Superhost Unveiled

This episode is simply one of our best, Ashley is an amazing woman with a great story.  She does it all, she owns and manages over 25 properties, she is a third-generation general contractor, she slept on an air mattress after moving to Charlotte North Carolina until she house hacked her first property, while she BRRRR it.  She explains how she did it and so much more.

Jesi from Nerdy Retreats

     Chantal from #tinystays in Ontario Canada tells her amazing story coming from losing her leg in a tragic motorcycle accident to becoming a para-Olympian and competing in the Rio Olympic games in volleyball.  Never had played volleyball in her life.  She shows amazing resilience and after retiring from the Olympics, went off to school and after deciding to purchase a home to live in while going to school, she decided to rehab and live in the basement and rent out the main floor.

     A chance meeting with a stranger in Home Depot leads to the idea of starting her Airbnb journey, and the rest is an exciting tale that leads to her now fabulous tiny homestays.  Below is our outline of what we talked about, minus all of our tangents.

• Ashley talks about how it all started for her and Phillip who were dating and in their early twenty's.
• Phillip and Ashley went to a family Christmas party and had his relative who was a real estate agent tell him about his Airbnb and said you should do this too.
• Phillip a true entrepreneur at heart jumped on the idea, not only did he buy one, he left his job which he really wasn't happy with, and started his own construction company.
• Ashley was all things decor and Airbnb, she went to work figuring out how to make this become successful, so successful they are 9X super host.  Her passion for the guest experience which she learned from her job at PF Chang's restaurant carried her through being an amazing host.  
• Learn how she makes her properties unique with a push pin map, beer cap game, and a secret photo booth.
• Learn about how she uses social media, specifically Instagram and Tik Tok to drive business for Phillips remodeling business as well as there Airbnb business.
• We talk briefly about the "FIRE" movement, financial independence retire early, what they are focused on to get there.
• What's next, cabin?  beach house?  The sky is the limit for these young entrepreneurs.
• Her advice to anyone of any age listening, JUST GO FOR IT.
• Here are all the links mentioned in the episode.

In Episode 17: Evolution, we walk you through the evolution of our business from investing in our first property to what changes we will need to in order to grow further.  Our hope is that our story will inspire others to challenge their goals and think bigger.

When we first started we did it all.  We cleaned, communicated, answered calls at 5 AM and everything in between.  Once we started managing other homes and grew quickly to six homes we started hiring a cleaning team.

It was also during this time that we knew that we need to consider software that will grow with us, instead of software that we will outgrow.  This included property management software, pricing software, and turnover management software.  Aside from the pricing software, we've tested and experimented with loads of other software to try to find the best one for us and our business.  Finally, we've found one that works great.  It does the work of a few different software all in one which has allowed us to not spread ourselves too thin.  One thing you don't think about is how stressful it can get once you have 10-20 houses to manage and having to flip between 3-4 different apps or websites to keep up with all the moving parts.

One thing that we implemented that changed the game for our standard of cleaning was a walk-through process.  A walk-through is simply a person (different from the cleaner) who is thoroughly trained to walk through the home, spot any mistakes that the cleaner might have made, and ensure that the home is ready for the guest.  This may seem like extra work and over the top but it has saved us quite a few times.

Recently, we had a guest complain about the cleanliness of one of the homes and actually report us on Airbnb, we assume it was a black-mail type case of someone wanting a discount or refund.  Since we walk-through the homes ourselves before the guests come, we are able to deny any claims by reporting that not only did our cleaner do a 52-point clean but we also had a specialist walk-through to confirm the cleanliness.  It's insurance for us as well as our cleaners.

Another change we've made as we've grown is creating a maintenance program.  We've noticed that something many other property management businesses fall short of is never treating the home as a home.  They clean it after every guest but never put in the time to replace furniture, fix minor problems, and ensure the home is up to date. Now, each month we walk through the home and inspect for any maintenance issues such as a clogged pipe or broken toilet seat.  We also train our cleaners to report any damage so that we can fix it in a timely manner.

As we've grown, our need for cleaners has also grown.  In our first year as a property manager, we had periods of time when we were understaffed and it was rough.  To prevent instances like this, we've stayed on top of hiring new cleaners.  We have a newspaper ad that is continuously running in the local paper and we take in new cleaners as they call in.  This way we are never left training 5 new cleaners at once.

When you manage 20+ houses, you go through a lot of products.  Trips to the local Walmart become more frequent and frankly more annoying.  This leads us to switch to automatic delivery of products from Amazon.  We now have an automatic delivery for toilet paper, paper towels, laundry detergent, dish detergent, hand & dish soap, trash bags, and more.  It has helped us be better prepared, no more last-minute stops to the store, as well as saved us money.

A Virtual Assistant (VA) is any freelancer who can help take tasks off of your to-do list so that you, as the business owner, can focus on the money-generating tasks.  A VA is a 1099 subcontractor position so hiring one can allow you to get the help that you need without having to pay hefty employment taxes or for benefits. VAs can assist in a wide variety of tasks from general admin support to developing your website.  Whatever you need help with, there's a VA who can provide support.

One of the best things about hiring a VA from a financial standpoint is that they are not technically an employee.  As mentioned above, they are a 1099 subcontractor which means they pay self-employment taxes as well as other expenses such as insurance.  This means that even if they have a higher hourly rate, you will still save money in the long-term.

Virtual Assistants are running their own business.  Most VAs will have multiple clients that they work with.  Working with one yourself can look like a few different scenarios:

- Hourly, the VA tracks their hours and each week sends you an invoice

- Package, the VA gives you a few packages of set tasks that you can choose from.  For example, they may cover 100 messages from guests per month.  This is typically charged upfront or with a pay schedule, but expect to make an initial deposit as it protects the VA from scams.

- Retainer, you decide how many hours you need assistance with per month and you pay for those hours upfront.  This can also be done without tracking hours.

However your work relationship will look like, a good Virtual Assistant will have this all prepared for you, all you need to do is choose the option that works best for you.

There is a Virtual Assistant for literally any role.  A good exercise to do before searching for your first VA is something called a time audit.  For a week or two, track everything you do each half-hour, including watching Netflix and family time! At the end of the exercise, categorize every task that you did into family time (or some other value), self-care, tasks that keep the business going, tasks that directly bring in more income.

Take a look at your two business task categories.  Tasks that keep the business going do not necessarily require you, the business owner, to do them while tasks that directly bring in more income likely do.  A task that keeps the business going maybe updating the rental listing or responding to FAQs while a task that brings in more income may be acquiring a new client.

Tasks that keep the business going are vital but anyone can do them, these are perfect tasks to outsource to a Virtual Assistant.  Start going through these tasks and set aside ones that you often skip or have a hard time getting done.  The tasks that you don't like doing are the best to hire someone to do.

Some examples of tasks that a Virtual Assistant can cover are:

- Creating new vacation rental listings following a template

- Marketing (on social media, or paid ads)

- Building a website for direct bookings

- Communicating with guests via messaging

- Managing your emails

- Managing your calendar (cleanings, bookings, required maintenance appointments, etc)

- Editing

- And much more!

If you are new to the vacation rental business you may be wondering do I need a management company or should I manage it myself?  Before growing our business to manage other vacation rentals, we self-hosted our two properties.  There are a lot of decisions that go into this subject.

1. You have total control over your business - Which means you can control all of the messaging, cleaning, overseeing the entire process.  By being more hands-on you can ensure high-quality and make sure the home is taken care of.
   
2. Save money- By managing it by yourself, you may save money but you might also leave money on the table if you do not have an established pricing software.  However, by hiring a property management company you typically pay 10-30% of your revenue plus cleaning fees, maintenance fees, and linen fees.
   
3. Build relationships with your guests - Talking directly with guests allows you to form connections with them.  You control the communication so you can get to know your guests more than a property manager might.
   
4. You have total ownership over your listing -  Some property management companies require your home to be listed under their account.  Many of these companies will charge for access to the listing photos as well.  This means if you ever decide to leave the management company you will lose all of the reviews and will need to start over.

Curious about expanding your short-term vacation rental business?  Becoming a co-host or property manager can help you grow without having to invest in more properties.  We have a Property Management business but we do not manage the property rather manage the vacation rental.  We take care of all of the bookings, conversations, guest issues, turnovers, and some light maintenance.

As a co-host, you can list other properties under your own Airbnb account or you can be added as a co-host through someone else's account.  There are pros and cons to each.  When you list the property under your own account, if the owner of the property chooses to leave then they will need to start the whole process all over again.  Plus, if you list the property under your own account and it performs poorly it will negatively impact your account and other properties.

By setting up accounts for clients, you do not set them up for failure if they choose to leave.  We are so confident in our services that our clients will stick with us for the long-term.

To be honest, when we first started we didn't do much to find clients!  As soon as we knew that we wanted to expand into Vacation Rental Management we reserved a domain, threw together a quick website, and had a low-cost google ad.  In addition, before we reserved the domain we did a quick google search as if we were the client and create a name that the client would search for.  We found that other property management companies didn't even show up in the search for our area which was a key indicator that our name would strategically work for us.

If you are in an area with hundreds of companies that you need to compete against, you'll need to get creative with your marketing.  Get out there.  Network, put up flyers, send out postcards, do whatever you can to get seen.  Start social media accounts, any webpage that you create will help boost you in the search.

That first call can be nerve-wracking!  Especially since you don't have other clients to back up your services.  Find some personal experience that will set you apart from the competition.  For us, the fact that we were local was a huge selling point as well as our prior success with our own properties.

It's okay to be nervous.  If it's okay if your first call doesn't go well.  Take each call as a learning experience and gain confidence with each call.  Clients can smell confidence from a mile away, if you aren't confident they'll know.  That means you need to know what questions to ask and the answers to potential questions that a client may ask.  If you don't have a prior vacation rental, it is essential that you know how you'll manage pricing, communication, and systems.  Do your research before starting.  You cannot go in unprepared because it will show.

One of the key factors for success as a short-term rental is keeping your property occupied at the best rate.  Today, one of the founders of Pricelabs, Anurag Verma, joined the podcast to share how their company is helping thousands of short-term rental owners maximize their revenue with their dynamic pricing software.

The company began when one of the co-founders started an Airbnb but had no idea how to price it.  Verma was working at an airline at the time helping them with their pricing and knew that it's likely that many people are struggling to price their short-term rentals effectively. Knowing the engineering and math to the solution to their problem they set out to create a dynamic pricing software for short-term rentals so that hosts can automate their pricing for their properties confidently,

At first, they were the only people creating dynamic pricing software for short-term rentals. The company started in Chicago and reached out directly to hosts located in Chicago via Facebook groups.  When they launched, they only started with 10-15 properties.  For the first year, the app was completely free to allow for testing and to get feedback.  After a few months, they expanded out of Chicago to the entire world.  Most of their initial customers came from Europe in particular where the short-term rental industry is huge.

Dynamic pricing is all about figuring out trends within the market.  If you have a huge event that causes properties to get booked out at max capacity at high rates, and your property is priced low, then you missed out on a bigger booking.  Hotels have it easier because they have several rooms that allow them to notice trends.  If they notice that 5 of their rooms got booked way in advance, it's a good sign that that time will be really popular for bookings and they can raise their rates. Dynamic pricing software allows hosts with only 1 property to pick up on the trends and don't miss out on a larger booking, just like a hotel would.

As an owner, without dynamic pricing, it's easy to use preconceived highs and lows for your property that can end up costing you money.  As a host at the beginning, Peter left thousands of dollars unclaimed due to missing out on trends and things like orphan days.

Pricelabs allows you to maximize bookings that are far out.  For example, 6 months in the future, the app can restrict bookings to a certain day booking such as 5-day stays versus 2 nights only.  As the date gets closer, the app adapts the length of the booking to capitalize on stays.  Therefore, instead of restricting it to 5 days throughout, the app will allow guests to pick up the leftover days so that you can have a higher occupancy rate.  If there is an orphan day or orphan 2 days, Pricelabs can jack up the price to make it equivalent to 3 or 4 days booking while booking that day so that your calendar is booked solid.

If we had to give one word to describe owning a business in 2020, that word would have to be "pivot".  It was an incredibly difficult year and you either thrived or struggled.  In today's episode, we are looking back at our biggest wins and our biggest mistakes of the most challenging year of our lives.

Biggest Wins of 2020

#1. Growth

At the start of 2020, we owned and self-managed two properties in the White Mountain region of New Hampshire.  In June, we began accepting clients for co-hosting and property management and we blew up FAST.  At the time, so many vacation rental owners were losing their cleaning teams on the fly and were in desperate need of help.  We said 'yes' to virtually anyone who reached out to us which was a huge factor in our growth but also one of our biggest mistakes.

#2. Development of our Team and Process

As we began to grow, we had virtually no plan or team.  The Plourde family was in the trenches cleaning properties and scrambling to keep up.  Through the mistake of not having a team, we now have a stellar team of professional cleaners.  We also developed a walk-through process to ensure a great guest experience and trust with our owners.

#3. Not only Surviving a Pandemic but Somehow Thriving

Oh boy, are we lucky.  We chose to build our business in a driveable outdoor vacation destination. We took advantage of an industry that was hurting due to the pandemic by being the one who answered cries for help.  Many companies began shutting down and abandoning their clients.  Other companies didn't have the bandwidth to answer calls.  Meanwhile, we answered every single phone call and message we received, trying our best to help people on the fly.  We didn't view these calls as potential clients, we just wanted to help them stay afloat, hoping one day down the line they would pay back the favor.  It worked.

Daniella Morganelli got her start in the vacation rental business by traveling worldwide throughout her life with her mom.  By visiting other areas she learned essential tools and tricks to make a memorable guest experience.

Two years ago she purchased a condo in Glen, New Hampshire that she transformed into a vacation rental.  She had the intention to make it an Airbnb at the start and her realtor helped her find some properties that would be ideal for vacation rentals.  D5 Vacavibes is ideal for skiers, hikers, families who want to enjoy Storyland, and all who love the outdoors.  The story of this condo is a warm, cozy, cabin.

When first listing the property, Daniella admits that she hit the publish button prematurely.  She got her first 3 bookings within 2 hours.  They were working up to the last minute when her first guest came.  Ended up not having the property ready which lead to a 4-star review for her first review.  It took some time to bounce back from that.  Anything less than 5-stars is a bad review in the eyes of Airbnb.

Today, Vacavibes has super host status.  Daniella had her heart set on getting the status when she first published her listing.  Despite the 4-star review, she was still able to claim the Superhost status.

Instagram plays a huge part in the story of this vacation rental.  With other 5,000 followers, Daniella uses the platform to share her family's adventures in the White Mountains.  Since starting it, she's used Instagram to host giveaways and contests which has helped her bring back reoccurring guests.

Using Influencer Marketing helped Danielle get some exposure for her property and Instagram as well.  Influencers on Instagram get paid to promote businesses.  She paid and offered a free stay to the Influencer she worked with and in exchange, the Influencer promoted her property and gave her the rights to all of the photos.

Daniella joined the White Mountain Attraction Association and her property is listed as a suggested place to stay.  She uses her Instagram to encourage her followers to get out, travel, and explore new places.  Whether they stay with her or somewhere else, if they were inspired by her Instagram it was a success.

Living about 3-hours away from her vacation rental, Daniella has thought of everything to self-host from smart thermostats to smart smoke detectors. Before starting, she did reach out to a property management company who told her that she could not run a social media account for the property which made her stay clear of property managers.

Not everyone is cut out to be hospitable.  Many people who list their homes on Airbnb have a sense of "this is my house and my rules."  Daniella believes that people are paying you to stay at the property and therefore you should do as much as you can to make them feel at home.  For this reason, she has little to no house rules. To this day, she hasn't had any issues with the lack of rules.  Each guest deserves to feel special and at home.

Running a short-term rental business can kind of feel like "flying in an airplane that isn't finished yet" according to our guest Amy Corbett from All Belong Collective and we couldn't agree more.  As an entrepreneur, it is imperative that you are flexible and able to handle new problems with ease. In today's episode, we dive in and take a closer look at All Belong Collective and how Amy embraces her family's differences and diversity each and every moment.

Amy Corbett started All Belong Collective with no prior business experience.  All Belong Collective started with a river apartment at the end of 2017 and grew to a small business that offers homeowners different Airbnb services from consultations, design & setup, and full co-hosting support.  Amy is a musician and before co-hosting, her husband Mark was in campus ministry.  Together, their side hobby was remodeling homes.  Amy calls herself an "accidental entrepreneur".  The Corbett family was put in a situation where they needed to adapt and pivot fast.  At the time, Amy was helping 3-4 short-term rental hosts get their Airbnb set up and decided to take it full-time, diving deep into the crazy world of entrepreneurship.

Learning about Airbnb from a friend, Amy transformed their river apartment into a stunning Airbnb experience.  They got their first guest on the day they published, a pilot, who intended to come that day.  His only request?  An ironing board and iron, which they didn't have.  It was a stressful few hours trying to get one for the home, something the Corbetts laugh about now.

About five months later, they decided to set up their second property which was a client's home, the Farmhouse.  "Airbnb never stops.  It's 24/7" Amy says, "so it can interrupt your family life."  Juggling family and their business was a major challenge for them, especially with guest communication. Luckily, someone reached out to Amy on Instagram asking if she could help.  She offered her services for free, but Amy quickly insisted to pay her.  Now she is one of the co-hosts in the All Belong Collective team, allowing them to make shifts where members can have time off from communicating with guests.

The Corbett family has felt like they didn't belong in their community for a while.  All Belong Collective helped them feel confident in their differences.  Amy loves highlighting perceived flaws in houses and making them the focal point of the design.  They soon listed another home which the Corbett's own, a historic house that they were long-term renting.  They decided to break into two separate Airbnbs.

Breaking it into two vacation rentals was a no-brainer for them.  The basement apartment or "the Cocoon" had its own separate entrance on a different side of the house and they installed noise canceling insulation so that the guests in  "the Nest" would not be disturbed. So far they have not had any complications.

Amy is extremely hands-on with her business.  She does all of the cleanings for her own personal properties.  Their business model includes hiring a team of cleaners for their client's properties.  The cleaners are one of the greatest assets of the company.  They also manage 100% of the laundry using whatever method works for that specific cleaner.

I've got a question for you, what story does your home tell your guests?  Like all businesses your brand is essential for creating unforgettable customer experiences.  Each of our homes has been designed to create a long-lasting impression on our guests so that they are itching to get back.

In Peter and Julia's second vacation rental that they personally own, they started with a blank slate.  Julia took to the task to create a nordic style chalet for their mountain getaway.  She wanted to embrace the mountain theme without being too predictable. This includes very muted grey and navy blue tones throughout the house.  From the mattresses to the artwork on the wall every item in the home was chosen purposely.

If you are transforming a family home or a fully-furnished home into a vacation rental, here's what you should do.  First, it is important to edit the home.  You need to get rid of any clutter, family photos, old furniture, and linens. There is no need to completely remodel the house a simple fresh coat of paint can really transform the space.  Make sure the existing furniture is clean and in good shape.

Purchasing cohesive artwork, linens, and decor will help create a story throughout the home.  In order to make the home feel homey, you need to have artwork and decor on the walls.  Allow your guests to dream a bit about owning your home.  Make it feel like their home away from home.

Using your home's story will help you stand apart from the other homes listed in your area.  Every location has a "theme".  Lake homes are all beechy and have lake decor.  Mountain homes have skies and lots of moose figurines.  Decorating to the theme of the area is fine and your guests will likely never notice but decorating on-theme but in a different way is an easy way to make your home look different from the competition.  It's important to stay within the theme of the area but being unique and simplistic.

What Should Each Room Include?

Bedroom

The bedroom obviously needs a nice bed.  It is so important that the mattress is comfortable and up to date.  You want the guests to feel comfortable, clean, and safe while sleeping.  Do not use old linens from your home, purchase a new, stylish, clean comforter and sheet set.  The bed is crucial for setting yourself up for being a professional host.  We'd argue that a headboard for each bed is not important.  If you are deciding between buying a new mattress or a headboard, always go with the mattress.

It's important to have something that the guests can put their clothes in.  It can be a closet or a dresser, but you need to have something for the guests to unpack if they wish to.  We also recommend including a luggage stand for each bedroom.

Each bedroom also needs night-stands with lamps.  It may not seem important but many people enjoy reading before going to bed so they need a source of light that will not disturb the other people in the room.  In addition, everyone has a cell-phone and everyone needs to charge them, so having somewhere they can place their phone to charge at night is important.

Are you confident that your house is cleaned for perfection and that it'll bring in a 5-star review for cleanliness?  Cleaning is one of the most difficult aspects of running a successful vacation rental business.  While it does need to be perfect for your guests, especially during a pandemic, cleaning isn't something that you should stress about.  We talked to the head of our Turnover Team, Julia Plourde, to get her insight on cleaning for 5-star reviews.  She's done it all from driving 5 hours to clean a property to managing a team of turnover specialists.

Tips for Cleaning Efficiently & Effectively

Back when Julia was running a one-woman show, she learned some tricks to cleaning efficiently and effectively.  Her number one tip is to form a check-list so that you can stay on track, ensure that you don't miss any key areas where you need to clean, and so that you can create a routine that you can master with each clean so that the entire process gets more efficient. North Conway Property Management uses a 54-point check-list for all of our homes.  Not only does the check-list help you stay efficient and consistent, but it will also help you train cleaners when you start hiring a team for your business.  This will ensure that each cleaner on your team is cleaning the home exactly the same.  Consistency is key.

Next tip for efficient cleaning?  Use a cleaning caddy.  Julia's caddy has gone through many upgrades starting from a simple show cady to her current 5-gallon bucket with side pockets.  In her caddy, she has an all-purpose cleaner, window cleaner, scrub-daddy, toilet bowl cleaner, reusable cleaning rags, trash bags, duster, hand-vacuum for picking up hair in bathrooms.  The pandemic created a huge lack of cleaning supplies so Julia needed to get creative with her cleaning strategy while still ensuring a disinfected, safe, clean home.  She ended up using an all-purpose cleaner with bleach to clean the toilets instead of toilet bowl gel. She also had to stop purchasing antibacterial wet-wipes for the guests because they simply vanished off the shelves.

There are a few areas that are often overlooked by even the most experienced professional cleaners.  Julia's most important overlooked area...the inside of the kitchen cabinets.  You would never know how guests leave cabinets.  Some shove pots and pans precariously in cabinets others have put back dirty dishes.  You want to make sure that the kitchen cabinets are always orderly and clean for the next guests.  Kitchens and bathrooms are the most important.

Acquiring your cleaning team

The first step to finding our cleaning team was trying to find people looking for extra cash through word of mouth.  We found our first cleaners through a friend and they actually worked in the huts in the mountains.  They are a week on and a week off so we thought picking up some cleanings would be great supplemental income for them. The problem with this was that they wanted to hike more than clean, who wouldn't, and their friends were all the same.  If you are looking for professional cleaners, you need to actually look for professional cleaners, not people looking for some extra cash.

Are your messages helping you get amazing reviews? Are you getting reviews at all?  If you answered "no" to either of these questions, this is for you.

From day one we invested in automatic messaging.  It was an important investment that not only saved us time and energy but also ensured consistent messaging across all guests.  In total, we have five automatically scheduled messages.  We also have three manual messages that we think is a secret weapon when getting more 5-star reviews.

Booking Confirmation

Immediately after booking, guests receive a welcoming message from the hosts.  This prevents any question about if payment went through and instantly sets a standard for the hospitality they can expect during their stay.

10 day's out

Ten days before the guest is scheduled to arrive, our next message is sent.  This message includes our digital guidebook as well as check-in instructions.  You'll notice that we include check-in instructions consistently in our pre-visit messaging to help ensure a smooth check-in experience (one of the parameters for a review).

7 day's out

Similar to the last message, this message reminds the guests of the check-in instructions as well as includes the guidebook again.  Our goal is to alleviate any anxiety that a guest may feel leading up to their trip.

Secret Message #1: Early Check-In

This is our first secret messaging tip.  When our cleaners finish turning a house early, we make an effort to message the upcoming guest and let them know that they can check in early if they wish to.  We do this regardless of if the guests previously asked about early check-in.  Many guests ask to check in early.  There are cases when guests miscalculate their travel time and have to occupy their time until the official check-in.  Whether the guests can check in early or not, there is no harm in notifying them that they can check in an hour or two early. In fact, your guests will likely thank you.

Secret Message #2: 24 Hour Check How Things Are Going

In our experiences as guests ourselves, neither of us can recall a time when a host has messaged us after the check-in without being prompted with a question.  Why is this?  Just because the guest has settled into the home, does not mean your job as the host is finished.  We automatically send a simple message 24 hours after they have checked in to ensure that everything is going as planned.  This allows the guests to ask questions and report any issues.  This is your opportunity as a host to re-direct the course of the stay if a guest is not satisfied.

Check-out Instructions - 24 hours prior to check-out

A check-out reminder message may seem a bit condescending but never assume the guests know everything.  Just because you write check-out instructions in your guestbook, your house rules, and on your listing does not mean the guest will read them.  This is another automated message that has helped our guests feel confident that they checked-out properly and has streamlined the check-out process.  We tell the guest exactly what they need to do before departure.

Secret Message #3: A compliment to the guest after departure

If you are just starting your journey into the vacation rental industry you've probably heard the importance of getting the Superhost accreditation on Airbnb. It's a term dropped by many leaders but how can you, as a newbie, reach that coveted status?

First off, let's go over why being a Superhost is important.  If you do a random search for Airbnbs for your area you'll likely get tons of results, we get over 300 listings in our small town in New Hampshire.  On Airbnb, you can filter the search to reduce the listings.  Many people who search will often automatically refine the search by Superhost status because it provides a sense of comfort to people knowing that you've been on Airbnb for a while and that the platform recommends you.

There are 4 criteria that you need to meet to get a Superhost Status and your status is evaluated quarterly which means once you get the status it isn't guaranteed for life.  The 4 criteria are a response rate of 90% or higher, 4.8-star reviews or higher, at least 10 visits, and a cancellation rate of less than 1%.

So let's break those down.

Response Rate

The response rate refers to responding to an inquiry within 24 hours.  This does not apply to the response time you have for all of your messages, although it is still important that you respond in a timely manner for hospitality reasons.  It should be super simple to achieve a response rate of 90%.  Automatic messaging programs can help you achieve a rate of 100% with ease.  Opting in to instant booking is also a great way to increase your response rate.

Reviews

We all strive for 5-star reviews but what are your guests really rating?  Airbnb breaks down the review into 6 parts: Overall Quality, Accuracy, Checkin, Cleanliness, Location, and Value.  It is important to keep these 6 points in mind when setting up your listing for success.  Be sure to take accurate, good quality photos.  Disclose the amenities in your listing, and don't just add amenities that you don't have to make your listing stand out.  Ensure that check-in is as easy and smooth as possible.  Guests can feel a lot of anxiety when first checking into a home so it is important to alleviate this.  You should be communicating with your guests throughout their experience to help them settle in.

Visits

In order to achieve Superhost status, you need to have 10 completed stays or 100 nights booked over 3+ stays.  You cannot control this one as much but what you can do is strive for an eye-catching listing.  Having factors that set your listing apart from the competition will increase your booking rate and help you check this one off your list quickly.  Pro-tip, opt-in for any Airbnb promotional deals because they promote listings who opt-in for their sitewide discounts.

Cancellation

This point for the Superhost status only applies to when you, the host, cancel a guest stay not if the guest cancels.  So why would you cancel?  If the guest is clearly going to break a rule this is a reason for canceling.  For example, if they ask about their pup coming to stay but you don't allow pets you might suspect that they'll bring the dog anyway.  Your goal is to always get the guest to cancel first.  Be transparent about your house rules and regulations.  Be forthcoming about any complications that might arise if they were to stay.  Nine out of ten times the guest will have no issue canceling.  This will help you stay under that 1% requirement with ease.

Have you been thinking of a new project to invest in?  Are you looking to diversify your income by adding a second stream of income?  Are you looking for something you can have more control over?  With the current state of the world, many people are searching for additional forms of income.

Husband and wife duo Peter and Julia Plourde had these same questions.  Over the course of one year, they went from investing in one vacation rental property to managing over 20.  Their quick success gave Peter the confidence to retire early from his secure restaurant management job and move to North Conway so that he and his wife could enjoy their passions of hiking, running, and skiing every day instead of just on rare vacations.

Despite their quick success, the idea to invest in a vacation rental had floated around for years. They had some extra money laying around and was looking for something that they could invest in aside from the volatile stock market.  It was Julia who suggested investing in a vacation rental.  Peter, did his research and dived into any free content he could find from Youtube videos to Podcasts.  In his research, he discovered that many of the experts suggested investing far from your primary residence.  They pondered Colorado, but in the end, Julia suggested finding a property in their favorite vacation destination North Conway, NH which was only 2 hours away.

In the past, they had invested in real estate for long-term rentals and while it was successful, Peter found that he HATED it.  He didn't like being a landlord, where his tenants didn't care for the property and he had to evict people.  This made the Plourdes wary of investing in real estate again, but with their combined 25 years of hospitality experience, they felt confident that a vacation rental would be the right decision for them.