Latest / Short Term Rental Problems and Solutions / Should Airbnb Hosts Quit the Platform? (Part 1)

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Should Airbnb Hosts Quit the Platform? (Part 1) · Short Term Rental Problems and Solutions

• Jeremiah: it's not all sunshine in five-star reviews. If you've realized that being an STR investor isn't glamorous, you're and the right place. Today we get into some horror stories about Airbnb in we help Ash Kerr decide whether to leave Airbnb over the new rules in the new policies. We get into it because this is the community where we talk about the gross, the awkward, in the operational messes, as well as the real strategies that help you keep going instead of quitting. Anybody can win big and this industry, but you can also ignore education in you can quit. My name is Jeremiah. I'm an investor with over a decade of experience. I'm also a property manager with over 140 units under management. I talk about what rental investing looks like from the inside. Let me start by introducing you all to Merritt Harris, in then we should get into today's emails. Merritt is the founder of Merritt Badge Property Management, a short-term rental management company and the Finger Lakes region of New York. Over his career, he has managed more than $20 million of real estate across commercial, long-term, in short-term rentals. He partners with owners on the bigger picture, revenue strategy, pricing, in long term portfolio growth so their properties perform as real businesses in not just rentals that run smoothly day to day. Merritt, what would you like to add? Merritt Harris: that sums it up pretty good. Thanks so much, Jeremiah, for having me. I'm excited to talk about some Airbnb horror stories today in Jeremiah: Ha ha. Merritt Harris: in I definitely got plenty. Jeremiah: Fantastic. All right, so let's get into today's email. Hey Jeremiah, Airbnb just rolled out some changes, in I'm thinking about leaving the platform. They won't allow me to use Stafi to collect guest emails, in now I have to pay my cleaners more to take the trash to the dumpster area. This is the straw that breaks the camel back. it's just after getting a one star review from a guest who was clearly just trying to blackmail me for a free stay. Do you think I'll be able to get the same occupancy if I'm only on VRBO in Booking.com, as well as my direct site? I do have a lot of emails, in that email campaign gets me around four direct reservations per year. I appreciate any insight. Thank you, Ashkar. Well, Ashkar, my take on this is that you should actually still stay on all platforms in to make some strategic changes based on the email that Airbnb sent out. in also remember, you have until like November 20th to make these changes. So between now in then, if enough hosts like get off the platform in remember, Airbnb is doing this so that they can make more money. in if they start losing hosts in losing properties or making less money because of it, then they're Merritt Harris: Hmm. Jeremiah: very likely to just change course. So so my reading of these policies is that you can still request this stuff, like getting their email or taking out the trash. But it's a problem if it's a requirement. So for example, on the internet thing, if you were to, you know, have a second internet network. That your guests have access to, in then you provide them the stafi network at a faster speed, then I think they'll still provide the email, but now it's voluntary because they already have Wi-Fi info. in then the same thing with the the trash. I've been doing this for years because I think it's the right approach, is I request that guests take the trash to the dumpster, but I don't require it. So it's not part of my house rules that they have to take it to the dumpster. so my cleaners will flag that the trash is there at the property in then we get it taken care of. So my take on all those platforms is that I think if the weeks are available, if the days are available, you're gonna end up getting guests from VRBO, from booking.com, in even from your direct site. I don't think that you're gonna miss Airbnb that much. However, I still think that the best approach is to stay on all platforms. What I would just do though is I would mark up Airbnb something crazy, like 75%, maybe, so that it's actually worth it, you know. where the other platforms, I would, I mean, I already mark up VRBO like 15 or 20% for each of my properties. in that way my direct booking site is the lowest pricing. but changing Airbnb to a higher rate leaves you on their platform, but changes the pricing. So you're much less likely to get your reservations there. Especially for those guests who are looking on multiple platforms before making a reservation. A lot of times they see the same house, the same photos, in they could just compare the end-up price because they don't know the difference. They don't know the commissions that each one's charging, you know? but I I wouldn't want your property to not be available to those guests who are on Airbnb. so Merritt, what's your advice for Ashker? that's kind of my Merritt Harris: Yeah. Jeremiah: take so far. Merritt Harris: Yeah. That's it's really interesting. in this is a good question, Ashker. first of all, like I want to zoom out big picture. you always gotta follow the money when it comes to where Airbnb is making decisions. in if you think of the way all platforms work, the money comes from the guests. They don't make money from hosts like us. They don't make money from property manager. They make money from guests. So if you think of this like on a big picture, they need to make The people who send the money to the platform the happiest. So all of Airbnb policy changes tend to be guest centric because that's where the money is. When you're always looking at a big picture change, that's it always flows back to that. The money flows from the guests. That's how Airbnb makes their money. Therefore, the happier the guests are, the more they can retain guests, the more they can build trust with guests. in that is their entire game. in this is why as a host you probably feel like they don't care about you, because they genuinely don't. The money comes from the guests. So that's that's the first big picture thing. in I I haven't heard very many people frame it that way, but that's how I Jeremiah: Mm-hmm. Merritt Harris: think about it. it's like, I mean, that's how government works too. It's like wherever the money is, that's where the decisions go. So, and terms of getting off of Airbnb due to some of their policy changes, the one thing I'll say is that some markets Especially traditional vacation markets have a very heavy concentration of VRBO bookings. So if you look at some of the old school vacation markets like Myrtle Beach or different coastal markets that have had cottages for decades, Cape Cod, a lot of those rentals have a larger share of either other OTAs like VRBO or direct bookings, even like legacy old school direct booking websites that realtors used to have up before Airbnb. However, the stats show that. Across the United States, 50% of all bookings are on Airbnb. in I encourage you to go to your local market in actually see what percentage that is. and my market, it's over 80% of all bookings are on Airbnb. So what does that mean to your question? That means if you decide to take your property off of Airbnb, where 80% of your bookings are coming from, the other 80% is not going to just be replaced by VRBO, Booking.com in Direct Bookings. The reason why is that Airbnb spends billions of dollars a year marketing listings, marketing their brand, marketing your property. in that money that is well spent is why they have a lion's share of the bookings over other platforms and most markets. So, same advice as Jeremiah gave you, I would not take your property off Airbnb. What I would do is I would try to be strategic on what changes you need to make. That still give you an advantage. Now to the specific Stay issue, there might be a workaround, in Jeremiah already mentioned that. There might be other workarounds where you collect guest email data and other ways that are still not banned by Airbnb. Some of those ways could be a QR code at your actual property that guest scan to get a free guest guide. maybe one of those little Wi-Fi tap things. I think the company is called Porter. There are a couple of alternative options that could potentially be a workaround without having to completely get rid of your system there to remarket. in then lastly and terms of like operational costs going up with the cleaners, I would definitely either increase your cleaning fee a tiny bit because if your cleaners are gonna charge you extra to bring that trash off site, you can just mark up your cleaning fee a little bit before then so that bookings past November when this rolls out. are covering that additional cost. That's one way to do it. People also mark up the platform and general, which is something that I've seen quite a bit. But overall, my advice is still stay on the platform. Just be strategic in you have to be very nimble and this industry. Cause you can, you know, lay down to go to sleep once in wake up in there's 10 different changes and the industry. So you have to be very nimble in willing to pivot. So, you know, best of luck. it's hitting all of us hosts pretty hard. in you know, follow the money. That's where they're going to make their decisions. So we gotta kinda band together in give each other the best advice possible to continue hosting successfully. Jeremiah: Yeah, yeah, totally. in as far as that cleaning fee goes, obviously that needs to be passed on to your guests. your cleaners might get upset, they might change your fee, but here's the thing is most guests are actually very good. They're just like you in I. You know, they're gonna stay and the house, they're gonna run the dishwasher afterwards, they want a good review on their profile as well. So if you make requests to your guests. Which I didn't see anything and this email saying that you can't make requests. That was all about house rules. So Merritt Harris: Mm. Jeremiah: the thing is, people do complain about Airbnb. They'll say stuff all the time, like, well, I stay and hotels because I can leave that messy. I don't want to stay and an Airbnb where I'm paying a cleaning fee in then I'm cleaning up the house anyway. Merritt Harris: Mm-hmm. Jeremiah: So like Airbnb is finally actually taking that seriously. in they're taking away the house rule that says that you have to fill the dishwasher. You can't leave any dirty dishes. you have to take the trash five miles away to the dumpster and your community, which you know, is it's normal and my area. Like I live and the Poconos. Right. Merritt Harris: Yeah, and po and the poconos. Yeah, and the poconos you have to do that every every property you have to do that. Jeremiah: We've got we've got bears, we've got stray dogs, we've got sometimes I've seen I've seen deer eating trash and this neighborhood. Like Merritt Harris: Yeah, exactly. I've seen some humans. I've seen some no kidding. Jeremiah: You wouldn't they're herbivores in you look at them, they've got like bread hanging out of their mouth. in it it came from a trash bag right next on the ground next to them. So like Merritt Harris: Eating pizza. Yeah. Jeremiah: the it's the craziest stuff, but like the best way for us to deal with trash is to have it and a dumpster, you know, like if it's if it's an HOA, it could be five miles wide where you've got the dumpster on this side in so I get that, like the strategic in the complications of it. for other options on what to do about bears, like tearing your trash apart, I think it's episode three, where I answered in we went over a whole bunch of different options, including garage in bear box in whatever else. but when it comes to all these complications, like Merritt said, like you have to kind of be able to roll with the punches, if you will. Merritt Harris: Yeah. Jeremiah: You have to be able to adapt. in we're and an industry that's constantly changing. so Merritt Harris: It's a new industry. It's a pretty new industry. Jeremiah: Yeah, yeah. so Ashker, I want you to keep something and mind. one is Airbnb does way more research than you in I, right? they've got a pretty good gauge on why guests aren't booking, why they are booking. They've done a ton of thinking before rolling this sort of requirement out. in they're going to make this choice because it's going to increase their market share. Merritt Harris: Yeah. Yeah. Jeremiah: They're going to get more reservations on Airbnb because they're going to push this probably and an ad campaign that's already been shot. They're going to be pushing Merritt Harris: Exactly. Jeremiah: this out like, hey, guess what? You don't have to clean the house anymore when you stay at an Airbnb. But if you stay at VRBO, they're going to require that you do this in this in this in this. in we don't require that. Are you tired of hosts making you sign and with your email address? Are you tired of making up email addresses so that you can sign and? Merritt Harris: Yeah. Jeremiah: that's that's definitely coming, that kind of email campaign, that kind of visibility. Obviously, they have to get their hosts at least 30 days of notice before they make a change like this, but that's that's all this is. You know, Merritt Harris: Yeah. Jeremiah: this is them recognizing that they're going to get more guests. in if they're going to be getting more guests, this is the wrong time to just jump ship. It's the wrong time Merritt Harris: Yeah. Jeremiah: to jump off the platform. But Ashker, I don't want you to spread the news on that way too much. Because those of us who are staying on Airbnb are gonna have more business. With with fewer Merritt Harris: Yeah. Jeremiah: shareholders, we're gonna have more of the increase or even of just what's left. Because I don't think Merritt Harris: Yeah. Jeremiah: any of this is gonna cause guests to stop booking on Airbnb. Merritt Harris: Right. Jeremiah: But at the same time, it's gotta be worth your while. So raise pricing. Merritt Harris: Yeah. in what we're seeing too and the industry is a professionalization of vacation rental properties. So if you Jeremiah: Mm-hmm. Merritt Harris: think back to the old school style vacation rental, they were stop at a realtor office, grab the keys. Sometimes you'd have to wait and line at the realtor office to grab your keys, show up at Jeremiah: Mm-hmm. Merritt Harris: the property, put your own sheets on the bed, strip your own sheets after this day. Like that's how cottage rentals in traditional vacation rentals used to be before Airbnb came and in disrupted the entire industry. Now Jeremiah: Mm-hmm. Merritt Harris: what you're seeing is a huge push to professionalize the industry. One of the biggest complaints you see for Airbnb guests is a lack of cohesion between stays. You could stay one place in it's meticulously cleaned. It's perfect. There's no surprises you love it. Stay at another place the same price in they dump all these surprise checkout instructions in rules on you. The place is nasty, it's dusty, stuff is falling apart in doesn't match the pictures. in so Airbnb with this same policy is trying to further professionalize the industry. They're trying to create cohesion across every guest stay, just like a hotel. You could go to a Hilton in you know what to expect whether you're and Malaysia or whether you're and Paris, right? You know what Jeremiah: Mm-hmm. Merritt Harris: to expect at a Hilton. That is not true of Airbnbs today. in every time Airbnb rolls out another one of these changes, again, where does the money flow? It flows and happy guests. Jeremiah: Yeah. Merritt Harris: So they're always making changes to try to make happy guests. So we gotta pivot, we gotta we gotta tweak with their changes. but ultimately that's the big picture. They're gonna always favor professional hosts right now because that creates a more standardized in predictable guest experience. Jeremiah: I I totally agree. in staying and different like rentals in being that guest myself, I'm finding Merritt Harris: Okay. Jeremiah: that like some hosts have no clue what they're doing. in Merritt Harris: Yeah. Jeremiah: you would hope in think that they do, but and a lot of situations, they just I don't know, they got Cleaners that are completely subpar, or they've got Merritt Harris: Yeah. Jeremiah: descriptions that are just complete lies in fabrications. in Merritt Harris: Right. Jeremiah: a guest with four or five reviews, which is I would say our average, is learning from all of those stays, is that you can't really trust the description. So Merritt Harris: Yeah. Jeremiah: like the description is always going to say it's immaculately clean, but you Merritt Harris: Right. Jeremiah: but they skip that description in they go right down to the reviews. in they skip all the five-star reviews in they start looking at the fours in the threes in the twos. They're looking Merritt Harris: Mm-hmm. Jeremiah: at the the aggregate score for cleanliness, for property value, for all those different types of things. They're looking at that because that's not something that you can fake. So when when they don't trust the host to actually be honest in truthful, they're looking at photos, but taking that with a grain of salt, you know? So I I feel like This professionalization that you're talking about, Merritt, this professionalization in this you know kind of standardization quality procedures is going to end up causing people to trust the platform more. in Merritt Harris: Yeah, exactly. Jeremiah: other platforms like VRBO are going to follow suit so that they can keep up. Cause if the reputation turns in shifts to it, if you want a quality stay that's hotel quality. You need to go on an Airbnb. If that reputation shifts, like VRBO, Booking.com, others are gonna try the same thing. Merritt Harris: Right. Jeremiah: it's completely true. You've got to be able to bob in weave with the punches. You've Merritt Harris: Yeah. Jeremiah: got to be able to, you know, adapt and this industry. in this is just the newest version of those adaptations, Merritt Harris: Yeah. Jeremiah: you know. Merritt Harris: in VRBO's marketing is so slow too. if you look at the way VRBO, which is the second biggest I think and the US, if you look at the way that they market, they're still addressing a problem from maybe five, ten years ago of Airbnb. All of their ads say, book the whole place, don't share an awkward room with someone. That's Airbnb's old rental. That's not even true today. With the professionalization in with the rise of property managers taking over the lion's share of most hosting. That's not the case anymore where you're just renting out a spare room. in so it's interesting is like you can see the difference between how fast Airbnb adapts as a company in how fast these other OTAs adapt. V RBO is still marketing to an old problem. That's not even a problem anymore. Most people book a whole house. They don't book Jeremiah: Yeah. Merritt Harris: room and grandma's basement like Airbnb started out. So it goes to show again that marketing dollar for Airbnb is way more powerful in they're a more nimble company in also they're a more progressive company in they're gonna push to get the biggest share of guests they can, so it's gonna be to your detriment to get off of that platform. Jeremiah: Yeah. Now at the same time, and the same breath, I also hate Airbnb. They are they are a necessary evil. They might Merritt Harris: I know, same. They're awful. Jeremiah: be good at marketing in they might be good at bringing guests and, which Merritt Harris: Yeah. Jeremiah: is which is a good thing, right? But I don't want to work there. I don't want to promote Merritt Harris: No, no. Jeremiah: them. I I would rather have guests on other platforms where the guest is, I don't want to say more and control, but where they're like, I don't know, easier to work with. There's Merritt Harris: Yeah. Jeremiah: a simpler claims process. It's like Merritt Harris: Yes. Jeremiah: I I actually heard VRBO say to me on the phone, Well, we think that your perspective is just as valuable as the guests. Would that ever come from an Airbnb ambassador? No. in ambassador. Merritt Harris: Exactly. Yeah, exactly. Never. Never. in it it is a good time to still try to get those other bookings. I think we're both on the same page about that, Jeremiah. Jeremiah: Mm-hmm. Merritt Harris: it is worth your effort to try to optimize other platforms, right? Jeremiah: Yeah. Merritt Harris: Don't don't throw the cat out, don't throw the baby out with the bathwater in delete Airbnb. But it is worth your effort to say, How can I optimize my VRBO listing so I can bring it from I think you said fifteen percent. How can I bring that up to fifty percent? in then spend your next few months optimizing that platform. What can I do to make that listing better, to make it more appealing to that demographic? There's things you can Jeremiah: Mm-hmm. Merritt Harris: do to increase your direct bookings as well. in those are worthwhile ways to spend your time, especially if you only have one listing. Like put that energy into Jeremiah: Yeah. in I think with dynamic pricing, like your pricing, if you mark up Airbnb, right, the dynamic pricing is still there, but you're marking it up. So the other platforms being priced lower, if your occupancy goes down because of that markup, those other platforms are going to start pushing you because your property is available. Right now, Merritt Harris: Mm. Jeremiah: like you probably have like 80% of your reservations are on Airbnb. But that Merritt Harris: Mm-hmm. Jeremiah: also means that you have blocked nights in blocked weekends where VRBO can't push you. So if you're more available Merritt Harris: Right. Right. Jeremiah: on those other platforms, I think you're going to get booked on those other platforms in eventually it's going to even out. But initially, Merritt Harris: Mm-hmm. Jeremiah: if you jump ship right now in you put all of your weight on those other platforms, I don't think you're going to have a good time because there's a bunch of other people who I've already seen on social media being like, goodbye, Airbnb. This is ridiculous. Merritt Harris: Yeah. Jeremiah: I'm not signing up for this. You've This is the last straw, right? in Merritt Harris: Right. Jeremiah: so now a bunch of people are relying on a platform that doesn't do the best job of marketing to guests. So I would expect if we don't change anything that our reservations on BRBL are going down a little bit more because of the increased competition Merritt Harris: Mm. Jeremiah: in the increased reliance on those other platforms. So that'll be short term. You know, things will even out. But Merritt Harris: Yeah. Jeremiah: at the end of the day, I don't think it's the smart thing to do. I just I don't want to shout it to the mountaintops to tell everybody who's Merritt Harris: Right. Jeremiah: quitting that they should not quit because it doesn't benefit Merritt Harris: Right. Jeremiah: all the rest of us that can see the big picture, you know? So Merritt, he also mentioned he just got a one star review from a guest who was clearly blackmailing him. what do you think are his chances that that review will be taken down? Merritt Harris: Yeah, that's that's a tough that's a very tough call. we have a couple of strategies to help with this and our company. so just one of the things and terms of structural change again is that about a year ago, Airbnb decided to launch an AI review of review disputes. So previously the review dispute would get bumped to probably someone and the Philippines or something who would check it first in then escalate it or make a decision on their own. Now it goes AI in then a human. in because of that, in that's probably even different from when it was released a year ago, it's probably different now. Because of that, you have to alter your process to try to get retaliatory reviews deleted. The same process that worked when you could call an agent doesn't work now. So what we do is we call it the kitchen sink method. I have a template that I build out that covers every single Airbnb policy that is against Airbnb policy, for the guest in I use it as a template. Now when we submit our dispute, we actually paste the entire template and there in only fill out the sections that are applicable to this guest retaliatory review. So what happens is LLMs or AI models, they use the data they get, right? in they use that to flag yes or no. So if you give it just a sentence, this guest is trying to blackmail me, that doesn't give it much data. When we upload our template and here in then fill out the sections that are applicable to their retaliatory review, the LLM scans the entire template, including the ones that are not applicable, in helps increase the chance that it gets bumped to a human. use your own LLM that you can find, you know, Claude, whatever, ChatGPT, in paste Airbnb review policies and there in then have it make you your own template. in then when you're submitting a request to remove a retaliatory review, you're gonna use that template in only fill out the sections that are applicable. in the second thing on the same front is you gotta submit as much evidence as possible. So you gotta submit things that the guests have said. You gotta submit any pictures with timestamps of damages or of issues that were caused by the guest. you have to be a detective. You have to be thorough. Jeremiah: Mm-hmm. Merritt Harris: So you have to create really bulletproof processes for that where your cleaners have to take pictures of any damage before they even start cleaning. Right. in if you use apps like Turno, Breezeway, those automatically create timestamps. So you're set. so those are kind of the ways we work against retaliatory reviews. This one's a little bit tricky in I don't know ethically how you feel about this. But I actually asked the guest something to the effect of, what are you gonna do if we don't give you the refund? if they're demanding a refund for a one star. Because the guest responds in says, I'm gonna give you a one star so that get this crappy review. Well, Jeremiah: Mm-hmm, yeah. Merritt Harris: if you draw that out of the guest, because they're trying to say that already, they're trying to threaten that already. But if you draw that out of them and writing and the Airbnb platform, there's your trump card. You're gonna show that message in say, This guest just told me if I don't give them a refund, they're gonna give me a one-star review. in then your case is really strong because that's a retaliatory review by Airbnb policy. especially really smart guests who are trying to game the system, they understand that they shouldn't say that. They understand that they imply the bad review. They try not to say it directly. So I try to get it out of them. It's like, hey, we sent a maintenance person, we repaired the problem quickly, we even sent you a little conciliatory gift. The gift card, whatever chocolate, pizza, whatever we send, in that resolved the problem as quickly as possible. We try to do our best to be quick in prompt, but sometimes things don't go as planned. If they're still going on, that's when I try to get that out of them. what's gonna happen if I don't give you this refund, even though we solve the problem. So that's the tips that I use to try to get rid of retaliatory reviews. You also gotta be extremely persistent. I've done three to four different follow-ups with Airbnb to make sure that they get and front of this. one of my team members, one of my VAs right now is excellent at this in like he's kind of the superstar of it. He has he has a magic touch with it, you know, in he's able to get these one stars deleted. Not all the time, but he's really good at it. So it's definitely a strategic move to try to get these one star retaliatory reviews off. but what I don't recommend is flat out giving refunds to anyone who asks, because that's training the guests that they can do that, right? Don't just flat out give a refund. It's really good to make a a physical presence when you feel like it's going that direction. We send a runner or myself sometimes or a cleaner to drop off a little gift. hey, here's a pizza, here's a cake, here's a, you know, edible arrangements. Drop off something that really kind of hits on how how good you are at hospitality, like how good you care about the guests because you really do. You want them to have a good experience. in that oftentimes helps you dodge the bullet before it happens. Right. So in in that could be a twenty dollar pizza. that's not the craziest thing and the world, but it sends a great message. in we did this recently. We had a property, brand new sauna installed. We were having an issue with the little smart screen on the sauna. in the guests were kind of frustrated. We ended up sending two pizzas after their kids came back from a game. They were and town for a game. in they were just head over heels. They even mentioned and the review we had a problem. They immediately sent someone. They couldn't solve the problem, but they sent us two pizzas. in like they were just the best hosts ever. That was a one-star review risk that we turned around just by making a little bit of preventative work on the front end to make sure that we heard them, to make sure that we took care of them, in to make sure they felt heard. Jeremiah: Yeah. in I'll try to bait them. I try to bait them as well. in like, Merritt Harris: Yeah. Jeremiah: because unfortunately you can't just use like what you used to to show an actual human being. Like this is what this guest was trying to do. This AI review is the specialized team that your ambassador would talk about. in it's it's Merritt Harris: Mm-hmm. Jeremiah: They call it a specialized team, but they're being very loose with that description. The specialized team cannot email you. You can't speak to them. You there's not really I don't think there's a human behind it, you know? It's just in Merritt Harris: Yeah. No. You have to escalate it. Jeremiah: in it's two strikes in you're out. Like with the Merritt Harris: Yeah. Jeremiah: with the review removal request, you can only do twice. So I actually do have one full episode on this review process. in we're talking about this kitchen sink. You're you're throwing everything into this template, even the kitchen sink. You're making all these claims. Merritt Harris: Exactly. Jeremiah: in it's not that it's necessarily there to confuse the AI, but it's so that the AI has to now defend itself against every single line item and their policy. Merritt Harris: Yes, exactly. Jeremiah: So that if even one of those things fails, you know, like if it can't defend that Merritt Harris: Exactly. Jeremiah: one, then it's gotta remove the review, which is the gist of what I was talking about. I do like the idea of having a whole template that we can use for it. Merritt Harris: Yeah. Jeremiah: but like he's saying, it's all this evidence has to be put together and order to fight this. in you're only gonna get Merritt Harris: Exactly. Jeremiah: two chances. So make your first, you know, make your first swing of the bat as good as possible Merritt Harris: yeah. Jeremiah: because you've gotta aim for you have to connect on the first one. Merritt Harris: Right. Yeah, send if it's a broken item, send five photos instead of one. every angle, every zoomed and, zoomed out you really gotta throw the kitchen sink at it because the more data, the more likely the LLM will actually review it correctly. So but it's a it's a tough it's a tough Jeremiah: Everything everything is and Microsoft. Yeah. Merritt Harris: game in it's oftentimes a losing game, So Jeremiah: in do not edit your photos before sending them to Airbnb. they need to Merritt Harris: Mm. Jeremiah: look like in have timestamps in geolocation in everything. Merritt Harris: Yeah. Jeremiah: Like if you if you throw it Merritt Harris: I saw a post about someone a host made a fake toilet overflow using AI in sent that submitted that to get money back. that's gonna that's gonna be bad ju Yeah. That's gonna be bad ju ju Jeremiah: Mm-hmm. But AI can tell. AI can tell. Yeah, I just saw I I just saw somebody on facebook post a promotional photo of their house in Merritt Harris: Mm-hmm. Jeremiah: it looks like a gorgeous property. but there's that little tag on Facebook that says you know, AI content. in Merritt Harris: Mm. Jeremiah: and the first comment that was like, hey, where is this house at? They said where it is, but then they're like, I don't know what's up with that AI tag. They got like defensive about it. They're like, I only used AI to lighten the outdoors, you know, to to to darken. Merritt Harris: I didn't know there was a tag now. They they're tagging photos. Jeremiah: So Facebook can tell that an image has been edited with AI. in they're adding a little tag on Facebook. But if Merritt Harris: it's a Facebook. Okay, I thought you meant I thought you meant Air Yeah. that's interesting, yeah. Jeremiah: Facebook can tell, Airbnb can tell. Like they're both high tech. Mm-hmm. Merritt Harris: Yeah. Well, cause there's there's metadata. Each photo, a lot of people don't know, each photo carries metadata within it, basically code that says where it was taken, in then every time a an LLM edits a photo, it's adding its own metadata behind it. There Jeremiah: Yes. Mm hmm. Merritt Harris: there's ways to flatten that. There's ways to like set that back to default, which will help you not get flagged and that way. I'm actually surprised Airbnb hasn't cracked down a little harder on this because I've never gotten flagged for any AI edits that we've done like make the grass a tiny bit greener, make the sky a little light sunset. We put fire and the fire pit sometimes. I'm surprised Airbnb hasn't cracked down on this, well I think it's like if it helps guest convert in more guests book, they don't care, right? Again, follow the money. Follow the money. Jeremiah: Mm-hmm. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I've also I've shown a bunch of houses lately in I start getting really frustrated when the house is not like the photos. they're using their Airbnb pictures. For the listing for sale because they're good quality professional photos, right? Merritt Harris: Yeah. Jeremiah: But like when you put a house up for sale, it's kind of a bait in switch for somebody to walk into the house in realize there's one tiny Merritt Harris: Yes. Jeremiah: lamp with one like 40 watt light bulb for this whole room. in it's so incredibly Merritt Harris: Right. Right. Jeremiah: dark, but and the photos, it looks good. Merritt Harris: It's so bright yeah. Jeremiah: Well, if that's happening for the houses that are for sale, it's definitely happening for the Airbnbs as well. The guest Merritt Harris: Yeah. Jeremiah: is getting a bait in switch. They're getting to the house in the lighting situation is terrible. in it's just because of, you know, creative editing. in that doesn't have to be AI, but Merritt Harris: Yeah. that's a fine line for sure because one of our horror stories I want to talk about later is related to this is like you want really magazine grade sellable photos, but there's certain elements of really wide lenses in stuff that can Jeremiah: Yeah. Merritt Harris: distort the actual property. So it's a definitely a fine line to walk on, because you want it to look as good as possible in be bookable. but Certain edits, this is even without Jeremiah: Mm-hmm. Merritt Harris: AI, certain lenses, certain edits, certain H D R bright looks cannot convey what the property is really like in that could be trouble. Jeremiah: Yeah. I don't wanna close without giving you the opportunity to plug your business in the stuff that you're doing up north. Samir, what do you got going on? Merritt Harris: Yeah, great. so yeah, we do short-term rentals exclusively. I'm a management, we have we have a management company, which is our bread in butter, but I offer a unique angle and that I'm more of a strategic partner with my clients than I am just a co-host. Right? Your traditional co-host is someone who is good at hospitality in customer service. Because I'm an Jeremiah: Mm-hmm. Merritt Harris: investor first, in because I've been and the commercial in long-term rental space for literally decades before I got into the short-term rental space. When I help my clients, there's multiple approaches that I do differently. The first one is that I think of it as asset protection, right? Real estate investing is a long-term game. It is not a short-term game. Anyone who tells you you're gonna get rich by buying an Airbnb is lying to you. It's a long-term Jeremiah: Mm-hmm. Merritt Harris: strategy. in so when I work with my clients, I'm trying to position them and a long-term exit plan, right? We Jeremiah: Mm-hmm. Merritt Harris: want property to be and better condition in have increased value than the day we started at as an STR. So one example of this is. One of the properties we launched, we did an entire bathroom addition because the home only had two in a half baths. in for the guest count, we wanted to add another full bath. in that increased the actual value. It's like forced appreciation, the actual value of the Jeremiah: Mm-hmm. Merritt Harris: home. So I like to see my unique advantage is that, in that's also because I come from a construction project management background, is that when I work with my clients, I try to look at the big picture. Right. there's STRs, Jeremiah: Mm-hmm. Merritt Harris: yes, but ultimately STR is like one way to invest and real estate. in I want you to be positioned the best you can. I've literally even told clients this should not be a short-term rental. You should Jeremiah: Yeah. Merritt Harris: do in I've compared the numbers for them. I had a a client in he ended up sticking with short-term rentals, but I like, this should be college housing. The location, the amount you Jeremiah: Mm-hmm. Merritt Harris: can get, in not paying utilities, you're gonna break about the same as you would on a short term rental. Right. So I Jeremiah: Mm-hmm. Merritt Harris: kinda like to see big pictures. in help my clients and those ways too. So the other ways we do that is like the construction management in setup, right? So Beyond just design, we help our clients renovate properties. in typically we only do that fall through spring because we're too busy and the summer. So when our Jeremiah: Mm-hmm. Merritt Harris: season is a little bit low, we'll take on a new property that needs maybe a new kitchen, a new bathroom, needs refreshed, we do the design, we hire all the subcontractors, we oversee the timelines, we have really good contracts that protect our clients. in so that's one of my unique value propositions, is that like I'm looking at this as an investor in I'm trying to make sure that you're a successful investor. in then the co-hosting in property management is like a bonus on top, right? So Jeremiah: Right, right, right. Merritt Harris: our entire market is pretty much the entire Finger Lakes. We don't go to the farthest, farthest Western Finger Lakes, but pretty much from Canadangua all the way to Atisco, which is most of the Finger Lakes. We do Jeremiah: Mm-hmm. Merritt Harris: full service property management. in you know, we we've helped clients, especially clients who self manage or who clients who go with the big companies, we've helped them increase their revenue significantly, especially their actual payouts have increased. Jeremiah: Mm-hmm Merritt Harris: 'Cause those companies tend to gouge or do the bare minimum effort. So, that's one thing I like to tell my clients is hey, just by letting us take over this property, you're gonna increase your revenue in do less work. So let Jeremiah: Mm-hmm. Merritt Harris: us help you and that way where you can stop doing the late night calls in we can take all of that off your plate. in we're not gonna do all these hidden fees like Evolve in the Jeremiah: Mm-hmm. Merritt Harris: other large companies do and this market. We're gonna be fair, we're gonna have a flat fee in then one damage waiver fee in no other fees. so there's no surprises to you. in at the end of the day, I want you to make more money in it's a win win situation for me. So that's what we do. We cover pretty much most of upstate New York, but Finger Lakes is our primary, our secondary Jeremiah: Mm-hmm. Merritt Harris: market would be like the cat skills area, which we've have a couple of properties out there. But yeah, we love what we do. I love helping people invest. I love helping them save on their taxes if they're following the tax strategies for STRs. in in this market is also pretty ripe for the taking. It's actually pretty similar to the Poconos and a lot of way, where Jeremiah: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Merritt Harris: Real estate values haven't jacked up to the price that a lot of areas have, right? the real estate prices are going up, but they're still relatively competitive compared to the rest of the country. So it's still Jeremiah: Mm-hmm. Merritt Harris: possible to have a really great cash-flowing property and this market. in the competition is kind of weak. So it's pretty easy to to make out well if you buy and this market. So if anyone is looking to invest and upstate New York, you know, give me a call. You can follow me on Merit Badge MGMT, which is and the page here on socials. or find our website which is Merit Badge MGMT dot com in we can chat more about helping you invest and the right property in getting you set up to win. So that's that's my little plug. Jeremiah: Well, you're providing an awesome service in you obviously know what you're talking about. any of my listeners who are and opposite New York are looking into that area, this is a guy that you can trust. to see the second half of our episode about Airbnb horror stories. Subscribe in follow us on next week's episode. I genuinely enjoy sharing messages like this. and it's why this is the show where we discuss the challenges as well as the stuff that no one else talks about when they sell the dream of easy passive income. If you're a property manager, an owner operator, a co-host or an investor, email me info at galvanizedmanagement.com. love to connect in learn more about your approach. in if you have a question, ask it. Your question might be the next one we break down. in chances are you'll help a lot of other hosts and the process too. We win or we lose together. If this episode helped you, great. I'd appreciate a good rating in a share too, so we can keep growing organically. Merritt Harris: Yeah. Jeremiah: Together is how I believe we make this industry better. Until next time, stay steady, keep learning, in keep building something real. Merritt Harris: This is short term rental problems in solutions. Jeremiah: Thank you for coming on Merit. Appreciate it. Merritt Harris: Thanks for having me.