All Forum Posts by: Richard Ibeh

@John Underwood Check-out 10am/Check-in 4:00pm. I manage multiple so it gives my team enough time to fix/repair anything during the same day check-in.

If I was only managing one property I would probably still keep it at those hours.

I ask my guests to put the place back how they found it as some like to rearrange furniture for their own convenience. Throw away items they consider trash and put dishes etc in the dishwasher. I have a polite check-out email that reminds them of a few key things to do before they leave.

We supply a certain amount of towels/bed sheets per reservation so my housekeeper knows what to wash and what's missing. Always good to keep extra onsite locked away so she can make the bed with fresh linens while the dirty ones are being washed. If the cleaner starts washing by 10:30am she should be able to do everything onsite without having to take linens home.

@Richard Rodriguez the deals you find are only in Orlando area or South FL too?

@Joe Splitrock any reputable company or experienced host has an agreement but to each their own.

Maybe that owner worded it for his benefit as a one page agreement is VERY light. You can google any large vacation rental management company and their rental agreement will be in their policy section. That way when you are traveling you’re aware of what a real agreement should look like. You would not rent a house annually without a lease as that is your safeguard Incase the landlord does something outside of the lease and the same applies for short term rental agreements.

@Tamara Smith yes, both investor and manager. Prior to 2018, I oversaw the FL division for the 3rd largest VR mgmt company in the nation(rather not say the name to give them free promo here). After we split ways I started up a local management team here in South FL. I mainly come to biggerpockets to help/educate anyone seeking advice. The more knowledge everyone has the better for the industry. The novice VR owners are the reason we have so many city regulations now.

@Tamara Smith up to 400k is the max I would spend starting off in South FL. You can definitely find multiple places below that price that will allow short-term rentals. I'm not a realtor but I have tons that have alerts out so I can scoop up new investments. Wherever you decide just have to consider if they are a seasonal place (Panama city beach) or an area with a constant flow of traffic due to events, population, conferences, major airport etc etc

@Ryan Edward Hey Ryan, I'm in South FL as well so let me know if you need assistance.

@Tim Schroeder Opted out of Beyond Pricing and Wheelhouse. Dislike the percentage they take off the bookings. Pricelabs is more robust and provides more control for experienced managers.

You'll need to find a property management software to push rates over to all listing sites. The majority are integrated with dynamic pricing tools so once it's setup in the software it'll feed over to all the listing platforms it's integrated with.

@Susan Ticson Evolve takes 13% per booking then you have to hire your own cleaner/maintenance. 13% per booking is ALOT for just advertising and booking a guest. If it's just 1 STR I'm pretty sure you can set this up yourself and have a friend or family member do this for 1/2 the cost if you are not inclined to book your own reservations.

I manage multiple client's properties so it really comes down to what you want to do. If you have a time-consuming job and want no parts of the guest interaction then you'll need to seek a full-service manager in your area. If you want to maximize as much money as possible then you will have to self-manage or set up your own local team.

@Pankaj Aurora Not sure who your Orlando contact is but I know someone who specializes in short-term rentals only in that area. She can provide a much more detailed insight as she also has built a vacation rental group with about 1500 active investors and vacation rental managers sharing information everyday. Not many people I've come across I can recommend but as a manager/investor, she was definitely impressive.

@Joe Splitrock rental agreement is common. If guests don't sign mine they are canceled. There are alot of risk when renting a house to vacationers that you need to outline and have signed by guests incase you have to go in front of court or chargebacks. I would actually worry if someone did not send me an agreement- that shows this person is running his house as a business and not just opening up for the weekend where you would run into issues.