All Forum Posts by: Wilson Vanhook

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Yep I’ve taken it and I had a great experience. I started the program last September in 2022 and only owned 1 rental. Today, I now manage a total of 14 and continue to grow.

I have my property management business, and my various properties I own all under one profile on both platforms. On Airbnb you can set up a routing rule to designate what bank account each property will pay out to. On VRBO you can assign a bank account to each property individually as well. On VRBO you can also customize the point of contact/name of the person on the listing per property. On Airbnb unfortunately whatever your profile name is it will extend across all your listings. On Airbnb I just list my property management name for all listings.

I’ve tried it both ways with different PMS’s. I used GFH, switched, and after a few months quickly switched back to GFH. GFH is so simple and easy to use. The tiny glitches here and there outweigh having to deal with more tax calculations/remittance and becoming the payment processor. I would 100% stick to what you have now. You don’t want to be chasing down guests for payments right? That sounds like a headache. Plus, I personally think it’s easier to edit settings and stuff from VRBO’s dashboard. The upgraded PMS won’t always put your listing descriptions the exact way you want it.

Not to mention, GFH is so much simpler to use than other, more complicated PMS’s. I love it for this reason. I have 12 listings on GFH now and plan to keep using it in the future.

Check out Safely insurance. You can purchase it per booking for a reasonable price. You choose the amount of coverage. For instance if you want $25k content, $1M dwelling and liability that should be somewhat comparable to what AirCover offers. The claims should be easy with them as well so you may not even have to chase guests down for damage reimbursement.

The issue is telling people that they might want to rethink getting into STR's. That is discouraging and unproductive.

My point is, if you don't agree with what people are asking then explain to them why that question may not be appropriate. But them asking an innocent question looking for help because they want to save money upfront to analyze multiple markets to invest in, doesn't mean this person isn't cut out for the industry. For my first STR I didn't want to shell out a bunch to analyze a ton of markets that ultimately wouldn't end up being worth my time. I own multiple STRs now and I still don't want to pay that for a bunch of maybe markets. The nationwide sub for AirDNA is like over $6k. I'd be more concerned about an individual willing to shell that out trying to get one of their first deals. Because that would be a person who isn't budgeting their money correctly.

Everybody knows AirDNA subscriptions can be pricey, and that's why places like The Short Term Shop put out some public data for their markets. I agree asking to use somebody else's account probably isn't appropriate. But Arsh, no harm in asking. Just gotta find another way to do it. You asking doesn't mean you aren't cut out for the STR industry lol 😂

If it doesn’t make sense to you then why say anything at all. This person is looking for some help, not a bunch of negativity and people telling them this business might not be for them. I totally get them trying to save some money. These forums are to help others, but a lot of you all that patrol these pages make people hesitant to even post in the first place because you guys just jump all over them.

Thanks I appreciate it! If you haven’t already, be sure to view the STS’s “estimated returns” data for the area here and do a thorough analysis of the numbers: https://theshorttermshop.com/e...

My 2 cents on investing in BB? Right now I manage a one-bdrm cabin and 3 five-bdrm cabins in the area. Imo the absolute best investment in the area is a 1 bedroom cabin. Our occupancy is insanely high, meanwhile the larger cabins are very easy to book for weekends, however the weekdays sit empty on the big ones. And if you have enough cash to buy a 5 bedroom I suggest simply getting multiple 1 bedroom cabins. Plus the small cabins are so much easier to maintain since it’s mostly couples coming in and out.

Talk to Cathy Craig, she’s the local realtor there that works with the short term shop. She knows the ins and outs of the area very well. But that being said most of the surrounding area will be a good investment. Here’s a link to our cabin in BB check out the location, it’s south of Hochatown but we’re still killing it (on pace for $100k gross revenue in a 1 bdrm cabin):

https://abnb.me/0OpD5D0gNxb

Being directly in Hochatown is a plus I’d say, but by no means an absolute must.