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274. Hosting Hotline: Keeping Your Airbnb Open & Your Guests Happy Through Construction · Thanks For Visiting

• 0:00
  Hello.
• 0:00
  Welcome back for another great episode.
• 0:02
  My name is Sarah Karakaian.
• 0:03
  I am Annette Grant.
• 0:04
  And together we're--
• 0:05
  Thanks for Visiting.
• 0:06
  And this is the--
• 0:07
  Hosting Hotline.
• 0:08
  Listeners, have you ever had a rental that is right off of a new construction
• 0:13
  project, or maybe your neighbor is renovating their kitchen, and you're
• 0:19
  like, what does that mean for my rental?
• 0:21
  Nicole is facing the same challenge.
• 0:24
  Hi, Sarah and Annette.
• 0:25
  My name is Nicole, and I'm a newer listener.
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  We currently have two short-term rental condos here on Maui, and I
• 0:32
  was curious what you guys do when there's constructions going on on the
• 0:36
  community that's out of your control.
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  Do you notify the guests?
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  Do you offer discounts?
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  What can you do to salvage your income?
• 0:44
  Great question.
• 0:44
  That's a really great question, and thank you for being a new listener, Nicole.
• 0:48
  Yeah.Welcome.
• 0:49
  New friends.
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  We love it.
• 0:50
  Okay, let's dig into it, Sarah.
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  I feel for Nicole because I've got a duplex that we are gut renovating right
• 0:59
  now and hoping to be ready by this fall.
• 1:02
  And of course, it's a good thing.
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  You mentioned this, Annette.
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  So in the neighborhood where my duplex is at, they've demolished
• 1:10
  truly an entire city block, which, great, that demo is done, but
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  they haven't started building yet.
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  I'm like, perfect.
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  They're going to start construction right when we open our doors.
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  But Annette said, yes, that time is going to be challenging, but when it's
• 1:25
  done, what that's going to do to the desirability of my rental, and for Nicole,
• 1:30
  your rental too, I'm not sure what's going on, but hopefully it'll add to your area.
• 1:36
  Right.
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  And for everyone listening to the show, obviously, it's short-term
• 1:41
  rentals, and it's that immediate cash flow, potentially, what
• 1:44
  you're earning month to month.
• 1:47
  But I have to believe that most of our listeners are also, um,
• 1:52
  purchasing the property for some longer-term strategy also.
• 1:56
  So Nicole, I want to offer that up, uh, that your complex or the condo
• 2:01
  building that you are in, it sounds like they are making improvements.
• 2:05
  So hopefully, for your long-term bottom line, it's going to be a big improvement.
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  I know that's not what you want to hear today, but let's
• 2:14
  just always keep that in mind.
• 2:16
  Put yourself in the guest's shoes.
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  And Sarah and I, we don't have visibility to exactly what this project
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  looks like, but is it very apparent?
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  Are they going to pull up and be like, wait, I just got rope-a-dope.
• 2:30
  They totally knew there was construction.
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  This is a top pricing here.
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  Put yourself in your guest's shoes, um, and how much is it
• 2:41
  going to impact their stay?
• 2:43
  And I would definitely let them know about it.
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  I think being honest about the construction being there.
• 2:51
  That way, you can at least let them know ahead of time if they
• 2:53
  want to make other arrangements.
• 2:55
  Again, it depends on what that construction is.
• 2:57
  I don't know.
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  Is it right outside your door and they can see semis coming back,
• 3:03
  and back hose, and people in and out, or is it just in the distance?
• 3:08
  There's a lot of different, um, variables here that we don't know, but--
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  It sounds like the guest's stay is going to be impacted
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  because Nicole is concerned.
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  And so also, Nicole, there was a time that seemed like forever.
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  I managed a 12-unit building, and six of the units were under construction
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  for so long because it changed-- oh, two, two and a half years.
• 3:31
  It changed hands with owners, and then there was issues with-- we
• 3:34
  went through three contractors.
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  It was a thing.
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  Here's what I did.
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  So itwas just a construction project.
• 3:39
  Yeah.
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  Just a normal--
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  I don't know why we act like every time it's like, the contractor didn't show up.
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  They didn't do-- it's like, yeah, welcome to life.
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  Or just like us with life.
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  Our bookings are down.
• 3:49
  The guests accidentally used the white towels instead of the black towels.
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  Like, no, duh.
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  Just expect it.
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  They drank beer.
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  No way.
• 3:57
  Okay.
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  Sorry.
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  But every time, it hits you when you don't need that right now.
• 4:02
  But Nicole, here's what we did, and it worked pretty well.
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  First of all, I feel like if it's out of your control, maybe it's the city, um,
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  running it, what have you, we feel like, well, it's not my control, so why does my
• 4:13
  average daily rate have to be impacted?
• 4:16
  But unfortunately, again, perception's reality.
• 4:19
  Your average daily rate for that time period does need to reflect the stay
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  and what the guest gets out of the stay.
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  So if they're going to be impacted, whether it's early morning,
• 4:26
  late at night, what have you--
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  An amenity isn't open to them that normally would be open to them.
• 4:31
  Sure.
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  And then let them know that you have adjusted your rates
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  accordingly to offset that.
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  And I would let them know.
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  This is my opinion.
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  There might be some other opinions out there, but what we did above the fold
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  in all of our listings, our channel listings, is we had the dates of
• 4:45
  construction and that the guest may or may not be impacted in this way.
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  So for us, we made sure our contractor did not start until 9:00 AM, and
• 4:54
  they finished every day at 5:00.
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  And so we let the guests know.
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  And that on weekends they wouldn't be impacted except for when they
• 4:59
  walked in, they might see a vestibule that is temporary to allow the
• 5:03
  contractors to work during the week.
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  We adjusted our rates accordingly as well.
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  And then after the booking confirmation message, also remind the guest.
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  If you are staying with us between these dates, this is what's happening.
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  We are doing everything we can to make sure that your stay goes
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  smoothly, including adjusting our rates from our competitors
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  to take this into consideration.
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  AD MARKER
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  The other alternative, Nicole-- have, again, very little
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  information on your scenario.
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  Is it potentially a place where you could do a mid-term rental for a while?
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  Depending on what the rate adjustment is, would it make sense to have maybe
• 5:42
  a longer-term stay in there and adjust it accordingly and just know, hey,
• 5:46
  this person's going to be in there.
• 5:48
  I'm not going to have to worry about the guest interaction
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  for a month or two, or three.
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  Maybe it's a potential where-- I know in your message, you're a realtor.
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  Maybe there's some realtor friends out there you could connect
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  with if someone's doing a home renovation or traveling, something.
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  There might be some alternatives if you just see like, holy
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  smokes, it's just too much.
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  I mean, you said you had two condos, so maybe looking at a
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  mid-term rental for one and keeping the other one short-term rental.
• 6:14
  But, um, definitely, I would say, need to let them know, especially depending
• 6:19
  on the degree of the renovations and the construction, because you don't
• 6:23
  want to get any bad reviews from you not giving visibility totheguest.
• 6:28
  No, you need to set the proper expectations so they know exactly
• 6:32
  what they're walking into.
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  And Nicole, my final thought for you, and I'll see if Annette
• 6:36
  has any before we sign off here.
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  But my final thought for you is we are such at an age of how awesome
• 6:41
  it is for people just to book their stay and let themselves in.
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  Everything's automated.
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  But in this case, and you being a realtor, Nicole, this might be great for you, and
• 6:48
  obviously, a short-term rental host, is to call your guest after they confirm their
• 6:53
  booking and make sure they understand what is going to be impacted during their stay.
• 7:00
  And right after they book too, so that if they didn't realize it or someone
• 7:03
  else booked, what have you, you made that phone call, that personal touch.
• 7:08
  And I've got my final word, which just popped into my mind.
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  Nicole, this is a great opportunity.
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  Any of these guests that absolutely supported you during this time, this
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  is a great segue to welcome them back once all of it is complete.
• 7:28
  So this is something where when they are booked, maybe you do leave them a
• 7:32
  gift letting them know, hey, thanks.
• 7:34
  So glad you booked with us during this construction.
• 7:35
  We'd love to welcome you back and have, um, potentially-- it doesn't
• 7:39
  even have to be a discounted rate.
• 7:40
  Maybe it's an additional welcome gift or something like that.
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  But this is a way that you can already be looking towards, once the
• 7:48
  construction's complete, welcoming some of those guests, um, back again.
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  I mean, you should always be welcoming them back, but a little
• 7:55
  extra effort on the ones that supported you during the construction.
• 7:58
  And if you need Sarah and I to come check out the construction to see--
• 8:03
  We'd be happy to.
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  Be your truth telling friend about how bad the construction is in
• 8:07
  Maui right now, just let us know.
• 8:10
  I'll bring my noise canceling headphones.
• 8:12
  It'll be fine.
• 8:13
  All right.
• 8:14
  Great question, Nicole.
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  Good luck.
• 8:16
  Just persevere.
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  This is for all listeners too.
• 8:18
  This stuff is going to happen.
• 8:20
  You're going to have a neighbor that maybe is doing a rehab.
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  Your streets are going to be maybe getting new curves.
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  This will happen if it hasn't happened to you yet.
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  There is going to be some construction, um, in your area,
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  I'm sure, at some point in time.
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  Or, again, you need to do your own construction, um, on your property.
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  So great question, Nicole.
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  So everyone can learn from that one.
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  With that, I'm Sarah Karakaian.
• 8:47
  I'm Annette Grant.
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  And together we are--
• 8:49
  Thanks for Visiting.
• 8:49
  Talk to you next time.