Short Term Rental Riches

When are your guests most uncomfortable? I'll save you the run around and just tell you; when they arrive. They don't know your rental. They may have been travelling for a long time. They may be wondering if they're even at the right property. They may be seeing a neighbor and wondering what the neighbor is thinking of them. So many unknowns (unless your check in instructions are stellar)... Ok now, with that said... When are they even more uncomfortable? When they are doing and thinking all of this in the dark! Lighting is crucial. The good news is, there are so many great options out there these days and we are going to discuss a few and also the areas where it's MOST IMPORTANT to make sure you get the lighting right.

Who is booking your Airbnb? Do you really know? Well if you don't then you might be communicating in a way that will earn you less than stellar reviews. Airbnb started as a very personal way to rent a property; a "Host" put their property online and used to meet with a guest, hand over the keys, give them a tour, and wish them a great stay. Most of that has changed! As we know, there are an incredible amount of automation tools available these days and with that we lose that "human touch" that we used to have. But it doesn't mean that we can't add it back in relatively easily. This week we'll uncover if you've lost your human touch and what you can do if you have: What type of guests do you have staying with you? What happens with too much automation How to easily add in human touches Can you keep the human touch while scaling?

As investors we have the natural tendency to increase revenues and increase our bottom line. One of the ways we can do that in the short-term rental world is by increasing our exposure. In other words, increasing the amount of people that can see, view, and potentially book our properties. This is exactly where online travel agencies (OTA’s) come in to play. They spend 100’s of millions of dollars every year on marketing so they can successfully link the properties (us) and the potential guests together. There are lots of options for OTA’s but which ones are best? Doesn't it make sense to just be on as many as possible to increase our exposure? Not necessarily. I’ve played around with this for years and have tried lots and lots of different listings sites with mixed feelings. This week I want to break down one of the largest ones that you MAY NOT be using; Booking.com. We’ll discuss:  How to decide if you should increase your exposure Booking.com statistics Getting started and the setup The pros and cons with Booking.com Should you use them or not?    You can also find the whole, hour long video webinar by visiting https://restmethods.com/recommended-resources/ and finding “Keystone CPA. Want a crash course in just two days with everything you need to know to find, acquire and operate a short-term rental with passive operations? Good news! We have our  latest live webinar recording available!   Are you enjoying the podcast? Please subscribe, leave a rating and a review, and share it! This helps us reach others that may find the info helpful as well. You can find all of our links here including our website, recommended resources, upcoming live event, short-term rental playbook, Instagram and more!

You can pretty much rent anything as an airbnb these days, can’t you? From a treehouse, to a houseboat, to a luxury villa to a castle! And everything in between. But what makes the best investment? Many times when investing we simply look at the numbers but that’s not the whole equation. This week we’ll break down the pro’s and con’s between three different categories of short-term:    Luxury rentals Affordable rentals “Exotic” or unique rentals Back up plans for each Ability to sell How they are affected in a recession Financing options for each category   You can also find the whole, hour long video webinar by visiting https://restmethods.com/recommended-resources/ and finding “Keystone CPA. Want a crash course in just two days with everything you need to know to find, acquire and operate a short-term rental with passive operations? Good news! We have our  latest live webinar recording available!   Are you enjoying the podcast? Please subscribe, leave a rating and a review, and share it! This helps us reach others that may find the info helpful as well. You can find all of our links here including our website, recommended resources, upcoming live event, short-term rental playbook, Instagram and more!

We’ve talked before about how photos are NOT the most important piece of your short-term rental listing. They are not. There are greater forces at play that are the main reason for your success and we’ve talked about that before, so if you missed those episodes go back and check them out :)This week, I want to talk about:    The ultimate guest experience Why pictures are not the most important Things you are doing WRONG with your photos How to know you are doing them wrong You can also find the whole, hour long video webinar by visiting https://restmethods.com/recommended-resources/ and finding “Keystone CPA. Want a crash course in just two days with everything you need to know to find, acquire and operate a short-term rental with passive operations? Good news! We have our  latest live webinar recording available!   Are you enjoying the podcast? Please subscribe, leave a rating and a review, and share it! This helps us reach others that may find the info helpful as well. You can find all of our links here including our website, recommended resources, upcoming live event, short-term rental playbook, Instagram and more!

One of the two biggest expenses that everyone incurs are taxes. Which means, legally lowering our taxes should be of the utmost importance! For easy numbers and simplicity's sake, if you have $1000 in income taxes and you neglect to write off an immediately deductible $500 expense you incurred operating your short-term rentals then you just unnecessarily GAVE your government $500! For many people taxes are intimidating. You may be asking, “Can I write this off? “I don’t want to get audited.” But I'm here to tell you, as long as you follow the rules you should NOT be concerned. My tax advisor specializes in real estate and they recently put together a great webinar dedicated to tax advice and your STR’s… and since I know we are all busy and taxes aren’t necessarily the most fun topic, so I took the liberty of breaking down the webinar FOR YOU with my biggest takeaways that you need to know!This week we’ll talk taxes and break down:    How the IRS defines a short term rental Different types of income reporting (Schedule E vs C) How your tax losses are treated?  What it means to be a “real estate professional” and how that can benefit you  How you can become a Real estate professional EASIER with STR’s than you can with traditional long term rentals Depreciation  How much you can use your property for “personal use”   HUGE DISCLAIMER: I am not a tax professional and these are just recommendations of topics to look into so please check with your tax advisor and accountant to confirm they will work for you. You can also find the whole, hour long video webinar by vising https://restmethods.com/recommended-resources/ and finding “Keystone CPA. Want a crash course in just two days with everything you need to know to find, acquire and operate a short-term rental with passive operations? Good news! We have our  latest live webinar recording available!   Are you enjoying the podcast? Please subscribe, leave a rating and a review, and share it! This helps us reach others that may find the info helpful as well.   You can find all of our links here including our website, recommended resources, upcoming live event, short-term rental playbook, Instagram and more!

You are seeing it, aren’t you? The instagram photos popping up. The long-delayed weddings that are now taking place. Airline flights being oversold. New travel videos on Youtube. Yep, it’s happening, travel is back! This has been a long time coming. What else would happen bottling the world up for over a year and half and preventing one of our biggest joys (and necessities) travel. But how do we know travel is really back? And of course, it’s not quite back everywhere but as short-term rental operators we have the inside scoop. So this week I want to break down a few of the signs that show us travel is looking promising. Let’s dive into: Personal experiences Advance booking times Nightly rates Which properties are being booked Guest communications OTA sentiment Quarterly earnings report from Airbnb My upcoming travel & event You can also find the whole, hour long video webinar by vising https://restmethods.com/recommended-resources/ and finding “Keystone CPA. Want a crash course in just two days with everything you need to know to find, acquire and operate a short-term rental with passive operations? Good news! We have our  latest live webinar recording available!   Are you enjoying the podcast? Please subscribe, leave a rating and a review, and share it! This helps us reach others that may find the info helpful as well.   You can find all of our links here including our website, recommended resources, upcoming live event, short-term rental playbook, Instagram and more!

Rents have been increasing quickly since the last crash in 2008 which has been great for real estate investors. But why exactly are they going up? The short answer is, Economics.  Economics is the foundation for why prices do what they do. To break it down further, prices will always be controlled by supply and demand.. And when it comes to real estate there is a LOT of factors that affect both supply and demand. We’ll discuss this week the main reasons why rent HAS to continue to go up and break it down so you don’t need to remember your High School Economics 101 class. Let’s cover: The decrease in how ownership The housing shortage Why the housing shortage does not have an easy fix Why there are more renters than ever before What this all means for rental prices Where are the highest and lowest changes What this means for your STR! Want a crash course in just two days with everything you need to know to find, acquire and operate a short-term rental with passive operations? Good news! We have our  latest live webinar recording available!   Are you enjoying the podcast? Please subscribe, leave a rating and a review, and share it! This helps us reach others that may find the info helpful as well.   You can find all of our links here including our website, recommended resources, upcoming live event, short-term rental playbook, Instagram and more!

In the residential rental world we have lots of choices for flooring but when deciding what to use for our short-term rentals the decision becomes even more important. As prudent, long term investors, we want to make sure we are considering the life of the products but also consider the costs and the appeal it will have with our guests. Wood floor, tile, carpet, engineered hardwood, vinyl… They can all be used effectively but after investing for over a decade I have chosen some favorites. In this week's episode we’ll break down what those are but also consider: When should you replace flooring My favorites Installation costs Material costs Expected use and life How flooring changes are mood Changing flooring in an operating STR   Want a crash course in just two days with everything you need to know to find, acquire and operate a short-term rental with passive operations? Good news! We have our  latest live webinar recording available!   Are you enjoying the podcast? Please subscribe, leave a rating and a review, and share it! This helps us reach others that may find the info helpful as well.   You can find all of our links here including our website, upcoming live event, short-term rental playbook, Instagram and more!

Let’s face it, unexpected issues WILL happen with our rentals and how you and your team handle the communication with your guests is crucial. In fact, communication becomes even more important when there is an issue but at the same time it also creates an opportunity to show your guests that you really care. Good communication equals happy guests and happy guests equal stellar reviews. But it goes further than that… I would argue that the better you communicate in general the more success you will have in life, the more friendships you will have, and ultimately less stress will invade your life! So this week I want to break down one of my favorites on the subject; Marshall Rosenburg’s Nonviolent Communication. Marshall’s expert advice translates easily to the world of real estate and your short-term rentals since communication is such a core element of the business. I will break down my top 6 takeaways that you can use in your business and your personal life. Stay tuned!   Link to Non Violent Communication by Marshall Rosenburg: Audible: https://www.amazon.com/Nonviolent-Communication-audiobook/dp/B00TKMBJKE/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=non+violent+communication&qid=1622728480&sr=8-4&tag=   Want a crash course in just two days with everything you need to know to find, acquire and operate a short-term rental with passive operations? Good news! We have our  latest live webinar recording available!   Are you enjoying the podcast? Please subscribe, leave a rating and a review, and share it! This helps us reach others that may find the info helpful as well. You can find all of our links here including our website, webinar, Instagram and more!