Our first venture into short-term rentals (AirBnB)…

This property was our first venture into the short-term rental (AirBnB) world. We were looking for a property in Beech Mountain, NC. We targeted this area due to the affordability factor and the fact that it is an untapped year-round tourist destination. Skiing and snowboarding activities in the winter along with the Land of Oz, and outdoor activities in the summer make it a great tourist destination spot. Plus the city is very AirBnB friendly!

 

Exterior shot of the Tree House with two entrances, a ramp and stairs.

Photo of the living room with vaulted ceilings, gas fireplace, and accent furniture.

Adorable Tree House in Beech Mountain…

This adorable tree house already came furnished so it required a minimum amount of up-front cash to get started. At first we tried to find a vacation rental management company that could manage short-term rentals. The hope was they would take over the management of the the whole operation. We found that the full-service companies wanted to charge 25%-30% off the commission. This would hardly be breaking even for us at the end of the month if we went this route.

Patio and deck with adirondack chairs, fireplace, and nice open windows

Search for a short-term rental property manager…

We found a hybrid company. They charged 10% off commissions plus some processing fees and we actually listed with them for about a month. The company handled all the marketing and upfront guest communications, however they left all the back-end operations to the hosts. This included the cleaning, maintenance, and local guest communications. There was still quite a bit of things we had to manage. (Hence the 10% commission structure).

Master bedroom in a yellow color theme and accent pieces with string lights to add a unique touch

Issues with property management…

Our marketing and listings looked great. It was pretty easy to get started with them and we thought they would be great. Unfortunately, after a month we only got one booking. We were also still handling all the on the guest communications, coordinate our cleaners, and maintenance. After studying other vacation rentals in the area we realized that this short-term rentals property manager had our home way over priced. Especially for a brand new listing that has zero reviews and no track record. Of course no one wants to book it.

Dining and kitchen area with flower centerpiece and map to show where guests came from

Should we manage it ourselves?…

We realized quickly that we could literally copy exactly what this company was doing and just manage the listing ourselves. We implemented a property management software to help automate our process. The software could handle the guest communications, coordinating of cleaning and maintenance. We also installed a smart lock to allow easy guest check-in. After getting some pro photos done and stocking the home we could finally launch our vacation rental business.

Exterior photo from the ramp and main entrance with covered deck, picnic table, and grill

Self-managing our vacation rental is a huge success…

After we took over the full management we had to drastically raise the nightly rate because we were becoming over-occupied! Our occupancy rates hit 90% and above. This became a whole different issue we hadn’t even thought about when we started. We realized we needed to raise the price. Doing this brought the occupation levels to a more manageable level and actually increased our revenue in the process. We were also able to provide one-on-one personal guest communications since we were self-managing. We could also ensure a certain level of cleaning and maintenance since we had a handle on all operations.

Living room with live edge coffee table, rocking chair, and rustic lighting, vaulted ceiling, and open windows

AirBnB SuperHosts and Booking.com Vacation Rental Award Winners!

We managed to hit AirBnB SuperHost status in the first quarter. Since then we have been able to maintain SuperHost status since we started. Recently our little Tree House won an award on Booking.com for the Traveller Review Awards 2020 for outstanding guest reviews. We are very proud of how far we have come and look forward to many more successful years to come!

AirBnB SuperHost Award Winners

Booking.com Traveller Review Award Winner 2020

The Numbers Breakdown

For those of you number geeks (like me)…Here is a break down of the acquisition costs:

  • Purchase price – $139,900
  • Cash down plus closing costs- $6000
  • Additional furniture and decor- $800
  • Start-up expenses for Lockly door lock, toiletries, coffee, tea, cleaning supplies, linens, towels, etc – $2000
  • Immediate maintenance or repairs – $1000 (new flooring in bathrooms and bear proof trash containers)

Our monthly expenses look something like this:

  • Utilities (gas, electricity, sewage, water) – $300 average per month
  • Cable and internet – $100 per month
  • Property management software, marketing, website, etc – $50 per month
  • Cleaning fees – depends on guest stays averages $110 per stay
  • Maintenance and repairs – $75ish per month

Our average stats for the first year in business are as follows:

  • Average 70% to 90% occupancy year-round
  • Average gross rental income – $3500 per month
  • Total gross rental income for the first year. We started in April 2019 so this is only from April 2019 to December 2019. (April only had one reservation since we went with a management company for that month) – $31382.39
  • We will be updating for year 2 so keep checking in with us.

To stay at our Tree House or to find out more about our Tree House checkout our website at www.treehouseatthebeech.com. You can also send us an email at info@treehouseatthebeech.com