The Vacation Rental Manager's Podcast with Sarah and T

Send a text Meet Travis Wilburn of Stay Charlottesville and Blue Cedar Partners of Charlottesville, Virginia in this episode.  Travis is a very bright, young, and energetic entrepreneur who is full of new and fresh ideas that are working.   Hear how he is creating an organic spider web of services for his guests, how he and Charlottesville recovered from a devastating public relations nightmare, a...

Send a text In this week's episode Sarah and T interview C.J. Stamm, III from Southern Comfort Cabin Rentals in Blue Ridge, Georgia.   C.J. is an innovative manager who is incorporating remote management, purpose built housing and bringing together other area businesses to create a festival to boost business in the area's slow time.  Listen to this vacation rental manager talk about the...

Send a text In this much anticipated episode Sarah and Tim talk about technology tools that are available to rental managers and how to choose the right tools and toys for your company.  There are a lot of options out there with items that will help you run your company in a variety of ways.  Tim and Sarah give you a rundown about how to evaluate the companies.  Everything from Software, to electr...

Send a text In this week's episode, Sarah and T put a wrap up on the recent Data and Revenue Management Conference that was held in Atlanta by VRM Intel.  This conference, which was sold out, was one of the most talked about conferences in recent memory as hundreds of rental managers from around the world gathered to talk about terminology, statistics, and what we can do to ensure Vacation Re...

Send a text In this week's episode Sarah and T speak to Vince Perez of Santa Cruz, California who has gone from 100% dependence on OTA's to 0%.  He did it by purposefully working on building his brand.    Listen to Vince's strategic execution of a plan that gave him complete independence from 3rd party sites. In the news segment we speak about two initial public stock offerings, and...

Send a text This week's episode of Sarah and T is a monumental edition.   It is episode #50!  This week the tables have been turned so that a couple of key staff members are interviewed so our hosts can see what they see in what it takes to run a successful vacation rental business.  Take a listen and get some great tips from folks on the front line.   Amy Raegner and Sarah Moss are the two s...

Send a text In this episode our professional vacation rental managers dive head first into an area many of us would like to ignore - why owners may leave you.   Yes, it is a sad fact that some of our property owners are not always happy with our services.  Sarah and T outline 10 areas that may be hot points for owners, but by the end of the podcast they come up with an 11th reason.   This is a goo...

Send a text In this week's episode Sarah and T talk about a recent poll that was conducted among travelers that named their top amenities.  What does your top list look like?  Sarah and T have come up with their own "Top 11" Amenities and they discuss the pros and cons of each of them here.   They even may add some before this episode is over! In the news segment they discuss new fe...

Send a text We all deal with properties being listed for sale and then selling.  In this episode Sarah and T take on the idea of creating a great partnership with your local sales agents that is beneficial to both you and the agent.   7 great points to put into action to make a more productive relationship that helps everyone!  In the news segment Tim and Sarah discuss the onslaught of recruitment...

Send a text In this episode of Sarah and T our two hosts interview Sharon Walker of Walker Luxury Vacation Rentals in Austin, Texas.    You may remember Sharon from the VRMA Takeaways episode when she played "Rapid Fire" with us and she was quite entertaining.  In this episode Sarah and Tim find out more about the "city" vacation rentals, and what it takes to deliver luxury to...

Send a text In this week's episode Sarah and T interview Matt Landau. One of the most prominent faces and voices in the vacation rental business    Whether it is his podcast (Unlocked), his television show (The Vacation Rental Show previously known as A Sense of Place), his various public speaking events, or his wildly successful website (VRMB.com), Matt has become the standard bearer for man...

Send a text In this episode of Sarah and T our two fearless Vacation Rental Professionals continue their informative interview with Durk Johnson, Executive Director of the Vacation Rental Housekeeping Professionals.    In our last episode we focused on housekeeping issues and how to overcome them, and this week we focus on laundry issues. Durk is an expert on Laundry operations and gives us severa...

Send a text In this week's episode Sarah and T talk to "Mr. Clean."  Also known as Durk Johnson, Executive Director of the Vacation Rental Housekeeping Professionals who talks to our dynamic duo about 'THE" most important aspect of the vacation rental experience - Cleaning.   Durk knows his stuff and he talks about things like Standard Property Appearance Standards, explai...

Send a text In this episode of Sarah and T our two experience filled rental managers talk about  four aspects of dealing with your guests and ask "Would you do that to your mother?!"   We all get busy in this business and we don't always think about how our processes and policies may negatively effect your guests.   This episode focuses on four very important touch points you have w...

Send a text Sarah and T have onboarded hundreds of vacation rental owners over the history of their careers.  In this episode, find out the 12 areas they think are most important to ensure success on getting that new property on board to your rental program.   Do you allow Fido to sit on the couch (please say no!), what about owner use time, how do you handle work orders or any of the myriad of is...

Send a text Sarah and T take on another guest that is famous for wearing red shoes this week - Simon Lehman, former President of Phocuswright (leading travel research firm), and currently serves on the board of directors of Booking Pal, Rented.com, Properly, Vacasa Europe.   He also was formerly on the board of directors of HomeAway, Inntopia, and was the CEO of Interhome - the largest vacation re...

Send a text Sarah and T go Hollywood in this episode of The Professional Vacation Rental Manager's Podcast as they interview the co-host of the wildly popular original Netflix series "Stay Here" Peter Lorimer.   Peter talks about his unique background as a world famous club D.J., his highly successful career as a Los Angeles real estate broker, and of course his Vacation Rental reha...

Send a text On this edition of Sarah and T - The professional vacation rental manager's podcast our two hosts tackle your questions.  Find out what they think is the hottest trend in the industry, how to become involved when regulations hit your area, and what sort of fee structure you should have in place in your business.  In the news segment Sarah and T discuss the new HomeAway Trends repo...

Send a text Sarah and T start a new chapter in their podcast today as they begin the 2019 podcasting season.   The professional vacation rental manager's podcast will be having some changes coming your way this year, but you need to listen all the way to the end to find out what the big news is! In this episode Sarah and T review 2018's predictions to see how they did, discuss the 25 epi...

Send a text Sarah and Tim bring 2018 to a close with an outstanding interview with one of the most recognizable Vacation Rental Managers around.  Steve Milo of V-Trips is a self made icon in the Vacation Rental Industry and on today's episode he talks about self funded acquisitions, purpose built properties specifically for vacation rentals, and of course his withering analysis of On Line Tra...

Send a text In this episode our two hosts interview Amy Hinote of VRM Intel.   The premiere source of news and information in the vacation rental industry.   Amy shares her thoughts on the recent VRMA Conference, how Vacation Rental Managers are all doing the wrong thing when it comes to analyzing their business, and she provides some breaking news about what the future of her business looks like....

Send a text Sarah and Tim are on the road this week as they attended the International Conference of the Vacation Rental Management Association and The Vacation Rental Housekeeping Professionals in Las Vegas, NV.   This episode is a recording of the session "Takeaways with Sarah and T" from the conference where attendees came to this session to share the one big thing they are taking hom...

Send a text Today Sarah and Tim talk to Keynote Speaker, Best Selling Author, and International Customer Service consultant John DiJulius.  John has been a keynote speaker at VRMA twice, and is the main attraction each year at the "Secret Service Summit."  In short, he knows his stuff and he shares it with us in this episode.  Hear about 5 keys to making a good hire, what the FORD method...

Send a text In this episode our two professional vacation rental managers talk to one of the icons in vacation rentals and one of the keynote speakers at the upcoming VRMA conference. Doug Kennedy is a reseravations sales trainer with some of the largest hotel chains in the world as his clients, but he holds a special spot for vacation rentals and the connection it takes to be a successful vacatio...

Send a text Our two fearless vacation rental managers tackle a big subject head on today - the matter of compensation for a guest when there is some sort of dissatisfaction. It is a tough topic, but we hope you can get some great takeaways from their experience and processes. Also find out Tim's guilty pleasure when it comes to Broadway shows, and in the news segment HomeAway announces a roll...