Slay The Short Stay ™

"It smells like gas in here.." the call from my cleaner sent chills through my body. With my Airbnb 6 hours away and a 3-month guest moving in in a few hours, the heat was on to come up with a solution. In this post I'll walk you through the chaos I faced and how… Continue reading A Gas Leak Nightmare – How I Handled It From Far Away

When I moved into a new market for my latest short-term rental home I had high hopes. A bustling town with history, nationally-popular yearly events, great weather, and a big university down the road would surely have no problem bringing travelers in for stays... But, a couple months into operation, the reservations were still few… Continue reading Listing Lifesavers: Reinvigorating A Listing When Things Look Grim

Every season I stop and reevaluate the next few months to come for my business. Especially being in a 4-season location like Michigan, I know that the vastly different landscapes and temperatures will mean different clientele and a different approach for maximum success as a host. Changes in Visitors While I have discussed the impressive… Continue reading Summertime Strategy: My Focuses As The Weather Warms Up

In a previous post I talk about my opinion on one-night stays (spoiler: I don’t allow them). But, when it comes to hosting guests for a couple of nights versus a month or more, I’ve noticed some differences that warrant a post dedicated to the subject. Let’s breakdown what makes these types of stays, and… Continue reading Length Matters: Pros And Cons Of Medium-Term Airbnb Bookings

Every guest's booking is different for a variety of reasons; from the length of their stay to the reason for their visit, and even cultural and age differences of guests can lead to different experiences for them and for you. I get a wide range of requests from guests to help make their stay more… Continue reading My Most Common Airbnb Guest Requests (And How I Respond To Them)

The more short-term rentals I add to my portfolio, the more I realize that the investments I can make in hardware and software products can make life a lot easier. Even with just one rental, there are lots of tools you can use to make you feel more at peace while managing the business. Keeping… Continue reading My STR Tech-Stack: The Smart Tools I Use At My Airbnbs To Improve My Operations

I've talked in previous posts about my undertaking of a further-away, remote management Airbnb home. I also mentioned the fact that we (my girlfriend/business partner and I) "inherited" long-term renters from the previous owners. Luckily, those tenants were on a month-to-month lease which we allowed them to extend a couple months until they found a… Continue reading Sh*t Hit The Ceiling Fans: Frustration Over Fixtures

It can be scary letting strangers into your house, especially if that house is also your home. Whether you're living a thousand miles away from your short-term rental or just a few feet from your rented-out room, establishing rules that are clear, concise, firm, and easily visible can make a big difference in the control… Continue reading Airbnb House Rules And How To Make Sure Guests See Them

The area in which two of my short-term rental properties reside is home to a few large companies and a handful of hospitals. These, among other causes like home renovations keeping people out of their homes, make my houses desirable to guests looking for stays of a few weeks to a month or even more.… Continue reading Monthly Management: Handling The Longer Short-Term Stay

This week was one of the longest of my life so far. What started as a trip to check on the placements of my smoke and CO2 detectors turned into a week-long near-nervous breakdown and 12+ hours of driving to prevent the would-be disaster of a burst pipe in the Michigan Winter. In this post… Continue reading Remote Temperature Monitoring: My Battle With Frozen Pipes And How I Watch The Winter From Afar