All Forum Posts by: Sofia Sharkey

Do you allow pets in your short term rentals? There is good justification whether yes or no. We find it works for us in the summer season but it depends on your risk tolerance as pets can significantly damage your property. Do you charge an additional pet fee? YOU ABSOLUTELY SHOULD!

We charge $10/night/pet. So if they have 2 dogs for 3 nights that’s a $60 pet fee. That price beats the hell out of boarding the dogs which can be over $100 for 1 dog. Here are the 3 reasons why you should charge a pet fee (aside from increased revenue).

1. Risk of property damage: Pets have the potential to dig a hole through your living room floor, use your door jambs or couch as a clawing pole, or use the remote control as a chew toy. Best case scenario, they cause more wear and tear on the property with each step they take, each pee dribble on the carpet, and the dirt they track in that accumulates to a stain. All furnishings have a lifespan but pets shorten it (think rugs, couches, hardwood floors, etc).

1. Sheets and towels: We know the pains of replacing linens especially since we use white linens. Pets introduce that pain to a whole new level. This is especially for dogs because they tend to jump on the bed with dirty feet. Think about the dirt they pick up after walking around the block, stepping in water, dirt, mud, poo, and the general filth on the sidewalks/street. Then they jump on your beautiful, clean, white sheets. That stain is going to settle because it won’t get treatment until after they check out. That translates to a higher turnover of linens.

1. Extra time for your cleaning team: It is in your best interest to let the cleaners know when a pet has stayed. That way they can be on the lookout for pet related damage and be more vigilant for pet clean up. This is increased stress on your cleaning crew. If you’re very pleased with your cleaners you want to keep them. I pay them extra for cleanings after pets. Compensate them for their extra efforts so you can retain them and maintain continuity.

This is what Lemon Tree STR management does in the Kansas City, MO market. It works for us. We'd love to hear your feedback. Let us know what works for you in the comments.

We hope everyone is enjoying the rebound in the Short Term Rental industry! Seize the opportunity while it’s here. Safe travels and happy hosting!

Thank you @Joseph Firmin , glad you liked it! It's all in the little things and while these are easy to optimize they are overlooked so often. Here is to raising the bar and providing great value to our guests! 

As the short term rental industry continues to expand, so do the expectations from both guests and hosts. Sometimes it is worth taking a step back and asking ourselves if our expectations are reasonable or out of line for the industry. This is something that we all learn with experience and we can tell when a guest is a “seasoned guest” or a “newbie” trying to learn the ropes of the online platforms. Either way, there are common things that guests should and should not expect from their vacation rental host. In this post I dive into those expectations and provide my own perspective based on experience. As usual, I hope you enjoy this read and let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Cleanliness

Whether you are doing the cleaning yourself or you are hiring out a team of cleaners, cleanliness remains one of the top criteria for excellent ratings. Guests are expecting to walk into a clean place where surfaces have been sanitized and clutter or “things” are put away. A clean place includes clean linens, dishes, floors, and surfaces after every booking. While hosts are not expected to do a deep cleaning between every booking, the place needs to be spotless when guests arrive and appealing to the eye.

Easy Check-In

Are you still leaving the key under the doormat? Do you require guests to meet you so you can deliver the key? While this works for some hosts, most guests expect a hassle-free check-in process that allows them flexibility. More importantly, they don’t want to have to mail back a key because they forgot to put it back when they checked out. Welcome to the rise of electronic door locks! There are many options available that make check-in smooth and easy for guests. Hosts don’t need to worry about the guests losing the keys or taking them with them. If you don’t have an electronic lock installed yet, I invite you to check them out! (Our choice will be another post for another day)

Uniqueness

Airbnbs and home rentals in general are attractive because of their uniqueness. They feel like a home away from home. Guests can expect to see books, art, paintings, board games, and decor they wouldn’t find in a hotel. In the world of short term rentals, it’s all about the guest experience and standing out. While guests love to be surprised by a special touch, they don’t want to be surprised to find cluttered areas or unfinished areas not photographed. One good tip is to reference some of those characteristics in the listing so guests are not surprised when they walk in! It can be a pull to the location if this piece of the home is beautiful or gives them a heads up to steer clear of the basement if they have seen one too many horror stories.

Area Recommendations

Especially in vacation rental markets, guests expect to receive area recommendations from their hosts. Most platforms have features for you to post those recommendations, on Airbnb you can create a guidebook for each property. This way guests can access your recommendations anything and you don’t have to manually type them for each guest. I like to include a variety of places for food, drinks, entertainment/attractions special to that location, sports, groceries, and music.

Easy to Follow Instructions

This is a big one. If finding your place or parking is cumbersome, make sure to upload screenshots of how to find it. Provide instructions in your welcome messages and prepare your guest for arrival. Guests expect this information to come to them as opposed to having to ask for everything, a few key areas you’ll want to provide instructions on are:

• 1. Parking
• 2. Operating electronics (Wifi password, thermostat settings, TV)
• 3. How to check-in
• 4. How to check-out and specific time

BONUS! Here are two things guests should NOT expect from their hosts and their properties!

Deep Cleaning

Yes, you read correctly. Most hosts are not hiring teams to do deep cleanings between every booking because they would take multiple hours to complete. There is an exception to luxury stays where you’re paying a higher dollar but most standard cleaning teams are tasked to do “airbnb cleanings”, which I described earlier. The standards for the cleaning teams are high and while they try their best, they may need some of your help to complete the turn overs on time. Don’t be surprised if a host asks you to bag all your trash or run the dishwasher before you leave.

Discounts and waiving cancellation policies

While hosts sometimes offer discounts, this is not an expectation a guest should have before or after booking. Also as a guest, familiarize yourself with the cancellation policy before booking. Hosts are not expected to waive their cancellation policies if you can’t fulfill your trip. While sometimes exceptions are made, we all need to be responsible travelers.

I hope this information helps hosts and guests have smoother stays at short term rentals! I’d love to hear from your experience so please let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Looking forward to attending and hearing Zeona - -  with @Tom Sharkey

@Eugene Lavatman

@Wesley Myers I recommend price labs and that’s what I use in my business. Pricing is very important, price your place about comparable to others in the area and offer a 15% to the first 3 bookings, you don’t want to undercut too much and attract problem guests. Also Airbnb already offers a discount to the first bookings I think, so make sure you check that. I’ve seen too many hosts who offer a discount on top of airbnbs discount not realizing and giving away nights almost for free.

Good luck!

@Justin Koopmans where exactly is the house (what area)? I did a full analysis on the income last year and can share the numbers with you. I have in my analysis Dixie springs, Zion village, Santa Clara, and a couple other trendy areas.

@Ben Morrow if you get a bad review in one property it does NOT affect the reviews on the other ones but it does affect súper host status. You need to maintain the average across the board to keep that status.

The calendars are separate so that’s not an issue, you can manage bookings without a problem from one account.

For tax purposes, all income is specific to each property and Airbnb provides reports with that broken down by place so that’s not an issue. You just need to make sure you keep track of expenses separately.

You can have Airbnb do separate deposits per property, for instance your personal Airbnb gets deposited to your personal account and the other two get deposited to the llcs bank account.

I personally see no benefit to having separate accounts and have all my listings under one single account.

@David Zall yes, your city's website so you can read everything about their regulations and policies for STRs, Airbnb so you can read their policies and procedures, listen to the STR success stories and VR machine podcasts. Read about developments and trends in your city, Google reports for STRs in the country and their performance so you can get an idea about how other markets do, lots of videos on YouTube as well. There is not one book that will layout all the info you need, but if you seek the information you will find it.

Good luck!

@Reilly Carpenter I am not familiar with your market but I'm familiar with STR management companies. I wrote this to help investors with the hiring process, I hope it's helpful and good luck! https://www.biggerpockets.com/member-blogs/13688/92930-part-1-investors-expectations