All Forum Posts by: Michael Greenberg

Hello Craig,

Having entered the STR market in 2014, I never thought a Pandemic would wreak such havoc. The travel industry is change as @Ken Latchers has eluded to.  If I had to do it all over again I would consider the following:

Top 10 Lessons Learned: 1)Location is still everything. 2)Vacation Locations are more susceptible to significant upswings and downturns. 3)Transportation methods are an important consideration 4)No matter what, DO NOT trust ANY of the "current" OTA's (Airbnb, VRBO, etc), they are NOT looking out for your best interests 5)Whether or not you use a management company, prepare to spend more time dealing with them than you initially anticipated, so you might as well self-manage, and it is "doable". 6)View the properties as inventory, not "homes" and be prepared to pivot quickly. 7)Define "guests" for yourself. I define them as people I would welcome into my own home; people staying in my STR's are travelers - this helps me keep things in perspective 8)Travelers will treat your STR's like any other hotel and will ignore many of your rules 9)Treat it like a business, not a hobby 10)Your cleaners are your lifeline, find ones you can trust, pay them well, and they will help you enough to replace a management company.

It has been good, lucrative and outperformed any other investment.  Best of luck!

Mike

Have one, but it doesn't receive bookings unless they are return guests. It would be a VERY expensive endeavor to compete, likely beyond the financial means of most STR operators.

Lets hope so!

Chesky will be next.  No matter what the cause, you can't lose that kind of money and survive...  though they may not survive at all.  Reap what you Sow!

Brian,

I have operated (4) in Scottsdale since 2015.  Send me a PM and I can share some of my experience with you.

Mike

So as Dr. King says "I have a vision".... so stay with me here. I'm getting closer to the retirement years and thinking about my legacy. My wife and I are givers, and we were talking about a way to give back even more. I was then thinking about housing 1st responders for free while Airbnb was giving everyone their money back. I chose to just to shut down, couldn't really afford the loss and the expense. However, what if there was a way to remove the conflict Airbnb has with Hosts and Guests. Stand up a non-profit SaaS STR platform. Charge one of two ways: A small host annual subscription or a per stay fee that would be a true donation - less a tiny admin fee for maintenance, then provide a guest the option to either match that donation or a force a small minimal amount. Allow Hosts/Guests to choose to whom the donation goes to, or it is tied to one... maybe first responders. I'm not familiar enough with 501(c) organizations and requirements, but this would take out the conflict. I honestly could see this being endorsed by some VERY powerful people. Love to hear your thoughts.

Bye-bye-bnb-bye-bye!  Similar to @Valerie Rogers, I will be migrating away from Airbnb, not because they refunded, they just took a unilateral stance, then used it as leverage as a publicity stunt.  Their entire existence has been spent trying to capture Guests while dancing with Hosts to try and keep us happy.  It's even more infuriating now that they had to show their true colors.  There are a few "cottage sites" out there like Houfy that might be able to capture some market share using different strategies.  I believe there is an opportunity right now in this space to spin up an alternative solution.  One thing is for sure, I'm not going to put my business at risk again - hurt me once, shame on you; hurt me twice shame on me.

My additional question for the group would be "what would your ideal OTA look like?"  Loaded question, but could it work or is the model just not sustainable?

I'm not sure they even know themselves John!  Trust them as far as you can throw them.

Chris, I am 100% in your camp on this, "thanks for nothing".  Airbnb continues to play this game of "lets not upset anyone", though leaving the Hosts holding the bag everytime we turn around.  I too had a strict cancellation policy and ignored their constant barrage of emails encouraging me to change it, promising more reservations and visibility.  The money I have lost could have paid for a significant social media campaign to drive guests to book direct, then I could have managed the cancellations myself.  Another lesson learned.