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569. Why Self-Managing Changed Everything for This Airbnb Host · Thanks For Visiting

1:05
Sarah Karakaian: Hello.
1:05
Sarah Karakaian: Welcome back to another great episode.
1:06
Sarah Karakaian: My name is Sarah Karakaian.
1:09
Annette Grant: I'm Annette Grant, and together we are...
1:12
Annette and Sarah: Thanks for Visiting.
1:13
Sarah Karakaian: All right.
1:13
Sarah Karakaian: Today's episode, we're bringing in one of our strategic hosts.
1:17
Sarah Karakaian: Her name is Allie White, and you guys are gonna love this story, 'cause it starts out kind of like a lot of horror movies do.
1:25
Annette Grant: Yeah, like, "Girl, you're still in real estate?
1:27
Annette Grant: Bless you."
1:27
Sarah Karakaian: Bless you.
1:29
Sarah Karakaian: Allie White is the owner and self-manager of Serenity Cabin in Wintergreen, Virginia.
1:35
Sarah Karakaian: She is passionate about questioning assumptions, and you're gonna learn why in the first, like, few minutes of our interview with her.
1:42
Sarah Karakaian: Optimizing operations and relentlessly improving the guest experience.
1:46
Sarah Karakaian: When she's not working on Serenity Cabin, she's usually learning something new.
1:52
Sarah Karakaian: Currently, and you saw this in the background, uh, when we were interviewing her, she's currently learning piano or getting lost in a good book or spending time with her family.
2:01
Sarah Karakaian: But I think what I really want you to embrace as you're listening to Allie's story is her relentless energy to never give up and to always push her own limits.
2:14
Annette Grant: And for those of you that don't pay attention to your booking window.
2:19
Sarah Karakaian: Yeah.
2:20
Annette Grant: I want you to really lean in and listen to how her understanding her booking window has increased her revenue significantly during the off-season.
2:31
Sarah Karakaian: During the off-season.
2:32
Annette Grant: So we only, we can only imagine what's gonna happen during her busy season.
2:36
Sarah Karakaian: But we will link to her direct booking website in the show notes.
2:39
Sarah Karakaian: Please go check her out.
2:40
Sarah Karakaian: Please go show her some love, and let's get into her story.
2:45
Sarah Karakaian: Allie, welcome to the show.
2:47
Sarah Karakaian: We're so excited to share your story.
2:50
Sarah Karakaian: So can you take us back to right before hosting?
2:54
Sarah Karakaian: How did you get into hosting?
2:57
Sarah Karakaian: Or, or is there anything else that you were, you, you were doing a different career?
3:00
Sarah Karakaian: Or walk us through that.
3:03
Allie White: Um, yeah.
3:04
Allie White: So right before, um, we have actually been in real estate for a while.
3:10
Allie White: When I first bought my townhouse in 2011, um, I kinda fell in love with real estate.
3:16
Allie White: I just, I got such a good deal and, um, I got really fascinated in the whole thing and planned on whenever I bought my next one that I would rent that one out.
3:25
Allie White: Um, I used an FHA loan, and when I married my husband, I had him, um, get a duplex with his FHA loan, 'cause I know you can only get one per person.
3:34
Allie White: So, um, we ended up moving into that house and rented out the basement.
3:38
Allie White: It was a, um, top/bottom duplex.
3:40
Allie White: And, um, that went great, and then we ended up moving back into the townhouse and renting out both sides, and we 1031ed that into another property, and that was, like, close to a uh, VCU, and we're in Richmond,
3:56
Allie White: and, uh, so college students and everything.
3:58
Allie White: And that was not a great experience.
4:02
Allie White: So it's actually what kind of led to all this.
4:05
Allie White: So we, we had bought that house, and I had a property manager.
4:09
Allie White: And, you know, on paper and on the phone she sounded great, and she was gonna handle everything.
4:15
Allie White: Um, and then as time went on, uh, that was not the case, and we didn't really realize it until COVID, because it had become vacant, and we were taking that opportunity to do some work on the house, and,
4:30
Allie White: you know, I said it needs new carpeting and some other things.
4:34
Allie White: So we ended up going to check on it one day, and just imagine pulling up to your house and every door is unlocked or open, and you walk inside and it's clear that homeless people have been living there.
4:49
Allie White: Um, there was nothing that we had bought was where it was supposed to be.
4:54
Allie White: They had said the carpet was done, the paint was done.
4:56
Allie White: There were paint buckets just, like, dumped.
5:00
Allie White: There was rolled up carpet that a dog had, like, gotten into.
5:04
Allie White: Um, it was, you know, cigarette burns and drugs and, I mean, you name it.
5:10
Allie White: It was a disaster.
5:11
Allie White: So it stressed us out and, um.
5:16
Annette Grant: You just stressed, you just stressed Sarah out.
5:18
Sarah Karakaian: Yeah, I'm very stressed out right now.
5:19
Sarah Karakaian: Okay.
5:20
Allie White: Yeah.
5:20
Allie White: It, it was a nightmare.
5:22
Allie White: So, um, after getting rid of the property manager, it was, you know, reevaluating what do we wanna do.
5:31
Allie White: Um, I didn't think I could manage a property, and, uh, as much as I like real estate and everything, I just had a lot of other things going on and, um, so we were trying to figure out what
5:43
Allie White: to do.
5:44
Allie White: And we ended up, uh, luckily there was a builder nearby who, um, we bought the house and then they leased it back from us, and that was a really nice stopgap because it's a lot less stressful because they
5:57
Allie White: obviously wanna take care of the property because they're trying to sell you know, more properties in the area.
6:03
Allie White: So that got us through for a few months, um, but then the lease was gonna be up, so we were gonna sell it, and when you do a 1031, you only have a certain amount of time until you,
6:15
Allie White: you know, can name another property.
6:16
Allie White: And this is right, this is 2022, when everyone decided to buy houses, 'cause the rates were low and, you know.
6:24
Allie White: So we're looking, and I had thought about a short-term rental, and I was thinking, you know, I like how, um, we don't have to worry about evictions, um, and maybe we could use it, you know, when it's not
6:38
Allie White: rented.
6:39
Allie White: There were just a lot of pros to it, it seemed like.
6:41
Allie White: So we were looking in, uh, Wintergreen area, because we vacationed in, um, nearby, uh, like the valley.
6:49
Allie White: And, uh, 'cause Wintergreen's a mountain, um, area.
6:53
Allie White: Near us it's like a ski area.
6:55
Allie White: And, um, we love Nelson County because you have the views and there's, um, Route 151 that's full of, um, wineries and cideries, and, um, it's just a really pretty, peaceful place to stay.
7:08
Allie White: And so I was thinking, you know, that's a perfect match.
7:11
Allie White: Why don't we, if we're gonna get a short-term rental, why don't we try over there?
7:14
Allie White: So that was kind of stressful, because everyone's buying over there.
7:18
Allie White: So we had trouble naming properties because they were just getting snapped up left and right.
7:22
Allie White: Um, we did finally find the one, and then, you know, and even beforehand I was interviewing property managers, 'cause again, I did not think I could manage a property, especially a short-term, 'cause that's even more work, you know?
7:34
Allie White: So, um, I was having a hard time finding a property manager.
7:38
Allie White: Ended up going with pretty much the most well-known one there that charged the most.
7:44
Allie White: Um, I got comps from them.
7:46
Allie White: I had a lot of discussions.
7:47
Allie White: They seemed to really know what they were doing.
7:49
Allie White: Um, I assumed that, uh, they would take really good care of our house.
7:56
Allie White: And so we put it, you know, on the market, and they're managing it.
7:59
Allie White: And, um, yeah, it was about 16,000, I think, that they pulled in, and we were just bleeding money.
8:09
Allie White: I mean, it was not what we anticipated at all.
8:13
Allie White: Like, so much less than what we were expecting.
8:15
Allie White: Um, so we kept.
8:17
Sarah Karakaian: Were you expecting, were you expecting an amount that they told you to expect?
8:20
Allie White: Yes.
8:21
Allie White: So they had said, you know, other three bedroom, two baths, um, were doing at least 40.
8:28
Allie White: And, um.
8:30
Sarah Karakaian: A year.
8:30
Allie White: Which didn't...
8:31
Allie White: Yeah, which didn't match some of the market research I had done.
8:34
Allie White: It was a little bit extra.
8:36
Allie White: But I thought, well, that's because they're so good.
8:38
Allie White: Yeah.
8:38
Allie White: And they know what they're doing.
8:40
Allie White: So, um, so then, um, we finally get to the point where, we're just, you know, my husband had had to take a pay cut during COVID.
8:52
Allie White: Um, so we're paying two mortgages and it's just, you know, we only have so much that we can keep footing into this and not getting anything out.
9:00
Allie White: So, um, we were considering selling.
9:03
Allie White: We ended up talking to the realtor and putting it on the market temporarily.
9:07
Allie White: And because since we bought it, it had kind of all of a sudden the market had cooled and we, you know, we had just owned it for like two years, so we weren't gonna get what we had put
9:17
Allie White: into it.
9:18
Allie White: And so we only let it sit for a couple months.
9:20
Allie White: And then I said, "You know what?
9:22
Allie White: What's the worst that can happen?
9:24
Allie White: Let me try and see how it goes if I manage it."
9:28
Allie White: And I was so nervous to do it.
9:30
Allie White: Um, but I was more nervous to lose money.
9:34
Allie White: So, um, I ended up doing it myself and I'd, so I didn't even list it that, uh, year to rent until mid, mid to end of August.
9:45
Sarah Karakaian: And what year was this again?
9:46
Sarah Karakaian: Just so we're...
9:47
Sarah Karakaian: What year was this that you decided to take over?
9:49
Allie White: So this was, 'cause I'm coming up on two years, um, so 2024.
9:54
Allie White: Um.
9:54
Sarah Karakaian: Okay.
9:55
Sarah Karakaian: You bought it in 2022.
9:55
Allie White: August.
9:57
Allie White: Yeah.
9:57
Allie White: And August is.
9:59
Sarah Karakaian: They managed it for two years.
10:00
Allie White: Yeah, they managed it.
10:00
Allie White: And then, yeah, we had it on the market.
10:02
Annette Grant: And they mismanaged it.
10:02
Sarah Karakaian: Yeah.
10:03
Allie White: Yeah.
10:04
Allie White: So it was, yeah, end of August that I listed it.
10:07
Allie White: And, um, so another thing that I'd done previously that helped, um, me kind of get going with this was I had been selling on Amazon.
10:16
Allie White: I did like retail arbitrage.
10:18
Allie White: And I knew about dynamic pricing from that.
10:21
Allie White: And, um, I also just kind of assumed that was probably what they were doing.
10:28
Allie White: Um, again, don't assume.
10:30
Allie White: So, um, when I 'cause so anyway, so I had a friend who was, um, who had a short-term rental and I was asking him what dynamic pricing he used, and he said, "What?
10:43
Allie White: I don't use dynamic pricing."
10:45
Allie White: And I'm thinking, "Really?"
10:47
Allie White: So, I, it surprised me, but so I knew enough just kind of common sense from other businesses and stuff I've been in that there probably exists a software, and I found PriceLabs.
10:57
Allie White: So I did some dynamic pricing and, um, I already...
11:02
Allie White: It, it made so much more just from August to December than they had made in, like, an entire year.
11:09
Sarah Karakaian: Wow.
11:09
Allie White: And to, another point I wanna make, 'cause I think a lot of people think to make more money you need to add amenities, you need to, um, you know, change up your décor.
11:22
Allie White: You know, some of that stuff is just like you have to do that to make money.
11:25
Allie White: That is not true.
11:26
Allie White: Because my house, it was the exact same house that they had, the property management company had.
11:31
Allie White: I did not add any amenities.
11:32
Allie White: I didn't change the décor.
11:34
Allie White: Everything was the same except me and the operations.
11:37
Allie White: So adding in the dynamic pricing, um, I implemented a few other things.
11:43
Allie White: You know, I was making sure my cleaner could get there for one-night stays, um, and...
11:50
Allie White: 'Cause they, they didn't allow one-night stays, my property management company.
11:54
Allie White: So that opened up more income as well.
11:57
Allie White: And, um, I mean, while, while I'm on that topic as so much of this kind of comes back to, um, me assuming things, um, when, for anybody who's listening, I think, you know, if you haven't ever managed a
12:11
Allie White: property before and you assume there's so much work involved and there's no way you can do it, um, and that someone else who has a huge property management company can do it better than you, do not assume that
12:21
Allie White: because that was not the case for me.
12:24
Allie White: And, um, I think some of the other assumptions, um, that I had were that if I allowed pets that they were gonna cause a lot of damage and headache, um, you know, that more than it was worth, and
12:40
Allie White: I was worried about protecting my asset.
12:42
Allie White: And that was another thing that when I was, when I took over I said I'm just gonna allow pets and we're gonna see what happens.
12:49
Allie White: I implemented a, um, pet fee and got a cleaner who was willing to do that.
12:53
Allie White: So I implemented that.
12:55
Allie White: I also, um, offered early check-in, late check-out.
13:02
Allie White: I know some people think that's gonna be a stressful thing, but I was able to figure out what worked for me, and, um, that added a lot of extra cash, too.
13:11
Allie White: And so, yeah, by, I mean, by the end of the first year, just those few months, I did 25,000.
13:18
Allie White: Um, and I was thinking, "Okay, so I'm not as bad at it as I thought I was going to be," um, and just went all in.
13:28
Allie White: And so then August last year, I kind of revamped everything, because I had to start from scratch all over again.
13:35
Allie White: My, uh, listing was taken down because, um, my friend who had the Airbnb had let me list on his as a co-host, 'cause he was thinking that would boost me in the algorithm, and, um, 'cause he's a super
13:52
Allie White: host.
13:53
Allie White: And he said, you know, and originally he was thinking he was gonna help me manage it, but he didn't.
13:57
Allie White: I did everything.
13:58
Allie White: So a year later I'm like, "Oh, I, you know, I'd like to move it over," and he was told by Airbnb you could do that.
14:06
Allie White: You can't do that, spoiler alert.
14:07
Allie White: Oh, no.
14:08
Annette Grant: Oh, no.
14:09
Allie White: So, um, so I lost all of my reviews and everything, and had to start all over from scratch again a year after starting.
14:17
Sarah Karakaian: So they hidden...
14:17
Sarah Karakaian: They delisted it and there was no coming back?
14:19
Sarah Karakaian: They would not let you wait it out?
14:21
Allie White: They, well, so they didn't, I guess I, I, I worded that wrong.
14:25
Allie White: So they didn't delist it.
14:26
Allie White: What happened was my friend, um, said that I owed him 10% in arrears for having it on his listing even though he never did anything.
14:35
Allie White: So I said, "Well, we don't have anything in writing."
14:38
Allie White: Um, and I'm.
14:40
Annette Grant: Oh, no
14:40
Allie White: you know, he said, "I'm gonna del-"
14:42
Annette Grant: You, you, you delisted yourself from being associated with him.
14:44
Allie White: Yeah.
14:44
Allie White: He said, you know, "I'm gonna delete it."
14:46
Annette Grant: That was worth it.
14:46
Annette Grant: That was worth it.
14:46
Allie White: And yeah, so I just started over, and I, you know, now I know it, it needs to be in my name anyway.
14:52
Allie White: Like, um, so started from scratch, and that time, uh, I can be very all or nothing.
15:00
Allie White: I decided to do everything at once.
15:02
Allie White: So I, um, implemented all of the softwares that, um, I would need to make sure I could run it professionally.
15:12
Allie White: So I had a PMS.
15:13
Allie White: I made sure it was uh, integrated with VRBO, Airbnb, had a direct booking site.
15:19
Allie White: Um, the dynamic pricing, the, um, HappyGuest is the, um, software that I use that, um, people can get early check-in, late checkout, damage waivers, um, that kind of stuff, the ID check.
15:34
Allie White: And, um, yeah, every, everything that I, you know, was finding on my own with research, but it took so long and was so stressful because I'm doing it completely on my own.
15:47
Allie White: Um, you know, I didn't have somebody, especially because my friend was no help um, to walk me through that, and I wish that I had been in Strategic Host for that point because I think, um, one of the
16:02
Allie White: benefits of being in the group is it, um, escalates your progress.
16:10
Allie White: Um, you just move quicker because all of the research I was doing on my own to find what I needed, to find reliable, um, software, you know, the trial and error, you can skip a lot of that if
16:25
Allie White: you're going to people who already have been there, and they're professionals, and they do know what they're doing.
16:30
Allie White: Um, so I think that would've been really helpful at the time, but I did make it through that.
16:37
Allie White: It took me probably two months to get all that really set up, and then over the past year, um, you know, tweaking what I could.
16:45
Allie White: And then another assumption I had was I think I've maxed out my market because when I did my research, um, you know, with, uh, on Price Labs and AirDNA and stuff, it would say the average three-bedroom was 29
17:00
Allie White: to 35,000 a year, and I was doing 50 at this point.
17:03
Allie White: Um, and this is still with no amenities.
17:06
Allie White: Um, so I thought, well, you know, even if I add a hot tub, like, is it really gonna make a difference?
17:13
Allie White: Or, you know, if I add a fire pit or a grill, um, 'cause if I'm the max of the market, you know?
17:18
Sarah Karakaian: And you don't, you don't have any of those things.
17:20
Sarah Karakaian: You don't have a hot tub.
17:20
Sarah Karakaian: You don't have a grill.
17:22
Sarah Karakaian: You don't have a fire pit.
17:23
Allie White: No.
17:23
Sarah Karakaian: Nothing.
17:23
Allie White: No, none of it.
17:24
Sarah Karakaian: And you're, and you're crushing the market in Breathitt.
17:28
Allie White: Yep.
17:28
Allie White: Um, so I actually, I just, um, a couple weeks ago, we added a fire pit, a propane grill, and that that's it.
17:38
Allie White: Those are our fancy amenities we just added.
17:40
Allie White: Um, and then I have plans to add a hot tub eventually because the, thanks to, you know, Strategic Host and, um, other people in the group and, um, my coach, um, helping me go through and do the market
17:53
Allie White: research, it looks like if I added a hot tub, I'd make another 10,000 a year.
17:58
Sarah Karakaian: Wow.
17:58
Allie White: Um, even though I'm already, you know, at the top of the market.
18:02
Allie White: So I think I feel a lot more confident about my numbers and what the house is capable of and what I'm capable of.
18:10
Allie White: Um, 'cause as confident as, as I was feeling getting, you know, 50,000 versus 16,000 that the property management company was doing, there's still the imposter syndrome and second-guessing.
18:22
Allie White: And, I mean, the inventory in that area has doubled, and I've still been able to, you know, keep it where it is.
18:31
Sarah Karakaian: Wow.
18:31
Allie White: So, um, I think, It's just interesting, like if I had just assumed there's no way and, and passed on it, what, what I missed out on, you know?
18:43
Annette Grant: Yeah.
18:43
Sarah Karakaian: Right.
18:43
Allie White: If I had, um-
18:45
Sarah Karakaian: Are you enjoying yourself, Allie, managing it yourself, though?
18:48
Sarah Karakaian: You can do it.
18:50
Allie White: Yeah.
18:50
Sarah Karakaian: But do, are you enjoying it?
18:51
Allie White: Yeah, I actually, um, I really enjoy it because when I was doing Amazon it was very, um, lonely because, you know, it was something I could do, especially during COVID, you know, nobody was really going anywhere.
19:04
Allie White: But I'm alone at home sourcing things, prepping things, shipping.
19:09
Allie White: And even the customer service, you don't really talk to people, you know, when they buy things unless there's an issue.
19:13
Allie White: Um.
19:14
Allie White: Yeah.
19:15
Allie White: And there was a time I ended up, let me try listing something on eBay, and everyone had told me that's the worst place, don't sell on eBay, but I was trying to get rid of some stuff.
19:25
Allie White: And, um, it was some milk for like, uh, preemie kittens and, I mean, I sold all sorts of random stuff.
19:36
Annette Grant: Okay.
19:36
Allie White: And.
19:37
Annette Grant: Wait, this is a, this is a real thing.
19:38
Allie White: Yeah.
19:38
Annette Grant: Milk for preemie kittens?
19:40
Allie White: It, it, yeah, it was like a dried, you know, formula powder kind of thing.
19:44
Allie White: Um, right, if you don't, yeah.
19:47
Allie White: So, um, I got a message from a buyer who sent me a photo and was saying how thankful she was 'cause she had trouble finding that where she was and it, and she sent the picture of the kitten
19:58
Allie White: and what a difference it made in the kitten.
20:00
Allie White: This is so silly, like it.
20:02
Annette Grant: I love that though.
20:03
Allie White: I'm just listing some stuff, you know?
20:04
Allie White: But it made me realize, you know, I really, I want that connection and I, like, I wanna help people, I wanna make a difference.
20:10
Sarah Karakaian: Yeah.
20:10
Allie White: And, um, and I feel like hosting, I really enjoy the designing the house and all that kind of stuff, and thinking about, um, every little thing that somebody might need.
20:21
Allie White: You know, I try to stay at our house at least twice a year and cook in it like it's our house and, you know, live in it.
20:27
Allie White: And if I notice anything, like even a, a spice that I need for a recipe and I'll go out and get it just so it's there.
20:34
Allie White: Um, you know, if I have one person mention to me in a message, "You know, it was a little hard getting in the bed 'cause I'm, but I'm really short, I'm, you know, 4'11"," whatever.
20:44
Allie White: I'm like, well she's probably not the only 4'11" person at my house, so I'm gonna get a stool.
20:49
Allie White: Um, so I like, I really like thinking of all of the things that I can do to make somebody's stay just amazing and, and be the person that makes it possible for them to have the kind of experiences
21:04
Allie White: that we were having when we would stay there.
21:06
Allie White: Um, 'cause we love that area so much, and, um, I mean, it really is, that's my happy place.
21:11
Allie White: I feel the most relaxed there, and I want to be able to do that for other people.
21:15
Sarah Karakaian: Yeah.
21:16
Sarah Karakaian: Love that.
21:16
Annette Grant: With Ally, I know that we, we chatted with you.
21:19
Annette Grant: You were in one of our boot camps earlier this year, and obviously you joined us inside Strategic Host.
21:27
Annette Grant: I wanna chat about that because I know you were just like, "Will this really make a difference?"
21:32
Annette Grant: Because it is an investment, and you're like, "Hey, I'm at the top of my market.
21:37
Annette Grant: Is there really more room?"
21:39
Annette Grant: What do you say to that now?
21:41
Annette Grant: 'Cause you were challenging those assumptions then.
21:43
Allie White: Mm-hmm.
21:43
Annette Grant: Assuming that you, that you were kind of at the top.
21:47
Annette Grant: Once you did join us inside Strategic Host, what are some of those mindset shifts that you've had in investing your, in yourself?
21:54
Annette Grant: Because it, we invest so much in our property, but you took the time to actually invest in yourself, and we know that is, like, a decision that's hard to make sometimes.
22:03
Annette Grant: Can you share with us and the listeners why you decided to invest in yourself in order to grow the revenue for your property?
22:11
Allie White: Yeah.
22:12
Allie White: I think, um, so I, I am kind of of the mindset anyway, like, just in pretty much any part of my life, if it's something that I care about, I wanna know I did everything possible.
22:23
Allie White: I can't sleep at night if I pass on an opportunity because I'm always gonna think, "Well, what if?"
22:29
Allie White: So it, I was probably gonna always sign up.
22:34
Allie White: Um, but I was struggling with, you know, well, it's really, it's a, it's a big investment.
22:41
Allie White: Um, I do think I'm, you know, pretty maxed out in my market.
22:44
Allie White: I don't see any other three bedrooms making that much.
22:47
Allie White: I mean, even ski-in, ski-out, like, weren't, you know, um, for the, especially the summer months where I can, you know, compete with them.
22:55
Allie White: So, um- I, I knew I needed to do it to be able to sleep at night.
23:02
Allie White: And if I was gonna do it, I was gonna go all in.
23:04
Allie White: So, um, I got a lot out of it.
23:08
Allie White: I mean, when I, I ran my numbers yesterday just 'cause I was curious 'cause, um, comparing apples to apples from March to July of last year, um, you know, what my rev par was kind of on average, and
23:21
Allie White: then March to July of this year, and it's up 25%.
23:26
Sarah Karakaian: Wow, 25%.
23:28
Allie White: So there is room to grow.
23:30
Allie White: Uh-huh.
23:31
Allie White: Um, yeah.
23:33
Allie White: And, uh, I think.
23:34
Annette Grant: What, what has moved the needle though?
23:35
Annette Grant: What, what do you think on that 25%, pinpointing what is making that improvement?
23:42
Annette Grant: What have you been doing to correct or recap?
23:43
Annette Grant: 'Cause you are already savvy.
23:45
Sarah Karakaian: Yeah.
23:46
Allie White: Thanks.
23:47
Allie White: Yeah.
23:47
Allie White: Um, I, I think the biggest things were, um, the pricing clinics, understanding my numbers better because I already, you know, 'cause I have some experience with that with past jobs, um, not just Amazon, but I worked for a
24:03
Allie White: marketing company and I did- Everything from bookkeeping, sales, SEO, designing online ordering websites.
24:12
Allie White: Like, I did all sorts of random stuff.
24:14
Allie White: And, um, I know, you know, how the numbers should look and, you know, if you're in the green or whatever, and, um, occupancy and all that kind of stuff.
24:22
Allie White: But the thing that was getting me was, um, I'm trying to push the numbers every time and see where the patterns are, but where, what turns out what I was missing was how the booking window varies so much,
24:36
Allie White: and how to track that.
24:39
Allie White: Because I was kind of going by the pattern of when people were booking, and it looked like, oh, if I'm not booked a month out, I'm kind of nervous because typically people were booking about a month out.
24:47
Allie White: But that was probably 'cause I was priced so low.
24:50
Allie White: So turns out I can demand a lot more, because if you know the seven-day pickup and your booking window and, um, you can demand a lot more.
25:00
Allie White: So it was nerve-wracking, but testing it, you know, my, my booking window, I book three to seven days out, but I'm getting a lot more, um, because I'm not worried about booking a month ahead like I was before.
25:14
Allie White: So even though, you know, on my own I was eking up the price here and there, there was a lot I was leaving on the table because I assumed that the booking window was a lot bigger than it
25:26
Allie White: is.
25:26
Allie White: Now, it does change, you know.
25:28
Allie White: Right.
25:28
Allie White: Uh, ski season it's gonna be further out, but in the summer I was thinking it was 30 days, like, the whole year, and that's that's not true.
25:36
Allie White: Mm-hmm.
25:36
Allie White: So.
25:37
Sarah Karakaian: Well, well combine that with knowing what your competitors are making, the amenities you don't have, I don't blame you for thinking that, you know, everything that you were basing your pricing strategy off was, was correct or that you
25:51
Sarah Karakaian: were at the top, because you were at the top of your market.
25:53
Sarah Karakaian: But I just, love there's, that you found 25% growth in understanding pickup and your booking window, and having the open mind, uh, of course.
26:05
Annette Grant: And that's your off-season, correct?
26:07
Annette Grant: Right.
26:07
Annette Grant: March through July would be your off-season.
26:08
Allie White: This is my off-season, yeah.
26:09
Allie White: That was.
26:09
Annette Grant: That's wild.
26:09
Allie White: I was nervous about that too, 'cause I was joining you guys, um, right, like, the worst month is March.
26:16
Allie White: Um, but I also was taking that as, you know, that means I'll have the time to really put into it too.
26:22
Allie White: So, um, let me get as much out of it as possible so that then going into the next busy season, I'll be set up and I'll know I did everything I could.
26:31
Annette Grant: I love that.
26:32
Annette Grant: And I wanna share, I, when you answered that question about where you see the 25% gain, we would assume, we're gonna challenge this, most people would just say she's increased her average daily rate.
26:44
Annette Grant: But I love that you brought it back to understanding your booking window.
26:49
Annette Grant: And if someone just wants to raise their daily rate, that's not going to work if they don't understand what their booking window is.
26:56
Annette Grant: And one of the things, just as a lesson for everybody, I hear you say right now your booking window is three to seven days.
27:02
Annette Grant: We know so many people, that's when they start to actually discount their rate.
27:06
Annette Grant: And you probably see it inside Strategic Host and inside Pricing Clinic, because that's an aha moment of, "Wait, I have this automatic, uh, uh, automatic discount on when it's the peak of my booking window."
27:18
Allie White: Mm-hmm.
27:18
Annette Grant: And so those are those nuances that I'm sure maybe you experienced, um, prior to Strategic Host also.
27:25
Allie White: Yeah.
27:26
Allie White: I mean, I think if, if you do, you know, look at YouTube videos and other coaches and stuff, a lot of them would tell you that that close you should discount or, you know, do something to get it
27:39
Allie White: moving.
27:39
Allie White: But, um, yeah, if you know the booking window in your, um, area, I think it makes a big difference.
27:46
Sarah Karakaian: What do you think, Ally, it is, and I just want us to have this, like, industry convo right now.
27:50
Sarah Karakaian: What do you think it is about these property managers under managing properties?
27:57
Sarah Karakaian: Like, w- what do you, like, and how, and how, how do they charge what they charge?
28:03
Allie White: Oh my gosh, yeah.
28:04
Sarah Karakaian: And how do they convi- 'cause I've, you know, it, we have tons of people in, in Strategic Coast a- and even just who DM us on Instagram or YouTube who do their research.
28:14
Sarah Karakaian: They interview the property manager, like obviously hindsight's 20/20, Ally, but what could you share with someone who's listening right now who thinks the property manager is the answer?
28:23
Sarah Karakaian: Like, what did you, were there warning signs you didn't quite see, or could you never have known until you gave them the chance to manage your property?
28:32
Allie White: Um, given that I was trusting what they said, and I don't think that they were lying, I think that some of it is it was working for them, whatever they were doing for so long, and they got stuck
28:43
Allie White: in habits and weren't evolving with the changes.
28:47
Sarah Karakaian: Mm-hmm.
28:47
Allie White: That are coming.
28:48
Allie White: You know, booking windows were changing.
28:50
Allie White: Um, you need dynamic pricing to survive.
28:54
Allie White: Um, I mean, you can't just, you know?
28:57
Allie White: That, that's just a no-brainer.
28:58
Allie White: You have to have that.
28:59
Allie White: And, um, just those two things alone.
29:02
Allie White: Um, but then they also would blame it on the weather.
29:07
Allie White: Um, that was a red flag.
29:09
Allie White: So I know it's predominantly, you know, it's known to be a ski area, but also people come there in the summer for, you know, like I said, the wineries, um, hiking.
29:19
Allie White: There's lakes with kayaking.
29:21
Allie White: Um, there's a whole bunch of stuff that you can do over there.
29:24
Allie White: Um, I mean, we, we prefer going there in the summer because from the bottom, like where the valley is, up to the top where, ours is at, like, 3,600 elevation, um, it can be like a 15-degree difference.
29:37
Allie White: So if it's hot and humid in Richmond and then we go up there, it could be, like, 75 and cool, and it's amazing.
29:43
Allie White: So people will go there during the summer, and they were trying to blame everything on the, you know, the snow wasn't great this year, and so that's why your winter wasn't awesome.
29:53
Allie White: I'm like, "So then why was, you know, this month completely empty?"
29:56
Allie White: And it's...
29:57
Allie White: Yeah, I don't know.
29:58
Allie White: So, yeah, some of it, I think, I, I just was assuming that this big company would know more than me and, um, do a better job than me.
30:08
Allie White: And, uh, yeah, I would challenge people to not assume that, even if they sound great, great salesperson on the phone, and we can definitely get you this, this, and that, and, uh, give it a try yourself first.
30:18
Annette Grant: Yeah.
30:19
Allie White: Um, yeah.
30:20
Annette Grant: How have you, how have you rebounded back?
30:22
Annette Grant: I'm just gonna be honest.
30:23
Annette Grant: Listening to the first long-term rental story.
30:26
Annette Grant: Then the next short-term rental story, I, I'm just seeing for sale signs in the front yard, throw in the towel, I'm done with it.
30:34
Annette Grant: Can you share how you've been resilient from it?
30:38
Annette Grant: Because I think that's one thing that, listen, we've all online and we see people say real estate is their, you know, path to wealth, and they make it sound easy breezy.
30:48
Annette Grant: And it's not.
30:49
Annette Grant: And I, I was so thankful for your transparency.
30:51
Annette Grant: How have you bounced back though, from, from the, the mismanagement and the letdown?
30:58
Annette Grant: Because you have, you've definitely persevered and come back.
31:00
Annette Grant: What, what is it that you and and your husband is who you invest with, correct?
31:05
Allie White: Yes.
31:05
Annette Grant: How, how do you, where do you guys come back to center and decide we're gonna keep moving forward?
31:11
Allie White: Um, yeah, I mean, that's a good question.
31:13
Allie White: I think, for me, when, you know, I really want something to work, um, something that helps is I look for the evidence, and it's to the point of it could look irrationally like that's evidence, 'cause I want it
31:32
Allie White: to work so bad.
31:33
Allie White: So I'm gonna look and say, "Okay, um, you know, that they were doing 16,000.
31:38
Allie White: If I had done $16,001, I'm better than them."
31:42
Allie White: That sounds irrational.
31:44
Allie White: Like, okay.
31:45
Allie White: But I will.
31:46
Allie White: I'll focus on, like, the tiny little things.
31:48
Allie White: You know, well, someone mentioned that they really like this specific thing that I do that other Airbnb hosts don't do, so that's a sign that I'm doing something right.
31:57
Allie White: You know, everything, and then I'll take stock of that, um, at least once a month.
32:03
Allie White: I'll be like, you know, "This is the evidence that what I'm doing is working."
32:07
Allie White: Um, so that kind of helps.
32:10
Allie White: So if I'm having a rough day, um, or a rough month where, you know, the numbers aren't exactly where I want them, um, I focus on all of the times that it did go right, and, you know, next
32:23
Allie White: time it's gonna be different.
32:25
Annette Grant: Mm-hmm.
32:26
Allie White: So that's, that helped.
32:27
Allie White: Um, I'm also stubborn, and I want, when I want something, I want it, and I'm gonna get it.
32:36
Sarah Karakaian: I love it.
32:37
Sarah Karakaian: I love it.
32:38
Sarah Karakaian: So Ally, what's next for you?
32:40
Sarah Karakaian: Is there another property?
32:41
Sarah Karakaian: Is there...
32:42
Sarah Karakaian: Are we just...
32:43
Sarah Karakaian: Are we content?
32:44
Sarah Karakaian: Are we good?
32:45
Sarah Karakaian: What, what's, what's on the horizon for you?
32:47
Allie White: Um, my goal is to start hosting for other people, because I want to be the property manager who does know what they're doing and can be what we had been looking for.
32:59
Allie White: Because, you know, I know there are some times where, you know, not everybody can host on their own, but they still wanna have a rental property or they wanna have a, a second home, and I want people to
33:10
Allie White: have that, um, faith and know that, oh, my property is being taken care of by somebody who knows what they're doing, and they're not gonna let homeless people live in it.
33:22
Allie White: Or, um, you know, not make any money.
33:26
Allie White: So, um, that's where I'm going next, and I'm gonna have a very, like, boutique, um, style.
33:33
Allie White: I only want, you know, a small number.
33:35
Allie White: I wanna really be able to dial in everything in for them and.
33:39
Sarah Karakaian: I'm so excited for you.
33:41
Allie White: Thanks.
33:41
Annette Grant: And Ally, for, for hosts out there that aren't paying attention to their booking window, they aren't, you know, dialed into their dynamic pricing, can you just share really quickly how much time each week that you are working on
33:58
Annette Grant: that?
33:58
Annette Grant: Because I wanna show even on your slow month, that 25% increase is available to them if they put the time and effort.
34:05
Annette Grant: Of course, you're with us inside Strategic Host, so you're getting some extra support.
34:08
Annette Grant: But if someone just out there today is like, "I wanna start focusing on my dynamic pricing," how much time are you putting into that each week?
34:16
Allie White: Um, Probably less than I was, but, um, I check it, I feel good if I check it once a day, the seven-day pickup at least.
34:28
Allie White: And, um, if I haven't booked, uh, well, you know, now I'm looking at, like, that weekend if I haven't booked.
34:35
Allie White: Right.
34:35
Allie White: Before, I'd be looking at the whole next month.
34:36
Allie White: Um, but now I just, you know, it's easy to check once a day.
34:40
Allie White: If I haven't booked the next few days, then I, I might adjust something.
34:44
Allie White: But, um, yeah.
34:45
Allie White: So I mean, I might look at it for 10 or 15 minutes a day.
34:48
Allie White: Um, and then in more detail, uh, every few months because I'll evaluate, like, you know, holidays and stuff.
34:56
Allie White: And if there's an event coming up that I just found out about, then I might pop in for something else, but that's roughly what I'm putting in.
35:04
Sarah Karakaian: Yeah.
35:04
Annette Grant: I love it.
35:04
Annette Grant: That's super manageable.
35:05
Annette Grant: Mm-hmm.
35:06
Sarah Karakaian: I love that.
35:07
Allie White: Yeah.
35:07
Allie White: Okay.
35:07
Annette Grant: And you want to.
35:08
Annette Grant: You're probably excited to go in, right?
35:10
Annette Grant: Because you're earning more money now, so it's like you want, want to go in.
35:14
Allie White: Yeah.
35:15
Annette Grant: And make more progress.
35:16
Allie White: And I'm excited when I get feedback from, you know, the group because it just means there's something else I can change and improve, um, which I, I suggest that to people, too.
35:27
Allie White: I feel like sometimes people, it's their, their asset and they care about it.
35:31
Allie White: It could be their second home and they, they love it.
35:33
Allie White: They don't want anyone to say anything bad about it, but be open to that because I think people who are closed off, um, they're doing themselves a disservice.
35:40
Allie White: Because just being open and maybe I need to change something.
35:43
Allie White: Maybe I, I should try raising the price a little or I should, um, have enough seating for the amount of people that are sleeping in my house.
35:50
Allie White: Um, stuff like that.
35:53
Sarah Karakaian: You're so close to it, right?
35:55
Sarah Karakaian: You're so close to it.
35:56
Sarah Karakaian: You've had, if you're anything like Annette and me, countless late nights setting it up or what have you, and it's just, it's hard to get feedback.
36:03
Sarah Karakaian: But you're absolutely right.
36:04
Sarah Karakaian: When you can have another perspective on your property and you're open-minded to try things out.
36:10
Sarah Karakaian: Especially, I mean, I don't think there's any...
36:11
Sarah Karakaian: Like, the fact that you were already doing so well and you were like, "Maybe there's room for more," it just makes you really unique and special, Allie.
36:18
Sarah Karakaian: Thank you.
36:19
Sarah Karakaian: And I think that relentlessness is gonna serve you so well in anything you do, but especially with property management and with, you know, and as you grow your business.
36:27
Sarah Karakaian: Just never let go of that because that is unique.
36:31
Sarah Karakaian: That is something that Annette and I w- sometimes we'll coach someone for years on.
36:36
Sarah Karakaian: You know what I mean?
36:36
Sarah Karakaian: 'Cause we know it's right there for them, and you're willing to just receive it.
36:40
Annette Grant: And I wanna compliment you, and I want everybody to check out, um, Allie's direct booking website.
36:47
Annette Grant: But I wanna share something, um, and we'll make sure to link to it in, in the show notes, Stay at Serenity Cabin.
36:54
Annette Grant: I loved, Ally, and this is our final question you can share, I love that you had a widget where I could text with you.
37:01
Annette Grant: Mm.
37:02
Annette Grant: And/or a phone number.
37:05
Annette Grant: And I, that right there, the trust just went through the roof.
37:09
Sarah Karakaian: Oh.
37:09
Annette Grant: So when you, when you added those two things, do people reach out to you via the text on your website and the, the phone number?
37:17
Allie White: Uh, yes.
37:18
Allie White: Not, not super often, but they do.
37:20
Allie White: Um, and actually I've had people on Airbnb say that, that like they want to be able to call sometimes.
37:27
Allie White: So yeah being available.
37:29
Annette Grant: No, I love that.
37:30
Annette Grant: I, that was, for all of you out there, like having that listed, it doesn't mean anybody's gonna call you.
37:35
Annette Grant: It's more of just a trust.
37:37
Annette Grant: Like, if I need to, there's someone there that I can call, or right there on the website I can text if I have a question or a concern or, you know, just wanna reach out to the host.
37:46
Annette Grant: So well done on that Allie, 'cause I notice those things like immediately.
37:51
Sarah Karakaian: Allie, anything you wanna share before we, um, before we end the episode with anyone listening?
37:56
Sarah Karakaian: Anything that you wish you would've heard back when you started that you haven't already shared?
38:00
Sarah Karakaian: Anything we didn't ask you that you wanna make sure is out there?
38:04
Allie White: I think I just, I wish that I had had somebody that was experienced like you guys, you know, at the beginning.
38:13
Allie White: Um, so if anybody's, you know, at the beginning of their journey, absolutely, um, you know, look into it because having that support, even if, I mean, you get so much out of it with the, you know, revenue, um,
38:27
Allie White: help and, and the RevPAR going up and all that kind of stuff, but also just not being alone with it because I don't know anyone personally, you know, other than that friends that, he was a distant friend that
38:38
Allie White: I talked to, like, once a month.
38:40
Allie White: Um, I didn't know anybody who did it and he wasn't really into it.
38:44
Allie White: You know, it was kind of his basement that he'd rent out here and there.
38:46
Allie White: So having a group or even, you know, a few people that you can talk to about it, um, 'cause, you know, people, my family doesn't wanna hear about RevPAR.
38:57
Sarah Karakaian: They don't?
38:57
Sarah Karakaian: That's so crazy.
38:59
Allie White: No.
38:59
Annette Grant: Oh, that's funny.
39:00
Annette Grant: That was, for sure.
39:01
Annette Grant: For sure.
39:02
Annette Grant: Yeah.
39:02
Annette Grant: Get around like-minded people, and not just like-minded people, people that are gonna help you, um, excel for sure.
39:07
Annette Grant: We, we agree with that 100%.
39:09
Sarah Karakaian: I'm excited to watch your co-hosting journey, your property management journey.
39:12
Sarah Karakaian: It's gonna be real fun Allie.
39:14
Allie White: Thanks.
39:14
Allie White: Yeah.
39:15
Allie White: I'm excited.
39:15
Sarah Karakaian: Well, thank you, Ally, so much for being transparent, for being open, for sharing your story, and, uh, I know that you're going to have a lot of hosts out there maybe scheduling calls with their property managers wanting to
39:28
Sarah Karakaian: have conversations.
39:30
Sarah Karakaian: But, uh, with that, I am Sarah Karakaian.
39:33
Annette Grant: I'm Annette Grant, and together we are...
39:35
Annette and Sarah: Thanks for Visiting.
39:36
Sarah Karakaian: Talk to you next time.