All Forum Posts by: Nicole Arocha

I've used an extra guest fee as insurance for parties to recoup some money for damages successfully. I wouldn't charge it for additional guests under my max capacity but if someone brings more people over that capacity (or over what they booked for) I think it's very reasonable.

IMO emojis as bullet points help with scannability - helping folks find the info they want quicker in a sea of text. That said, they do need to be used sparingly and can easily become annoying.

Hmm look into your local regulations, I know in CO you can't sell a home with a septic system that isn't in working order or not up to code.
Sorry to hear! That's an expensive problem to have.

I know Airbnb and VRBO both pay the state taxes for FL, but they only collect and remit taxes for certain counties (there is a list on their website somewhere) and at least for me I know Osceola County requires a tourist tax paid monthly that doesn't get paid by Airbnb/VRBO. Make sure you include any additional taxes in your fees if you need to so it doesn't come out of your profits!

@Michael Baum That makes sense, basically the same thing I'm concerned about with the fee I'm currently paying as well. Thanks!

Quote from @Sarah Kensinger:

It's pretty normal for cleaners to take laundry with them to do, otherwise they might be done cleaning and sitting around for laundry to finish, and that's not a good use of anyone's time. You definitely want your cleaning fees comparable to the other STR in your area! It might be worth checking in with other hosts to see if they are swallowing up some of the cleaning fee or hiding it in the nightly rate. Otherwise Turno is a great place to find other cleaners.... for your piece of mind and maybe the cleaners if their stretched thin, it might be good to check into other options.

That's fair, they were always taking the extra laundry with them to do off-site, they just weren't charging me $15/load, it was folded into the old regular price (which used to be $225).

I may try Turno out and see what it's like since I don't have any other referrals at the moment - thanks!

Quote from @JD Martin:

Way too expensive. I have a backup contract with a cleaning service for $185 for my 4/3 3000 sf home, and my regular cleaners charge $165. That includes laundry. My house is in 4 Corners.

Unless you don't have a washer and dryer, which would be odd, why are your cleaners bringing the laundry home? Ours do at least 3 loads on a full stay (8/9 guests) and all done on site. Get load 1 started immediately on arrival. 

That's what I was seeing, right in that 150-200 range. I do have a washer/dryer (brand new too), I've been told that while they do laundry at my property they can never get it all done while they're cleaning. It definitely sounds like they don't want to be cleaning my place anymore haha.

How did you find your cleaners?

Quote from @Michael Baum:

Hey @Nicole Arocha, our lake house is 4/3, sleeps 10-12 including 2 bunk beds.

Our cleaner charges us $300 to clean it. We charge guests $250. Our place is an hour drive down lake from town one way. It is what it is.

Thanks for your insight! Are you only charging your guests the $250 because $300 hurts your bookings?

Quote from @John Underwood:

 Try looking on local FB groups and marketplace.

 I will definitely look there too, thanks!

Hey all! Looking for some advice and possibly recommendations.

I have one STR that has been live since July 1: a 4 bedroom, 6 bed, 3.5 bath place in Kissimmee, FL. I have been working with a wonderful cleaner who just increased their prices quite a lot for my STR, citing that other cleaners charge this amount normally. The new price is about $320 a clean ($275 for the clean itself + $15 per load of laundry they they have to take home to wash, which is usually around 3 loads). This is quite a bit higher than what other similar listings on Airbnb are charging (my findings were usually between $150-200 cleaning fee for my size place, the cleaner sent me one listing that charges $280).

While they do a great job and I always get compliments on how clean my place is, I'm worried that this new price point will affect people's willingness to book with me and I am already struggling to get folks to book at a high enough rate to cover my monthly costs. I could hide the additional cost in my nightly rate but it would be at the substantial risk of not covering my expenses each month, especially heading into slow season.

I think the cleaner may just be stretched too thin and increasing the price is their way of pushing me out of their cleaning rotation? Either way, I'm curious what others have experienced in this arena and what you all would do? I've looked into Turno since it is offered with Hospitable which I use, but I'm hesitant to make the switch without hearing experiences from others.

Thanks in advance for any insight!