Delia:

So can you tell me how did you get started on Airbnb?

Ryan Stephens:

In 2015, my wife and I had bought a family farm from her aunt and uncle and we were in the process of remodelling the old farmhouse, which was built in 1905. When we finished it up, at the end of 2018, we just were looking for a way to help kind of recoup some of the money that we put into the remodel and the restoration of that old farmhouse. We weren’t using the property a lot at the time and so I decided to put it on two platforms, VRBO and Airbnb, and that was at the very end of actually 2000, that was in the fall 2019.

Delia:

Before putting it online, like on Airbnb or VRBO, where you like analysing what kind of revenue the property was going to get you? Why didn’t you do it like before?

Ryan Stephens:

Well, we never really restored the property with goal of putting it up as a short-term rental. That was just kind of a last minute thought idea popular in the interest and folks coming in to the Waco area to see the Chip and Joanna Gaines, Magnolia, things of that nature. There was a lot of people talking about Airbnb and short term rentals and just the tourism coming into the area. So we thought it would be something to see how it worked out and within putting the listing online, we had probably, I don’t know, maybe 10 to 15 bookings within the first week. So it really took off quickly, which was surprising to both of us because the home is in a very rural area. But it took off and it’s been busy for the last three years.

Delia:

Oh, that’s great. You told me there was a show around there like filming?

Ryan Stephens:

Yes, so in the Waco area, there was a popular show on TV called Fixer Upper and it was hosted by Chip and Joanna Gaines and since then they’ve kind of turned that into a pretty large tourism draw for the city of Waco. So they have like shops, bakery, things of that nature where people travel in from all over the US, some instances the world. I know for our short-term rental, we get people I would say 70% of the people we get are from out of state, now only maybe 25% 30% are actually from from Texas. So the tourism draw for that show, which like I said was a Fixer Upper was the initial show they had on TV accounts for I would say 80% 90% of our guest.

Delia:

Oh, so you would say that show attracted more people to the area? That’s why the area was getting more bookings than usual, more tourists than usual?

Ryan Stephens:

For sure. Yeah.

Delia:

Oh, that’s great. In the area you’re hosting right there in Wako, how is the seasonality like?

Ryan Stephens:

Our busy season is in the fall, I would say from September through November is pretty busy for us. December trails off because people are obviously travelling for holidays and things like that, Christmas, etc. In the spring it picks up, I would say end of February through May is really, really busy for us. And there’s been a lot of that kind of hinges on different events in the Waco area. There’s a celebration which is part of the Magnolia folks business, which they do a big festival type thing in the fall in Waco and that brings a lot of people. There’s some spring events there at Magnolia as well that bring in a lot of people in the spring and then we have Baylor graduation in May, which Baylor University brings in quite a bit of people. So that’s always booked up for us. In the summer, it’s kind of slow and it’s only because we don’t allow children and the farmhouse is just steep stairs, it’s on a farm, there’s animals there. It’s just too much for people to have to manage from us being owners to, you know, parents looking after their kids. It’s just too dangerous of an environment for kids. We restrict it to 21 and up and as a result, you know, most people are travelling with their family and children in the summer. Now, obviously, they don’t look our place because we don’t allow children. So that’s our slowest time of the year, I would say from June, July, August.

Delia:

I see. So you’re offering your farm house as a full experience with animals included and everything?

Ryan Stephens:

Yes, we have Texas Longhorns, you know, you can see off the back of the property, the farm lies between a river and a creek, so there’s lots of water in the area. So it’s a place for people to escape, I would say majority of the individuals that rent the property are from urban areas. So they come out to Texas from out of state, you know, the first thing they want to see is things that remind them of Texas, right? So farms, mills, Texas Longhorn cattle, things like that. So we try to bring that experience to guests when they come through our property.

Delia:

And how has been your experience restricting children because they know maybe our farm house sounds like a good family friendly place, but now that you told me that you don’t allow children, how has been your experience with that? What kind of guests do you usually get?

Ryan Stephens:

So I would say our typical demographic is, I’ll say age 25 to 60 female individuals who really kind of like the arts and craft type environment that the Magnolia show kind of attracted those types of individuals, right. So crafty people, those who like shopping, antique shopping, things of that nature. So I would say the majority of the rentals that we do have are like girl weekends, right? So family and friends get together and maybe they meet up from different parts of the US to go to the Magnolia silos, shop, etc, and then come and actually experienced the farm environment. So I would say that’s the typical guests that we have is 25 to 60 year old female. Then as far as the children go, I mean, we’ve had some people, you know, ask about why we don’t allow children etc. And it’s just, there’s way too much education that we require from us as host and parents to actually adhere to make it safe for kids, for example, in the spring, there’s rattlesnakes, you know, not necessarily around the house, obviously. But we do our best to keep that kind of taken care of. But you know, you don’t want children wandering around in the pasture with flip flops on or shorts or things of that nature. You know, kids who aren’t raised on a farm or ranch, don’t understand the dangers of rattlesnakes or getting too close to a horse or cows etc. There’s too much education that makes it not worth the risk for us as owners to bring that experience. Now, if we were there on site, it would be a different story, right? Where we can do tours and things of that nature. But we do live off the property set about an 1hr. and 45 min away. So it’s just not feasible to do that kind of a farm experience. I mean, at some point, if we’ve moved out there closer to the property, yes, but for now, it’s just a risk in management type work we just don’t want to mess with, it’s just not worth it.

Delia:

I see. But if you don’t mind sharing about this, are there any people taking care, like of the animals there in the farmhouse while you’re not there snd there are guests in the house?

Ryan Stephens:

Well, there is family in the area, but they can manage the animals from a different part of the property. So there’s no real interaction between those individuals and the guest.

Delia:

So I was just asking myself, because usually when people like here in my country, when people offer like a farm house experience, there are people taking care of the animals, so the guests and the animals can have a proper interaction and nothing bad happens, right? I was just wondering,

Ryan Stephens:

I completely understand.

Delia:

So you told me your high season was around September and November. So in those months, how is your average occupancy rate like?

Ryan Stephens:

I would say we’re probably at 75% occupancy for the month, from September through November and the same goes for March, April, May.

Delia:

And what about the low seasons? How is your occupancy rate like in those months?

Ryan Stephens:

I would say it’s low because our restrictions that we put on the property, I would say 20% to 30% occupancy in the slow seasons.

Delia:

That’s even a good number for slow seasons.

Ryan Stephens:

Yeah, it’s as busy as we want it to be. Thankfully, you know, we can open up dates and things that we want to, but we have it restricted out to keep it manageable.

Delia:

I see! And would you say, average occupancy rate and seasonality also applies for the other rentals in the area? Or is it just for yours?

Ryan Stephens:

I would say is probably unique to ours just because, you know, we’re a bit more restrictive than others in the area, the home that we restored, it looks immaculate restored farmhouse from the early 20th century, so 1905. So there’s lots of antiques, lots of things that are breakable, it’s not the environment for children, right? So we restrict children from the property, whereas other properties in the area, do not. So you know, I would say that everyone around us is probably steady and busy, as much as they want to be right. I mean, the influx of tourism from the Magnolia silos, the Chip and Joanna, you know, type draw those individuals around us and other properties probably are booked up 80% of the time, year round.

Delia:

So can you tell me how did you get started on Airbnb?

Breanne Saucier:

Yeah, I actually started the end of last summer, around August 2021. Kind of a weird story, I was going through a breakup and I bought this house with my partner and so of course, when he moved out, my first question was, “how will I pay for this?”. I live in Austin, Texas and it’s not the most affordable as it used to be, so when he moved out, I immediately looked at Airbnb, it’s something that I wanted to turn in this house at some point, but that just expedited the process. So I started looking into some options, did some comps around my area and got started that way.

Delia:

Great! And how has been your Airbnb experience so far?

Breanne Saucier:

Yeah, so far, it’s been really good. I work really well with the Airbnb team. They’re super responsive and help solve problems quickly. Overall, I would say I’ve got great guests. I did make one rule that you can’t book if you’re under 30 years old without reaching out to me first. I have a larger home and sleeps 10 and so I had an instance where it became a party and had to quickly shut it down just out of respect for my neighbours and being in a quieter part of town. So that was probably my one situation or challenge, obviously made peace with my neighbours and tried to make it right by buying coffee and flowers because I think that’s your, if you can’t win your neighbours over, you’re just setting yourself up for a lot of headache. So yeah, other than that, it’s been a really, really great experience.

Delia:

That’s great. And what about your experience when you were starting with Airbnb? How was it?

Breanne Saucier:

Like setting up the listing?

Delia:

Yes, that’s right.

Breanne Saucier:

Yeah, it was pretty simple walkthrough. I downloaded a couple tools from Etsy like, the booklet that I leave downstairs, the Wi-Fi, just general things like that, just to quickly create and spin it up without any problems. So other than that, I mean, the actual platform walks you through step by step. I have several friends that also have Airbnb, so any questions, I just ping them. There’s a tonne of great resources on Facebook groups or different communities to ask questions and so definitely have been leveraging those as well.

Delia:

That’s great! And what about the area you’re hosting? You told me you were in Austin, right?

Breanne Saucier:

Yes. I’m on the east side, which is more of an artsy area. A lot of bars that are in old homes, a lot more culture probably than the rest of the city as far as minority businesses, things like that. So it’s a really fun, eclectic part of town.

Delia:

That’s great. And in that particular area, what demographic of guests would you say you get the most?

Breanne Saucier:

In my area, because my home is maybe one of the larger ones in this area, sleeping 10, a lot of my guests are I mean, like I have a guest this weekend, he’s coming from medical school and they’re having like just a quick reunion with all of their guy friends. Last weekend was a bachelorette party. The weekend before that was just a family who was going to a wedding, but they all flew in from different parts of the country, so they wanted to maximise the amount of time they spent together. So having an Airbnb with a living room and a kitchen to make their favourite meals together made the most sense for them.

Delia:

That’s great. And you allow small parties in your listing?

Breanne Saucier:

No, I don’t allow any parties. Yeah, none at all.

Delia:

Oh, since you told me about the bachelorette party before.

Breanne Saucier:

So the groups are allowed, but no like loud music, no inviting guests that aren’t currently on the listing, nothing like that. But like if there are a group celebrating, you know, the bride to be, then sure. But if they’re under 30, they actually have to reach out to me first and confirm that they understand there won’t be any parties, there won’t be loud music, the quiet hours or after 10pm. So I’ve definitely gotten a lot stricter, which maybe I’m not getting as many bookings as I would. But like I mentioned earlier, protecting my neighbours and really having them as allies make a break when you’re starting out on Airbnb.

Delia:

Yeah, I understand completely. And in your area, how is the seasonality like?

Breanne Saucier:

Yeah, thankfully, I’m in Austin and so it is year round between festivals and conferences, different communities meeting up. I feel like people are having weddings year round, so I’m grateful. I feel like there hasn’t been a tonne of seasonality. Obviously, it’s summertime, so things are picking back up and I’m pretty much booked out through the end of the summer. So we’re seeing just a lot of consistency there. But gratefully in Austin, there’s not a lot of dip.

Delia:

That’s great. I saw your calendar actually and it’s all booked, that’s really great! What about your average occupancy rate?

Breanne Saucier:

So I’m in a unique position, I actually live and work out of my home during the weekdays. So I only rented out on the weekend. So it requires different type of licence for the city. So with my occupancy only booking out on the weekends, I’m pretty booked, I would say, I don’t know the exact number, but like within what is it, end of April, I think I’ve had like two or three weekends where I haven’t had bookings and some of those were because I didn’t book it. Like I just wanted to be at home for the Easter weekend or I had my personal family. So overall, I would say my bookings are consistent.

Delia:

And how’s the experience of renting out your own particular house?

Breanne Saucier:

Yeah, I have become a minimalist, so I have to live with a lot less stuff. I have two closets that I lock up, my master closet and then there’s a closet underneath my staircase with all my personal belongings. Then of course, I don’t use any of the linens that the guests use or towels, anything like that. My cleaning crew was really good at separating my specific items versus the items guests use. So it’s a little bit of logistics work, just to making sure because I’m a clean freak at the end of the day, but yeah, it’s just a little bit more work. But overall, it’s pretty seamless and I get to be in my own home and in my own space. You know, Monday through Friday.

Delia:

That’s great! And when you’re renting out during the weekends, do you usually just ask friends and family to host you or do you stay another Airbnb for example?

Breanne Saucier:

Yeah, I travel a tonne for work and so it’s worked out where I’ve already gone anyway. When I am in town, I do stay with friends or family. Being just me, it’s often one of my close girlfriends who lives just a couple doors down, so I can also be here at the Airbnb if I’m needed. So having a consistent schedule and making sure that, you know, I’m in my routine helps me stay organised.}

Delia:

That’s great. And since you told me you’re out of town sometimes during the booking of your listing, how do you manage if there’s some problem and someone needs you there?

Breanne Saucier:

Yeah, that’s a great question. I do have a backup. So should I be out of town and not available, I’ve got a couple people, one of which is my cleaning person, one is my handyman. I also have a project manager that’s just a one off, so when I’m not in town. Because this is my only Airbnb, I’m managing it myself. I think once I get a few more, that would definitely open up the potential to hire a full time project or a property manager. But for now, it’s too simple to manage myself and I profit more.

Delia:

Yeah, that’s great. You told me you have a really good cleaning crew or clean person, right?

Breanne Saucier:

Yeah.

Delia:

Some Airbnb hosts really struggle when it comes to get that person they trust for their property. How was your process to get that one person you really trust with your own particular home and listing as well?

Breanne Saucier:

Yeah, so her name is Jasmine and her company is called You Shine in Austin. I found her because I have an Instagram for my Airbnb and she actually reached out and it just became just too much to handle trying to manage multiple different cleaning crews and so decided she was the best fit as far as scheduling goes her crew. So she comes pretty much when when guests check out on Sunday, mid morning. So by the time I get home from church, my house is perfectly clean. One new service I just started implementing is called EcoClean in the Austin area and it’s a laundry service. So Jasmine at the You Shine will put all of the dirty linens and towels in a bag, EcoClean will pick up that dirty bag and then drop off the clean bag. She’ll put on all the sheets that have been freshly pressed and washed, dried, folded. So it’s the way that we’ve worked it out, it’s definitely the art and the science of it’s a complicated dance when it comes to cleaning, but I think we’ve got it figured it out.

Delia:

So can you tell us how did you get started on Airbnb?

Blake Carter:

Yeah, funny story, actually. So my background is in property management, single Family and multifamily property management. I did that for several years and I was working for a small local property management company and I was handling all their new business and business development, so like when people would call and wanted us to manage for them or anything like that, I would be the one that would kind of handle them and do any onboarding stuff. Anyways, we got a call from a guy who said, “hey, I have these houses that I’m renting out by the room” and basically, I said, that’s awesome, we’d be happy to help you, whatever. I went back to the owner and told her about it and she said, “absolutely not, we will not be doing that. That sounds like a giant mess that I don’t want to deal with”. So I had to go back to that guy and tell him that unfortunately, we won’t be able to do that. So long story short, about six weeks later, he calls me directly and he’s like, “hey, man, will you please help me with these houses? I don’t know how I’m doing”. You know, he knew I had experience and basically, he was just like, “will you do this on the side for me?, like away from your company, just kind of like help me out, manage it for me” and I did. I charged him way lower than I should have, but was basically just kind of to get my feet wet. Anyways, he ended up referring me to someone else who was doing room by room as well. That person was purchasing a short-term rental, Airbnb and he had asked me if we did a short-term rental management as well and I just said yes, even though he had never done that. I was like, “sure, yeah, I’ll do that” and I literally have him on speaker and I’m googling how much short-term rental management companies charged. I think I told him like 10% or 12%. Anyways, that’s how I got my first client, I was just saying yes to an opportunity, and it’s grown from there. We now have several properties under management. We’re currently building a short-term rental on the coast and Rockport and I’m purchasing another short-term rental as well, but our primary business is helping clients purchase and manage short-term rentals.

Delia:

That’s great. And do you currently own any of the listings you manage?

Blake Carter:

I currently don’t own any of the listings that I manage right now. But like I said, I’m purchasing one about an hour away from where I live and I also am building one in the coast in Texas.

Delia:

How do you find the short-term rental management business?

Blake Carter:

It’s all been word of mouth. I mean, honestly, we maybe do some social media stuff like people, I make sure that the people that are in my sphere know what I do. I also run a short-term rental meetup in Austin. But primarily, it’s just people referring us business.

Delia:

And is there much competition there in Texas?
Blake Carter:

I would say there’s definitely a good bit of competition. A lot of people especially now are starting to get into short-term rentals management arbitrage. Purchasing short-term rentals is becoming more and more saturated here in Austin. It’s a massively growing city and so people are wanting to invest here. One of the only ways that you can cashflow now at this point, though, in Austin is to do short-term rentals. So yeah, it’s getting more and more competitive.

Delia:

I would like to ask you, what aspects of the listings do you manage in your company?

Blake Carter:

We’re full service. So not only are we full service on the management, but my company, our company’s name is CRIBS, I run it with my partner and we’re actually a full service turnkey solution for people who want to invest in short-term rentals around Austin. So we help people buy properties, I’m an agent, my partner’s an agent as well. We help people analyse deals, we help them do all the remodelling and construction. Then we do all the furnishings in the house and then we do management. So it’s kind of like a one stop shop full solution for investors that want to invest in short-term rentals in around Austin.

Delia:

What kind of clients do you usually receive? People who already, for example, run Airbnb and will like a management company or people who are getting started with short-term rentals?

Blake Carter:

I would say it’s a mix. So we have plenty of people who are very experienced investors that we work with. But with the experience that my company has in short term-rentals, we also help out a lot of people that maybe it’s their first time doing a short-term rental or it’s their first time purchasing property at all. We can kind of help anyone, in any instance, I would say most of our clients are people who are newer to the short-term rental industry.

Delia:

And does your company works only on Texas right now? Or do you also get clients from other states?

Blake Carter:

Yeah, we do actually work with other clients and other states. We’re pretty open to where we’ll be able to work. For the management at least, we can do remote management and we do remote management, we have a couple of properties coming up in Florida as well, as well as one in Tennessee.

Delia:

So can you tell me how did you get started on Airbnb?

Daniel Bordeau:

Sure. So it all started with me getting a job at Google and in the Boulder office in Colorado. I was renting in Boulder and then the pandemic started and decided I was sick of renting and ended wanted to buy. So I bought a house out in the foothills near the office about 30 minutes, in a pretty wild place and unincorporated area, about 1000 feet. It ended up being a little too wild for my wife, given that there was mountain lion tracks and moose walking up to our house and bears and all that stuff. So I decided that why not realize my dream of launching as an Airbnb. So I spent about a year renovating the Mountain House and finally launched it before I even had another house. I just moved in, live with a family for a few months and then came back and bought a real place to move back into while it was a full time rental.

Delia:

Can you repeat again what was the area a bit?

Daniel Bordeau:

So it’s in Golden Colorado. It’s about 30 minutes to both Boulder and Golden and about 45 minutes to Denver, in the Front Range in Colorado.

Delia:

Oh, so how is the seasonality like in there?

Daniel Bordeau:

So it definitely has a summer seasonality although the winter months are not nearly as bad as a lot of places like lakes in upstate New York or places with really extreme seasonality. So it definitely has a pretty normal bell curve around June and July and August. But it has a really healthy slow season as well.

Delia:

What’s your average occupancy rate in the high seasons versus the low seasons?

Daniel Bordeau:

I think I’m 90% to 100% in the high season depending on if I want to book small today windows that occur between longer reservations. In the slow season, I’ve been at about a 50% to 75%, depending on the month and the slow season typically runs from like November through April and the high season is May through October.

Delia:

I see! And how many minimum days you got in the high season and in the low season?

Daniel Bordeau:

Like minimal days that I rent out?

Delia:

Yes, that’s right.

Daniel Bordeau:

That’s a good question. I don’t think I have it offhand. I started hosting last July, I hosted for last summer and then I launched it full time again in December. So I’ve only been hosting for about six months total. I sold out the summer that I booked ad then I’ve been at, like I mentioned, like 60% to 75% somewhere around there in the slow season. But I don’t really have the number of days that I’ve booked you. Oh! What’s our minimum stay requirements? Sorry.

Delia:

Yes! That’s right.

Daniel Bordeau:

So I do my minimum stay by days out. So outside of 60 days, I do a three day minimum and within 60 days, I do a two day minimum, but I don’t do it by season. I don’t do like the summer is seven day only and like you can do lower in the winter. I just do if you’re booking outside of 60 days, I want it to be the ideal kind of reservations, which are minimum three days, but if I’m trying to fill in the next two months, I’m willing to take smaller reservations.

Delia:

I see, great! And what is your pricing strategy throughout the year?

Daniel Bordeau:

My house is about at the 50th percentile of quality from analyzing all my competitors. So I use PriceLabs as a software subscription pricing tool. I try to set at about the 50th percentile of base price and then my max I set at about two three times that, maybe up to four times if I’m trying to really sell out the week of Christmas and for a minimun pricing I do about $200. So it’s average like 325 min to 200, max like 750. I’m just trying to optimize by hitting roughly 80% occupancy and if I’m selling more than that or booking out too far in advance, my prices are probably too low.

Delia:

Have you found that you have a certain niche of demographic guests?

Daniel Bordeau:

I think as a host, you should identify your niche and set up your property for them. So when I wrote my initial business plan for my property, I was trying to attract families vacationing in Colorado, you know, with kids ranging from early, like 2, 3, 4, all the way up to 18 and that’s kind of what I am getting. There are some groups of adults that are doing bachelorette party stuff and other types of vacations. But I’m mainly just getting families and I set up the idea that house to try to get them such as building a large game room with arcade machines and shuffleboard and other fun stuff, which parents have been commenting that keeps their kids occupied very well in the house, which was kind of my goal, give parents a way to keep the kids occupied. I’ve started to move away from parents with kids. Kids tend to not respect your property as much, so I’ve removed my property as being listed as kid friendly and I’m trying to market more towards adults since those are the people that kind of do respect your property a bit more.

Delia:

You’re the first host that I interviewed that has a game room, how has been your experience with that? Does other hosts around the area also, is it a popular amenity?

Daniel Bordeau:

I haven’t seen it. I mean, a lot of hosts has elements that some people will put a foosball table in, a lot of like nicer cabins have a pool table, which is probably some of the one of the pinnacle of having in a game room. My goal was to just not be a commodity with my Airbnb rental, I wanted to have something unique, some unique draw, some marketing draw that could set you apart from other people. I had kind of an awkward loft in the house that seemed perfect for setting up a game room, which was kind of a pet project of mine setting up the house. I was not as interested as much in the interior design, which should maybe I should have focused on a little more as I was in getting this game room perfect and having it be something that, you know, people saw in the first five photos and book the house because of so. I’ve seen game rooms work a lot of places like the Smoky Mountains, like they’re not certainly super rare in rentals. But I think if you do one really well, you’re able to stand out and that’s kind of my theory on doing Airbnb is come out with amenities that are like really unique, like really attempt to beat the competition with something that they don’t have or one up them as some of them may do have, to try to create a little bit more of a lasting competitive advantage in the market you’re going into.

Delia:

And would you say the fact that you have our game room steps you up in your market?

Daniel Bordeau:

I definitely see inquiries and people mentioning it in both the reviews and when they’re looking to book. So I think as opposed to not having it, I think it definitely sets you up. I think anything you can do to set yourself apart from the competition, whether it’s hot tub or game room or having a more unique or interesting design or architecture than them. You really need to figure out how to set yourself apart because in my opinion, you’d much rather be on the luxury scale of Airbnb than on the budget scale as a host, just a lot more margins to be made in the luxury category. So you need to turn a normal house into something that has something kind of luxury or things that people don’t have in their own home is a good goal to go for.

Delia:

Yeah, more like an experience than just the rental, right?

Daniel Bordeau:

Exactly. Exactly.

Delia:

And what about your market? Is it very competitive?

Daniel Bordeau:

It’s relatively competitive. I would say there’s like a lot of markets, there is probably a lack of supply, especially during peak season where peak season is really easy to book out. You know, competition definitely increases a bit more during slow season, when there’s much less reservations bookings to go around. It doesn’t seem like a lot of people in my market are struggling, it was relatively difficult to get a short-term rental license where I am I’ve looked and analyzed a lot of markets and a lot of hosts in different markets and it took me about 10 months to get approved to a short-term rental license, given they were so backed up at the start of the pandemic with permits and applications. I had to go through a very extensive process by a board of adjustment to get a variance to operate a rental while I’ve seen a lot of competitors operate them without the variance of the permit. So that’s kind of some of the challenge of doing it all by the books is your competition won’t always and they can get, you know, some track record and some historical reviews faster than you can if they don’t need to spend the money time getting set up legitimately. So I think legislation and regulation is kind of an impediment to more competitors coming on quickly, as well as lack of housing supply and how difficult it is to buy a home right now and anywhere around the area.

Delia:

Oh! Can you please give us a little resume of what’s the process of getting the permit?

Daniel Bordeau:

Sure. So it’s very different for every place, whether you’re gonna city or in a county or if you’re outside of the city and you fall on the county’s rules and not the city. So I was in an unincorporated place where you need to be approved by a board of adjustment, which are seven unelected people that the planning commissioner has review permits for home expansions, short-term rentals, all that kind of stuff. So I had to submit an application that included tons of details and pictures about my listing, do a home site where they inspected my property, they determined I didn’t have enough parking, they require one parking spot per bedroom plus one and being built on the side of a mountain, my driveway wasn’t very extensive. So I had to spend a lot of money building out two extra parking spots to satisfy them. I also had to get a, what we call in Colorado, a defensible space permit, which is essentially wildfire mitigation done. My home is set in the middle of a dense forest of pine trees and they flagged about 30 of those pine trees to be removed before they would allow me to rent it out. So I had to jump through a significant number of hoops and pay a significant amount of money to satisfy the planning commission so that they would approve me for a variance. But ultimately, they did approve me.

Delia:

Can you tell me how did you get started with your first Airbnb listing?

Arun:

Yep, absolutely. Um, so I was, well, it was actually my parents, they actually made a investment into a pre-construction home in London, Ontario, I think it was about like, four and a half years ago. So they make this investment into a pre-construction. Once a unit was built, they were looking for long-term tenants and my friend of mine who also had a property in London, Ontario, at the time was doing Airbnb. So he showed me his month to month earnings and you know, how he operates it and all of the details that I needed to know. He said to give it a shot and I convinced my parents to do that. We started like that and then from there, we kind of just built our portfolio.

Delia:

I see! And how is the seasonality for example, in Ontario?

Rebecca:

So kind of going back to our rental that we had four years ago, so that was actually our first rental and we ended up selling that rental. Since we only had it for like one year, so we really only got to see all the seasons one time, we found that in Ontario specifically in the summer months, it picked up a lot during I guess between like June and August, then I think in the fall it kind of slowed down a little more. And then after selling that property, we reinvested the money into our Airbnb house that we have now as we opened it in mid January. So now we’re kind of going through our first time into each month and each season. But we’re noticing it seems kind of similar to our last listing, which was also posted in London, Ontario. Surprisingly, in March, it was actually, I think less busy than January and February and now it’s picked up a lot from April and our big bookings going into June have also increased.

Arun:

So I feel like the type of listings that I have is kind of like a utilitarian listing, so it’s more for like the day to day people, people who need to go to work or visiting family close by. It’s not a vacational property, it’s more for your day to day use. So with that being said, the fluctuation between the summer months to the winter months are not substantial. It’s not significant in like $10,000 or something like that. It’s just a few thousand dollar differences. But there is a peak in the summertime, obviously, because of the availability of time for people to travel and for people to see other family members. I think it’s just more prominent in the summertime and for that reason it is a little bit higher in the summer months, but yeah, like our business models, like revolved around, you know, providing adequate hospitality for the people that need it on a day to day basis and not more so on the vacational side of things. So yeah.

Delia:

I see and with the first listing you had, how was your first like Airbnb experience? I heard that you had like support from a friend who already did Airbnb?

Arun:

Yeah. So initially, I’m very thankful for and I’m grateful for because we had a lot of the resources. So Rebecca and I, we weren’t left in the dark when we initially started. So we had a cleaner, a professional handyman and just a team of people that would be able to, you know, get to work and really get things done. That really helped us because we had the resources and then we had the guidance, those two things in combination really helped navigate the blind area in going into Airbnb initially. Then after a few months you just kind of get used to it, you understand the rhythm of things and it just becomes second nature.

Delia:

Great and how did you manage to get your first crew for that listing? Like the cleaning people, handyman.

Arun:

Yeah, so like I said, I think this is like valuable advice to other people as well. I think like your cleaners and your handyman or if you have even a property manager or whatever, I think it should come through for all bases like, I think it’s very hard, like we’ve tried getting cleaners on our own terms, you know, and building them from scratch and it’s much harder. When it comes to a referral or like you know, if you can get, if you’re fortunate enough to get a referral base cleaner or handyman, you have a proof of concept, you know that they know how to run the cleaning in accordance to the Airbnb policies and all of these things and it just makes it so much easier. So yeah, that was very helpful, the referral to our crew was integral, but it was from our friend who was already in London, Ontario and he had an established Airbnb already. So yeah, we were fortunate enough to get a referral. But I think that’s it’s extremely important that you know, you go through a vetting process for your cleaners and handyman because it makes your job a lot easier as a host.

Delia:

Yeah, I agree with that. Where is your current listing located?

Rebecca:

So it’s also in London, Ontario and the location is very central to like shopping malls, grocery stores, restaurants. I don’t know if you’re familiar with London, Ontario, but it has a large university and a large college, which is about a 15 minute drive to both and it’s 5 to 10 minutes off of the highway. So it’s pretty central to every single thing that someone would need to come into London. So like Arun was saying earlier, a lot of our people who do come to stay in our rental, it’s usually for business or some of them are, especially in June, they’re coming for their sons or daughters graduation in the universities or the college. It’s also right by four large hospitals, so we actually have a lot of doctors and nurses stay in our rental as well.

Delia:

So based on that, am I right to assume that you also do like mid-term and long-term rentals?

Arun:

So because of the tenancy policies in Ontario, it becomes hazardous to keep a guest over 28 days. They are now illegible for like legal action if we were to try to take them mid-term or anything over 28 days, so we try to keep our occupancy less than 28 days.

Rebecca:

We have had one family though that did stay longer, but we don’t do it always.

Arun:

Yeah. Like, you know, we assess the situation you understand, you know, if the guests are cooperative and we understand their situation. Yeah, we definitely will accommodate more than 28 days, but for a general rule of them, less than 28 days.

Delia:

I see, okay, that’s great as well. So what is your average occupancy rate in that listing?

Arun:

So right now we have about an average occupancy rate, a total occupancy rate, average rate at 82%, however, I think that’s kind of a skew number. Occupancy rate is really hard to determine on Airbnb when you have the three listing like, the way I structured my listing because, you know, like for example, the entire unit will have a very low occupancy rate, but that’s the two separate units are being utilised. That’s why the third listing has a very low occupancy rate. So the average is around 83%, but 80% to 82%. But yeah, it is, I think kind of skewed, I’m not sure of the exact numbers for each listing.

Delia:

I see! And is the listing like a duplex or something, that’s why you list two different parts of it?

Rebecca:

Yeah, so it’s a whole house. It’s a three bedroom house upstairs and then in the basement, there’s two bedrooms, so we split it off. So the stairs go into the basement, there’s like a locked door, so it’s actually two units. Then we have a third listing which if someone wants to rent out the whole house, so they would have five bedrooms. They can do that too.

Delia:

I see and have you had any problem with the guests conviving at the same time in the listing?

Arun:

No. In fact, I think it actually tied to helps. I think a lot of times, guests feel more comfortable when they know that there’s someone else in the property area. Especially with the basement unit, I think it gives some comfort knowing that there are other people in the unit.

Rebecca:

And I think it actually really helped us not to have any issues so far with complaints from neighbours or any parties being thrown because I think they know that there’s either guests upstairs or guests downstairs. Some people know that’s an Airbnb, other people just assume its tenants. So I think they’ve been more respectful that way and that actually helped us in terms of making sure that they’re not throwing any parties.

Arun:

Noise complaints, nothing like, you know, people are much more compelled to meet the noise standards of 10:30pm and stuff like that, just because they know that there’s other people in the house. So yeah, it does make it easier.

Delia:

That’s great. I actually didn’t expect that because I’ve heard from other hosts that if they host two different people in the same listing, they don’t get along or something like that.

Arun:

We ensure that, like both our units have separate entrances, the guests don’t have to interact, if they don’t need to, like they have their own way of getting inside the house. It’s completely separated. There’s very little interaction, the only time they need to interact is, like they would interact if they needed to, you know. So I think, because of the way we set it up, it makes it so that it’s conflict free.

Rebecca:

Yeah and our driveway is really big too. So there’s no issues with parking, which is nice.

Delia:

So can you tell us how did you get started on Airbnb?

Daniel Tisdale:

Yeah, absolutely. So the real estate has always been something that has been, you know, of interest to me. I purchased my first house when I was 26 years old. I live in Austin, Texas and if you’re familiar with the Austin market at all, you’ve probably heard how it’s just exploded over the last few years. So I purchased my first house, you know, four years ago, as I saw the value of owning real estate and through that first purchase I, you know, turn that property into a long-term rental. Then with the increase in property value, I did a cash out refinance and with that, I went and purchased an Airbnb, my first Airbnb property in South Florida, in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Delia:

Great and how did you choose the market?

Daniel Tisdale:

Yeah, so I chose the market after doing quite a bit of research. I used tools like AirDNA, PriceLabs. For me, personally, I look at Airbnb as kind of lifestyle investing. So I love to play golf and so I wanted a place that I could, you know, use leverage and use it myself as as kind of, you know, a place to go do golf trips, have vacations and, you know, I decided on West Palm Beach because of the great value that you get for properties as well as the fact that it’s surrounded by, you know, arguably the best golf community in the world. So you’ve got Palm Beach, you’ve got Jupiter, Florida, where a good chunk of PGA Tour professionals live and you know, a lot of retired golfers live in the area as well, so there’s, you know, a big golf community down there. So one of my goals, you know, as part of my brand of building my business is kind of focused around, you know, a golf centric vacation offering and so that was kind of the main reason in conjunction with the numbers being great. But also, you know, it’s going to attract a lot of golfers to come and I can also leverage that property myself.

Delia:

So can you tell me about the most like visible advantages of having your listings near the Golf centres?

Daniel Tisdale:

Yeah, so I think you get kind of the best of both worlds when you’re in South Florida because you get a good chunk of people who are coming down for golf trips, I’ve had quite a few people who have booked my place and they’ve come solely to go play golf. And you know, I have a five bed three bath house can fit about 10 people. I’ve had college golf teams stay at my property. I’ve had, you know, just groups of friends who have come down to do a golf trip in the area. I’ve also had, you know, a good amount of families come for vacation and they’re coming to go to the beach. So you kind of get the best of both worlds because you’ve got amazing beaches and you also have amazing golf. So that was kind of my thinking, you know, in terms of how I wanted this property to play out and it’s been very successful so far.

Delia:

And according to your research, do you saw that over three bedroom houses works better for those areas?

Daniel Tisdale:

Yeah, great question. So one of the reasons that I wanted to target a larger property, like a five bedroom house, is due to the fact that I can hold, you know, up to 10, maybe even 12 people in my property and with that, you know, I’m not necessarily kind of competing directly with hotels because I can support a large amount of people. And, you know, larger groups of people that want to be together in a shared space are not going to have to go and purchase five or six hotel rooms, they can just book my house and, you know, it’s a pretty spacious area. So it definitely affords me the opportunity to be able to not have to compete directly with hotels, due to the property being a little bit larger.

Delia:

So if there was, for example, a two bedroom house out there available on Airbnb, would it compete or compare with hotels around there also?

Daniel Tisdale:

So I would say, it depends, you know, I think some people would prefer to stay in hotels if they had a group of four to six people, maybe they booked three hotel rooms, though, I think when you start to get into the larger sized properties, wherever they require four to five or six hotel rooms, you know, it just becomes quite a bit more economical and just easier to book a single property, which is one of the main reasons. I think, three bedrooms are kind of on the cost, they obviously can hold, you know, six to eight, potentially even more people, depending on the bed setup. But some of those three bedrooms can’t be smaller and so they would likely be competing with hotels.

Delia:

Yeah, I understand completely. Now, I’d like to make you some questions about the area you’re hosting. Oh, no, sorry. Actually, my next question is, you’re currently based in Texas, right?

Daniel Tisdale:

Yes, I’m in Austin, Texas.

Delia:

So are you doing remote hosting?

Daniel Tisdale:

Yes, I am the owner and operator of my short-term rental business. So I heavily rely on having a great cleaning crew. I heavily rely on, you know, technology and software tools to help me to be able to manage my property successfully remotely. I’ve done a very good job of managing it remotely. It’s somewhat of a newer property, it’s been active for about six months and I just got super host status on Airbnb in April. So it’s kind of confirmed that what I’m doing is working out pretty well for managing it remotely.

Delia:

Can you tell us a little bit about your experience with remote hosting, especially in your area, South Florida?

Daniel Tisdale:

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So you know, the main tools that I rely on to be successful with remote hosting are a couple different things. So of course like I mentioned, you have to have a great relationship with your cleaner because they’re really your eyes and ears and your boots on the ground, so they’ll let me know if I’m running low on supplies and I need to order more toilet paper or shampoo. They’ll let me know if a guest, you know, left anything. They’ll let me know if a towel was stained or really anything that’s that’s going on. I also leverage a cleaning management tool called Properly that allows me to set up an automated checklists for my cleaning crew to go through and they have to take verification photos of the property after and during each clean. So that allows me to remotely check to make sure that the property looks as it’s expected to and I can kind of verify, you know, from a distance that the property is set up and ready to go for the next guest. That’s the one tool that you know, from a cleaning perspective that I rely on and work with. From a management of the property itself, I leverage a platform called Gatsby for host, that’s my channel management tool and so this allows me to automate the process of listing my property on Airbnb, VRBO, booking.com, TripAdvisor and it’s a centralised tool that allows me to communicate with guests, regardless of what platform they’ve booked, as well as also, I can easily spin up a direct booking website. So I have a direct booking website, evenparproperties.com that I can easily set up so that people can book directly with me and not have to spend extra fees going through a platform like an Airbnb or VRBO. So that helps with listing management, guest communication, I set up a lot of automated messages to automate the process of guests check in, you know, checking in during the state to make sure things are going well check out instructions. I have messages that are set up so that if a day before check in is available or a day after check in is available, I will automatically send a message to the guest to let them know that they can either check in early or they could check in late. You know, this just kind of helps what kind of information around, you know, making sure that there is as much of the process automated as possible. Then the other tool that I, couple other things that I rely on, one is, I heavily rely on the automated lock setup that I have. So I have a Schlage on code lock and this allows me to remotely give access codes to guests. That access code process is automated through my channel management tool, so through guests ease for hosts that has a direct integrate integration with Schlage and that makes it really easy for guests to be able to check in and you know, not have to worry about giving out keys and anything like that. Then the last tool that I heavily rely on is PriceLabs for automated pricing, so I’ll use this to do dynamic pricing so my prices will change on a day to day basis you’re depending on occupancy in the area, demand in the area as well as you know if I’m getting close to the date and I don’t have a guest already booked my pricing tool will automatically reduce the price by a certain percentage to attract guests by giving them kind of a special offer lower than my base fee, you know, as it gets close to the check in date.

Delia:

So can you tell us how did you get started on Airbnb?

Lauren Keen:

My husband and I were looking to house hack, which is when you buy a property where you can live in part of it and rent the rest of it out. So a very obvious example of this would be if you bought a duplex, lived in one side and rented the other side out and the reason for doing this is to basically cut down on your living expenses, right? Have a property where it pays some of its own mortgage. And we found a Bed and Breakfast, a true Bed and Breakfast where a woman owned it and she lived there and she had guests and she would cook and clean and things like that. It was for sale and it had two cottages in the back and a mobile home. So we decided to buy it and live in the house and because it had already been a Bed and Breakfast, it had favourable zoning. Also the cottages didn’t have like, one of them didn’t have a kitchen at all and neither one of them had washers and dryers. So because of that we felt like they would make better short-term rentals than long-term rentals. It’s also in a tourist town here in Florida. So we bought this Bed and Breakfast to renovate it, we lived in the cottages. Then after six months and everything was renovated, we moved into the house and started renting the cottages. So we started out to just have a rental on our property, it just kind of one thing led to another and it ended up being short-term rentals instead of long-term rentals.

Delia:

Oh, and how was your experience renting, you know, a place where you live really near to?

Lauren Keen:

It’s been good, it was really helpful, especially the first few months while we were learning. So I could talk to the cleaners during the day when they were there cleaning, we could keep a really quick close eye on supplies and order things and restock things before we got things up to speed. So it was actually really helpful.

Delia:

And you told me you, right now, own about eight listings and also manage them. How was the process to acquire all the other seven listings?

Lauren Keen:

Yeah, so we traded out that mobile home that I mentioned earlier for a camper. Also now we rent out the main house when we’re gone. So there’s four of the eight listings right there. We bought another property about six months after we started. It’s a duplex and we made half of it a short-term rental and half of it a long-term rental. So sometimes we stay there if our house rents out. So that was listing number five. Then a few months later than that, so late 2021, December 2021, we bought a six unit apartment building and use three of those units for short-term rentals and left three of those as long-term rentals. So those are the other three.

Delia:

Oh, that’s great. And what about your zone? How are the laws there? Is it easy or hard to make short-term rentals around there?

Lauren Keen:

It’s a little bit hard because with Florida, there’s not kind of one overarching rule about short-term rentals. But we have found places where they are legal and that helps us to operate them. We don’t have a tonne of vacancy because a lot of people want to come to Florida, especially in the winter. Obviously, it’s a little bit seasonal for that reason. But it hasn’t been that hard because we took what we learned in the first six months or so before we bought that second property and really added a lot of systems and processes in place. So it’s probably 15 to 30 minutes a day that we spend managing the properties and we still are able to keep our full time jobs for right now.

Delia::

Oh my, that’s great! I didn’t expect that because usually when, you know, hosts run a lot of listings, they have to give up their normal jobs just for managing.

Lauren Keen:

It’s eight listings, but it’s only three properties. So I think that makes it a little bit easier.

Delia:

Yeah, that’s right. And do you manage all for yourself?

Lauren Keen:

Yes.

Delia:

Oh, I see. And what about cleaning crew, maintenance?

Lauren Keen:

Yes, so my husband is very handy and two of our properties are very close together, they’re within 20 minute and that’s where we spend most of our time. So if there’s an issue in terms of maintenance or kind of a repair, he can easily handle those things. We obviously have people in place as well for that. At another one of our properties, the sixth unit, my uncle lives in the same county and he is a handyman by trade, so he can go over there for us if things break when we’re not there. Then in terms of cleaning, we don’t clean, I have never cleaned one of them myself. We have a fantastic cleaner and she manages kind of a team under her and then manages them for all eight of the listings.

Delia:

Wow, that’s great! And now I’ll like to talk about the area you’re hosting, you told me was the West Coast of Florida, right?

Lauren Keen:

Yes.

Delia:

What is the seasonality like in this area?

Lauren Keen:

So with Florida, obviously, our winters are mild to almost non existent. So January, February, and March are very busy for us. April, May, June and July are also fairly busy. April and May, just because the weather is still pretty good and then in the summer, I think kids are out of school, so people want to come to Florida. We’re a little bit slower in August and September and October and then a little bit kind of start to speed up again in November, December, kind of because of holidays and things like that. So it’s a little bit seasonal, for sure.

Delia:

And how is your average occupancy rate in the high season versus the low season?

Lauren Keen:

During the high season, like the first three months were probably 90%, occupied, very occupied. Then in the low season, it’s probably closer to 50%.

Delia:

So can you tell me how did you get started on Airbnb?

Jillian Schaffling:

It was a few years in the making, we were rather new to it. We bought our first Airbnb in the fall of 2019 and started it in January 2020. Basically we wanted a vacation home that paid for itself. and we had been looking for actually about two, three years and with the rates they had dropped so drastically, we decided it was time to take the plunge. We purchased a single family home by near Disney World because that’s something we enjoy a lot as a family. So it was going to be for us, but as well as an investment property.

Delia:

Great! And did you come across that specific market just because you wanted to be near Disney or because of the market itself?

Jillian Schaffling:

Yes, it’s both. It was a smart investment because the theme parks drive a lot of traffic. It’s one of the if not the most popular vacation destination by volume and also, we enjoyed ourselves. We are Disney people, we have two young boys and we would go several times a year. So not only would the home be an investment, it would also be a savings for us because we would no longer be having to stay at hotels and so forth.

Delia:

Right? Yeah, I agree that was a smart investment. So I assume you’re doing remote hosting, right? Since you told me you’re based in New York.

Jillian Schaffling:

Yes, we pretty much handle almost everything on our own. We do have a great property management company in the fact that they’re just on call if we have any issues. They do our cleanings, they manage our pool and our lawn and again, anything that comes up, but we do manage everything ourselves, all the bookings, all the communication and so forth.

Delia:

Any particular thing that helps you manage remotely better, you know, any tool, anything you do?

Jillian Schaffling:

Absolutely, we heavily rely on our technology. We have an ecobee thermostat, so we can adjust that if necessary. We’ve had guests who want to pump the AC rather hard in Florida and can freeze up the AC unit, so luckily, with these devices, we can help manage that a little bit to avoid those issues. We have a slog door lock, which is phenomenal. So we can enter codes, delete codes, manage who’s coming and going. And we also have an Arlo camera with a solar panel on our driveway, which that’s disclosed, of course. All those items are so helpful, along with our excellent property managers that we really rely on.

Delia:

Yeah, I agree, those are really great tools! So how do you screen guests? How do you filter them? Because I know as there are multiples, it must be, not like a problem, but something that can worry you a lot. What can guests do you receive?

Jillian Schaffling:

Absolutely. Actually, that’s one of our biggest concerns. You know, this is our home, is our investment, you know, along with the rentals. We want to make sure that it’s in good condition and well cared for and we do screened a lot, we really do and we have knock on wood been very lucky. And reviews are great, you know, of course, reviews from inquiring guests are very helpful. But in our area, we actually get a lot of guests who don’t have reviews and we’re okay with that. You know, we are happy to give people a chips. One of the things that we’re lucky in our market is that it’s mostly families and mostly families who are out all day there at the theme parks. So meaning they’re not putting a lot of wear and tear on the home. You know, they’re not at the beach, so sand isn’t coming in and water and those kinds of issues. We do have a pool, but again, a lot of our guests are at Disney or Universal all day. So when we get cast guests inquire, we asked what the reasoning is for to be in town and as I said, most people are for the parks. We have make them acknowledge our three big rules through Airbnb messaging before we accept their request, which is that we do not allow any pets, we do not allow any smoking and we do not allow anyone on the premises other than those who are on the reservation, meaning absolutely no guests. So that avoids parties, locals who want to rent to throw, you know, a reunion party or just any kind of holiday event. Anytime we’ve had people that are questionable, usually when they have to acknowledge those rules, they don’t respond. We’ve been very fortunate where we have our guests say, “oh, absolutely no problem at all” and again, if you know ig they’re not being honest, we have it in Airbnb messages. So we have to make a claim we can refer back to that.

Delia:

Yeah, those are good rules. It’s actually the main rules for almost every listing.

Jillian Schaffling:

The most important roles, absolutely.

Delia:

That’s right and many guests, especially families are already used to it, so great for you. In the area you’re hosting, do you know what is the seasonality like?

Jillian Schaffling:

Actually, to be honest with you, what are the main reasons we invested in this area is it’s really very lucrative all year. There is really no downtime for the theme parks people visit all year long. Our slowest month is probably September, maybe October, but besides that, we are usually at just about 100% occupancy all year. September is our slowest where we would say it’s about 50% and that’s again because most of our guests are families visiting Disney World and so forth and their kids had just started school. But besides that, there’s lots of conferences, there’s lots of events and again, the Disney World just drives such a crowd. So we really do not have a low season, we have not experienced it yet.

Delia:

So can you tell us how did you get started on Airbnb?

Makeba Matthews:

Actually I purchased the property for myself and then I decided to make passive income, to find creative ways to make create passive income. So what I used was actually my property that I live in. I rent it out and I close off certain rooms where the guests don’t have access, like my master bedroom, things of that nature. So I kind of live like a gypsy.

Delia:

Oh and how was your experience renting your own place?

Makeba Matthews:

It’s work because I have quite a bit of turnover. This month alone I’ve rented every weekend. I’m actually prepping as I’m talking to you, I’m making up some bids now. I had one this past weekend and I have one this coming weekend. So right now I have my occupancy has, for the last five weeks, I’ve been occupied. And it works because it helps pay the mortgage, to create a low income stream and allows me to start the process of looking for real estate. I do want to actually get another property. But right now, everything’s so expensive right now. What was like 60,000 is a 100,000. So I want to wait a little bit, until things kind of settle back down. The rates go back down because when you are buying, so this is my primary and if I was turning around and buy another property, it would be considered indefinite and your interest rates are a lot higher on investment property.

Delia:

I see. Is that rate high only for like your state? Or is it in general?

Makeba Matthews:

This is general.

Delia:

Okay, I see. So now that you’re hosting in your primary residence, how is your audience like? Your target audience, the kind of guests you get most?

Makeba Matthews:

Typically families, small families, I do have quite a bit of inquiries for events and parties, I don’t host events and parties. If there was an exception, I’m staying on property to ensure that everything is running smoothly. There’s too many incidents where issues have happened. Teens have died or things have gotten out of control. So I do try to manage that flow and like when someone accepts a listing or inquires, that’s like one of my first things that I mentioned, please read the rules, “we do not allow parties or events”. In fact, people will call and say can we do a kid’s party? If it was my children, sure, you could do a kid’s party because I know my people are, you know, the attendee because I don’t know, these attendees. No, we can’t, I don’t have parking and you have to be mindful that when you’re looking for property, to be mindful of parking, my spot doesn’t have a lot of parking. Then you also have to be mindful of your guests and what kind of traffic is flowing in and out of your property.

Delia:

I see. So you get many requests for that kind of things? For example, parties, like you said.

Makeba Matthews:

Yeah, because it’s cheaper, it’s less expensive than going to an event hall.

Delia:

Right, that’s right. I understand.

Makeba Matthews:

They’re very expensive right now, they’re going for well, $1,500, where you can get a whole face for a couple of $100 a night, you know, and you get to stay there.

Delia:

Right! Do you mind tell us how is your average pricing?

Makeba Matthews:

Average pricing is about $150 a night. But then I have a graduated rate where if you book, there’s a cancellation policy, so if you accept the cancellation policy, where it’s 100%, you know, where it’s not, you can’t cancel or get any money back, something like that. It’s some kind of way they have a fee configured and it’s 15%, no 10% off per night, but then it becomes $135. So a lot of guests will take the $135 and forego the cancellation. So there is, you know, like something happens, it’s non refundable. If you do the one where you actually booked for the $150 and don’t take advantage of the discount, then there’s some refund available in there, something like that. But, you know, no, it’s not refundable, but you get the cleaning fee back. But my cleaning fee is $75 for short-term stay. So it works out right.

Delia:

Right. I understand. And is it your price, like the one of the lowest rates for your are?

Makeba Matthews:

No, I wouldn’t say low. I would say moderate, right in the middle.

Delia:

So do you go away while your host are in your residence? Do they get access to the whole house?

Makeba Matthews:

The whole house, they get access to the whole house with the exception of a few rules.

Delia:

And for example, getting them to have access for your kitchen, do they they have that?

Makeba Matthews:

Oh yeah they have full access and our kitchen is fully stocked and they liked it. My kitchen is fully stocked, our refrigerator has condiments on the door and the fruit basket on the table. I leave individual snacks and a cookie jar in the middle, we wrapped snacks in a cookie jar. I leave eggs and like sausage and apple juice or some yoghurt for them in the refrigerator and then I leave condiments in the refrigerator. But outside of that it’s not. It’s empty.

Delia:

Oh, and how is your experience with leaving food there for people to use? I know they like it, but some hosts might not really like the idea because they think maybe their guests can do something bad with them or leave the kitchen really dirty and stuff like that.

Makeba Matthews:

No, I haven’t had that experience. People have left my home very nice. You know, I haven’t had an experience where anybody spoil anything up or mess with anything like apple juice is in my refrigerator and no one even had the apple juice the last visit.

Delia:

Oh, you have good experience then. Do you tell them like before they check in everything in the kitchen is for them to use?

Makeba Matthews:

Yeah, like this past weekend was Easter, so I actually had created some eatable Easter baskets and then I also got some eggs and put them in the refrigerator. I had like, some toys in the Easter basket full because I know she had two kids. No, you know, no experience that way. You know, give them some little different experiences.

Delia:

Yeah, that’s cut and usually guests like that a lot.

Makeba Matthews:

There’s a prot, you know, for me or like if it’s a birthday, I may leave like a bottle of wine or sparkling grape juice. Like, what was it? Was it the holidays… New Year! New Year’s, I left the kids and she has some kids coming with her from New Orleans. So I let the kids sparkling grape juice. I left them a bottle of wine and let the kids sparkling grape juice.

Delia:

That’s great. Those are really great details and guests really like that. And I was about to ask you, how many days do you allow guests to stay?Like how many maximum days?

Makeba Matthews:

I’ve had a guest staying as long as three months.

Delia:

Three months. Okay, I see!

Makeba Matthews:

They can stay longer you know, but that’s the longest I’ve had, but I mean, they can stay longer, you know, putting on their contract that particular guest work for was a corporate. But it worked for company and did corporate housing.

Delia:

And how was your experience with someone staying that long in your residence?

Makeba Matthews:

It was good. She did great. She made it her home, people want to see what a couple of people can’t. She do the smoker, but the setup that is smoked and what it can’t and she’ll ask like a little umbrella up for herself and to set like a little table outside. And so she bought these items so that she could be comfortable in her space while she was here.

Delia:

Okay, that’s great. And if you don’t mind sharing while you’re renting your residence, where do you usually go and stay?

Makeba Matthews:

Oh, family and friends.

Delia:

Family and friends, okay that’s great. So, now I’d like to ask you some questions about the area you’re hosting. You’re in Atlanta, right?

Makeba Matthews:

Yes, Atlanta, Metro Atlanta.

Delia:

Can you tell me how did you get started on Airbnb?

Crystal Cossey:

Sure. So I got started on Airbnb in 2013. I was working as a promotional model, travelling all around the United States and I felt that it would end like producing festivals and that kind of thing. I ran a circus company, so I was travelling a lot, working as, you know, as my circus company and as a promotional model, so I felt you know that it would be beneficial for me to rent my apartment while I was ,you know, not there. So I just took photos on my phone and listed my apartment on Airbnb when I was producing a festival in Utah.

Delia:

Oh! And how was your experience with renting your own apartment especially well, you’re not there because usually when people are in their own place they’re living in I don’t know another room or either really close to their home and how is your experience with that?

Crystal Cossey:

So basically my apartment is a one bedroom, I’ve always rented it, you know, has the whole place for them. So I’ve never stayed there with others, when the guests are there I just give it up and I either stay with friends or family or like I said I’m travelling for work. So I personally like would not feel comfortable here being in a room and being at the place because I personally like my privacy and I feel that, you know, Airbnb guests enjoy their privacy also. But I know a lot of Airbnb hosts that rent out a room in their home or apartment, but I just never felt comfortable doing it that way and my apartment just didn’t have the room for that. And like I said, I wasn’t there, so for me, I put it on Airbnb because I wanted it to be occupied while I was gone and I just wanted to make extra money.

Delia:

And did you receive good guests or bad guests during that?

Crystal Cossey:

My first guest was actually a really good guest. But, you know, I just listed my apartment the way that it was in 2013, it definitely was not Airbnb ready and I accidentally accepted the deposit over Wells Fargo. So that, you know, that got me kicked off the platform. I had no idea for a year that I was even like that my account was suspended for taking the money through the deposit through Wells Fargo. So, you know, I made a lot of rookie mistakes and she actually like cancelled her reservation because like I said the apartment was not Airbnb ready, it had carpet, it was cluttered with a lot of furniture. I just did it as like, you know, a last minute thing because I got booked for the festival and I felt that you know, it would have been smart for me to sublet it. So basically, that was my first experience with Airbnb. But then as I was travelling I was like wondering why I wasn’t getting more bookings and so eventually I called Airbnb and they let me know what happened. So I created a new listing. I tore the carpet out of my apartment. Luckily there was hardwood floors underneath. I listed a bunch of the furniture on free Craigslist and people came in got the excess furniture out of my apartment. Then I listed my apartment once I got it refigured and Airbnb ready under a new account. The Airbnb’s photographer came and took photos. Then I have had an amazing experience ever since. Um, I’ve only had a couple of bad guests throughout the years, but most, like 99% of my guests have been, you know, really great. I don’t have instant book on or anything like that. So I really use my gut when I booked guests. Does that answer your question?

Delia:

Yes. Any particular background check you run on them?

Crystal Cossey:

No, like I said, I use my gut when I am booking clients. So, you know, normally it’s like an immediate yes or no for me. Um, but no, I don’t. I don’t require the guests to give me any additional information. You know, because I know that Airbnb does do their own, like, ID verifications. But yeah, if I feel that anything is off, then I just don’t accept that booking.

Delia:

Okay, yeah, sounds good! And with the listing, you’re currently renting out, which is not your apartment, what demographic of guests do you usually get in that?

Crystal Cossey:

So it’s basically the same demographic as I would get with my apartment. But the other listing I created in September of 2021, so it’s a fairly new unit and my friend owns the building and the unit became available. So then I decided to you know, put the money into creating it, making it an Airbnb, it’s a studio. The only differences between it is the size between my apartment and the studio’s size, obviously, like, my apartment is 100 square feet and the studio is 200 square feet. Other things that are beneficial about the studio versus my apartment is that those studios are on the first floor, so there’s no steps or anything like that. So it can definitely accommodate like, older people or anyone, you know, with disability a lot easier as my apartment was on the second storey. The studio comes with a parking spot, a designated parking spot and the building is a secured building. Whereas my apartment is not a secured building.

Delia:

Oh, so it is open to a lot more people than the other listing.

Crystal Cossey:

Um, I mean, like my demographic is mostly like production people because I live really close to a lot of the studios and that’s a lot of the demographic that I get, a lot of people that work in TV and film basically. But I do get people that, you know, work and go to college as well. I live in a small college town and there is colleges in Pasadena as well. Eagle Rock is between Pasadena and Glendale. So I get a lot of like college students and production people, film people, entertainers because I’m an entertainer myself. Like I said, I run a circus company, so I have attracted other circus performers and people in the circus industry as well. But I have just attracted like, you know, parents visiting their children and grandparents and you know, all different types of people.

Delia:

I see that’s good!

Crystal Cossey:

A lot of foreigners and also a lot of people trying to move to LA stay at my place that are like looking for a place to live in my neighbourhood.

Delia:

Oh, so is it a popular neighbourhood there?

Crystal Cossey:

Yeah, I live in a popular neighbour. There’s no offseason, I am booked all the time. LA is like that. I mean, it’s not seasonal here. I mean, most people don’t have Airbnbs hard books most of the time.