for almost two years and been very happy with it.

Beyond has been hard selling us lately. May try them out for 2024.

We also have a SFH near Austin but we don't bother with dynamic pricing. Just set rates.

Cabin in Gatlinburg that sleeps 16.

As of yesterday, we got all major holidays booked this season except for the weekend preceding Halloween.  New Year's eve was a surprise because we had 2 night minimum set and the guest booked 5 nights.

We have 3 weekends left open for the remainder of the year.

Quote from @John Carbone:

Just for reference, we have a big cabin in Gatlinburg that sleeps 16.  We have a direct booking site thru OwnerRez and 2023 is our 2nd year.  Here's how our bookings break out:

2 - manual (personal friends)
6 - direct booking site
15 - Vrbo
29 - Airbnb

52 - total
11.5% of bookings were direct

We haven't started our mailchimp email marketing yet.  Those were return guests and people savvy enough to search for our cabin name.  For us, it's worth it since OwnerRez made it very simple to set up.

Software:

OwnerRez - PMS

Pricelabs - dynamic pricing

StayFi - wifi, capture guest emails

Hardware:

Schlage Encode - front door lock

Honeywell/Resideo - wifi theromstats

Kasa - wifi light switches/outlets

Ubiquiti - cameras/doorbell (no subscription but requires manual setup)

Use case:

Between guest stays I use the Kasa outlets/switches to turn off mini fridges, outdoor lights and the water heater pump.  I turn off the thermostats and back on before guest arrives.

Quote from @Joseph Hossenlopp:

Quote from @Matt Mertz:

In addition to cheaper prices through Minoan, they set up a site for your property with affiliate links in it.  You put QR code placards through your property for guests to see and browse.  

You split the affiliate commission with Minoan.  I believe that's their primary business model.

Seems like this would be a great bonus!  Have you gotten any of these commissions?

We didn't use Minoan in our first cabin.  We're researching them now because we're building another one and the timing's better because the new cabin is obviously not furnished yet.

I don't personally know anyone who's actually used Minoan but I hear about the company on various podcasts.

Airbnb will let you post a "step free entrance" accessibility feature but it needs to be documented with a picture.  Not sure if that affects the search algorithm but it's worth implementing if you are doing new construction.

We've been hosting 1 house for almost two years and only gotten 2-3 specific questions about wheelchair accessibility.

We've gotten an expensive guest stay once because the guest's wife needed grab bars in the bathroom so we installed those in one.

Grab bars, wheelchair accessible showers and front door are not expensive to build if you're starting from scratch. Hard to know the ROI but it's so cheap that it's not really risky to do it.