All Forum Posts by: Pablo Flores

Last few times our trash cans were left out by Burrtec Indio gave us a warning before citation. I would recommend you install noise sensors so keep a tab on guests and collect CC information from every guests. This gives you extra leverage in case guests choose to not follow the rules. I manage 31 STRs in Coachella and we haven't had a noise citation in 6+ months. The cities in Coachella have definitely became more strict with local regulations, but it's definitely still possible to run a successful STR if you run a tight ship and set proper expectations with guests before they book.

@Andrew Steffens

What's the cost for a live revenue manager? I'm currently using PriceLabs. I don't believe they employ live revenue managers but I've considered training one of my VA's to take on that role.

@Mike Yeghekian

You are following the right steps. The market has became saturated to the point that you need to make every space practical and differentiate yourself from the competition with things like entertainment areas in lieu of a garage. Terra Lago is a great area if you have the right home.

@Jacob Morgenstern

That’s a very specific ask. Not sure about splitting bank accounts per listing but we use ChargeAutomation for all upsells and Stripe processes the payments. You could theoretically deposit the Stripe funds into the bank account of your choice but you would have to do it manually for every fee collected.

@Keith Mintz

The city of Palm Springs itself has many restrictions. But the other cities in Coachella that have no rental restrictions are great especially during the festival season.

@Keith Mintz

Own 4 and manage 25 total in the Greater Palm Springs market. Don’t be average! Go big or go home, or else you’ll be crushed by the thousands of other STRs.

     I run a small (25 properties) property management company in Greater Palm Springs and we are getting a lot of interested potential clients who are unhappy with Vacasa. Can you guys share any insider knowledge that can help in our recruitment efforts? Obviously them not being a local PM is a big selling point but I've also read that on top of their 25-30% management fees they charge a lot of fees to guests on the backend that they keep. Any other info would be appreciated!

Thanks

@Anibal Mijangos

Seems more hype then anything unless you can lock down a luxury home like @Andrew Steffens did where the cash flow truly becomes significant. Remember there are 4 main avenues to make money in real estate: appreciation, debt pay down, tax benefits and of course cash flow. With arbitrage you only capitalize off one of those. If you don't have the money to buy your own deal, then I see how arbitrage could be an attractive option. My recommendation is if you don't have the means to get your first deal, find a commission based sales job where your income is tied to your production. That is the fastest way to make money in a short amount of time and then funnel all that into your first owned STR.

@Andrew Steffens

Andrew’s method is the most common that I’ve seen amongst other management companies and it’s the same way we charge as well. We also charge our management fee on any additional income we collect as part of the booking such as early check in, pet fees, pool heating etc.

@Chelsea Price

There's plenty of tools available for you to self-manage nowadays. But if you are planning on running a high end STR with lots of amenities I absolutely recommend hiring a local competent management company. If you have a simple 2 bedroom condo then you might be fine self-managing from far away and just trusting a local contact when **** hits the fan. But it largely depends on the quality of experience you are providing and the quality of your STR.