All Forum Posts by: Darren Le

Quote from @Ryan Moyer:

Quote from @Dave Stokley:

Curious to know what you’d pay for a service like this. We only offer full service management but a local city is considering requiring something like this. To me, as a manager, this sounds like you only want to pay me to handle the dirty work, which would be a hard pass. Interested to hear the details though.

 Yes, you're correct, it is the dirty work.  In Orlando these services exist from anywhere from $225-$350/mo which, to me, sounds like a terrible deal for the manager doing the dirty work.  But I guess they do it on economies of scale (and they usually are partnered with their cleaners so I'd assume they're making some money there as well).

Im not on the other side so I cant speak for the agent experience but my agent for example won't just take any host either. It's a self-selection for sure, if a host expects full-service for a partial price, agree that's a terrible deal.
From my experience, I respond to my guests directly (as a owner, it helps a lot of coz I know what kinds of travelers I want to target - I now focus on snow-bird, golf-goers, Canadian families).
In the last 3 months, there is only one time that I need my agent coming over (the guest complained they couldn't connect to internet, even after I called them to try to resolve over the phone).

One thing I do learn is the guest really respect & take care my places more, then they know they're talking to the owner directly on Airbnb/VRBO app. I also make sure I remind guests by using words like 'Welcome to our home', 'our home is ready for you' etc.

Again, if anyone knows good 'Local contact' services for Palm Springs, CA - would love to get your referrals.

Thanks guys - just to clarify quickly: I posted for Riverside, CA which includes Palm Springs - so this is in CA.

About the fix-rate: it's fixed to an owner but not really fixed to everyone. So the agent in Hawaii for example will meet me, and look at the place to determine the rate. If i were a demanding host, in a location with lots of party-goers then the rate is obviously higher.
Search for 'On island agent' in Hawaii, this model is really popular there - I discovered it 2 years ago when i bought first unit in Maui too.

In many markets like most of Hawaii and CA, 'local contact' or 'on-island-agent' or other terms... are a part of requirements to obtain STR permit. So it's not a nice-to-have, STR hosts need it or full service.
Yes we can use friends or people we know, but I personally prefer someone would treat my call as a business and have a system in place. I think it's really worth to pay. 

Another question I usually got during BP Cons is why we should invest in markets with regulation. For some of us including me, a capped supply = heathy profit margin. If we're willing to jump all hurdles, honestly the cash-on-cash return is really not bad.

Hi everyone,

Anyone is self-managing your STR in Palm Springs area, and use a local-contact services to help out with handling the guests requests?
Basically the short-term rental management but minus the booking and finances part of it.

Such services are very common in Hawaii and we love using them because of low fixed fee structures, and we don't need help with bookings and finances. 
The one we've been using on the island: https://www.onislandagentmaui....

Let me know if you use anything similar but for Palm springs, and would love to hear your referrals.