All Forum Posts by: Tom Dieringer

Sorry man, that sucks. 

Consider Prunus Otto Luyken - a compact, semi dwarf version of English Laurel. Very dense but not excessively high growing so your view can be maintained. Reasonably fast growing too. Rather beautiful for a hedge. Durable in full sun as well as partial shade. Not 100% sure it's suitable for your climate but likely is as it's not a fragile plant. 

Maybe his arrogance/ridiculousness will result in you making a beautiful enhancement? Best of luck

Minor dilemma.  Once a year I camp remotely for 3-4 days.  I usually surface once or so a day just for checking reception and urgent calls.  I've got an AI service hooked up to OwnerRez, but am concerned about the issues where I might need to jump in on more promptly basis than potentially 6-20 hours later. Whether it is a virtual assistant or any other type of service, are any of you familiar with folks who will temporarily jump in as a co-host? The rest of the vacation time I take is always somewhere where there's good reception.

Loosely related 2nd question. Do any of you have a backup plan for managing your property in the case of your unexpected, sudden demise? My other assets, including my primary company, all have plans in place. Nothing yet for who would manage my STR though. I'd hate to see my estate take a hit because suddenly my listing was going unattended for an extended. Thoughts?  Thanks.

Quote from @Andrew Street:

Hey Tom! I’ve seen both approaches, but I’ve found that keeping the OTA house rules simple works best to avoid overwhelming guests. Then, after booking, I send a more detailed version to cover important details like noise, extra guests, and check-out procedures.

Since you're in a vacation market, setting clear expectations upfront while keeping the details for later might be a good balance. Happy to connect!

 Thanks Andrew.  How do you communicate this hybrid approach on the OTA?  Do you let the guest know upfront that there will be a more complete version provided upon booking?

I've read a lot about house rules and there seems to be two paths - only posting simplified/abbreviated rules on the respective OTA, or having more detailed rules sent out and approved.  Curious what the consensus is.  I'm in a vacation market.  Thanks

Quote from @Michael Baum:

Thanks @Bruce Woodruff, PM me @Randy Cheval and I will send you one that I have.

Remember, I am not an attorney and it will need to be customized for your use.

MIchael was kind to share his with me and it made a solid base for the modifications we made - thanks again Michael!

Great question, in particular, for those who don't live next door or down the street. I don't have the ability to bake cookies and run them over. We're in a semi-remote resort area and the nearest bakery is a half hour away. We're considering doing something like Dave's cookies via Amazon but that's only semi-fresh baked and subject to shipping damage.

Think I better clarify - this isn't an altruistic attempt to help VRBO 😄, but rather a hope that it might result in a higher overall booking rate if both platforms perform at a high level

Looking for thoughts on a strategy to help VRBO not get immediately buried by Airbnb and be permanently assigned to an “also ran” capacity. I realize that there are variables from market to market and property to property that could make VRBO more effective for a given property, but my understanding is that in general Airbnb bookings get out to such a dominant start in regard to percentage of the bookings, that VRBO and other lesser OTAs have trouble catching up.

One unvetted thought I’ve had for when I go live is to give VRBO a 1-2 week head start on our listing. It wouldn’t even be listed on Airbnb during this period so I wouldn’t get dinged by them for blocking the calendar. I would limit the open calendar days on VRBO to maybe only 30 or so out so as to not cause any/many issues (having too many dates show as booked) when I subsequently go live on Airbnb. After the head start period and hopefully getting a couple/few? VRBO bookings in that 30-day window, I would then go live with my Airbnb listing, open out the calendar a little bit further so adequate availability shows, and take advantage of it’s first week or two? of listing boost. In my mind, the reason for doing this would be to have two engaged platforms versus one dominant one.

What am I missing? Why is this not important in the long run? How could it backfire?  Thanks group!

Some have mentioned the Tulsa market. Yes, it has low entry cost, growth, and is LL friendly. but it also has a couple shortfalls:

• - Low to fair rents at best
• - Low rent appreciation

I bought fairly smart, but still not smart enough to consider it an immediate good return. We are definitely dependent on that population and job growth to eventually gain some profit spread.

Quote from @Alice Fairbairn:

Hi everyone! 👋

Good thoughts Alice. Where are most of the better STR returns in Central OR right now? Nd what housing is currently attracting the highest CoC and total returns potential - studio - 1bd, 2 - 4bd, or 5+bd?