All Forum Posts by: Thomas Lord

Not ever actually doing their jobs is big in the Smoky Mountains.  Also, managing for occupancy only with no care whatsoever to ADR or RevPAR.

@Thomas Lord Seems you are really learning on the fly!

Suggest you join www.NARPM.com ASAP to figure out what other basic pitfalls you need to avoid.

Your profile doesn't say anything about have the required real estate broker's license to manage 3rd party properties - you may want to address that ASAP.

It does say you have an RE Agent license, but does your broker know you are managing properties under their license (since you don't have your own broker's license)? Since you are exposing them to additional liability you may want to discuss this with them to avoid crap hitting the fan later when they find out.

We've not heard of any national cleaning companies the successful STR owners & PMC's use. Molly Maids is prohibitively expensive and challenging to schedule quick turns. So, you will have to find, train and manage your own.

Sames goes for maintenance.

I currently self manage and I have quite a few concerns about shifting over to 3rd party management. Here are some of them:

1. Marketing/brand: We have built a strong brand and following around our properties, is it possible to maintain that brand with a third party manager and if so would they manage the brand as well as we do?

2. ADR and occupancy: Like many I am concerned that the manager would not maximize the pricing of the units appropriately and would sacrifice either price or occupancy. We feel we sacrifice neither one, but maybe that means we are leaving money on the table since we are 90-95% booked. However our prices are very high for our market.

3.  Property quality and upkeep: We spend a lot of time adjusting and tweaking the property to be the best it can be. This includes improvements to the design, functionality, and guest experience as well as general property maintenance. 

Some reasons we WOULD do property management:

1. Managing cleaners: This is a HUGE pain in the butt. We use all local independent cleaners who live in the neighborhood, this is great because they are very close by and are familiar with our properties, but communication is nearly constant.

2. Maintenance and repairs: If we had a manager who had a solid team in place to quickly and efficiently handle property and hot tub maintenance, that would be great. As long as they actually did it and did a good job. Our properties are fairly rural so timely accessibility is an issue.

3. Managing guests: This one hasn't been that bad because we only have 3 properties right now, and typically our guests are pretty awesome. However, as we scale this will be something that needs to come off my plate.

Have a iron clad contract, have an attorney review it.

Have top Noth cleaners and check on them to make sure they stay top notch.

Yes, not having proper insurance and managing without the proper licenses can definitely be major issues for property management companies. I highly recommend reaching out to @Cameron Moore, he is a great insurance broker and can help ensure that you have the coverage you need to protect yourself and your business.