All Forum Posts by: Nathan M kiefer

we pass on at cost, keeps it easy to respond to guests when they say our cleaning is high. have even proved it to guests before- some people just like to see it and most i have done that with have become long time rebookers.

Make money on your house and pass along fees at cost to me thats the best way to go and has been fruitful for us

0 Votes

Quote from @Elaine Hester:

Our tenant text my husband today saying that he's vacating in a few days. He said he emailed us his 30-day notice to both of our personal emails two weeks ago, however neither of us received an email from him. My husband then asks him to forward the email, which he did. After seeing the exact date, I started digging through my spam folder and sure enough, there it was. I am assuming it ended up in spam as he used a different email than the one we had on file for him. At this point we are being set back two weeks as I can't get a painter and other needed contractors in there on such short notice. I'd just like to know the specifics on what California law says about this kind of situation, without having to hire an attorney as this is rather minor. Wondering if anyone has had a similar experience and how it played out!🤔

I just lost money reading this thread.

get it leased up and move on.

1 Vote

San Diego, California

Quote from @Tommy Cheng:

Hello!

We currently have 1 very successful STR in the Dallas area. I've been looking at a few other locations 3-4 hours outside of Dallas that have more relaxed or set-in-place regulations. Two questions for those of you that have more than 1 self-managed STR:

1. We currently use a simplisafe system to monitor the driveway to audit how many guests enter and if they bring pets. If you have 2 or more properties, do you have cameras set up to see who comes and goes for each property? Which system/app can you use to view different cameras from different locations?
2. Nervous about self-managing an STR from 4 hours away. Obviously, we would hopefully hire a trusted cleaner, but any other advice on managing a property from a distance? We currently keep a tight audit on our STR in Dallas to make sure everything is tip top before future guests check-in and I know that won't be possible with a property at a distance.

Any feedback/advice would be greatly appreciated!

We use a Google camera at each house and have great experience with them.

we own two side by side beach houses in Myrtle Beach. They are 14 hours from our home base. It is challenging but we committed to going there every 4-6 weeks and having a great team on the ground ( will cost you some extra money) but they are the difference in having issues

we have one of the best cleaners in the area and our guy that cleans the grills does all my light maintenance and guest interaction if I need it(pets, too many guests etc.)

3-4 hours would be a dream and you can definitely do it but you have to commit to going there every 4-5/6 weeks In my opinion because there will be things you need to address or upkeep- this is obviously only if you decide to self manage.

1 Vote

Quote from @Dan C.:

Thanks for the replies. To clarify, I'm not arguing the price that my cleaner charges, or the seasonality of her charges. As @Michael Baum suggested, the amount of work doesn't change with the seasons, nor does the length of stay, as @Theresa Harris mentioned.

My question is... in order to compete with lower total trip costs from other listings (often resulting from lower cleaning fees), should I eat a part of the cleaning fee in order to have a lower total trip cost? Obviously, lowering the fee and raising the rate is an option but that feels a little bit like spinning my wheels.

At some point, if I'm dropping my rates far enough to compensate for a high cleaning fee, we get into the conversation of "is it even worth it to rent it at this rate and risk property damage, 4 star review, etc".

Our logic is make the property stand out and the cleaning fee is not an issue. We pass on 100% of whatever we get charged.

Most of this issue is with owners that have a $100 cleaning fee and charge $250.

if any of our guests have an issue I send them a copy of what I pay and usually they drop it, that's if they even ask. Most people do not.

playing games with rates to cover fees in my opinion is never a good idea and is a lesson is in futility.

0 Votes

Quote from @John Underwood:

This is one of many reasons why you should have a charcoal grill.

Or a good grill cleaner, where we are we have a guy that just does that and does an excellent job. Charges me $25 worth it

1 Vote

Tampa, Florida

Quote from @Dan C.:

I have a great housekeeper that consistently gets mentioned in reviews for cleanliness and has a backup team in place. Only problem is she charges more than others are charging for their cleaning fees.

I've shopped other cleaners just out of curiosity and most are around $175 and she is at $200.

It's the off season now in my market (ski town) and to compete, my rates need to be around $100/night. Charging a $200 cleaning fee on a 2 night stay (or 1 night!) takes me out of contention with a lot of properties.

Are most owners absorbing part of the cleaner's cost to remain competitive during down-rate periods? Or are you negotiating lower cleaning fees during short stays? Or is the cleaning fee just what it is and you don't worry about it?

We put the cost of the fee that we charge no matter what it is. Get what you pay for our houses sleep 13 each and our linen and clean fee is $415. We get it for a weekend or 2 weeks. It's high but we have had bad cleaners and not going back there

0 Votes

Quote from @Owen Rosen:

Quote from @Victor S.:

Quote from @Owen Rosen:

Quote from @Victor S.:

Quote from @Owen Rosen:

Quote from @Victor S.:

Quote from @Owen Rosen:

Quote from @Victor S.:

Quote from @Nathan M kiefer:

Quote from @Matthew Paul:

@Matthew Jones You could turn this around on the insurance company . I deal with a roofing company they do a lot of storm damage ( insurance claim ) work . They get similar calls from homeowners where the insurance company will tell them to fix the roof or be canceled . The roofer gets up on the roof and finds wind damage , and then the homeowner files a claim and the insurance company pays for a new roof less the deductable .

Then after they pay for a new roof , you drop them and get another insurance company .

Wouldn't recommend that, loss runs will just run your rates up and you will be paying more and instantly show red flags to your new carrier

nope, roof replacement from storm damage rarely, if ever, counts against the HO. what Matthew is talking about is legit. i've had my roof replaced by safeco (very easy to work with) and then switched my policy over to another carrier w/o any issues. One asterisk, tho. If OP's current carrier denies the claim (that's where he needs a good, experienced roofer), then he will have issues switching over to a new carrier with that denied claim on record.

This is all sorts of wrong.

My initial issue with Matthew's advice is that the property has only been owned for a month so unless the "wind damage" occurred during that time there is no covered loss here. The likelihood of getting Progressive to cover a claim ON THE ROOF when they are issuing a flat cancel due to inspection ON THE ROOF is very low.

For the most part, insurance companies don't inspect homes before coverage is bound. They're inspecting nearly every home now post-bind because of the difficult insurance environment and ability to get off a risk (flat cancel) within a certain period of time (depending on the state) just after the policy was issued. Meaning, they can cancel within first 45 or 60 days without having to wait until the policy anniversary.

Separate from that, there isn't any special provision for storm damage not negatively impacting your insurance. If a storm is deemed a catastrophe that is a different story. Unless there was a severe storm with widespread damage in the past month of home ownership...not gonna fly.

All that being said, there are a lot of roofing companies that do exactly what @Matthew Paul was suggesting. Sometimes it's totally legit. Other times they go from house to house in a neighborhood and solicit homeowners to get projects replacing roofs. Needless to say this practice eventually gets fought by insurance, prices go up, policies get less comprehensive, etc. It's happening now all over the place. It's a vicious cycle.

Whatever your opinions are on this practice the tricky part about this situation is that this is a new purchase and new insurance policy. You're looking at a very small window for when damage could have occurred and therefore an actual covered loss.

When purchasing an insurance policy you will be asked when the roof was last replaced. It's a significant rating factor. You'll also have to disclose that your previous policy was cancelled and why. If you replace the roof and can prove that you've done so you should be able to get a new policy with a new carrier. Some will have issues with the work not being done by a licensed contractor. There's no hard and fast rule and they may or may not ask specifically.

"Separate from that, there isn't any special provision for storm damage
not negatively impacting your insurance. If a storm is deemed a
catastrophe that is a different story. Unless there was a severe storm
with widespread damage in the past month of home ownership...not gonna
fly. "

that was my point. if there was a storm in the area, then it's deemed an "act of god" and doesn't count against you, unlike something you could've been in control of. i.e., your home getting robbed.

"Needless to say this practice eventually gets fought by insurance, prices
go up, policies get less comprehensive, etc. It's happening now all
over the place. It's a vicious cycle."

welcome to the world of insurance, where everyone is trying to one-up the other guy. this happens across the whole insurance spectrum and not limited just to home insurance.

to the OP, shop around and get a new carrier, then start consulting with experienced roofers in your area on what you remedy could be.

But again, this is where you're incorrect. A storm claim typically DOES count against your insurance. There isn't a special provision for "act of God" having no impact.

For instance, if lightning strikes your house and you file a claim, it still counts as a claim and your insurance price could increase or eligibility for coverage could be affected.

A catastrophe is a special situation where there is widespread storm damage to multiple insureds - not your average thunderstorm or windy day.

explain to me why my insurance rate never went up after the roof was replaced then. people in OK have roof claims every 5-10 years and i've never once heard someone's insurance go up because of that.

If an insurance company is replacing roofs every 5-10 years they will go out of business unless insurance was much much much more expensive. That's absurd.

1. Your insurance pricing hasn't gone up over the years?
2. You could have had claim forgiveness on your policy (for your first claim)
3. Your claim was part of a catastrophe event as discussed
4. They changed other things on your policy that kept the price down
5. Other factors reduced your pricing the year after the claim which hid the increase

There are a bunch of potential reasons and factors and every situation is different. Hard to say without knowing your specific scenario.

again, it's not "my" specific scenario. every year, OK gets hammered with storms and people's roofs get replaced that doesn't harm one's premium. my roofer was "able" to tie it to whatever storm they had on this fancy weather app they use and used it to submit the claim. was it really "that" storm? who knows. that's why i keep telling this guy to find someone who knows what they're doing vs listening to guys like you and i arguing online.

I actually do know what I'm doing. I've been a licensed insurance agent for 15+ years and own an insurance agency. What are your qualifications?

You really aren't listening to what I'm actually saying what you're telling him to do borders on insurance fraud. The things you're saying make no sense. Home insurance is not designed or priced to replace roofs every 5-10 years and then to double down and say that doing so doesn't affect pricing is just nonsense.

The roofing practices you mentioned end up getting legislated out of existence (see Florida) because they're untenable.

I agree the original poster should explore every avenue but there's no way a legit roofing company is going to be able to "turn this around on the insurance company" in this scenario.

This☝️👍

0 Votes

Savannah, Georgia

Quote from @Mary Winter:

Hello BP community! I have another bathtub question. Here is a picture of the tub. This a one piece fiberglass bathtub. There is a small hole in the bottom of the bathtub (dark spot in the picture). This is causing water leaks. The repair guy is suggesting to replace the flooring of the bathtub because patches would crack in a week or two. Can this be done for a one piece bathtub?

Any advice you can provide would be greatly appreciated!

There are companies that fiberglass patch this in. Did this in one of ours and been fine ever since

2 Votes

Quote from @Victor S.:

Quote from @Nathan M kiefer:

Quote from @Matthew Paul:

Then after they pay for a new roof , you drop them and get another insurance company .

Wouldn't recommend that, loss runs will just run your rates up and you will be paying more and instantly show red flags to your new carrier

Might want to check facts- loss runs are absolutely recorded on homeowners

1 Vote

Savannah, Georgia

Quote from @Marty Neville:

Just reviewed my transaction history from my bank which confirmed my property manager has not distributed rent for 12 months, I have requested a full disbursement. I'm an out of country investor - what are my options to have funds reimbursed?

None for a year, I'd be on a flight and in their office!

4 Votes

Akron, Ohio

All Forum Posts by: Nathan M kiefer

Nathan M kiefer has started 11 posts and replied 343 times.

Post: Spread on Cleaning Fees per turn

Post: 30-day notice went to Spam!!—what to do??

Post: Question for owners of multiple STRs

Post: Cleaning Fee for Slow Season and Short Stays

Post: Can you accept this cleaning?

Post: Cleaning Fee for Slow Season and Short Stays

Post: Newbie with Roof/Insurance problem!

Post: Bathtub Repair Question

Post: Newbie with Roof/Insurance problem!

Post: Property Manager not distributing funds