All Forum Posts by: Mike Neubauer

Quote from @Alex Pondville:

Thank you very much for your feedback @Mike Neubauer ! 

With Guesty, have you noticed an increase in the number of your bookings? The person who gave me a demonstration mentioned that by using it, listings were much better ranked on Airbnb (he emphasized that the listing updates every night, which is good for the algorithm). As for Booking.com, I haven't had many bookings through that channel, and I wonder if it's due to the quality of the API connection with Hospitable.

And one last question, does the owner portal work well for you with Guesty? Are the displayed data accurate?

Thank you for your time, and I'll also provide a detailed report if I decide to go with Guesty!

I have not noticed an increase in the number of bookings.  If anything I've noticed a decrease. There are several factors that could be affecting that, but definitely not an increase. Don't forget the people on the demonstration are just sales people.  They are no longer your connection once you sign up.   They get a referral for getting you to sign up. 

As for the owner portal, it works but I really haven't played with it too much from an owner's standpoint, so I'm not as familiar with what all it does and doesn't provide as I should be. Thank you!  Would love to see your take on it if you do sign up!

Quote from @Alex Pondville:

Quote from @Mike Neubauer:

Well, I'm going to chime in here again.  We have tried Hostaway, OwnerRez, Hospitable and Guesty for Pros.  There are many others we've looked at but never actually tried.  These ones I'm familiar with.  Here are my thoughts:

Hostaway: Stay away.  There's very little support and a lot they can't do.  They sell you on the platform before you can actually get in and play around.  It's very weak in the automated messages category.  They do integrate with a lot of vendors, and the site looks pretty but the platform itself has a long way to go before it's worthy of being used, in my opinion.

Hospitable: We used Hospitable for years. They're really good at the auto messages thing.  Sadly, they're not as robust in other areas.  They don't connect with a lot of other platforms and their support has gone downhill big time.  I really wanted to continue using them, but for growth it just wasn't the best choice for us.  After using them for years we asked to jump on a Zoom call with their sales team to try to figure out a way we could continue using them, but they replied that their team was too busy focusing on new sales to jump on a call.  That told me all I needed to know.

OwnerRez: This is a decent product.  They do most things and they do most of those ok.  They don't connect with a lot of apps and other vendors though, and their site and services are clunky.  It's like they built their platform in the Bronze Age and its been held together with duct tape ever since.  Looking at their forums, their moderators are against any kind of growth or adaptation of new technologies.  Throw the word AI in there and they fight against it tooth and nail.  Again, they're ok, everything is a la carte, but at the end of the day you have to be ok cutting services and planning on using exactly what they have forever.  Don't bank on them integrating with new technologies any time soon.

Guesty for Pros: This is expensive but does have the most support.  It does everything, but there are a fair amount of glitches.  Their automessages and workflows are good and more robust than the competition.  My problem with them (other than the price) is that they're trying to do everything.  They have their own payment platform (you could use Stripe... or GuestyPay), they have their own dynamic pricing (you could use PriceLabs... or GuestyPricing), they have their own smart locks (you could use RemoteLock... or GuestyLocks), etc.  That is all well and good, though you don't save any money using their software.  It's the same pricing as others.  The problem is there are so many glitches in their base system that still need to be ironed out.  I wish they would work on those before jumping into their own services that you can add on.  I would imagine all those are a bit glitchy as well.  That said, they have the most to offer and aren't afraid of integrating with new tech and apps.  Overall, this is the service we are using now and are decently happy with it.  I think it is the best of the bunch.

In the end there are no great solutions in this category.  You'll have to just choose the one with the least amount of headaches as it relates to your business.  

Hello @Mike Neubauer, 

Thank you for this detailed feedback, which I can relate to a lot. I currently have 25 accommodations on Hospitable, but it's starting to be limiting for the reasons you must have encountered.

I'm currently looking into Guesty and Hostaway, and I'm having a hard time making a decision!

I was wondering if you're still as satisfied with Guesty and if you're receiving payments for the property owners? Does the reporting system work well for them?

 Hey Alex,

I'll be honest, I don't love Guesty.  I'm still using it, but I had a dedicated support guy.  Not sure what happened to him, but he's gone.  Now I just have to fill out tickets which get responded to whenever they get responded to.  Usually it's within a day or two, but it's not always as timely as I need.  

There are a lot of glitches within Guesty, and that's the most annoying part.  I still think it's much better than Hostaway, but there is so much I still can't do with Guesty.  Hospitable, while simple, works. And I like that.  Guesty glitches, delays messages, some of my team don't receive messages in a timely manner, etc.  We have to constantly monitor both Airbnb and Guesty.  Sometimes we have to respond directly through Airbnb.  

I hate that you are going through what I went through because I know how frustrating it can be, but honestly, I'm not sure it gets any better.  If you can make your system work with Hospitable, I would use that. If you're looking to grow because you're managing other people's units, I'm not sure the headaches don't grow with any other system. Sadly this industry is ripe for a company to come out with a product that does what we need it to do, be versatile enough with it's software that it can expand and have the customer service that is accessible. Most importantly, it needs to work. Don't put features out there that don't work. That's my biggest pet peeve. 

Sorry again, that you're going through this and I wish I could say without a doubt go this route, but after several months of using Guesty, my thoughts are still: It's OK, and probably does the most, but it's going to frustrate you with the quirks and glitches.

Good luck, Alex!

Quote from @Clinton Davis:

Just wondering and hoping he and his family are doing ok due to the fires in Maui.  Anybody heard anything?  thanks.

 Brandon is fine.  The damage was limited to Lahaina town (3.5 square miles of about 735 total square miles on the island).  Brandon lives in South Maui and his place did not sustain any damage.  Brandon actually set up a foundation to help with the rebuild though with some local builders and business people.  You can check that out at: makai.org. Aloha!

Mike

Aloha Monty,

Thank you for wanting to help!  There are a ton of organizations out here that are doing a lot of good work.  Brandon Turner started one called the Makai Foundation (makai.org) with some local construction companies and other business owners out here to help facilitate what is needed and get around the red tape.  Try taking a look at them.  Mahalo!
 

Aloha @Kevin Dias,
Both Brandon and Josh have been active in the community out here.  Our entire island has really rallied together to support our family, friends and tourists who were in Lahaina at the time of the fires.  I know Josh has helped to put up families that were displaced in his house.  Brandon has started a non-profit with several other local business owners to support the efforts (Makai.org). If you're looking to help out, that would be a great place to start.  But, to answer your question, yes, the Maui BP community has been extremely active in raising funds and supporting Lahaina Town.

Aloha!

Quote from @Jason McEntee:

Looking forward to it! 

 It'll be great to see you there, again!

Join us on the first Saturday of each month at South Maui Gardens near the Da Green coffee shop as we wala'au (talk story) about all things Maui real estate.  Bring your deals, your questions, your skills or just your interest and connect with other local investors for an informal gathering over coffee.  

Hosted by Mike and Caroline Neubauer.  Mike is a full time investor and Caroline is a full time realtor right here on Maui.  Their portfolio consists of short term rentals, mid term rentals, long term rentals, syndications and more.  Both are happy to share their insights and take on the current state of the market. 

All are welcome!

Quote from @John Underwood:

I'd stay away from a condo.

HOAs can make your life miserable with fees, rules and fines.

You can make more money with a private house.

I can rent a condo in Myrtle Beach cheap because there are so many of them competing for my dollar.

 @John Underwood with all due respect, please stop posting about markets you have no knowledge of. If an investor wants an STR on Maui they are limited to investing in condos. You can't buy a SFH and get an STR permit without holding the property for at least 5 years before applying. Even then, the county has all but said they're not giving out any more TVR permits on single family homes. I've seen too many of your posts about Maui that are not accurate. You're giving investors bad advice. I know nothing about investing in Myrtle beach so I'll leave that forum to you. Please leave Maui related advice to people with Maui related experience.

@Suvarna G. Like @Mark Waite said, your costs to acquire are going to be less without the ocean view.  We've seen the numbers actually working out better in many cases with investing in places without an ocean view as opposed to those with one.  When you take into account the premium you would pay for ocean front vs. across the street for example the price can be almost double.  However, the nightly rates can still be 75% of what you might get for ocean front depending on the area.  

Well, I'm going to chime in here again.  We have tried Hostaway, OwnerRez, Hospitable and Guesty for Pros.  There are many others we've looked at but never actually tried.  These ones I'm familiar with.  Here are my thoughts:

Hostaway: Stay away.  There's very little support and a lot they can't do.  They sell you on the platform before you can actually get in and play around.  It's very weak in the automated messages category.  They do integrate with a lot of vendors, and the site looks pretty but the platform itself has a long way to go before it's worthy of being used, in my opinion.

Hospitable: We used Hospitable for years. They're really good at the auto messages thing.  Sadly, they're not as robust in other areas.  They don't connect with a lot of other platforms and their support has gone downhill big time.  I really wanted to continue using them, but for growth it just wasn't the best choice for us.  After using them for years we asked to jump on a Zoom call with their sales team to try to figure out a way we could continue using them, but they replied that their team was too busy focusing on new sales to jump on a call.  That told me all I needed to know.

OwnerRez: This is a decent product.  They do most things and they do most of those ok.  They don't connect with a lot of apps and other vendors though, and their site and services are clunky.  It's like they built their platform in the Bronze Age and its been held together with duct tape ever since.  Looking at their forums, their moderators are against any kind of growth or adaptation of new technologies.  Throw the word AI in there and they fight against it tooth and nail.  Again, they're ok, everything is a la carte, but at the end of the day you have to be ok cutting services and planning on using exactly what they have forever.  Don't bank on them integrating with new technologies any time soon.

Guesty for Pros: This is expensive but does have the most support.  It does everything, but there are a fair amount of glitches.  Their automessages and workflows are good and more robust than the competition.  My problem with them (other than the price) is that they're trying to do everything.  They have their own payment platform (you could use Stripe... or GuestyPay), they have their own dynamic pricing (you could use PriceLabs... or GuestyPricing), they have their own smart locks (you could use RemoteLock... or GuestyLocks), etc.  That is all well and good, though you don't save any money using their software.  It's the same pricing as others.  The problem is there are so many glitches in their base system that still need to be ironed out.  I wish they would work on those before jumping into their own services that you can add on.  I would imagine all those are a bit glitchy as well.  That said, they have the most to offer and aren't afraid of integrating with new tech and apps.  Overall, this is the service we are using now and are decently happy with it.  I think it is the best of the bunch.

In the end there are no great solutions in this category.  You'll have to just choose the one with the least amount of headaches as it relates to your business.  

Quote from @Eddie Valentino:

When is the next one after this?  Recently moved to Lanai and would love to attend a meet up but 7/1 won’t work unfortunately. Thanks! 

We’re going to try to do them on the 1st Saturday of each month. Hope to see you there!