All Forum Posts by: Melissa Thomas

If you're paying the going rate on credit cards, pay that off first. It's a guaranteed return of 18-25%. 

We did the same thing though. We ended up doing over $10k in gross rents in each of the first 4 months (July-Oct). The first and only thought that I had was, "But what if we had 2 properties doing $10k per month?" 

I will say that it is really nice to have the busy season cash flow while we renovate the 2nd place though - it just takes a lot of the stress away. You will also see an increase in ADR and income the second lap around the calendar (assuming that you get good reviews and performance). We're making about 50-60% more this summer compared to last year. It's a 5 bedroom place, and we have noticed a lot of large groups plan summer vacations 3-6 months in advance. We just weren't able to capture that crowd last year since we did not go live until the last week of June. 

You did exactly what we did last year. We spent SO much money renovating a place, got it listed, and booked 11k in the first 48 hours (it was July in Maine, though - busy season as well). All of this depends on your financial situation, but I'd take a breath, and get through the first season before doing anything. You'll likely find that you won't finish out a lot of the additional or forgotten details and updates to your current house until Jan-Feb of next year. While our place was certainly rent ready, there was $5-7k of additional work that needed to be done in the offseason. We also had a pile of CC debt (0% interest for 12 months) that we ended up paying off by December of last year. It was a dangerous game to play but it worked out. 

One of my favorite sayings to repeat to myself is "nothing fails like success." I'm never more vulnerable to make a mistake than after doing something like buying a fixer 2000 miles away from my primary residence as a short term rental (and it worked!). I'd suggest taking a breath, piling up money, and re-assessing next Jan-Feb-March. 

We did end up buying another project of a house in February. It's hard to not try to find a way to get another one when you see how well it went the first time. It's also easy to forget how hard it was...go figure that this renovation is taking longer than expected as well (and we are missing the busy season). Who could have seen that coming?

I think everyone agrees here you def can! We often beat AirDNA for our clients by not only providing a superior product but also listing on 14+ sites (and direct booking marketing) as well as using good pricing software.  Best of luck!

Hey @Melissa Thomas, well, I agree with some of your ideas. EV chargers are something you could offer. Not sure how that will add to your bottom line seeing as just about 3% of the cars on the road are EVs.

Before adding a hot tub, make sure you have the infrastructure (cleaners) in the area to support it. Hot tubs needs to have the water swapped per guest (from what I have read here on BP).

With the local market being more basic cabins, I wouldn't go nuts on finishes. Too overboard can possibly turn off some guests. They might think it is too fancy for them and stay where they usually stay. You will have to find a nice balance. Something nicer than average but not over the top.

Hey @Melissa Thomas, sounds like a cool place!

I agree with everyone on making it nice as a standout.

Have you looked at all the other listings nearby on AirBNB and VRBO to compare how you will look? What is their nightly rates? What kind of amenities are you talking about? What are others offering?

AirDNA and Rabbu are algorithms so they are basing their info off what is in the area. That can get skewed. For example, I am not meeting AirDNA's nightly rate. That was because we were lumped in with some large log mansions on the lake.

Our lake house is nice, but not 13k sqft and 4k a night. AirDNA priced us at $1250 a night. That is way over what we charge and what I felt, based on comps, we should rent for. 

First I don't trust these comps because they can't drill down to specific comps to make sure they are your true competition. 

So yes if you have a great property that has a great location, views and amenities then you should absolutely be able to do better than these estimates.

Absolutely.  Doing things to stand out is definitely the way to go right now.  There was a time during the revenge travel boom where getting an average listing and spending the least out of pocket was a decent way to maximize revenue.  Now it's the opposite, as there is a huge oversupply of average listings and you really need to stand out in terms of amenities and the property itself.

Of course, as more and more people realize that (as many many already have) what was once "stand out" will become "average", and be less advantageous.  We're seeing this a lot in the Disney area where a "regular" home used to be average and a mid-tier themed home was "stand out".  Now I would say a mid tier theme home is "average" and to standout you have to have really over the top theming (which is becoming more and more average by the day).