Short Term Rental Riches

You may have heard prior episodes where I talk about the benefits of owning your properties vs. sub-leasing them. Well, I still think owning them is the end-all goal but for many, lease arbitrage IS an easier way to get in the game.  It's an easier way to make great (potential) cash-flow without having a lot of money up front. It's also a great way for an investor to hold on to their capital and l...

At first glance you may think that a landlord would never want to rent you his or her rentals so that you could sub-lease them and put them on Airbnb. There are parties, increased wear and tear, and much more liability with short-term rentals right?? Isn't there? Well, if you've listened to this podcast for some time you know that's not really the case. When managed properly short-term rentals can...

The short-term rental industry has come a long way since Airbnb was first advertising blow-up air mattresses for rent. While some cities have blown up much more than others, most people (in the world) have now heard of Airbnb and short-term rentals. So we need to up our game! We need to be constantly improving our listings to set ourselves apart. This week we'll break down a few new listing photo...

Airbnb has restrictions on using virtual phone lines when you set up your account. Having a single phone number is also limiting when we are scaling our portfolios! So how do we get around using one main phone number on airbnb? How do we get around Airbnb not allowing us to use a virtual phone number like google voice? I've got an easy tip for you. I've been using a business phone line for years a...

If we look at our businesses and processes from the perspective of "how" we are going to manage them, grow them, operate them or accomplish them, than we are committing our time directly to those tasks. For every time we ask ourselves "how" we are limiting ourselves to our own resources and time. I read a book recently that will make you think twice about that mindset and I feel obligated to share...

Many things are out of our control like the government policies of different nations, the news, or the weather but when it comes to our investment decisions we can absolutely maintain control. This is one of the main reasons more people become wealthy through real estate than any other investment class. Control of our properties' is what allows us to improve it's value, change it's use, improve ma...

It's such an exciting thought, isn't it? Owning property in another country. It has a nice exotic ring to it. And while purchasing international real estate can provide so many benefits beyond a simple investment return, it's not necessarily the easiest thing to get into. This week we'll cover a few lessons I've learned and some things to look out for investing in a "foregin" place.  What to do in...

An experience is none other than an expectation and whether that expectation was met or not. Great reviews and experiences happen when our experiences are exceeded. The opposite is obviously true as well and I'm sure you remember plenty of times where you went somewhere like a restaurant, a new city, a friend's a party, with an idea of what the experience would be like but it turned out to be comp...

Our guests have the best experience when their questions are answered before they even ask them. There are many ways to do this, lots of which we have discussed in prior episodes like guidebooks and automated messages, but there is a third piece that's super simple to implement. A third piece that is often more helpful for our older guests that shy away from technology and digital apps. This week...

How do you create a passive operation? Whether it's a portfolio of real estate, a short-term rental company, or any other business. Well, first of all, you have to have a place to put all of your standard operating procedures; the pieces of your business puzzle that tell all of your team exactly what they need to know. There are lots of ways to do this and I've explored many of them but I'm happy...

I've mentioned the benefits of being a real estate investor when it comes to taxes in multiple episodes, but no one knows this subject better than Amanda Han, my CPA and personal tax advisor. Not to mention, she sees the behind the scenes PROOF that short-term rentals can earn excellent returns! Since she is the professional in the space I thought it would be great to bring her on in a 2-part seri...

I've mentioned the benefits of being a real estate investor when it comes to taxes in prior episodes, but no one knows this subject better than Amanda Han, my CPA and personal tax advisor. She sees the behind-the-scenes PROOF that short-term rentals can yield excellent returns! Since Amanda is the professional in the space I thought it would be great to bring her on in a 2-part series to hear dire...

We often hear statistics that seem to be good to be true… and oftentimes they are! Percentages in particular can be the most misleading if we have nothing to compare them to and if the sample size is small. We are targeted by advertisements and they are usually designed with a hidden agenda to sway your opinion or gain your interest. The same thing happens in real estate. Many times this is in the...

There is so much data out there. Invest here, invest there, now is a bad time, now is a good time, and so on and so on. So where do we start? What should a brand new investor be doing to get started and what are the steps? This week Tim will break down the basic process for anyone looking to invest in real estate from a bird's-eye view. Of course, you will need to do a lot of due diligence, but th...

I am constantly learning and improving my rentals and my goal with the podcast is to pass all of that on to you. Part of my continued education includes webinars, youtube, videos and anything I can get my hands on. This week I share what I learned from a recent webinar I attended with the CEO of Wheelhouse, one of the most well-known pricing tools for the STR industry. I'll break down my main take...

Hotels have been hit harder than ever before in our lifetimes and many, unfortunately, cannot hang on. They're going out of business. Hotels that have been around forever and were once a sought after destination are not staying afloat. What does this mean for travel and our STR's? Well it certainly will affect the SUPPLY of travel accommodations across the world which will directly impact our shor...

There are a lot of obvious differences in the costs between operating a short-term rental and a long-term rental, but how much more does it really cost? Expenses to manage a long term rental can add up. Let's talk about a few of those and run a comparison to see if you're accounting for all the differences! Expenses you DON'T have with a LONG-term rental Expenses you DON'T have with a SHORT-term r...

We've talked about the importance of having your short-term rentals on multiple online listing platforms (OTA's). It increases your listing's exposure and thus your occupancy! But not all listing sites are the same. This week Tim reviews insights he gained from an hour long meeting directly with an inside account manager at VRBO. If you are already using VRBO or considering using their platform th...

Are you looking for a little extra help to manage your properties? Maybe someone to help answer guest questions, coordinate housekeeping and maintenance, or really just to oversee your whole operation? Well, a "co-host" can be a good option. This week we'll look into:   What exactly is a co-host?   How do you find one?   What they can and can't do for you? Paying your co-host automatically You mig...

Along with the legalization of marijuana in many parts of the world has come a variety of new apparatuses and misunderstandings about whether it's ok to smoke indoors or not… or maybe it's just that people think they can get away with it now because it's more common and "legal."   Well, either way, more and more people are smoking in our short-term rentals! Luckily there are several action steps w...

Most of us use Airbnb to market our rentals to potential guests because they have become one of the most popular platforms (OTA's) and because they spend millions of dollars on advertising to make sure our properties are visible. But what happens when you are relying on their support and they drop the ball?   They recently took down all of Tim's listings with ONLY an email warning and no notificat...

Supply in the US is at a historic low, in fact the lowest it has ever been in many markets! That's one of the reasons prices are so high and also why a lot of people are considering selling. But, there is more to selling a property than just timing. If you are considering selling make sure it aligns with your bigger investment picture.   There are several questions we want to always ask ourselves...

I can't believe we've hit our 50th episode! We've released one episode per week which means it's almost been a year already! Wow, how time flies. So. for our 50th episode I thought we'd do something special and talk about just that… how time flies and how it either works against us or with us.   I'll discuss a guiding principle I've seen as the foundation behind every successful person I know and...

Do you have a workspace in your short term rental? More people are working from home than ever before so it's imperative that we have a work space for our guests. There are several things to incorporate to ensure our potential guests know what they are getting. Adding a workspace will attract longer term guests to make sure your rentals stay booked. Not to mention, the work from home guests tends...

It can be nerve wracking investing in a new market. Will a short-term rental do well there? What happens if it doesn't stay booked? Is there too much competition? These are often questions that race through our minds and keep a lot of people from investing in the first place. Luckily information is readily available to help us determine the potential occupancy, potential average daily rate to char...