All Forum Posts by: Michael Greenberg

I'm on that path @Brad Moncado.  Two properties in Scottsdale, AZ, will be buying two more this year.  I have been slowly finding folks like yourself and working on creating a group that are on this same path.  If you want, PM me your contact info and we can connect and share further ideas.  

Cheers to You!

Mike

I cut the cord about a year ago and it has made no difference to my guests.  I get a few "how to" questions, but nothing too challenging.  Similar to @Michael Perez, I do pay for premium TV channels and have a ROKU installed on all TV's with a shared Netflix account and a digital antenna installed for local stations.  I did have to crank up my internet speed a bit, but it's still saving me about $100 a month per property.  

I've used airdna.co numerous times.  I purchase their raw data by zipcode(s) to analyze historical/competitive properties and massage it into the critical details I am looking for (need some basic excel skills).  I am not aware of one for VRBO/Homeaway so I do my own exhaustive searches to build competitive info.    

1.  My cleaners (small independent woman, sister and friend) swap  to a laundry service.  It averages about $25 per wash load and is based upon weight.  There are just too many towels to dry.

2.  This is an ongoing saga for many owners.  I'm transitioning away from comforters to a more efficient less costly to clean solution.  Still working this one out and currently rely on my cleaners to determine the cleanliness of them.

3.  I've built confidence in my cleaning team and they're just great.  I'm likely their largest client because my occupancy rates are very high - lots of turnover.  

4.  About  2 1/2 hours for my 2 bedroom, 3+ hours for my 3 bedroom though this varies upon cleanliness of guests and how many stayed in my homes.

5.  No way, this is detrimental to my business.  Check out is 10AM (of course everyone asks to stay later and if I don't have someone coming it that day it's ok), check-in is 2PM.  This is ample time for my crew to punch out the cleaning.

6.  Try a website called Neighborhood dot com.  Sign up and ask for a referral.  Works for a LOT of needs and best of all, it's free!

Cheers,

Mike

@Luke Carl I started using spreadsheets but then got too burdensome.  I now use Mint.com (it's free) to reconcile all my accounts, income and expenses, then recently purchased a very inexpensive tool called MinttoReport which pulls the data into a P&L format that super easy to use once you have Mint setup the way you want it.  I know a few tricks to setup Mint so you can track this by property, location or any other sorting field you want to report upon.

@Ro Maga no problem.  Yes, it is surprising that there isn't a solution yet and the "others" are indeed expensive.  I think Slice can insure more than just a room but I believe they are not in NJ yet.  If you want to PM me I can give you the contact info for the woman I met with Slice and at least have a direct contact.  I believe BP will not let me send an email address across this open forum.

Thanks

@Ro Maga I have a good friend who's an Allstate Agent and had inquired with him about it.  He said they had only rolled this out in a few test markets so far, but I totally am on board with consolidating this resource/expense.  In the meantime, I did come across a fascinating solution slice.is (not .com) which is also in Beta test.  Their model is to only insure for the nights that are actually rented.  This might allow us to pass on the cost of the insurance to a guest as opposed to a damage deposit or damage insurance that Homeaway offers.  I believe there will be additional solutions coming soon as well.

@Michael Pulka To whom do you believe you may be losing guests?  As @Jeff Graves indicated both VRBO and Airbnb are charging the guest fees, and they are the two most formidable sites.  I recently investigated Booking.com and to my dismay they are even more expensive, though I'm giving them a try and so far, NOT so good.  Feel free to connect and PM me if you want a few ideas on how to overcome some of these challenges, but it does take time (don't worry, I'm not selling anything, just like to share knowledge).  

Mike

I would check with you local county in reference to this and also your potential tax burdens. I converted one of my properties from a 2nd home to a VR with no issues, rolling it over to a LLC and insuring it as such. As @John Underwood mentioned above, making my payments - no issues.

Wow!  Thanks so much @Monika Haebich!