Thanks For Visiting

How do you juggle owning two businesses, starting your first short term rental, and filming a TV show at the same time? That’s what Brad and Heather Fox, a married couple who own Fox Homes & Realty and Foxwell Design, ended up doing. They share the story of how this all happened, what factored into their decision when buying a property, and tips to stand out from other listings. Resources: Lea...

Catherine Williamson is one half of the very popular blog Beginning in the Middle. She and her husband are designers, renovators, and Airbnb Superhosts. In 2013, they moved from New York City to Columbus, Ohio, where they noticed a gap in the market for unique, well-designed spaces. They decided to pursue their passion for design and hospitality and have been working together to restore old homes...

Is downtime in your business leaving you feeling down? Don’t worry! We’re going to outline 5 things you can do during a downtime — whether it’s a slow season, you need to take a break from hosting, or for any other reason — to make your listing even better when you’re rarin’ to go. Downtime is the perfect time to take care of those “I’ve been meaning to do that” tasks, so take advantage of that ti...

We’ve talked about safety before, and we’ve talked about cleaning, but one thing is now clear in a COVID-19 world: Cleaning is safety. We have our safety expert, Justin Ford, back on the show this week to talk about how things have changed dramatically since his last appearance. Guests are concerned about the safety of short-term rentals, so how do we address those fears and concerns, while making...

Everyone wants their property to stand out from the crowd, and one way to do that is through experiential properties. These properties take their guest experience to the extreme. Bryndee Barton, the designer at Loma Homes, has an incredible Star Wars-themed rental that you can experience right now. She started in the more traditional real estate realm and now she focuses on managing Airbnbs that t...

It’s totally possible to build an epic rental business! Steph, the owner of EpicBnb — a Nashville-based hospitality company specializing in design, short-term rental management, and consulting — tells us all about how she is currently building out her own business, from picking which properties to manage, to building out a team, to working with her local associations to strengthen the rental indus...

Is mid-term the new short-term? The typical length of stay, at this point in time, is drastically changing. How is your business going to adapt and pivot in order to have the best chance of surviving and thriving, now and into the future? Mid-term rentals are a great opportunity, so let’s talk about what they are and how you can take advantage of them. Resources: Airbnb HomeAway Vrbo HousingAnywhe...

We are in a very weird time, and we don’t know exactly what the other side of it will look like. We’re going to go over nine ways you can pivot your short-term listing, whether that’s during a slow season, a huge event comes to your area, or any unexpected circumstance occurs. These tips are meant to be timeless and apply to any rapid change in direction. Resources: #STRShareSunday: @208studio Tha...

We are dealing with a virus that has taken the world by storm. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been alive, there hasn’t been anything quite like this in living memory. Not long ago, we talked about how you should handle cancellations. Now we are starting to settle into a new normal, and there have been several new updates to the situation we would like to address. Let’s take advantage of all of...

We know adulting is hard but trust us: proper insurance is essential! It is going to benefit you, your guest, and your property (whether you own it or not). Darren Pettyjohn is a co-founder at Proper Insurance Services, which offers a custom insurance product designed for vacation rental and short-term rental owners. Darren is here to answer all of our questions about insurance as it relates to yo...

There’s one area of safety that pretty much everyone in the short-term rental game has to consider: dryer safety. To give us all the details, we are once again joined by our resident safety captain, Justin Ford! Justin tries to make safety exciting, and so far he’s done a great job of it. He’s a former US Coastguard safety officer, and he started the largest vacation rental company in the Northeas...

Whatever your mission is in this journey of short-term rentals, revenue is going to be a common driving factor. One of the common shortcomings when it comes to vacation rentals is not properly compensating yourself for all the services you provide. You may be trying to pass on as much of the savings to your customer as possible, but if you aren’t taking care of yourself, you’re going to risk burno...

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve heard about the coronavirus disease. We wanted to address some of the questions and concerns hosts may be facing, including cancellations, cleaning questions, and how to handle reservations. Resources: WHO Advice for the Public: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public What if I need to cancel because of an eme...

Do you want to grow your short-term rental side hustle into a full-time gig? Steve Trover is an expert at scaling businesses. He got into the vacation rental industry in 1997, where he started helping others manage their own properties. He eventually went on to scaling his own management business, eventually managing over 350 properties and 100 employees. He now helps vacation rental companies ide...

We’ve talked about this topic a TON, but we’ve yet to have a professional photographer on the show. That’s why we’re so excited to have Matthew Garsky, who has been photographing Airbnb properties for several years now — he’s even been hired by Airbnb to do photography! Resources: Instagram: @matthewgarsky #STRShareSunday: @_thepondhouse Thanks for Visiting is a production of Crate Media . Mention...

We are on the road this week for a short term rental sponsored SLEEPOVER! And we are visiting Becky Rhey, a fabulous host with an impeccable sense of style. She talks about what the transition from flipping to rental was like, how she finds decor for her rental, allowing photographers to use her space, and collaborating with local businesses. Resources: Instagram: @rebeccarhey | @1920granddame #ST...

Sharon Keefe is back on the show! As a reminder, Sharon has spent the last 7 years conducting knowledge management in the vacation rental space and coaching others on how to run their rentals better and make more money. No matter where you are renting, we all have the same mission, and we all need to do better so our neighbors and communities can be excited to have short term vacation stays in the...

Hosting is a challenge, and we want to know if you’re up for it! We want to prepare you for what we call “hosting fatigue.” There are going to be challenges to deal with, but if you know they’re going to come, you can prepare for them. Resources: #STRShareSunday: @tokyofamilystays Thanks for Visiting is a production of Crate Media . Mentioned in this episode: Hosting Business Mastery Method | Join...

As promised, Justin Ford is back to talk about all things safety! We’re going to keep him on as a recurring guest all year, and today he’s going to talk about 8 danger zones in a short-term rental. In case you missed the first episode, Justin is a vacation rental safety expert. He works at a company called Breezeway, a property operations & services platform. He understands what it means to be...

We are all about education here on the show, and when we are really experts on something, we want to share it with you. One of those things we want to share with you today is how to make more money and diversify your income using staging or designing skills applied to the short term rental industry. Today, we have 7 ways you can make more money as a stager, designer, or host. Resources: Sign up fo...

Sharon Keefe has spent the last 7 years conducting knowledge management in the vacation rental space. She is a vacation rental property management pro, and we’re so excited to chat with her. She coaches other vacation rentals on how to do better, be better, and make more. While vacation rentals have been doing this for a while, their mission overlaps so, so much with short term rentals. But there...

It is your responsibility to make sure your property is safe for your guests! To drive home the importance of safety, we talk with Justin Ford, Director of Safety at Breezeway, a software company that makes it easier to manage property care and maintenance operations. Justin focuses on the operations side specifically, helping property managers and owners maintain safety of vacation rental propert...

Mistakes are going to happen when you have an Airbnb, and that can be kind of scary. We’re going to share the experiences we’ve had and how we bounced back in hopes of alleviating some of that fear. You are not alone if you’ve made a mistake. No matter how good you are, things are going to happen, and what matters in those moments is how you handle it. Resources: Automated Messaging: www.smartbnb....

We’re going to talk about a lesser-known strategy for growing your short term rental business: rental arbitrage. What exactly is it, what benefits can it provide, and what are the risks involved? We lay it all out, including our personal thoughts on it, so you can decide whether or not rental arbitrage is right for you. Resources: Check out www.niido.com #STRShareSunday: @enchantedviewcabin Thanks...

What kinds of things could you learn from chatting with a former Airbnb employee? Well, Danny Rusteen is a former Airbnb employee, and this has opened a lot of doors for him! After working for them in accounting for two years, he ended up working in a marketing role bringing in hosts, and then for an outside company optimizing hosts’ listings. He has a ton of info to share with us, including a few...