Ep 166 - Home Swapping Your STR with Hostshare Founders Landon & Sean Wilkinson
Sep 4, 2023
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Guests Landon and Sean Wilkinson, founders of Hostshare, share their journey into real estate and short-term rentals. They discuss gaining equity in hotels, creating a software, and their vision for the sharing economy. Their unique model allows hosts to share unbooked nights for the cost of cleaning fees.
Hostshare allows short-term rental hosts to share unbooked nights for the cost of cleaning fees, creating a community of hosts who can enjoy up to three weeks of free travel.
Hoshare provides benefits to both individual hosts and management companies, allowing hosts to monetize vacant nights without losing revenue and providing a cost-effective way for hosts to trade value and access new travel opportunities.
Deep dives
The Evolution of the Sharing Economy
The podcast discusses how Hoshare, a new niche in the sharing economy, is the next logical step. It allows short-term rental hosts to share unbooked nights in exchange for the ability to travel for the cost of cleaning fees. The concept is inspired by shared ownership models seen in other industries, such as airplanes and sailboats. The goal is to create a community of short-term rental hosts who can barter their vacant nights and enjoy up to three weeks of free travel on the platform. Hoshare aims to provide a unique value proposition for hosts and foster a network effect as it grows.
The Benefits for Hosts and Management Companies
Hoshare offers benefits to both individual hosts and management companies. For hosts, it provides the opportunity to monetize their vacant nights without losing revenue-generating bookings. By sharing their properties on the platform, they can gain up to three weeks of free travel to other locations. This flexibility allows hosts to explore new destinations without feeling tied to their own properties. Management companies can benefit from Hoshare by incentivizing their property owners to participate, which can enhance their offering and foster a sense of community among hosts. The platform eliminates the need for commission fees and taxes, creating a cost-effective way for hosts to trade value and access new travel opportunities.
The Growth and Vision of Hoshare
Hoshare has set ambitious goals for its growth and adoption. The aim is to onboard a thousand hosts during the initial beta phase and expand to around 7,000 hosts within the first year. By reaching a critical mass of hosts, Hoshare hopes to transition from being an early adopter platform to a more mainstream sharing economy network. The vision is to become a trusted club for short-term rental hosts, where they can find value in trading their unbooked nights and build a community of like-minded individuals. The founders believe that Hoshare represents a new way of thinking and a potential pioneer in this evolving niche of the sharing economy.
Tips for Success in Short-Term Rentals
The podcast guests share their tips for success in short-term rentals. The first tip is to invest in unique and standout properties, as they tend to have better returns and attract more guests. Having something special about the property, like a container home or a renovated barn, sets it apart from traditional suburban houses. The second tip is to pay attention to the last 5% of the property's investment, focusing on the master bedroom and areas that the paying guests value the most. Lastly, they encourage hosts to not be afraid to offer something different and go beyond the conventional options in their market.
Landon Wilkinson currently has several short-term rentals between Washington and Montana. They found STRs through house flipping and after purchasing multi-family properties across the country. Through owning and managing their own STRs for the last eight years, they came up with the idea of Hostshare. Hostshare is a platform that allows owners and hosts of STRs to share last-minute, unbooked nights in order to travel for only the cost of cleaning fees.
Sean Wilkinson is the Chief Strategy Officer and Founder of Hostshare.