Do you wish your Airbnb brought in more income? Have you ever worried that your management company isn’t doing the right things for your listing and cashflow?

If this sounds familiar, you need to tune into Episode 19 of the Host Coach Airbnb Investing Podcast! Today we’re talking with an Airbnb investor who had the same concerns with her first place, made a few changes, and almost DOUBLED her income!

Topics discussed in this episode:

• The easiest way to boost your Airbnb revenue
• The best questions to ask a potential Airbnb management company
• How listing your short-term rental across multiple platforms affects reviews & bookings
• How to create an Airbnb support team in a location far from your home

Host Coach Airbnb Podcast Episode 19 Show Notes:

We're here with Tracy, a lovely member of the host coach community. We met over social media after she read our book and reached out. Tracy is a mom, foster parent, volunteer employee, basically all the things. And on top of that, she's also a host of two Airbnbs. And so today, we'd like to go on Tracy's journey as a new Airbnb investor.

Tracy, let's start with how did you get into Airbnb investing?

Well, I actually had an interest in generally investing in real estate from childhood. My parents were a teacher and a motel manager, but they had a lot of successful sort of side hustles in real estate, so I always admired that and thought I might wanna get into it in the future.

But it wasn't until my late forties that the time seemed right to consider real estate investing. So I took a little class online, learned about a lot of different strategies, and what most appealed to me was the short term rental market. So with Airbnb, my learning actually came after I purchased a second home for our family to use. And my investigating of how I could possibly parlay that into my own Airbnb

That's not uncommon.

Right! So I bought this home for us to enjoy and I was hoping to rent it to others, to defray our cost, and then became interested in possibly, self-managing my Airbnb rather than having someone else do it, as well as possibly adding more to my short-term rental portfolio.

When you started, you weren't self-managing. Is that correct?

Exactly. M first purchase was in Panama City Beach, Florida. And I'm living in the Atlanta, Georgia area. I had only been in Panama City Beach for three days prior to making an offer on this condo. So I really didn't know anyone in Panama City Beach. I didn't have a team there such as a cleaning team, handyman, or plumber. I didn't know how I could possibly do it myself without knowing the community.

That makes a lot of sense. So that led you to start with the property management company?

Exactly. I began interviewing property management companies in the local area, and I just selected the one I thought was the best fit

That worked out well for a while. Or so I thought.

The Trouble with Property Management Companies

How did that change? Well, it worked out as far as I liked the people I was working with, and I felt like they had high integrity. But, the property was operating at a loss.

Part of my issue with the management company in terms of perhaps not performing as well financially is that I noticed they actually had me on about 20 rental platforms.

And that initially seemed great to me because I thought more eyes equals more dollars. But I later learned that that might not be true. And it also created a situation where the few reviews I was getting would be spread across multiple platforms and people who went on one single platform weren't really seeing very many reviews. So they maybe lacked confidence in my property or my company that was hosting it.

Airbnb Management Company Advice

We hear that a lot. So listeners learn from Tracy, If you're working with a management company, ask to be on minimal platforms. We sole source on Airbnb. But If you're If you're Not going to be like us, at least trim it down to one or two platforms so you get the most reviews and the most traction on those platforms to be able to book more of your nights in cash flow positively.

For hosts that aren't using a management company. Focus on winning on one platform to concentrate all your reviews.

I actually had only one experience with, an Airbnb that was hosted through a management company. And I won't say the name because I'm kind, and I was incredibly underwhelmed by the communications just because of how much we communicate. And I'm curious, Tracy, did you have any problems with communications through your company or were you really happy with what they were doing?

I initially wasn't totally clear on even what they were communicating to my guests because it wasn't transparent to me , but then when I had some family coming into town, we were going to celebrate Thanksgiving where my condo was located.

So, we needed to rent a few other units in the same building. I went on my own property manager's site and booked one of the properties for my relative. So essentially I was receiving the guest communication directly because I was sort of a guest and I was astounded at the minimal communication coming from them.

In fact, I felt it was upsetting that the way to get in was through a smart lock. And so the door code was crucial information to have yet they didn't send that until two hours before check-in. That made me very uncomfortable because coming from, where my family members were coming from, you would have to depart for the location without even knowing how you'd get in.

That would be stressful. Were they able to fix that for you?

Once that happened, I asked could they please send me all the communication they were sending to my guests. I then thought, I can polish this up and I can put some different parameters on it to make it more successful. But they were not open to my ideas or, making any changes. They just said they have a standard message for guests.

Frustrating. Oh my goodness. All right. So how much money or what percentage of profit were you paying the management company to "sort of message" your guests?

I was paying them 20%. And that was definitely on the low end in the ballpark of Panama City Beach. Rental management companies would basically be charging somewhere between 20 and 25%, so it seemed reasonable. Yet I didn't think they were doing their job with excellence.

Okay. So you decided to do it yourself in-house, your management. Do you feel like you're now doing a better job than that management company? I read about nine real estate related books. They were not all about Airbnb, but I would say your book gave me a roadmap that I feel like most people could follow and. Using that , I've been able to be so much more successful, both with obtaining good guest reviews, getting much higher occupancy, and then therefore getting more money in my pocket.

Building an Airbnb Dream Team

What did you do in that transition period from having the management company? You didn't just cold switch over, did you? Did you alleviate some of your initial concerns?Exactly. I initially did hire them because I just didn't have the resources or the connections in Panama City Beach. So during the time when they were managing, I used that as a time to collect information and to make connections that would help me be successful if I decided to self-manage. I started building my team. I was lucky that our building did have an owner's group on social media. So I was able to communicate with other owners and also just view what other people were saying. So if someone said, I need a plumber, ASAP, who do you recommend? I would had a little notebook where I would start, collecting names of plumbers and collecting names of who was recommended to deep clean the unit and things like that.

I wouldn't call that lucky - I'd call that ingenious. You're building your team remotely, which is something we all have to do, and good on you for finding a group to make that even easier.

I feel like even if there wasn't such a group, because actually you alluded to that, I have two Airbnbs now, and the second one, I don't have an owner group, but there are many community groups. So I was able to join just groups about that community , and get a lot of the same information.

Scaling to Two Airbnb Investment Properties

How long did it take from going from self-managing your first beach condo to invest in the second property?

I bought my condo about two and a half years ago, and I'm actually about to hit the exact one year anniversary of being able to self-manage that condo.

So for about 18 months I had the management company do the management. And then about one year ago I launched, which actually was awesome timing for a beach condo to come on the scene with a new Airbnb listing March one. Heading into high season, and I also somewhat lucked out. My cabin launched August one . So that was a nice time to launch at the very beginning of the fall to get good momentum on the Airbnb plaform!

Generating Cash Flow from Self Managing Airbnb Investments

So you scaled pretty quickly from self-managing that first condo to investing in this second cabin! You mentioned that you were saving 20% on the expense of the property management company. Were you also able to increase your overall cash flow and earnings?

I was really just trying to self-manage to recoup that 20% I was spending. But, using your strategies allowed me not only to get that 20% I was hoping to get, but I am almost doubling my money that's flowing into my bank account.

So by following a few of our systems and firing your management company you have almost doubled your income from the property?!

A hundred percent!

That makes me so happy, and that you got to the second property so quickly, that excites me.

The Life-Changing Impact of Airbnb Cash Flow

Has it impacted your life, this new cash flow? Are you doing things a little bit differently with your family?

I'm excited because I feel like I'm setting my husband and I up for success in our retirement! We're both in our fifties and I was thinking retirement was more like 15 plus years away. My husband recently expressed, that he might want to retire a little bit earlier. So, I think that having two Airbnb properties and we're hoping to scale up to between four and six will be an amazing addition to our life. It will allow us to live the lifestyle that we want!

I have four children. Two of them have flown from our nest. One is in Brooklyn, New York, another is in Richmond, Virginia. The other two are in college. I feel like with my kids spreading across the country, this income will allow us to visit them more. It will allow us to make those connections with our kids and grandkids over time, despite being spread across the country... because we have less worries about financially affording the travel.

I feel that having this beginning of a portfolio of Airbnb properties is already blessing us. It also has a great value going forward to help us live the life that we were hoping to live with our children and family.

Airbnb Management Company Advice

What advice would you give listeners who are brand new to Airbnb investing in regards to using a management company? What do you wish you had known?

If I were to give advice to someone starting using a management company, I'd probably start by advising them to not sign a contract that is very long term, especially if they're considering possibly doing it on their own so that they wouldn't be contractually obligated to someone else.

Then when you're interviewing the company, get to know their processes, not just their big talk about all the profits they're going to give you spreading your listing on 20 platforms and getting so many eyeballs on it. But, really understanding that that might not be the best.

You mentioned, even if you did use the property management company asking them to do sole sourcing on either Airbnb or vrbo. Or perhaps both, but I would think I'm with you that just pick one. And then getting to know what their systems are and seeing if they would let you speak into it.

Because I think some philosophies and systems could be sort of grafted back onto the management company if they were willing to be open and flexible. And if they are not open and flexible at all, then maybe keep interviewing to choose another company

That's awesome.

Thank you so much, Tracy. I really appreciate you sharing your journey, being authentic and helping us explore what it's like to have a management company, because we've never done that before.

It's my pleasure

We're super excited for you and we can't wait to circle back in a couple years and hear how many you have in the portfolio and all the cool stuff you're doing with your family. Thanks for being a member of the Host Coach community!

So there you have it! You now know how Tracy took over the management of her Airbnb and almost doubled her income! You also learned her hack for how to build an Airbnb support team remotely, and why having your listing on 20 platforms is a serious no-no!

Looking to fast-track your success? Tune in to the Host Coach Airbnb Podcast. Every episode is designed to help you and your clients overcome a specific obstacle and truly succeed as Airbnb investors!

We also wrote an Airbnb investing book to help guide you through the process quickly and efficiently. Feel free to download it on Amazon or listen on Audible!