Is your short term rental fit for stardom?

Levi Kelly is a YouTuber with over 150k subscribers—which he gained in just one year—with some videos reaching millions of views! He specializes with touring unique Airbnbs from all over the world, such as tiny homes, container homes, tree houses, and more. He also has a show with the Design Network called Tiny BNB. He’s visited over 70 unique Airbnbs and he believes that having an all-around superb Airbnb is necessary starting now.

When he’s choosing an Airbnb, the biggest thing he’s looking for is a hook that’s going to get people to want to watch. If it’s just a room or a house, that has a purpose, but it’s not going to grab anyone’s attention. If you want your property to get media attention, keep in mind. You want your property to WOW.

Influencer marketing can be a huge attractor to your rental if you approach it in the right way. Whether you’re reaching out to...

Time for #STRShareSunday and this week we want to share the Tiny Mountain Cabin! 

Located in northern Georgia and hosted by Meg, the Tiny Mountain Cabin is 600 square feet of well-designed, well thought-out space. This space sleeps 6!

What do we love about this cabin? First of all, what an AMAZING exterior paint color. We love embracing the darker exterior colors, and it looks so cool juxtaposed in the middle of the forest. They have 56 (yes, 56) pictures in their listing, but we looked at every. single. one.

GORGEOUS. When can we visit!!?

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Tiny Mountain Cabin on AirBnb

Tiny Mountain Cabin on Instagram

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We would love to feature YOU, so don’t forget to use the #STRShareSunday to get your chance!

You may have entered this business with short-term rentals in mind, but there are SO many ways to make money off of your property. Why limit yourself to just one?

In our last episode with Brett and Ashley Nobles, we talked all about location rentals, and we want to revisit the topic a bit. If you are just charging your nightly rate for a location rental, you are leaving a lot of money on the table—and opening yourself up to some serious liability. Let’s walk through some of the things you need to consider when hosting photo shoots, video, or corporate meetings at your location.

When photographers or videographers are using your space, they are likely to be using it in a way you had not intended. For instance, if they need to move furniture: Is that okay? Who is responsible for moving it, for moving it back, and cleaning it? Is this something you need to charge extra for?

Get clarity on what types of photoshoots are taking place in your property. Some photography...

We want you to make money in all sorts of different ways—and that can mean more than just nightly stays!

Our guests, Ashley and Bretty Nobles, are going to open our minds to the idea of location rentals.They are a husband and wife duo who, in just five years, have hosted more than 800 bookings over their short-term rental and location rental businesses. They’ve appeared on Refinery29’s “Sweet Digs” series on YouTube, and have serviced clients such as Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Netflix at their properties. They know a thing or two (or three) about successful location rentals. On top of that, this power couple offers online training to help educate their community on creating unique short-term rental spaces.

What are location rentals?

In contrast to a typical short-term rental situation, location rentals are primarily hourly, daytime rentals for film and photo production, events, or meetings. You can charge a higher hourly rate, and if...

Naturally, every host is concerned with starting and running their listings. But what do you do to efficiently—and ethically—close down a listing without all the overwhelm?

Tracey Northcott has been an Airbnb Superhost for nearly a decade and a guest experience specialist consultant for the last two years. She’s a writer, a speaker, a mentor, and she lives in Tokyo, Japan. She’s had to really look at her short term rental business as a business and focus on the properties that are going to give her the biggest bang for their buck while closing down other listings. So what do you need to keep in mind to do this safely, effectively, and legally?

Regulations

You need to be aware of the regulations in your zone. Regulations may dictate which listings you have to close down, but it can also inform how you have to handle the process. The most important thing is honoring the contract that you have with your guest. 

You’ve decided to close...

Is there something you know now that you wish you had known months or years ago that would have made you much more money?

Well, why not learn from the paths of others who have done this work? We may not be able to turn back time, but we can pass on that knowledge to help others speed up their journey! Enter Ashley Wilson. Ashley’s blog is At Home with Ashley, where she writes about home decor, DIY, and decorating on a budget. She has a short-term rental in Florida called Pink Palm Hideaway, and another coming up this fall in Utah called Fairview Cottage. We’re going to give her some coaching on how she can increase her earnings for her property, which should help all of you figure out what questions you need to ask and where you might need to start tweaking things.

Using your title effectively:

• Playing with your title may help to attract people who are looking for something specific in their stay.
• If you’ve just upgraded your wifi, or you’re...

From planes to trains to automobiles, the Smith family has turned their one-of-a-kind getaway into a family business. A rusted, empty World War 2 train car sitting on the edge of the family’s property sparked the pursuit of a dream to share their creative visions and host unforgettable getaways—which expanded into three truly unique spaces.

Tayler Smith is a creative based between NYC and East Tennessee. She primarily works as a commercial photographer, specializing in content for luxury brands. She also works on interior design projects, takes on various illustration and painting commissions, and manages marketing and press for her family Airbnbs.

One of the truly impressive aspects of the Smith Family B&Bs is the stellar marketing and branding they’ve put together. Though all three of their properties are entirely unique, they can all stand together side-by-side cohesively, and much of that is thanks to Tayler’s expert branding. We talk about very...

Whether you are on the management side of a short term rental or you have your own short term rental and hope to hire a manager someday, understanding rental management agreement contracts is essential.

We’re going to discuss the top 5 things that you may not think about in your contract: 

• Agreement for routine maintenance permission

In the contract, there will be an agreement that maintenance under a certain price point will be under the manager’s discretion to get it done without having to bother the owner. You want to have this fleshed out beforehand so it doesn’t become an issue or point of contention down the line.

• Insurance & COI

In the contract between the manager and the owner, the manager is going to require the owner to carry at all times (and at the owner’s expense) public liability insurance. The owner needs to be covered and the manager or their business also needs to be listed as insured. Any insurance agent will be able to walk you...

We’re going to get down and dirty with cleaning!

Jill Mason is the founder and CEO of VRScheduler.com. She’s been working with property managers and cleaning companies for over four years to make them more efficient and accurate, and she’s recently pivoted into staff training with her new cleaning certification program.

Cleaning is not just about tidiness—it is about keeping your team and your guests safe.

Once COVID-19 arrived, many property managers were trying to figure out how to get their staff back out onto the field safely. Jill’s company, VRScheduler, combed through all of the information coming out of the WHO, the CDC, Department of Labor resources, and more to build out a comprehensive online course that is understandable for anyone. It’s filled with all of the protocols you need to know to keep yourself and others from getting sick.

As an example of what you might find in the course, it outlines very specific guidelines for deciding...

We’re always looking for great ways to elevate our guest experience, and one easy way to do that (and make more money!) is by offering concierge services.

Meghan Alfonso is the CEO and founder of GAT—otherwise known as Girl (or Guy) About Town—which is an Arizona concierge company that mainly focuses on incoming bachelorette parties and large groups. She started her business expecting it to be mainly consulting, but it has since grown tremendously.

We talk about what concierge services you could offer, how to handle setbacks in this line of work, reaching out to local businesses for referrals, and more. Hear who she got started, and how you can incorporate concierge services into your existing short term rental business, or even make it a full-time gig.

Resources:

• Learn more: girlabouttown.org
• Instagram: @_girl_about_town_
• #STRShareSunday: @thetinyshed