Hello, welcome back for another great episode. My name is Sarah Karakaian. I'm Annette Grant, and together we are Thanks for Visiting. Let's start this episode like we do each and every week and that is showcasing one of you incredible hosts who is going to our website strshare.Com entering in all the information you can about your property. So we can share it here on the podcast to our entire email list, of course, on Instagram, on Sundays. Annette, who are we sharing this week?

This week we are sharing at Montague on Magnolia. And that's M-O-N-T-A-G-U-E on Magnolia. I love it. Their website is lewismontague.com their partner, husband, wife, duo, the husband's first name and the wife's maiden name. I love it. It sounds very regal. It sounds bougie. Yes. I love it. A couple of things I want to point out right on their Instagram, book now, Louis Montague, go to the link, book. Easy, easy call to action there. Another thing I just have to give a shout out, I am so impressed with so many hosts taking Minoan up on the opportunity to showcase. All of the things in their home, this like they literally every single item inside the room from the like artwork to the mattress cover. They are not messing around here. I think they have just really crushed this. So well done there. Check them out. If you're looking for inspiration there to make your propertyshoppable

we'll explain what that means, though, real quick, just in case people don't know.

If you don't know yet, Minoan launched their showroom capability, and it is where you can make your property and every item in your property shoppable. And you don't even have to have purchased it on Minoan. You could have purchased it on Amazon, on Wayfair. It could be something from Etsy, um, that we even put our Etsy things in our store. We had custom curtains done and showcased those. So it is a place for you to showcase everything in your property. So if someone's like, Oh my gosh, I had such a great night's sleep. That bed's awesome. Here you go. Or, oh, I love your TV. I love your throw pillows. I love your lamps. I love your towels. You can showcase it on your Minoan showroom and make a commission from it. So again, it's an opportunity for you to upsell. items from your home that people are enjoying. So do that. And also I just kind of, I want you to go through their Instagram. It makes it so fun because they have so much color. Sarah even said this. They have rooms drenched in color. So ceilings, walls, all painted the same color. And this pops in their photos. I love it. It pops. Obsessed with it. It is a vibe. So definitely want you to check them out. Give them some love check out their Minoan Showroom way to go

Alright this episode today We've done this once before you'll have to let us know if you don't like this or if you do like it like you can Always email us you guys hi@thanksforvisiting.com. Let us know this podcast is for you So your feedback means so much to us. This is an episode where we were interviewed on Kenny Bedwell's podcast You It's called Cashflow Positive. We are linking arms with Kenny here. His podcast really focuses on data. He would be happy for us to call him this, but he's a data nerd. but it was great compliment to our topic because we, he brought us and talk about the art. When it comes to art and science, he's definitely the science and Annette and I tend to lean more towards the art part of it. Okay. Thank you. And we really dug into hospitality and how hospitality has really helped us. We've talked about it before in the podcast because we are so proud of this, that even though our market is down five to 7%, we are actually up at least 7 percent across all of our properties in our entire portfolio here in this marketplace. And so Kenny digs into it because he was kind of shocked because he looked at the data when he was interviewing. He's like, yeah, Columbus is down. What are you guys doing? And we give him the reasoning behind that and why we can command the nightly rates that we do at the top of our market because of what we provide and we know our guests are going to get when they check in.

Welcome to Cash Flow Positive. I'm your host, Kenny Bedwell, founder of SCR Insights, one of the leading data platforms in the industry. Through using data and analytics, I've been able to replace my W 2 with Cash Flow for my successful short term rentals. And my goal is to help you achieve the same freedom and success. Whether you're a seasoned investor or just a novice looking to make your mark, Cash Flow Positive is your go to resource for unlocking the full potential of your property portfolio. Welcome everybody to another episode of cashflow positive. I'm your host, Kenny Bedwell. And today we're going to be talking about elevating your guest experience. And looking at the ROI behind it and why it's important. I have brought on two special guests. I'm personally a huge fan of them. I'm going to be honest with you guys. Uh, this is a secret that I'm telling everyone here, even Sarah and Annette. I don't listen to many podcasts. Okay. I'm not a big podcast person, but I do listen to their podcasts, which is called thanks for visiting. Okay. So I'm not just pumping them up because they're on the show, but I truly believe in, in what they're, what they offer and their advice. They have over 34 short terminal properties in Columbus, Ohio that they manage, but they are on a mission to help inspire hosts to elevate their guest experience. That's why I brought them on the show. And so without further ado, Sarah and Annette, take it away. Tell us a little bit more about yourselves and, uh, you know, what you guys are working on.

Yeah, I'm Sarah Karakaian. I'm Annette Grant. And together we are Thanks for Visiting. So together we have a business together called Thanks for Visiting and we met, wow, we like did the math yesterday, like seven years ago at a city council meeting in Columbus, Ohio. I had just moved here from New York City looking to buy more property with less red tape. So I moved to central Ohio to do that. But the minute I moved here, Regulations were on the table. And so I showed up to three of the three city council meetings before it went to a vote. And that is where I met Annette. And we went out for coffee after those meetings. And just I just I didn't know anyone here, like not a soul. And we just kept talking about laundry and guests and property. And we just could not stop talking to each other and wanting to meet again to talk more shop and that's where It just so happened at the time you were already trying to start a podcast, right? Yep.

And I had Sarah on the show, but decided I shouldn't do a solo show. I should have a partner because we have different short term rental experience at that time. Sarah and her husband were, um, are, Flip homes and we're doing, um, you know, they were, they were, I like to call it host hacking. So they, they have multi families. They were living there, but also renting them out and rehabbing them. And so she had that side of her story. And then my story was, I was partnering with a Property developer here, a real estate developer in Columbus who had a thousand plus properties. And I had a very small part of that portfolio and I was doing short term rentals a lot with him at, you know, partnering on those and doing a profit share. So I had more of the co hosting, uh, profit sharing style. And Sarah and her husband were doing, um, you know, the host hacking of their own home and, Moving on from there. So we thought for our podcast, that would be better to be able to operationally and financially tell two sides of what we love the most about short term rentals is really choosing your own adventure. You know, is that, is it Columbus, Ohio? Is it a mountain town? Is it a beach town? It's all of our why's are different, but most likely the why has something to do with strengthening your financial future. And we just love that there's diversity in the world. And there's diversity in the way that you can, um, you know, host those properties. So that's where our show started. And now, you know, we've been, we're at like 400 episodes. We love educating on short term rentals and. The one message that we always like to get out is you heard Sarah say, we met at a city council meeting showing up matters, so show up to those meetings. If they are in your town, we showed up and we actually won those regulations. So please do that. And then number two, if you do not have a host that you can talk all the things from numbers to operations with, please find someone because it is a game changer to be able to talk about your business. And you'll be able to grow it in ways you never knew if you could get a community or even just one other person to talk about your short term rental.

Okay. I know this for a fact and maybe this surprised you or doesn't, but a lot of our listeners don't know who you guys are and, uh, and that's okay, but I want to, um, so it's obviously like Sarah and I are amazing, but I want to go back to things for visiting and who it is. So tell me more, tell our listeners more, obviously, but tell our listeners more. What is the goal? What are you guys trying to accomplish with thanks for visiting?

It's to uplevel what it means to be a host. Like you are a business owner and we saw a lot of people doing this as a side hustle or passive income. We truly saw a lot of terrible properties and it's our mission for those properties to, to not exist. And we're all in this together. Um, that's what I don't think people understand. Like, yes, there might be 1000 2000 properties in your town or in, you know, millions of them across the country. But we are in this together. So if someone comes to stay with us, Kenny, we want to make sure that we provide an amazing stay because they might choose you when they're in your markets to stay with you. And so the short term rental industry. As a whole, is, you know, people call it Airbnb or Vrbo. We are in this together there, even though we're hosting individually. And that's our message is for all of us to understand. We've got to up level what it means to be a host in this business. We

also, I told you Annette and I met, like we talked a lot about like the operation side. Cause we're owner operators or co hosts, right? So we're not hiring. A property manager or co host to do it for us. We were like in the trenches and we found, I had, there was a lot of content out there about acquisition or like the real estate side of it, the number side of it, which is important and great, but we have a true love for the operations and the day to day and finding the right team members and doing the right contracts in place with them. And how can you type, how can you defend your profit? Right? Like, yes, you might be in a marketplace where the profits are supposed to be X, but if you don't defend your own profit and make sure that you are operating at a level that is, makes sense for your property and for your lifestyle and all those good things, then a lot of that money might go to out the window or you may not capture all of it. So we love talking about the day to day and. Team. And we, I'm a property manager myself, so I manage for other people. So I, I can give you like the inside scoop of what to ask your property manager to make sure that, you know, what you're getting out of that service is, is great quality service. So yeah, that kind of stuff is what we are really passionate about over here at Thanksgiving. And we really celebrate the fact that we just did a, we just connected with them. One of our friends who did a state of the industry report for short term rentals that rent responsibly and how a majority of short term rentals are second homes, right? So there's so many people that listen to us or hang out with us because this is, um, a legacy. Uh, property for their family. Like they want to use it sometimes and then they'll offset it by renting it out. And so knowing that that's okay and it's still okay to like run out of room in your home and it's still okay for you to house hack. Like that's how I got started. I lived in my fourplex and rented out the other three units or duplex, whatever. Um, that's okay too. Like that's a great way to do it. There's just so many ways. And so just celebrating all those, all those different lifestyles and how the short term rental can fit within it.

That's awesome. Okay. So you guys have been doing things for visiting for over 7 years now. I caught that. Right. All right. Just confirming that. Okay. And it sounds like it's really heavy on, you know, obviously, you guys cover a lot of stuff, but hospitality and elevating your hospitality, which is what we're going to talk about today. So we were nerding out before the episode started on some numbers and things and we were chatting. And so how many properties do you own and manage in Columbus?

So we are on 34. 34.

Okay. Wow. 34. So you guys are running Columbus. Gotcha. So we were talking beforehand and you guys had mentioned, casually mentioned, I'll say that, that your properties were up year over year by, what was the percentage, or six percent, something like that? I think we're from five to seven

percent.

Five to seven percent. Okay, up five to seven percent. Yeah, whereas I looked it up quickly. That's your insights. And I looked at the revenue from this year and last year as summers because that's your high season in Columbus and Columbus on average is down 5 to 8 percent or we'll call it 8 percent if we're just looking at the average. So if the average is down 8 percent but you guys are up, You know, 5 to 7%. What the heck are you doing differently with 34 different properties, right? Like, I mean, a lot of people are like, well, haven't you saturated yourselves by having so many like offering the same exact experience or like, what are you guys doing differently here?

We are doing several things. As you know, Kenny, like there are different level levers you can pull in the short term rental industry. And that's my favorite part about it. Some of my friends who are in long terms are like, you're crazy because that sounds like a lot of work, but I like it. And so does Annette. Um, but there's so many different levers you can pull. And of course, the first one is being really on top of managing our revenue. Right? Like it's not just about getting in a dynamic pricing software and maybe going in there once a month and not massaging it at all. So being on top of it and trying different strategies when it comes to our rates and making sure like we've been tracking all of our ADR occupancy rev power rates since we started so we can give you historicals. Not that like going that far back is helpful, but going back last year is very helpful and making sure that when we forecast for the next month or three months or six months that we are trying to beat ourselves. So yes, of course we care where we're pacing with the market, but beating ourselves is for us the most important thing that we can focus on. So that's one silo that we are and we have someone who helps us with that. So I'll say that too. Like I, I have someone who that's her job is to make sure that we are, we are winning there. And I think that's very helpful because as hosts, we were a lot of hats. And if you let that slip, that can be, in my opinion, pretty detrimental to your, your success year over year,

I think another thing that We do that's probably different is we have some wiggle room to take some quote unquote risks and push our nightly rate So we are not scared to do that. We see a lot of people panic in Markets and they just drop the price or they just they want to get the booking And so we're actually trying to increase our nightly rate and we've you know Talk about that and are willing to risk maybe not being booked to see if we can push those rates because we are in this for the long term. And so we would rather see how high our nightly rate can go and maybe sit, you know, push it to our booking, knowing what our booking window is and knowing how we can push that. And that is what our revenue manager has really been at. Testing is trying to see, you know, how much we can push our rate higher. And I think we've seen success from that where I can just share. I bet you, there's a lot of, we hear a lot in this market and people are probably dropping their prices instead of being patient and panicking. And so. That is one thing that we want to share is have that patience, like you want to be, we're in this for the long term. So we're not frantic each month and knowing our historicals too has been really, really important. Um, and understanding that also, we

obviously don't want to risk value. Right. So we don't want people to be not happy that they paid a certain amount and they're not getting the value out. So I'm not saying that we just push it for pushing sake and we also don't sacrifice so much occupancy that it actually doesn't make sense. Mm-Hmm. For revenue each month. Mm-Hmm. But, um, we also have some other strategies too, where we do a lot of gap night offers to our guests so people can come early or they can stay a night later. That's been great. We do other, um, we do other fees like pet fees and things of that nature. So like, it's not just the, the nightly rate that helps us stay ahead of the market. And I think a lot of people in our area, they, they don't do that. And then of course there is the hospitality experience side, but I don't want to

keep grabbing. Well, no, I think we, we need to give the secret weapon there of getting amazing reviews and repeat guests and not having to do, cool. Refunds is we have inspectors, Kenny, and we feel like there's a lot of people in the market in the short term rental market that have never even heard what an inspector is because they're like, Oh, yeah, I have a cleaner. And we're like, No, an inspector is completely different than your cleaner. And that inspector really can make sure that you are providing exactly what you told the guests they're going to get. And they'll catch a lot of things ahead of time that you're not having to maybe Right. Offer some sort of refund or sacrifice that five star review, which could then tank your rank. So that is our, one of our secret weapons too, which is an investment in the property, but pays dividends for sure. Having that person on the team.

Let's talk about that. Cause I think that's, that's like one of the key ingredients is having that quality control person that comes in. It was interesting. I was watching a role that she did for you guys. And she was like going into each of the properties or she was going into the property and she was like checking and like she was literally like opening all of the drawers and like straightening things and like doing certain stuff. And I was like, yeah, like cleaners don't do that. You know, like, I, it was like kind of dawned on me like. You know, I have like one of my properties. I have a quality person and they like go check They have like a list of things but they're not like going into the drawers and like, you know Making sure things are straight and and i'm like when I go and check out on these properties myself I'm, like crap like this is wrong Like this is you know, like all these things even though I have a quality person check checking more of the mechanicals of the property and so but there's To elevate the guest experience Um It sounds like, you know, you got to go, this person's got to go literally check everything right or like,

what are your thoughts on that? I obviously we can't take credit for this role like this is widely used in hotels and has been for years. So, um, I used to work in hotels and when I came to Columbus, I was like every other host. They bring 1, 000, 000 hats and there was a couple times where I couldn't inspect the property before the guests checked in and I was growing to the, the, the business, but anyway, and they, of course, they found a hair on the bed, right? And it's probably the cleaner's hair as she's making it right because I'm a, I am a stickler for lint rollers. So the importance of, of just the one hair. What was enough to get someone to respond to me and obviously ruined my day because it broke my heart and I just knew that like I can't risk this anymore. Like I've got to be, I'm also, I've just, we've got to be the best and all those details have to be dialed in. And so I can tell you, our inspector does both mechanical checks and safety checks and guest experience checks and they write handwritten cards. For each guest with their name on it. Right. And we always try to in those cards, say something about why they're coming. So it's not this generic, like, we're so glad you're here. It's like Joan and Bob, like, so glad you're visiting your student, your daughter here at OSU. Since you'll be on high street, you should absolutely check out the guild house. Like the steak is the best. So they're happy hour has a really great glass of, of, you know, wine or whatever it is they feel. And then Bob and Jane come and stay with me. Every time they come and visit their daughter. And so, um, there's a lot of things that I can do there, like save on, on host service fees and things of that nature. So that is what our inspector does. And she does, you know, change the filters and she makes sure, um, that the smoke detector and the fire extinguisher haven't been used or they're not expired. And she does straighten things. We're like, open the curtains to make sure. And then you walk in, like, it's a nice, light, bright space or turn on the porch light. Or lamps in the living room. So when a guest walks in and not walking into this dark space, checking wifi. So when a

guest checks in, they don't have to alert you that wifi was down or the networking stuff like that. That just like they get that second, you know, we say this all the time is that. The cleaner is there to clean and they come into a mountain. I mean, they come into all the sheets, all the towels, all the trash. And so when they leave it, it to them, it is picture perfect, but to the guest, there's a lot of details that need to be dialed in. And that's where the inspector can come in as that second round. Once that first round of just cleaning. Has been done. And that's where I think like a lot of short term rentals just miss on that because Kenny, this is every single before every single check in. It's not like what no offense to you, but like you said, like a quality control. It's like, are they going monthly? Are they going weekly? You know, like how often are they going? There's a difference between every check in versus once a month or quarterly or whatnot.

Right. I mean, I mean, but it, it reflects in the returns of the, the particular investment. Okay. Let me ask you guys a hard question. I'm just thinking like perspective. I'm I'm listening. I try to think of the perspective of the listener. This sounds great. This sounds really cool. Right. You guys have 34 properties. Most people listening maybe have like one to five, right? So like one property. How the heck is someone going to find someone like that and justify the cost of that like quality person at that kind of level?

We got you. We get this question all the time. Number one, it can be your cleaner, okay? But you have to assign them two different roles. Okay, and they need to be clear on there's cleaning the home and inspecting the home. So that is what I want to offer to everybody is make, you know, this is more of a challenge, but this can definitely be done. And it's in the way you communicate that, that there has to be a cleaning done and an inspection done. So we would advise the cleaner cleans the house, they take five minutes, everybody, their crew, everybody's out of the house, they leave, and then they can come back in. So just there, if you're one property and you have, cause we, we talked to so many hosts, like their cleaner is their like ride or die backbone. And it's like, that's fine. But. If you want them to be an inspector, telling them there's a second rule and also compensating them for that, you know, like if they have a team and they're paying their team, maybe it's a little added bonus when they do the inspection. And that's a different checklist than the cleaning checklist. So I do want everybody to understand. Don't stress out. There are options to make, you know, have your cleaner. Just understanding that they're responsible for two different roles and having that conversation and communicate that and see if they're You know if they're in alignment with you to actually do that that second check which is more of an inspection after the clean So that's that's one way

and layering on top of that I'd like to think our message about the inspector is getting out there kenny after these seven years And so if that's the if that's the role you take where your cleaner kind of does the inspection I would still do surprise audits With an inspector, maybe every, every two weeks, every four weeks, because we'll have people come to us. I'm like, I just can't believe that. Like, I only have two wine glasses left and two forks, and I'm supposed to sleep like 18 people. And it's like, well, because then you're not doing audits and you're not checking the quality of that offering. I mean, that is literally your product. Like your product is that you can sleep 16 people and they all 16 people should be able to eat and sleep and drink there safely. So yes, your cleaner can do that and their inspection. But then I do think you have to have a trust, but verify layer that you bring in more often than you probably think you have to do to make sure you have. All the things that it takes to have a great stay. And that's like baseline that you have at least 16 forks, because of course they're going to wash a set. And I'm just giving you like a really detailed example of the things that we think about in our business. Cause of course we have economies of scale when it comes to being able to have Ireland and our team members go through all of our properties for every single step. Then I'll also argue if you're out there and you've got a million dollar property, a couple million dollar property, and you're trying to be more high end, more luxurious. I just would argue that. You really have no business being in that sector. If you can't have someone come in and check the quality of that guest experience, especially if you're if you're a higher end product, I really feel strongly about that. And I'll die on that.

Yeah, we know a lot of luxury property management and they like the inspector role is by far one of their most important roles that is, you know, paid full time. But for us, we can share again going back to that financials. We are very clear with our inspectors. This is part time. It is 1099. You know, you've got to find a special person, but I can share like I did really well finding people that absolutely loved part time. They love 10 to 3 because they were Retired and they wanted to, you know, have slow mornings and coffee, but wanted to work in the afternoon and then be home for, for dinner. So you would be very surprised, put the feelers out there that this part time work during those hours actually works for a lot of people that are looking to either supplement, um, students that you can trust or people that are retired, even people that maybe, um, Stay at home moms or dads that are just looking for stuff like while the kids are at school. So I would be, you know, just want to offer that, that, and once you find somebody like I know they stay on and hopefully when there's a fit, they can stay on for years and, and also letting them know maybe they could grow with you. So that's where I want to like toggle next. Kenny, is this person, the inspector could end up. Maybe messaging guests with you or helping you with other things. So you could supplement with, you know, maybe they're restocking the property, other things that you might be able to layer on to take off of your plate, depending on how much time you personally are spending on the property. So you could also, you know, give them other tasks that make it make more sense for you financially.

I love that. I love that. Okay, so we got the inspector. I think we've gotten that and how important that is. What are some other for you guys? Let's let's migrate to other secret ingredients to providing and elevating the guest experience. So 1 thing I'll maybe guide this a little more. 1 thing I picked up on is you guys are writing personal notes. To the guests, you're, are you also like providing any gifts, welcome gifts or anything like that? Or like, what are your, yeah, tell, let's talk about that.

We don't. So our properties, you know, they're, they range anywhere from Kenny, like a hundred books a night to 175 a night. So it just doesn't make sense for us to buy them a gift. So the handwritten card, which I do have, they're, they're, they're branded. They got a QR code and they had, you know, they can book with us direct next and they come. But that for us was our answer to, Hey, we can't do like, You know, a bottle of wine for every guest or like cute little whatever chocolates or what that yeah, that, that, that money, that math, didn't math, math and math. Okay, so you're getting a handwritten card that is tailored to like your stay. So that's what we do. And that, that makes sense for us. And, and guests talk about it in the review all the time. We offered other things inside the property that aren't so we. And thanks for visiting world. We've called it, we call it the forgot something basket. And this is a basket of things that if you were at a hotel, you could call the front desk and they could bring you up a toothbrush, toothpaste, uh, seasonality. So right now we've got spray, sunscreen and aloe gel and our forgot something baskets along with hairspray and hygiene products and things of that nature. And so that shows up a lot in our reviews too. Honestly, people don't use these items a ton and you've got to make sure that they're stocked and clean because it's the There's nothing worse than picking up a can of hairspray that you're so excited that is there and you forgot to bring and there's nothing in it. So that is something our inspectors help with as well, but that shows up a lot and that's like an investment at one point. And then very slowly you replenish that. But for us with our average daily rate that we have, that makes sense for us.

Okay. I really like that. I think that, um, I like that you guys said that the welcome gifts, like it just, I noticed that too. Like I, I did that at one point and I was like, man, I'm, I'm like spending like 20 bucks, like a person, like, and I'm trying to get this together. And frankly, like no one was really mentioning it in the reviews because it's not personalized. It's just like, here's some like. Free crap, uh, from the city. Like maybe they don't want to like, you know, maybe they're allergic to chocolate or like I was giving them like Buffalo hot wing sauce. Like maybe they don't want that. Like some people are leaving it and you know, it's just like, okay, cool. Like, I don't know what the benefit, the true benefit was here, but the personalized. Things, the cards, the forget me baskets, uh, you know, those kinds of items. Like, I think that's really, really important and definitely I have, I have something like that too, where we have like a, like a stash of items, toothbrushes, all that good stuff that people forget all the time. And Hey, go, go take something from there. And people love that. And that shows up, definitely shows up in the reviews. Anything else, those little little knickknacks or anything that stands out to you guys that you see in the reviews.

Honestly, it's our communication and our presentation. So speaking of like the forgot something basket, I once stayed at a property in Indy and okay, he had a forgot something basket. I'm giving air quotes. It was like this cardboard box that he just threw hotel stuff in every time he traveled so I could go in there and find treasures. So, you know, I, one time I went to Japan for work and. I really took something back from their, their version of hospitality, which is like when they wrap a gift, it is, that is, that is like more as important or not, if not more important than what's inside. And so I think that's how we approach all of our projects is that that presentation is dialed in. So you can do the forgot something basket, but how you present it to your guests, you can do the handwritten card, but how you present it to your guests, how they, their check in process goes, all of that stuff, that packaging. Must be just as important as the mattress they sleep on and how you speak with them before, after, during their stay. So for us, I think that's where people kind of will take advice from us or, or they get an idea, but I just want to remind them, but you've got to be really curated in how you present it to them. And that doesn't really cost money. It's just takes a little bit more of your attention and detail, making sure that it gets repeated after every single stay.

How often are you guys meeting to like figure this stuff out? Like innovating, you know, like I, I, one thing I've learned in this industry is like, you have to constantly be like growing, right? Like you can't just like, it's not set it and forget it. We've learned that with pricing and like how disastrous that has been for a lot of people. Uh, you know, it's not 2021 anymore, but even with hospitality, how are you guys elevating? Your own knowledge and what you're going to provide in the future to maybe even compete or provide better guest experiences.

I mean, well, we meet every day where we see each other. I mean, Sarah and I live in the same town, so we have the pleasure of being able to see each other every day on communicate with team daily. We have our own online membership. So we're, you know, seeing and hearing what's going on all over the country, all over the world daily. And last but not least, we travel. We go to places, we see what's hitting for us. We see what isn't hitting for us. And so I think that part too, is really important of making sure that, and we do a plethora of different stays. We'll stay at, you know, everything from a short term rental to a budget Marriott to a four seasons, you know, and really get to see like, what are some things that could be duplicated maybe at those higher end properties. That, you know, maybe don't fit in our budget, but what can we do, um, to, to mirror that? So I think that's something really important that we do very often. Also,

do you look for Airbnbs like that too? When you go and stay like somewhere like, Hey, wow, this place, it's nice, but they also look like they have some things that we can learn from.

Yeah. Oh, we, yeah, we want to start a whole YouTube show on just like going and rescuing short term because we see it of like, let's just say it. We see, like you said it 2021. We can see that people like enjoy the boom and have not stayed up with their properties. And it's, it's really a disservice to the whole industry because we know people are like, talked about how much money they made during COVID. And it's like, well, you didn't put any of that money back into your property. I think that's something that we see very often is people not reinvesting in their homes. And this is a business and like all of us would look at our P and L and there's a reinvestment either in marketing, there's a reinvestment in, you know, anything, the capital expenditures, there are things that need to be reinvested in. Host skimping on that a lot and letting things that should be replaced, not be not be replaced. And that we can't do that. We can't charge that nightly rate

and not replace Kenny. When we saw you last fall, you and I were talking about just central Ohio and at the Hawking Hills area and you you were looking at because we were looking to buy property and you were looking at other existing Yeah. Operational short term rentals out there. And you brought up one who was like crushing it. And is it okay if I give her a shout out? Is that fine? Her, her, her business is called creative cabins. She's in hills. My husband and I went and stayed there for Christmas two years ago. And when I tell you about the whole, like the package is just as good as the product, like the packaging that she kills it. And like, you proved it by showing us like what her revenue was like, she crushes her competition because Kenny, when you pull in, like she has been in business for years and her grill looks like no one's touched it, but you know, people have, you know what I mean? Like when you open up a drawer, like her, her napkins are like. Carefully like wrapped with a bow, like the attention to detail. Like when you go to plug in your phone, it's not just this like extension cord, which I won't lie. Some of my properties still have that and I'm trying to clean it up. It's not like this like extension cord that's under the bed where you can just reach to it. Cool. Congratulations, Sarah. Like you offered that. Hers is like built into the lamp and it's like so convenient. Like she's thought about everything. I could not find a hair. I mean, she's pet friendly. The landscaping is simple

going around like, where's the

I know nothing. She made me feel like I know nothing. And I was so inspired by staying with her. And if you look at her properties, and I'm saying this with, with kindness, like it's a solid, you know, they're, they're black cabins with like white interiors and wood, like the, it's nothing like, it's not like this thing that's cantilevered off of the side of a mountain with ocean views. But I still talk about that stay to this day because my goodness, I feel taken care of just by how much I know she cared about our check in experience. And so, and she was crushing it revenue wise, like the proof is in the pudding that like she's always booked. Um, we were trying to stay there as a team because we did buy a property out there and we are trying to learn from our competition. We're trying to stay and we can't because she's booked out. Like, yeah. I think your question there is like, you know, do we stay in their properties and learn? And absolutely. You have to be a student every single day.

I think a secret weapon to Sarah's like uncovered and everyone should be using is like with AI, like with chat GPT taking stream. Taking the reviews of other people in your city and kind of seeing what is the thing that people are saying over and over again, like, what could you add to your property that makes financial sense to you? So a lot of times looking at those past reviews of, you know, other people that have stayed in, in your competition. Yeah. And figure out like what, what are people, because it's, it's about what people mention after the stay that I think is noteworthy and matters. And that I don't know where you could fill that in on the SDR insights spreadsheet, but it's interesting of what things there are post stay, what people mention, I think is very, very important to hone in on. And as host, look at your review, like, just don't look at your reviews, but really read into them. And what are you seeing? For instance, this goes back to. Date like daily rates and also who your avatar is. We have someone in our membership. She thought she had a bachelorette house and she went through all of her reviews for the entire year. And it was actually a bachelor house and she was marketing the batch. She changed. So she changed what was going on in the backyard. What was, you know, the way that she was messaging it and she saw an increase in her bookings and an increase in her rate from listening to who's actually booking it. Your stay, you know, I think that's the difference too, is, uh, set it and forget it actually seeing who's staying in the property. Like, why are they staying in the property and bringing that personalization?

And that's business. That's like business one on one, right? Like in our world, we call it, um, message mining. Like we want to talk to our customer and, um, what words do they use? Like, what do they care about? It's the same thing with our guests and they could tell us. A lot of times publicly via the review or in a private messages or whatever. And so you can talk to your past guests and get from them, like, what do they love? What can we improve? We actually just had a guest who she stays with all the time, but I actually stopped her because I saw her at our property. And I was like, Kelly, I feel like you've been saying with us so often you, there has to be something that annoys you in there. Like, what could I improve? Because I'm always looking to up something. And she was like, you know what? In unit B, it would be great if you had, um, blinds in the kitchen window. And I was like, You got it. I can do that. You know what I mean? Like you just gotta like sometimes stop and like reassess your business. And yes, you want to look forward always, but also looking back and what can you learn from that, I think is helpful.

I really like that. Okay. These are all really good things. What other are there any other key ingredients you guys feel like help elevate the guest experience?

So I told you that we always try to beat ourselves. So I think this might be helpful to for everyone. Here, we manage two multifamily units that are just down the road from each other. I'm talking like two blocks and they're both one bed, one bath homes with washer and dryer in unit. I manage both of them. So it's the same cleaning team, same customer service team, same maintenance team, pretty much same geographic area. Like we're, we're local here and we would say they're the same. Okay. One makes 20 percent more on average than the other consistently. I also designed both of them. Like we also were a part of the design process for both of them. So quality material there's up to date that we bought the furniture from the same, not the same place, but the same vibe in terms of like, so that's the same, same silverware same.

Actually the one that gets 20 percent more has a worse parking situation because it's off street parking, not assigned. The other one has. Okay. Free off street parking, which is very valuable in this area. So just to note, they actually are low, like they're making more, even though

that would be a reason not to. That's true. To book it True. Okay. That is a big difference. But they make more. So the only thing that we see is because the one that's making more Kenny was branded as we call it, the Elizabeth, because that was the first owner. It was a woman. And so what we did was we made each of the units to fourplex. Historically after a woman in history. So we have the stevie the amelia the etta and when you walk in those units like it feels like stevie nicks in there You know and it's not overly done Um, but it's it's classy but and people like being a part of that I mean, I don't think they're like searching on airbnb for like, you know a female focus like short term rental or anything like that, but when they read the description like Welcome to the Elizabeth. Like you're staying in the Stevie and just a little bit about like how it has this like rocker feel to it, but it's, it's elegant. And it's just a fun thing to be a part of it. That branding. Cause sometimes you think branding and you're like, well, I have a brand name and I've got like the name of my, my business. And like, everything is like,

Sorry. I just need that like all over the place, like that, like they spell house, like H A U S. Yes. Yes.

Yes. People love it. A German. Yes. You've got to go a little bit deeper than that, right? There has got to be something people can be a part of. So I always use that that fourplex. I'm like, what can I do without going too far off? You know, I don't want to overspend either. The math has to math in terms of like, we can't be, we can't have hot tubs at our downtown Columbus. I specialize in one bed, one bath. Like, that's what I do. And so what, what can we do with it?

What's interesting, though, is what you're talking about is providing Elevating the guest experience, but you're, you're literally doing that like your Airbnb is all about people are sure they're booking a place to stay and to sleep, but they typically like, I mean, you can get that at a hotel, so it's going to be different about booking a 1 bedroom on bath, which is what a hotel also offers to and it's the experience. So if I'm going to Columbus, Ohio, and I want to stay somewhere, you know, like, and feel like a part of Columbus, Ohio, um, you know, that, that property is going to stand out and it's like, wow, I can stay somewhere cool and learn something too, I guess, at the same time. Um, and stay somewhere nice and get a better experience than just like going to a boring, like Marriott, you know what I mean? So I think, I think that's, yeah, exactly right. So it sounds like that property stands out on its own. Like booking the branding, the pictures, the listing, all that stuff is really what separates it.

Yeah. Another example that we didn't do, but we'll give Sergio a shout out. Um, the jungle house. He's one of our competitors. He's incredible. He's got the jungle house. He's got live plants and a lot of them in his units. And like, that's his brand and people freaking love it. Like they love it. Um, He's crushing it. He's crushing it. So just like it doesn't have to be this like intricate thing, right?

It doesn't have to be pickleball courts and hot tubs. And, you know, again, it's, it's know your market too. Um, and know, and know your properties that you're, you're working with. And those things are an investment, but not a giant, you know, ongoing reoccurring monthly investments over and over.

Yeah, I think that people would do well going on like Pinterest and like looking at different, not necessarily Airbnb's, but like different ideas around the city of different things, like historic things or just whatever represent to get ideas going. A lot of people want to copy like, uh, although we just said Annette about like the pickleball courts, like, it's like, Pickleball courts are, you know, like expensive. They're 20 to even up to 60, 000 and if you have a one bedroom, two or three, it really doesn't even make any sense. Like period, you know, um, or just like over amenitizing everything, over designing decor, everything. It's, it's stupid, frankly, like it's irresponsible, like as an investor, you know, it's, it's more of like a preference at that point. So understanding, you know, investing in the right things, which we've, I've done a whole episode on this already, but, but understanding like who your guest avatar is and how you can elevate their experience, I think is key and like, but the biggest thing I took away and I, and I love, and it kind of all goes back to what we were talking about earlier. Is presentation, so not just like the napkins and things too. I think that's part of it. Even your branding the list, it all starts when they book, right? Or like, when they're listed looking on Airbnb or property. So that's a, that's a really, really critical ingredient to this. So I like it. This is this is really cool. So I'm just gonna I'm just like connecting the dots here and I'm like spewing the connections out. So I could

talk all day about the words you use with your guests. Like we have yes words and no words like we it's it. You're right. It starts way before they even enter the property. It starts at the listing. It starts at like you being your own walking, talking billboard for yourself and trickles down into your business. And yes, that's a lot. But I think it makes a difference.

Yeah, this is okay. Great. This has been really helpful. So as we wrap up here, a couple of things, number one, I ask every guest is now it doesn't have to be all what we talked about can be about anything and you guys are full of tips. What's one big tip that you can help, uh, that you could give to our listeners to cashflow positive on their short term rentals. You gotta pick one.

Track your historicals.

Okay. Why is that? Elaborate.

Because I'm always trying to beat myself. So yes, yes, I care about, and I'm not gonna lie to you, Kenny, like talking to you I'm very nervous because I'm like, okay, this is like the data and science guy and we're probably more the art, we're more the art people, but beating myself and how, and hey, if I'm flat. Yeah. Yeah. Why? And what can I do to like now I'm now I'm going in and listen to my guests, like what they said, whatever, so that I can I need to beat myself from last time last year. Um, and I know that I can. And then, of course, if I can't, then I look at, like, the more the bigger picture, like, do you sell whatever? But we bought good properties. They were good buys. There's no reason I can't keep leveling up. And so if I know what I did and where I've been, I can help myself get to where I want to go. And then I can bring in the art of like, okay, do I need to put a story in this property somehow? Um, that's my tip. Did you? My

tip is if you look at your calendar right now and you do not have time calendared where you are reviewing your numbers. You need to check yourself. That is something we tell everybody like you have got to have time every single month on your calendar to review and then to forecast and just take that time. And that is you. That is your real estate partner, your life partner, your bookkeeper, whoever that is, because we talked to so many hosts that do not know their numbers and they, and I'm the first thing I ask is like, well, when do you do this? And they have nothing. It's not on their calendar at all in the, in the past or in the future. So I implore everyone. Have that time on your calendar to for your short term rental to review the numbers

every month

at least Minimum every month, but if you can look at it every week, i'm gonna what you focus on, you know expand So that'll be your profit your profit. Yeah,

I think everybody listening here The reason I really like sarin and net, um, obviously they give really good advice, but it's very much treating, they're treating everything as a business, right? Like there, they have these really good, you know, Sarah, you're being too, um, you know, critical of yourself, but like you're artsy, but Man, you're on top of your numbers. You are also a numbers person too. You can be both. And, um, a lot of, you have to be both. You have to be higher

or higher. Like I can't, I won't lie to you. It's not me, like digging into my historicals all the time. Cause I would gloss over Kenny. I don't know how you do what you do, but I do know that I can't afford not to have a person like that on my team.

Right. So, yeah, no, I think like if you, if you don't have someone on your team, that means you have to do it yourself. Right. You either hire someone or you do it yourself, but you have to do that element of it, that, that is a piece of it. And the people listening, I'm assuming most of them, most of them, I know some who aren't, but like, it's like one or one side or the other, and you know what your glaring weakness is and that's why you have to have like your yin and yang. You got to bring in, if you're numbers oriented, you got to bring it. Like I am like, I don't design crap. If someone was like, Hey, what color should this wall behind you be? I'm like, I don't know. It needs to be a color. Like, I don't know, like, what do you think it should be the color, you know? Um, don't ask me that, but I know it should be a color, right? Like, it needs to be painted. And so, but, you know, in terms of, like, ROI of designing decor, I could sit down and break everything down. So, but I look for my Yang when I'm going into the short term rental stuff in terms of complimenting what I feel weekend, because I know that this is a business and you have to do those things. And so, yeah, this has been super good. Thank you guys. So as we wrap up here, obviously you guys provide some really good content and you help people out. You guys hosted an amazing conference last year, and there's talks of one next year. I don't know what I'm supposed to say or not say, but anyway, maybe we'll see. Uh, I'll let you guys figure that out and announce it when you're ready. Um, but how do people get in contact or learn more about what you guys do? Obviously, you have your podcast. Thanks for visiting. We got that one, but, but tell us, tell us more. How do people get in touch with you guys?

Yeah. I hang out on our, our digital real estate. Thanks for visiting. com and there you can message us. You can, we have, we have a lot of fun on Instagram and YouTube and like, yeah, we definitely think a fun approach to sharing our experiences, short term rentals, but thanks visiting. com is where you could find us.

Yep. Yeah. And also follow them on Instagram. What's your Instagram handling and is it thanks

for visiting underscore underscore underscore at the end. We'll pop up

first. Yeah, you'll pop up first. Yeah. Not not all the scammers. I like copy your page, right?

Yeah.

That's funny. Cool. Well, thank you, sir. And Annette, thank you for being on. I hope everyone enjoyed this episode because I personally did it and I'm about to pick up the phone and call someone and get some quality better. So I learned a lot of things here. Take action, learn from these people. Um, and if you enjoyed their stuff, please, please, please go check out their podcast as well. They've got over 400 episodes and I'm buried in one of them. So if you can find that one, then good for you. I'm Kenny Bedwell. I hope you guys enjoyed this episode and I'll see you on the next episode of Cashflow Possible.

All right. So there you have it. Our interview with Kenny Bedwell. I think you should add Cashflow Positive Podcast to your lineup of podcasts that you listen to. It's really great podcast. I love listening to the data side of our industry. I think it's really important to stay on top of how everyone else is using data to make smart decisions. And I just really like Kenny. He's just a cool dude. All right. With that, I am Sarah Karakaian. I'm Annette Grant, and together we are Thanks for visiting. Talk to you next time.