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Exploring the Transition from Long-Term Rentals to Short-Term Rentals with Stacey St. John | Episode 25 | STR Data Lab™ by AirDNA

We sat down with STR owner and educator Stacey St. John to discuss how she found her passion for renovating, owning, and operating short-term rentals. She discusses how she loves to do this, and when you love doing something, it never feels like you are working. Listening along to find out how she got started and where she plans on going.

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Transcript

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How did you get into this crazy business?

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You're in the short term rental business.

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You're a tour de force, as I like to say.

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Do you know what it's like

when you discover

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something new and it's not just something

like you're excited about,

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but you discover something that you abs

frickin

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lutely love.

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Stacey St John.

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Hello, fabulous team. How are. You?

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So good.

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I am so excited to be here with you.

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And now I'm going to say.

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You're a fabulous female.

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Oh, well, thank you.

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Thank you.

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I take it, man, it's like, who knows?

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This is probably going to air on a

Thursday, but it's Monday morning for us.

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So you got to you got to talk about

being fabulous, right?

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Like right off the bat, like,

we are fabulous men.

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And it's okay to own that, right?

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100%, yes.

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Yeah, I

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like I just like my new mantra for

the years is like, step into your essence.

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Step into who you are. Like, I love that.

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Oh, yeah.

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Well, your own in it.

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Left and right, my friend.

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Look, chillin it for for.

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Folks who don't know.

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What how the cool how did.

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You get into this crazy business

you're in the short term rental business

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you're a tour de force.

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As I like to say.

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This, I. Need to I need an origin story.

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It's like Wolverine.

I need the origin story.

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I love this.

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I will try to keep this.

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As. Succinct as possible,

but I got into the short term

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rental industry really about three years

ago, back in 2020.

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Good timing.

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Thank you. In the heart of COVID.

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So I was

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previously investing in long term

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rentals and with, you know,

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in doing flip projects than I have

my real estate license here in Ohio.

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And long story short,

when eviction moratoriums started

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popping up due to COVID, my husband

and I decided that, hey,

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maybe buying another long term rental

isn't in our best interest, you know,

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because we might not have recourse

if our tenant doesn't pay.

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So we decided that

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for us,

we wanted to explore the world of short

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term rentals because very candidly,

someone would actually have to pay

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to get the keys. Right.

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Right, right.

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And we bought our first two properties

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in Myrtle Beach,

South Carolina, and realized, number one,

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we love the fact that we have

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vacation rentals at the beach.

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And number two, oh darn, we have to take

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tax deductible trips to the beach

to check.

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On our property.

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So and it's really snowballed from there.

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So we own ten short term rentals,

nine of which are at the beach.

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One is in Hocking Hills, Ohio,

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just about 2 hours away from where I live.

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And then we also

I have a boutique property management

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firm down in Myrtle Beach

and doing co-hosting here in Ohio.

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And it's

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definitely snowballed into something

that I could have never dreamed

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of a couple short years ago.

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That is

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so, yeah, that sounds like that,

as I like to say, escalated quickly.

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So you're like, What's this super town?

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Let's see what it's like.

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And then, okay. All right. All right.

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So talk to me

a little bit about scalability,

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because, yeah, like, how did you

how quickly did you go from property

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one to property to like,

what did it really truly domino?

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Are were you

kind of like slow and steady about that.

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Oh, it definitely dominated.

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We bought and rehabbed eight

beachfront properties in our first year.

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And. You are so much braver than me.

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Well, let's bring bravery. It was.

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It was so fun.

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I found that I absolutely loved it.

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And candidly,

I was doing this while working full time

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in the corporate world from, you know,

I live in Ohio,

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so we were rehabbing properties

10 hours away from where we live.

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So one might call me a little crazy,

actually.

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Yeah, well, I.

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Was going to

I yeah, I brave, brave and crazy.

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Same. Same.

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Okay. Yeah, but it was something.

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Do you know what it's like

when you discover something new?

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And it's not just something

like you're excited about,

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but you discover something that you abs

frickin lutely love.

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And that's what it was for me.

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I was just so fricking excited

about what we were doing.

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It never seemed like work.

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It never was scary to me.

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Oh, okay.

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Okay.

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Well, you not only are you

maybe just discouraged, crazy.

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Extremely.

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Brave,

but also I think that you you really hit

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a really important thread there, Right?

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Which is just like to me

and let me just explain that.

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I also I went to school for interior

design like it

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this is the stuff

that should excite me too.

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But there's a reason I'm obviously

not an interior designer anymore.

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I'm like, How in the heck

could you get excited about renovations?

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Oh my. God.

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Oh my gosh.

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But but talk to me a little bit about.

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Yeah, like, sort of what?

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What is it about it that you love?

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Like, it's because I'm sure it's

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not the headache of like,

what's the lead time on that lot for Kyle?

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Exactly.

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You know,

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for me, a couple of things excited me.

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Number one,

I knew I was forcing appreciation

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in this real estate,

so I knew it had a financial impact.

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Okay.

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From performing those renovations.

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Number two, strategically, I,

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I selected that particular market

for a few different reasons.

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And one of the reasons was because I knew

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that I wanted to rehab something.

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And number two,

there were so many opportunities

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to find super ugly properties.

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There.

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But the thing.

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That excited me was about creating a space

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that had the vibe

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of a relaxing place

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where someone would walk in the door

and go, Oh, this was so amazing.

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You know,

there was something that just let me up

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inside about that.

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And candidly, you know, when I was a kid,

I would vacation at the beach

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and those memories of my vacations

from when I was a little girl

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still stick with me today.

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And so for me, again,

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when I'm looking to decorate or stage

or furnish or rehab a property

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and I am no interior designer

by any stretch of the imagination,

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but it's like there is some underlying

satisfaction, like this is going to be

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a beautiful place where someone

makes memories for their family.

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And so I'm just I don't know.

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I find that so fun.

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I don't know why, but I do.

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I okay, There are so many good,

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like just nuggets, takeaways

that I think are so, so important

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and I think can translate into anyone's

sort of strategy for becoming

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short term rental investor

and post rental preneur.

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I think I'm always trying on the right

term.

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I'm like, What do we call ourselves

in this business?

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It's so hard to figure out.

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So the first thing was like one, like

sort of like, what were your motivations?

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Right?

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And it sounds like one of the motivations

absolutely was like profitability, right?

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So you were thinking, okay,

this is a place I know people will love to

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go. I know that I can actually get into

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this market, you know, buy something

that, you know, is affordable to me,

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and then I can help it

appreciate over time very nicely.

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And then secondly,

I love this sort of like head and heart

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component of it,

which was like you just were like,

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I know in my heart of hearts

that this is an experience

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that I want to deliver for people. Right?

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And so like

so it was also very people centric.

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You like

I have fond memories of the beach.

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I want to give other people

those fond memories.

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I think that's a really,

really important part.

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We talk a lot about that

actually on the podcast, and I like

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love to come up with a clever quip.

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So I always say like, put the host back

in like hospitality, right?

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Because it's like,

this is this is a business about people

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and about memories and about experiences.

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And if you kind of forget

that component of it,

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I think it's really hard to be successful,

honestly.

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Right.

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So, like,

I love that you had a visceral connection.

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You had an emotional connection

to your guests.

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Yeah.

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And, you know, one of my favorite things

to this

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day is to go into my properties

and look at the guest book,

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you know, see what people write

about their experiences there, because

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that makes it all worthwhile.

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Not not to say that the financial aspect

isn't rewarding

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and not to say that

the teams aren't rewarding,

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but when you read in a guest's words

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about the fond memories

they have from staying in your place,

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you know that those memories are going

to stay with them for a lifetime, right?

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And it gives me goosebumps

just talking about it

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because it's like so cool.

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So that no, it is incredibly cool.

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And like, yeah, you just

you've reframed a lot of things for me.

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Sometimes we get

we do get a lot of guests in the show

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that are a little bit more focused

on like the profitability and the numbers

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and the things like that.

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So I love that we're talking about

a totally different sort of motivation.

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Right.

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And I think and also, do you want

they can coexist, right?

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I mean, that's that's kind of that's

kind of the Holy Grail, I would say,

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which is like feeling like you're doing

something good, you're contributing

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to something positive for folks.

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And you're also, of course,

able to be profitable in doing it.

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I love that. Well, yeah.

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I mean,

you obviously struck a chord for me

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because I am just like dreaming

of taking my kids to the beach

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for the first time

because they've never been like,

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but I'm like Caribbean beach and like,

we are going,

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I just want you to play in the sand on

the beach, make a castle the whole nine.

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So I am a huge fan of the Caribbean,

even though

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my properties are not in the Caribbean.

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My first fun fact,

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my first trip to the Caribbean,

I actually won on Wheel of Fortune.

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I was.

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You know, it was.

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So fun, but I wanted Trip to Saint Croix.

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And it was. Magical.

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It was so beautiful.

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And it was at that point

I said to my husband,

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Why are we flying to Hawaii

and spending 14 hours traveling

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when we can spend 2 hours on an airplane

and be in the Caribbean?

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Because it is just as beautiful,

in my opinion.

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It's gorgeous. So, yeah.

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You got to take your kids to the beach.

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Okay.

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Yeah. Well, I'm going to trust me.

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We're going to I'm going to go

look at your properties

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and get us on that one, too, because

I want to stay at one of your places.

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I know I'm going to be treated well.

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So I coming back to that scalability

thing, one of the things that strikes

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me and

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it's interesting because I think there's

definitely a debate about this, right.

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Which is just like,

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again, do you go for a place that maybe

you have an emotional connection to?

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And like you were saying, you're like,

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oh, darn, I got to go down to Myrtle

Beach again right?

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Or do you go for a place

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that's just going to like,

look good and make sense by the numbers?

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But what I'm also hearing from you

is that like

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I'm guessing why you were able to scale

so quickly in one location is because

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once you got that

first house under your belt,

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you had your contractor,

you had your sources,

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you kind of knew what the vibe was

and you probably creating a brand

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in the process. Yeah, I absolutely.

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I think, number one,

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we very specifically

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chose to lean heavily into one market

because as we all know,

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it's not easy to find good people

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and by leaning in

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and choice, fully

leaning into a singular market,

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it was easier for us to really,

really build a team.

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That was what I

consider a best in class. And

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candidly,

sometimes it takes going through the folks

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who aren't best in class

to find the ones who are.

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And because we did choose

to lean heavily into that market,

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we could get economies of scale

where, you know, you've got an inspector,

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an inspector that can look at all

your properties.

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You've got a maintenance folks

who can do all of your properties

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instead of having to go to a singular

market here and find an inspector

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and a maintenance person and h-back

and plumbing and electric,

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I mean, the whole shebang. Right?

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So. Right.

00:13:44:29 - 00:13:48:14

I was doing all this

while I was working full time.

00:13:48:14 - 00:13:52:15

And so it also was just

a little bit easier

00:13:52:15 - 00:13:56:25

to lean into that singular market,

quite candidly.

00:13:56:25 - 00:13:58:03

100%.

00:13:58:03 - 00:14:00:25

But I think that's that's

really smart, too, from my perspective.

00:14:00:26 - 00:14:04:19

I think the take away

there is like, you know, don't try to like

00:14:04:21 - 00:14:07:20

be a super human right, like,

be efficient, be smart.

00:14:07:27 - 00:14:09:28

It's like, set yourself up for success.

00:14:09:28 - 00:14:11:22

Amen to that. Yes.

00:14:11:22 - 00:14:13:26

Yes, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah.

00:14:14:11 - 00:14:17:17

And also, you make me feel like a slacker

because I basically

00:14:17:17 - 00:14:19:14

am only holding down a full time

job right now.

00:14:19:14 - 00:14:24:12

But, well, again,

this maybe this call me crazy.

00:14:24:12 - 00:14:26:26

Piece comes back in. So.

00:14:26:26 - 00:14:29:17

Yeah. Don't You are totally not a slacker.

00:14:29:17 - 00:14:30:29

I can tell you that.

00:14:30:29 - 00:14:33:29

And I think you're doing amazing things so

00:14:35:05 - 00:14:35:20

well.

00:14:35:20 - 00:14:38:14

Well, thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

00:14:38:14 - 00:14:40:15

I love so. So tell me, how.

00:14:40:15 - 00:14:41:26

So then what?

00:14:41:26 - 00:14:44:09

What possessed you

to get into the Ohio business?

00:14:44:09 - 00:14:44:25

What was sort of

00:14:44:25 - 00:14:46:26

what were the market conditions there

where you were like,

00:14:46:26 - 00:14:50:00

No, I think there's something there's

something happening in Ohio, I'm sure.

00:14:50:00 - 00:14:52:19

And so I love recruiting over here.

00:14:53:01 - 00:14:56:27

I was actually speaking

at the ACR Wealth Conference

00:14:57:10 - 00:15:03:15

last June

and the founder of another data company

00:15:03:16 - 00:15:08:13

had mentioned, hey,

you should look into Logan, Ohio.

00:15:08:13 - 00:15:12:02

It's right in your back yard. Stacey Yeah.

00:15:12:02 - 00:15:17:14

And so I thought, well, it's

not the beach, but let me look into this.

00:15:17:14 - 00:15:23:15

And sure enough, there were tremendous

opportunities in that market.

00:15:23:21 - 00:15:27:23

And it's in an area called Hocking Hills,

which is a

00:15:27:29 - 00:15:30:26

I would call a regional

vacation destination.

00:15:31:27 - 00:15:32:20

And every

00:15:32:20 - 00:15:35:19

time my family has personally tried

00:15:35:19 - 00:15:39:02

to go to Hocking Hills,

we can never find a place to stay.

00:15:39:27 - 00:15:41:26

And so.

00:15:41:26 - 00:15:45:03

You know, the creative juices

started flowing in my mind and thinking,

00:15:45:03 - 00:15:46:13

why hack this could.

00:15:46:13 - 00:15:49:19

We were finally ready to diversify.

00:15:49:19 - 00:15:54:03

We were actually looking to diversify

into a second market by this point.

00:15:54:18 - 00:15:58:14

And so by choosing a market,

00:15:58:14 - 00:16:01:23

that, number one, I had interest

00:16:01:23 - 00:16:07:06

in from a financial standpoint,

but number two, afforded us

00:16:07:06 - 00:16:11:22

opportune cities

to find someplace a bit closer.

00:16:11:22 - 00:16:14:27

So Hocking Hills is about 2 hours

instead of 10 hours.

00:16:15:17 - 00:16:18:28

You know, making that two hour trek

is nothing.

00:16:19:27 - 00:16:20:13

Yeah.

00:16:20:20 - 00:16:23:24

It's super duper easy

and I can get there in back in a day,

00:16:23:25 - 00:16:27:24

although I don't go very often.

00:16:27:24 - 00:16:32:06

But anyway, that's what kind of spurred me

on to that secondary market.

00:16:32:06 - 00:16:36:19

And we are just now beginning to replicate

00:16:36:19 - 00:16:39:28

what we did

in Myrtle Beach into that market as well.

00:16:41:09 - 00:16:43:17

Oh my goodness, this is so I love this.

00:16:43:27 - 00:16:47:11

Well, firstly, I love the data

helps inform that decision.

00:16:47:11 - 00:16:48:11

Right?

00:16:48:24 - 00:16:51:24

But I also think, again, this

like just a nice little balancing act.

00:16:52:00 - 00:16:55:05

So everyone is like,

yes, definitely look at the data

00:16:55:14 - 00:16:58:09

and then, you know,

validate it with some good hunches, right?

00:16:58:10 - 00:17:00:15

Like into your book, like your big clue,

there was like,

00:17:00:25 - 00:17:02:18

Oh, wait, we can never find a place.

00:17:02:18 - 00:17:07:08

Which means supply is definitely

not outpacing demand in Logan, Ohio.

00:17:07:20 - 00:17:09:20

And it's a little niche market.

00:17:10:09 - 00:17:11:02

It's so funny.

00:17:11:02 - 00:17:13:20

Yeah, I've talked to a couple other people

that have that sort of like again, like

00:17:13:28 - 00:17:17:11

you can just look in your own backyard

because in every state

00:17:17:11 - 00:17:22:03

there are these attractions, these these

destinations that people are going for.

00:17:22:03 - 00:17:24:25

And frankly,

lots of people want to just drive 2 hours

00:17:24:25 - 00:17:28:16

to go on vacation and not fly to,

you know, 2 hours or whatever.

00:17:28:17 - 00:17:29:07

Totally.

00:17:29:07 - 00:17:30:23

That's not what.

00:17:30:23 - 00:17:32:25

I'm so sorry to interrupt you.

00:17:32:25 - 00:17:33:19

One thing that

00:17:34:20 - 00:17:36:24

I also think is really important

00:17:37:18 - 00:17:43:07

to point out is understanding

why you're investing to begin with.

00:17:43:07 - 00:17:45:06

Number one.

00:17:45:06 - 00:17:48:27

And number two,

if you're investing with your spouse

00:17:48:28 - 00:17:54:29

or a partner sitting down and building out

a vision for what you want

00:17:55:04 - 00:18:01:01

from your investment portfolio

in five years is really important

00:18:01:09 - 00:18:06:07

because then once you have that,

then you can reverse engineer.

00:18:06:19 - 00:18:08:14

What that looks like.

00:18:08:14 - 00:18:10:28

A lot of people, I believe,

00:18:11:24 - 00:18:14:01

obviously

a lot of people fall into this, right?

00:18:14:01 - 00:18:18:02

They they have this rental

that becomes a short term rental,

00:18:18:04 - 00:18:22:21

but there's no reason why we can't then

if we're going to be in this industry,

00:18:22:21 - 00:18:27:21

sit down and really, really think about

what we want from this business.

00:18:28:01 - 00:18:33:16

And then once we establish what we want,

then we just build a plan to achieve that.

00:18:34:27 - 00:18:38:04

Yes, that's great life advice, period.

00:18:38:23 - 00:18:40:19

I yes, I think that that is so.

00:18:40:19 - 00:18:43:13

So I'm glad you bring that up

because, yeah,

00:18:43:25 - 00:18:47:06

we always like to jokingly because it did

seem, I think especially from the years

00:18:47:06 - 00:18:51:06

of 2020 to 2021, 2022,

that folks kind of like

00:18:51:06 - 00:18:54:28

they really some people were like,

oh, this can be a passive income, right?

00:18:54:28 - 00:18:57:19

Like I can just list

whatever property I have or I've got an 80

00:18:57:20 - 00:18:59:19

you or something like that.

00:18:59:19 - 00:19:02:19

And then what we were joking is like,

what do you, what do you do?

00:19:02:19 - 00:19:06:14

And you're like, Oops, I accidentally I'm

now like a host, like crap.

00:19:06:15 - 00:19:09:09

Like, I'm like, like

this is a lot more than I thought it was.

00:19:09:09 - 00:19:11:06

Right? Like, now what?

00:19:11:06 - 00:19:15:13

And so sitting down and thinking about,

like, what you really want to

00:19:15:13 - 00:19:18:26

achieve and I love this,

like really torturing the why,

00:19:18:27 - 00:19:20:26

why am I doing this right?

00:19:20:26 - 00:19:23:10

And again, like,

if it's just for the money,

00:19:23:10 - 00:19:26:07

that's one strategy

and that's a completely different strategy

00:19:26:07 - 00:19:28:27

than if you're sort of motivated,

you know, also by delivering it.

00:19:29:01 - 00:19:29:28

Absolutely.

00:19:29:28 - 00:19:35:06

And and you can look at that in general

across your investment portfolio,

00:19:35:06 - 00:19:39:01

but you can also look at that

from a singular property perspective of

00:19:39:10 - 00:19:43:19

and a very loving, very relevant for me.

00:19:43:23 - 00:19:47:13

We've got some great friends

who I always tell

00:19:47:13 - 00:19:51:22

people we've peer pressured

into buying real estate.

00:19:51:22 - 00:19:53:08

It's a great it's.

00:19:53:08 - 00:19:55:11

Not terrible, though.

Thank you, Fader Stacie.

00:19:56:20 - 00:19:58:14

But. So now they own

00:19:58:14 - 00:20:00:19

four beach condos and.

00:20:02:00 - 00:20:03:20

That's some good peer pressure.

00:20:03:20 - 00:20:05:01

I know, but we have a.

00:20:05:01 - 00:20:06:23

Blast doing it together.

00:20:06:23 - 00:20:11:04

But I share that

because there are husband and wife

00:20:11:04 - 00:20:15:09

and they're looking to acquire

another property and they're having

00:20:15:10 - 00:20:21:04

trouble finding the right property

because they're each wanting

00:20:21:04 - 00:20:25:06

to approach this next acquisition

for different reasons.

00:20:26:01 - 00:20:28:05

And again.

00:20:28:05 - 00:20:30:28

That's not relatable.

00:20:30:28 - 00:20:31:19

So I think.

00:20:31:19 - 00:20:35:19

Even when you look at it

from a micro perspective, why,

00:20:35:20 - 00:20:37:28

why are we looking to acquire this

property?

00:20:37:28 - 00:20:41:26

Is it because we want a place

for our family to enjoy

00:20:42:11 - 00:20:45:08

and we want it to just pay for itself

00:20:45:08 - 00:20:48:10

potentially or offset the cost. Of.

00:20:48:21 - 00:20:50:16

Right. You know, owning this property?

00:20:50:16 - 00:20:54:25

Or are we wanting to have an investment

00:20:54:25 - 00:20:58:13

first approach where, hey, it's going to

00:20:58:29 - 00:21:01:19

it's going to be a financial investment

for us

00:21:01:19 - 00:21:05:22

and oh, by the way, we get to enjoy it

a couple of times of the year.

00:21:05:27 - 00:21:09:08

Those are two very different conversations

when we're thinking

00:21:09:08 - 00:21:11:09

about acquiring a piece of real estate.

00:21:11:09 - 00:21:15:02

So I think you can look at that

from a macro perspective, but also on

00:21:15:02 - 00:21:19:12

the micro level, you can look at that

from each individual property.

00:21:19:12 - 00:21:20:13

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:21:20:13 - 00:21:25:10

You're making me think it's easier

to invest without as far as I can.

00:21:25:10 - 00:21:25:26

I do.

00:21:25:26 - 00:21:27:15

A different podcast from.

00:21:27:15 - 00:21:29:02

Right there because

00:21:30:16 - 00:21:31:25

we will go into that.

00:21:31:25 - 00:21:32:12

But I do.

00:21:32:12 - 00:21:35:12

I remember when my husband and I

bought our first property, it really was

00:21:35:12 - 00:21:38:11

like such a such a good eye

opening experience for us too,

00:21:38:20 - 00:21:41:13

because you can't have it all like you

can't.

00:21:41:22 - 00:21:44:26

Those are two very different strategies,

like they're just in conflict

00:21:44:26 - 00:21:45:28

with each other.

00:21:45:28 - 00:21:48:28

So you kind of have to pick a lane.

00:21:48:28 - 00:21:50:27

But again, you know,

you could do that with one property

00:21:50:27 - 00:21:52:25

and then the next property

pick the other lane.

00:21:52:25 - 00:21:57:11

In theory, what I would love to know,

sort of like I love that you were like,

00:21:57:11 - 00:22:00:19

we were at a point where we were ready

to diversify our portfolio.

00:22:00:28 - 00:22:02:15

What what was it?

00:22:02:15 - 00:22:03:24

What were sort of like the criteria

00:22:03:24 - 00:22:07:15

was in your mind where you were like,

No, I'm ready to diversify.

00:22:07:19 - 00:22:09:18

How did you know you were right? Sure.

00:22:09:18 - 00:22:14:02

Well, a couple of things

that really, really were important for us.

00:22:14:02 - 00:22:17:15

And my the way that I've set up

my business might be a little bit

00:22:17:15 - 00:22:22:17

different than most people's,

but I have a 24 seven concierge team

00:22:22:17 - 00:22:26:12

that takes care of all of my guest

bookings or inquiries,

00:22:26:29 - 00:22:29:27

you know, troubleshooting maintenance,

coordinating

00:22:29:27 - 00:22:33:26

with with getting cleaners that all the

00:22:34:02 - 00:22:37:23

all the fun stuff when it comes to the day

to day operations.

00:22:37:23 - 00:22:41:23

And I did that number one was one of

the reasons is again

00:22:41:23 - 00:22:43:07

I was working full time while.

00:22:43:07 - 00:22:45:09

I was building this. Business.

00:22:45:09 - 00:22:48:00

So as you might imagine,

00:22:48:12 - 00:22:51:07

the beach is a seasonal market, right?

00:22:51:07 - 00:22:56:04

So a lot of people love, love, love

to come to the beach in the summertime.

00:22:56:04 - 00:22:59:25

And we absolutely have people

that visit in the spring, in the fall,

00:23:00:04 - 00:23:05:27

however, that 80 hours are very different

in those shoulder seasons.

00:23:06:01 - 00:23:09:26

And then winter time is like crickets,

you know what I mean?

00:23:09:26 - 00:23:13:09

Like,

not many people want to come for a family

00:23:13:09 - 00:23:17:14

vacation to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina,

when it's 50 degrees outside.

00:23:17:26 - 00:23:22:24

So in the winter time, we tend to shift

to a mid term rental strategy.

00:23:22:24 - 00:23:26:20

Where will host snowbirds, you know,

for four, six, eight weeks at a time?

00:23:27:25 - 00:23:28:12

Well, as you might

00:23:28:12 - 00:23:33:11

imagine, regardless of whether people

are traveling to the beach or not,

00:23:33:28 - 00:23:37:11

we have fixed costs in our business.

00:23:37:11 - 00:23:38:02

Yeah.

00:23:38:19 - 00:23:43:16

And so we were looking to diversify

to help

00:23:44:19 - 00:23:47:19

obviously defray some of the

00:23:47:21 - 00:23:51:00

some of the slowness of the winter season.

00:23:51:13 - 00:23:54:00

And we were looking for another market,

00:23:54:00 - 00:23:58:12

which wasn't as seasonal

as with the highs and the lows.

00:23:58:13 - 00:23:59:14

Number one.

00:23:59:14 - 00:24:02:13

But number two, looking for a market

00:24:02:13 - 00:24:06:16

where the peak season was different

than the peak season at the beach.

00:24:06:16 - 00:24:12:12

So it would help us balance things out

from an income

00:24:12:12 - 00:24:14:21

and expense perspective.

00:24:16:10 - 00:24:17:23

That's fabulous. I love that.

00:24:17:23 - 00:24:20:08

Now that that makes

that makes a lot of good logical.

00:24:20:08 - 00:24:21:27

Sense to me.

00:24:21:27 - 00:24:24:29

Well, you know I love also. Yeah.

00:24:25:04 - 00:24:28:23

So, so, so, so smart.

00:24:28:23 - 00:24:31:27

The other thing

that I love about your approach,

00:24:32:08 - 00:24:35:28

which again, I think is super, super

important for anyone just starting out

00:24:35:28 - 00:24:39:22

like myself, is this idea of like

treating this as a business.

00:24:39:22 - 00:24:45:18

So even though you had a full time job,

right, you I'm guessing that part of maybe

00:24:45:18 - 00:24:49:21

what was on your five year vision board

was not having a full time corporate job.

00:24:51:05 - 00:24:54:18

You know, you could have

you could be right about that, Mariah.

00:24:54:18 - 00:24:56:03

Absolutely. Yes.

00:24:56:03 - 00:24:58:17

I was looking for an exit, for sure.

00:24:59:23 - 00:25:01:03

So but what.

00:25:01:03 - 00:25:04:28

Is probably was an advantage for you

is that having worked in that world,

00:25:05:01 - 00:25:09:01

you probably brought some did you bring

some of that sort of knowledge of like

00:25:09:16 - 00:25:13:14

be, you know, being a business leader,

being in in an actual business

00:25:13:14 - 00:25:15:20

where I'm sure there were things

that you were concerned about,

00:25:15:20 - 00:25:18:00

like what's my revenue

and what's my EPA done?

00:25:18:01 - 00:25:18:27

All right.

00:25:18:28 - 00:25:19:24

Absolutely.

00:25:19:24 - 00:25:24:07

I think it is so critically important,

in my opinion,

00:25:24:07 - 00:25:29:23

for anyone who is a short term

rental owner or operator

00:25:29:25 - 00:25:34:06

to understand

that you are a business leader,

00:25:35:04 - 00:25:37:15

You're not just the owner

00:25:37:15 - 00:25:40:20

of a property or a host with gas.

00:25:41:05 - 00:25:42:06

You are a,

00:25:43:10 - 00:25:45:29

you know, CEO of your business.

00:25:46:13 - 00:25:50:17

And I also think the business leader

00:25:50:17 - 00:25:54:09

mentality is very different

than a business owner mentality.

00:25:55:18 - 00:25:57:25

And so I, I just think

00:25:57:25 - 00:26:02:07

that, again,

I could be a little bit crazy about this,

00:26:02:07 - 00:26:06:00

but in in so many ways, it's easy

00:26:06:00 - 00:26:09:23

for people to do just enough to get by.

00:26:09:29 - 00:26:12:25

Even in a business setting,

right where it's.

00:26:13:07 - 00:26:15:05

Okay, I'm going, I'm.

00:26:15:05 - 00:26:18:13

I'm going to be fine

with making my numbers or I

00:26:18:18 - 00:26:20:19

you know, I'm not going to lose money.

00:26:20:19 - 00:26:22:12

I'm doing okay.

00:26:22:12 - 00:26:27:16

But when we think about ourselves

as business leaders, that number one puts

00:26:27:16 - 00:26:32:25

a different spin on even the way we think

about ourselves and our our day to day.

00:26:33:08 - 00:26:34:21

Number two.

00:26:34:21 - 00:26:37:09

Behaving as a business leader,

00:26:37:09 - 00:26:40:02

what do successful business leaders do?

00:26:40:14 - 00:26:41:19

Well, they do.

00:26:41:19 - 00:26:44:09

They make decisions based on data.

00:26:44:24 - 00:26:47:18

They don't make decisions on a whim.

00:26:47:18 - 00:26:51:07

Now, making swift decisions is oftentimes

00:26:51:07 - 00:26:54:08

really important as a business leader, but

00:26:55:09 - 00:26:57:03

it's also really important to

00:26:57:03 - 00:27:01:13

make data driven decisions

to be strategic in what we're doing.

00:27:01:26 - 00:27:04:11

So I think

00:27:04:13 - 00:27:07:19

for me, having the perspective

00:27:07:19 - 00:27:11:10

of number one, recognizing

00:27:11:10 - 00:27:16:04

that data is a really important

piece of this business has been critical.

00:27:16:04 - 00:27:21:03

But number two,

I was trained in my corporate life

00:27:21:21 - 00:27:25:13

in something called EOS, and it.

00:27:25:25 - 00:27:27:05

It's an.

00:27:27:05 - 00:27:30:10

An employee entrepreneurial system, right?

00:27:30:10 - 00:27:33:08

For four it's I think it's called

00:27:33:08 - 00:27:36:11

employee operational system.

00:27:36:11 - 00:27:41:09

But you think about the books

you've heard Traction and Rocket fuel.

00:27:41:09 - 00:27:45:09

It's all of the infrastructure.

00:27:45:09 - 00:27:45:19

Sure.

00:27:45:19 - 00:27:49:22

Of how to make a small business thrive.

00:27:50:07 - 00:27:55:26

And one of the things that's

really important is that your actions

00:27:55:26 - 00:28:01:28

in your business align with what you say

you want from your business, right?

00:28:01:28 - 00:28:04:10

So again, it's those five year goals.

00:28:04:10 - 00:28:08:24

Well, are we making day to day decisions

in our business

00:28:08:24 - 00:28:13:08

that align with what we want

five years from now or even this year?

00:28:13:24 - 00:28:19:01

So again, it's all about, in my mind,

taking that experience

00:28:19:01 - 00:28:20:14

from the corporate world

00:28:20:14 - 00:28:24:18

and actually applying it to my own short

term rental business.

00:28:24:18 - 00:28:26:04

So that's been super fun.

00:28:26:04 - 00:28:29:15

I mean, it's a creative way

for me to think about,

00:28:30:00 - 00:28:36:10

you know, being a real estate

rental preneur, something I love to sell.

00:28:36:14 - 00:28:38:25

I could get

I could talk about this stuff for days.

00:28:38:25 - 00:28:40:12

I don't want to bore your audience.

00:28:42:04 - 00:28:45:18

My. Highly on like highly unlikely

that you're boring anyone right now.

00:28:45:18 - 00:28:50:00

I think this is so great because again,

not everyone may have the advantage

00:28:50:00 - 00:28:50:09

of having

00:28:50:09 - 00:28:53:24

been in a corporate setting like you did,

but what is great is that, you know,

00:28:54:04 - 00:28:57:24

I always just draft off of other people's

like I'm like cheat off of other people's

00:28:57:24 - 00:28:58:19

homework, right?

00:28:58:19 - 00:29:01:24

Like you've been through it,

you know, and you're bringing

00:29:01:24 - 00:29:05:16

some really solid frameworks

to your process

00:29:05:22 - 00:29:09:05

that anyone, whether they were

in a corporate America or not, can adopt.

00:29:10:02 - 00:29:12:25

And so I love

I love this concept again, of sort of like

00:29:13:01 - 00:29:16:08

make sure that your actions

are matching your intention, right.

00:29:16:08 - 00:29:18:13

Or the impact matches its intention.

00:29:19:23 - 00:29:23:20

And and this idea of data,

I think one of the things that, you know,

00:29:23:20 - 00:29:27:07

we always encourage folks to do is like,

you know, like do a quarterly business

00:29:27:07 - 00:29:31:16

review of your of your properties,

even if you only have one

00:29:31:26 - 00:29:36:04

and like understand you know, exactly

how much is going into it, right.

00:29:36:04 - 00:29:39:13

How much you've invested into it

and what is the return on that investment.

00:29:39:13 - 00:29:41:26

Right. Even down to like,

okay, here's my ADR.

00:29:41:26 - 00:29:42:26

Great. Cool.

00:29:42:26 - 00:29:45:11

But like,

what does it cost me for it? Right.

00:29:45:11 - 00:29:46:01

Right.

00:29:46:01 - 00:29:50:06

Well, and to your point, not only doing

a quarterly business review,

00:29:50:06 - 00:29:53:27

but also looking at trends in the data

because.

00:29:54:15 - 00:29:55:12

It's very.

00:29:55:12 - 00:30:01:02

Easy to get caught up into, Well,

what does this metric really mean?

00:30:01:02 - 00:30:02:23

And it's.

00:30:02:23 - 00:30:08:10

I think, a bit difficult when we're

looking at a metric in a moment in time.

00:30:08:28 - 00:30:11:18

However, when we simply

00:30:11:18 - 00:30:14:24

track those metrics over time,

00:30:15:05 - 00:30:18:23

you can begin to see trends

00:30:18:23 - 00:30:22:24

emerging just naturally inorganically.

00:30:23:07 - 00:30:27:25

So establishing a best practice

of tracking data in your business

00:30:27:25 - 00:30:31:03

and simply throwing it on

to a spreadsheet, right.

00:30:31:19 - 00:30:34:20

And then coming back

and revisiting that spreadsheet

00:30:34:20 - 00:30:39:04

to look at seasonal trends or year

over year trends or

00:30:39:04 - 00:30:44:08

how is my ADR tracking this year

versus last year versus last season?

00:30:44:08 - 00:30:47:16

You know, again,

once you have the data, there's.

00:30:47:19 - 00:30:49:24

All kinds of fun. Stuff

you can do with it.

00:30:50:05 - 00:30:52:28

But the first step

is start tracking the data

00:30:54:01 - 00:30:54:25

right?

00:30:54:25 - 00:30:57:21

Right. Step one. One.

00:30:57:21 - 00:30:59:23

Yeah. And I think you're totally right.

00:30:59:23 - 00:31:02:16

And thank you, of course, for talking

about that on our data podcast.

00:31:02:27 - 00:31:05:11

I love that.

00:31:05:11 - 00:31:08:29

So the trends over time is what is really

important to us at air DNA too, right?

00:31:08:29 - 00:31:09:27

Because like,

00:31:10:08 - 00:31:13:28

yes, if you have data on your property,

it is going to be accurate like 100%.

00:31:13:28 - 00:31:14:28

You're going to know.

00:31:14:28 - 00:31:18:10

But generally speaking, when you're

looking at macro trends, right, you're

00:31:18:13 - 00:31:21:26

you're going for a certain level of error

that is acceptable, right?

00:31:21:26 - 00:31:23:18

Like that's

just sort of like data one on one.

00:31:23:18 - 00:31:26:25

But what you're really trying

to track in addition to the absolute

00:31:26:25 - 00:31:28:16

number is the trend over time.

00:31:28:16 - 00:31:30:18

And so have things changed.

00:31:30:18 - 00:31:32:19

And I love this idea of like year

over year. Right?

00:31:32:19 - 00:31:34:24

And it's particularly

because you have to kind of look

00:31:34:24 - 00:31:38:26

at like 2018, 2019, 20, 20 to 2020

where it's like,

00:31:38:26 - 00:31:42:01

whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,

like we had experienced in this industry.

00:31:42:01 - 00:31:47:00

So much astronomical growth

both from demand but also from supply.

00:31:47:00 - 00:31:47:09

Right.

00:31:47:09 - 00:31:50:15

And the problem is, once people know

there's a good thing going on,

00:31:50:24 - 00:31:52:28

a lot of people hop on that. Yeah. Yeah.

00:31:54:22 - 00:31:55:29

So for us, you know,

00:31:55:29 - 00:31:59:04

the recommendation we always make is like,

just get one step ahead, right?

00:31:59:04 - 00:31:59:24

Because like,

00:31:59:24 - 00:32:02:19

like I always joke, I'm like, by the time

I'm ready to invest in the market,

00:32:02:19 - 00:32:04:18

like if I'm just looking at like,

the signs

00:32:04:18 - 00:32:06:21

and like reading the travel blogs

where it's too late.

00:32:06:23 - 00:32:10:04

Like either like if I go, if I'm

try to invest where I'm vacationing,

00:32:10:12 - 00:32:12:12

I've already missed the boat.

00:32:12:12 - 00:32:13:04

Let's

00:32:14:17 - 00:32:18:13

which is why, you know, like sort of the

riches are in the niches is what I like.

00:32:18:19 - 00:32:21:03

I love that. It's

00:32:21:07 - 00:32:22:17

so very, very interesting.

00:32:22:17 - 00:32:23:25

And then this idea, to your point,

00:32:23:25 - 00:32:26:20

I love this idea of like like, yes,

definitely looking at ADR over time,

00:32:26:28 - 00:32:29:22

but looking at like your booking window,

your booking lead times.

00:32:30:01 - 00:32:33:24

And then for us, what's so important

is to get out of your own echo chamber

00:32:34:04 - 00:32:37:24

and to look at your comparables

right at your competition

00:32:37:24 - 00:32:41:09

and say, okay,

like how what is their booking time?

00:32:41:14 - 00:32:44:23

What are their orders and how am I? Am I?

00:32:44:24 - 00:32:46:03

Am I leaving money on the table?

00:32:46:03 - 00:32:49:21

Did everything else get booked a lot

higher than I was pricing or did I?

00:32:49:21 - 00:32:50:24

Did I overpriced?

00:32:50:24 - 00:32:54:05

And now everyone else is booking under

and I'm just like now

00:32:54:05 - 00:32:55:10

not even getting the well.

00:32:55:10 - 00:32:59:21

And I think to

when you have those data trends and

00:32:59:27 - 00:33:04:20

and specific comparisons

with other properties in the market,

00:33:05:00 - 00:33:08:13

you can begin to have more strategic

thoughts and conversations

00:33:08:13 - 00:33:10:28

if you are managing other people's

properties.

00:33:11:10 - 00:33:14:03

So as. An example.

00:33:14:03 - 00:33:18:08

You know,

we do a shameless plug for air DNA here,

00:33:18:19 - 00:33:21:26

but we do have all of our properties

00:33:21:26 - 00:33:25:09

loaded and your system so that we can see

00:33:25:21 - 00:33:28:13

how our occupancy compares

00:33:28:13 - 00:33:31:01

with our comparables in our market.

00:33:31:13 - 00:33:36:04

How does our ADR look compared

to other properties in our market?

00:33:36:04 - 00:33:38:14

How does our again,

your booking lead time?

00:33:39:00 - 00:33:43:19

So for for me

as not only an owner of real estate

00:33:43:19 - 00:33:48:25

but also a licensed property manager where

I'm managing other people's properties,

00:33:49:29 - 00:33:51:21

if there are certain nuances

00:33:51:21 - 00:33:54:28

about that property that I know. Are.

00:33:55:26 - 00:33:58:13

Are holding that owner

00:33:58:13 - 00:34:01:02

back from achieving

what they want financially

00:34:01:12 - 00:34:06:00

by having data at our fingertips,

I can show them what I mean.

00:34:06:09 - 00:34:10:10

Hey, and I just again

had this very real conversation

00:34:10:10 - 00:34:12:10

with a property owner recently where

00:34:13:25 - 00:34:16:09

there are opportunities for her

00:34:16:09 - 00:34:19:03

to make her property,

00:34:19:09 - 00:34:24:01

I believe more beautiful

and more of an experience for her guests.

00:34:24:12 - 00:34:25:07

And it's sometimes.

00:34:25:07 - 00:34:31:05

Having, you know, it's more of a feeling

or a gut instinct.

00:34:31:05 - 00:34:32:00

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:34:32:00 - 00:34:37:24

By being able to show her this is how

your one bedroom property is performing.

00:34:38:15 - 00:34:43:13

These are five other one bedrooms

in our own portfolio

00:34:43:29 - 00:34:48:07

from which we have staged

and built this esthetic.

00:34:48:07 - 00:34:49:03

And guess what?

00:34:49:03 - 00:34:53:08

They're bringing in

30% more revenue every year.

00:34:54:08 - 00:34:56:06

How can I help you get there?

00:34:56:06 - 00:34:56:16

Right?

00:34:56:16 - 00:34:59:03

So then it shifts the conversation

00:35:00:05 - 00:35:04:04

and it allows you to bring solutions

to the table, if that makes sense.

00:35:05:04 - 00:35:06:14

It makes perfect sense.

00:35:06:14 - 00:35:06:27

I love that.

00:35:06:27 - 00:35:08:21

Yeah,

it takes the objectivity out of it, right?

00:35:08:21 - 00:35:12:12

It's not just like, Oh, Stacey's

telling me she wants me to invest 3000

00:35:12:12 - 00:35:14:09

or $10,000 into this property

00:35:14:09 - 00:35:16:22

because she thinks it needs

to look more beautiful, which,

00:35:16:23 - 00:35:19:01

you know, on surface level, you're like,

What's the value of that?

00:35:19:01 - 00:35:20:20

You're like,

Well, let me tell you what the value is.

00:35:20:20 - 00:35:22:24

It's that you're going to make 30%

more, right?

00:35:22:24 - 00:35:24:13

You're going to make that.

00:35:24:13 - 00:35:26:14

You're going to get

that return on investment.

00:35:26:23 - 00:35:30:27

And yeah, I mean, if you just if you don't

know who's listing right next to you.

00:35:31:00 - 00:35:31:25

Right. Right.

00:35:33:03 - 00:35:35:06

You can't

you can't really figure that out.

00:35:35:06 - 00:35:36:29

Oh, my goodness. Stacey, I love this.

00:35:36:29 - 00:35:44:12

I could talk to you all day as you now,

but I'm not going to torture you.

00:35:44:12 - 00:35:45:20

I just had Natalie Palmer.

00:35:45:20 - 00:35:49:00

On and we decided the slogan was like,

this podcast is not torture.

00:35:49:17 - 00:35:50:12

Okay, I am.

00:35:50:12 - 00:35:54:09

Glad that we are not torturing each other,

but I could talk to you all day too.

00:35:54:09 - 00:35:57:15

So there you go.

00:35:57:15 - 00:35:58:18

I love. It.

00:35:58:18 - 00:36:02:00

Well, I would love to play one quick

game with you that we play

00:36:02:00 - 00:36:03:00

with all of our guests.

00:36:03:00 - 00:36:06:11

And then, of course,

I want people to know more about how

00:36:06:11 - 00:36:08:18

they can get more of your wisdom

and your frameworks

00:36:08:18 - 00:36:11:01

and the way that you've sort of

built your business.

00:36:11:01 - 00:36:13:12

Again, guys,

draft off of Stacey's experience.

00:36:13:12 - 00:36:15:24

You don't have to do this alone.

You don't have to reinvent the wheel.

00:36:16:22 - 00:36:19:02

So, Stacey, the game is what?

00:36:19:26 - 00:36:23:20

And the first question is, Oh,

it sounds like you're going to games.

00:36:23:20 - 00:36:24:16

You've done Wheel of Fortune.

00:36:24:16 - 00:36:25:18

I'm not worried about you.

00:36:25:18 - 00:36:27:22

You've got this, You've got this.

00:36:27:23 - 00:36:31:13

Who, apart from yourself,

would you recommend folks

00:36:31:18 - 00:36:34:10

listen to you for inspiration or read?

00:36:35:09 - 00:36:38:22

Who else in this space

is sort of like offering some kernels of.

00:36:38:26 - 00:36:40:22

Advice folks might find useful?

00:36:40:22 - 00:36:42:24

Let me ask you the rules to this game.

00:36:42:24 - 00:36:45:13

Do I have to just share one person?

00:36:46:25 - 00:36:48:25

No. Firstly, there's no role.

00:36:48:25 - 00:36:51:13

I guess.

00:36:51:13 - 00:36:52:29

But I like that you ask the rules.

00:36:52:29 - 00:36:55:24

Just shows that you're a good game player.

00:36:55:24 - 00:36:56:10

I love it.

00:36:56:10 - 00:37:00:00

Okay,

so a couple of ideas that come to mind are

00:37:00:15 - 00:37:03:10

I love the thanks for visiting podcast.

00:37:03:10 - 00:37:05:17

So Sarah and Annette, they're just.

00:37:05:17 - 00:37:08:00

Not. Fabulous resources to folks.

00:37:08:00 - 00:37:10:26

And again,

I believe them to be in alignment

00:37:10:26 - 00:37:12:29

with what we've just talked about,

you know.

00:37:12:29 - 00:37:14:01

Having a good business.

00:37:14:01 - 00:37:16:26

Sense

but also having a heart at the same time.

00:37:16:26 - 00:37:19:17

So definitely. Sarah and Annette,

00:37:20:20 - 00:37:22:01

I think that

00:37:22:01 - 00:37:26:07

getting plugged into Hospitable hosts,

which are

00:37:27:08 - 00:37:30:29

now two books,

I was a coauthor on the first book.

00:37:30:29 - 00:37:34:10

They are getting ready

to release the second book this.

00:37:34:10 - 00:37:35:03

Month.

00:37:35:03 - 00:37:37:11

Or this spring, I should say.

00:37:38:03 - 00:37:40:19

And so by reading those books,

00:37:40:19 - 00:37:45:15

you actually have exposure to hosts

from all around the world

00:37:45:15 - 00:37:49:09

and what their nuggets

and helpful insights have been.

00:37:49:09 - 00:37:53:17

So it really just is a potpourri

of different people's experiences,

00:37:54:04 - 00:37:56:16

and I think that that's

a really good resource.

00:37:57:15 - 00:38:00:00

AM I allowed to shamelessly

plug my Facebook

00:38:00:00 - 00:38:03:16

group for any. Of the press?

00:38:03:16 - 00:38:05:28

But again, the rules. There's no rules.

You know.

00:38:05:28 - 00:38:07:25

I don't want to open too, you know.

00:38:07:25 - 00:38:13:03

But, you know, I've got a Facebook group

called Female Short Term Rental Investors.

00:38:13:03 - 00:38:16:19

And we have almost as of today,

00:38:16:20 - 00:38:20:11

just shy of 36,000 women

from all around the world

00:38:20:11 - 00:38:25:01

who eat, sleep, breathe and talk

short term rentals every day.

00:38:25:05 - 00:38:29:03

And so, ladies, if you are listening,

00:38:29:03 - 00:38:32:17

would love, love, love to welcome

you inside of there.

00:38:32:17 - 00:38:36:03

There are so many fabulous people

in this industry.

00:38:36:03 - 00:38:38:00

I feel like I'm doing.

00:38:38:00 - 00:38:38:23

A lot of people.

00:38:38:23 - 00:38:42:25

A disservice by not mentioning them,

but I think that

00:38:42:26 - 00:38:46:11

that's that that's also

one of the beauties of this industry is

00:38:46:11 - 00:38:50:14

that there are so many fabulous people

who are here to help you think about Julie

00:38:50:14 - 00:38:55:13

George and, you know, Tracy

Northcott and Valerie Malone.

00:38:55:13 - 00:38:57:29

I mean, there's so many fabulous women

00:38:58:04 - 00:39:01:14

and guys, sorry,

I'm talking about women here.

00:39:01:27 - 00:39:04:20

But you know. So many fabulous guys, too.

00:39:04:20 - 00:39:09:02

Bill, Faith, Mike SHOGREN, Mark Simpson,

so many great people.

00:39:09:02 - 00:39:12:29

So definitely get plugged in

to all those folks.

00:39:12:29 - 00:39:17:25

And the hospitable host books,

I think, can also be a fabulous resource.

00:39:17:25 - 00:39:19:14

That was a really long answer.

00:39:19:14 - 00:39:20:01

And I'm really.

00:39:20:01 - 00:39:21:20

Sorry. That's okay.

00:39:21:20 - 00:39:23:28

We're not going to penalize you for it.

There was no time.

00:39:24:08 - 00:39:27:03

I think there was a really good takeaway

in that as well, Stacey,

00:39:27:03 - 00:39:28:05

which is just like,

00:39:28:05 - 00:39:32:02

you know, there's a veritable smorgasbord,

as you would say, of options.

00:39:32:02 - 00:39:33:03

So you probably can find somebody

00:39:33:03 - 00:39:35:27

that resonates with your strategy,

find somebody that has,

00:39:36:07 - 00:39:39:16

you know, some pearls of wisdom,

and don't just listen to one person.

00:39:39:18 - 00:39:41:20

Get multiple people in there.

00:39:41:24 - 00:39:42:20

In fact,

00:39:42:20 - 00:39:46:25

anyone even just like to your point,

like just Joe Schmo and Jane shows

00:39:46:25 - 00:39:49:23

that are doing it on Facebook groups

and telling you what they think. And

00:39:51:06 - 00:39:51:24

I love that.

00:39:51:24 - 00:39:53:12

All right. Well, you.

Ready for your next topic?

00:39:53:12 - 00:39:57:01

So, all right,

00:39:57:19 - 00:40:02:28

this one is just what do you wish

you knew that you now know?

00:40:02:28 - 00:40:04:08

But when you first started,

00:40:04:08 - 00:40:06:22

what sort of like

do you wish that somebody had told you?

00:40:06:28 - 00:40:10:03

Now, since we're imparting advice

to other folks, I'm just getting started.

00:40:10:03 - 00:40:12:13

So I share this

00:40:13:17 - 00:40:16:16

that I am a recovering perfectionist.

00:40:17:26 - 00:40:19:01

Ooh, I like this.

00:40:19:01 - 00:40:20:28

I like where you're headed. Okay.

00:40:20:28 - 00:40:22:12

Okay. So what?

00:40:22:12 - 00:40:25:14

I wish I knew was that

00:40:26:01 - 00:40:28:26

am I allowed to cost, by the way?

00:40:28:26 - 00:40:30:02

Oh, yes.

00:40:30:02 - 00:40:30:25

I made

00:40:31:17 - 00:40:32:05

what I wish.

00:40:32:05 - 00:40:34:12

I knew was that shit was going to happen

00:40:35:13 - 00:40:38:08

and that. I.

00:40:38:08 - 00:40:40:19

Didn't need to get so stressed out

00:40:40:19 - 00:40:45:12

about said shit happening.

00:40:45:12 - 00:40:49:07

So I think those moments where

00:40:50:23 - 00:40:52:15

I'm going to say it again, shit happens.

00:40:52:15 - 00:40:56:13

I'm trying not to cuss,

but it's just it's one hour away.

00:40:56:26 - 00:40:58:23

That was like the nicest cuss word.

00:40:58:23 - 00:41:01:29

I mean, I was like, I should probably

bring that back into my lexicon.

00:41:01:29 - 00:41:05:12

I usually just go for the F-bomb.

00:41:05:12 - 00:41:11:13

I when at the beginning of my journey,

you know, since I am a perfectionist

00:41:11:13 - 00:41:15:16

or I, I'm trying, but I'm a recovering

perfectionist for recovery.

00:41:15:18 - 00:41:20:28

And I personally get so stressed out

when things went wrong.

00:41:21:10 - 00:41:23:18

And guess what? Again,

things are going to go wrong.

00:41:23:23 - 00:41:25:26

When you're new, you're going to mess up.

00:41:26:03 - 00:41:27:08

It's okay.

00:41:27:08 - 00:41:30:19

It's important to utilize and leverage

00:41:30:19 - 00:41:34:16

those methods as opportune

as I say, to fail forward.

00:41:34:24 - 00:41:37:18

So how do we resolve this issue and then

00:41:37:18 - 00:41:40:28

how do we build a process

so this issue doesn't happen again?

00:41:41:17 - 00:41:46:10

But when you're new again,

you know, it's it's not as clear.

00:41:46:22 - 00:41:51:28

So I found myself

getting extremely stressed out by

00:41:52:28 - 00:41:55:22

an air conditioner

that went out in the middle of the summer.

00:41:56:03 - 00:41:59:03

And could I have done a darn thing

about that,

00:41:59:25 - 00:42:02:29

you know, leading up to their no, no.

00:42:03:21 - 00:42:08:19

However, taking the emotion out of it

and understanding,

00:42:08:19 - 00:42:11:10

All right, here's the process for,

you know,

00:42:11:18 - 00:42:14:27

maintenance you know,

we have a process for calling maintenance.

00:42:14:27 - 00:42:18:07

If they check it out

and they can't fix it, then

00:42:18:07 - 00:42:23:03

we call the fact people again, building

that process was something was important.

00:42:23:13 - 00:42:24:12

But at the end of the day,

00:42:24:12 - 00:42:27:22

you want your guests

to have an amazing experience, Right?

00:42:28:04 - 00:42:29:24

And I'm

00:42:30:01 - 00:42:32:03

not letting that affect me past

00:42:32:03 - 00:42:36:08

family was something that I wish

I knew early on.

00:42:37:20 - 00:42:39:06

I love that advice.

00:42:39:06 - 00:42:42:03

Yeah, I think that's yeah,

you know, if you're not failing,

00:42:42:03 - 00:42:44:06

you're probably not learning

is what I always say, right.

00:42:44:06 - 00:42:47:02

Like and then

and then to that other point, right.

00:42:47:03 - 00:42:49:00

Like yeah, you can drive yourself crazy

00:42:49:00 - 00:42:51:13

if you're worried about like,

did I put enough coffee in the thing.

00:42:51:13 - 00:42:54:02

Did the is air conditioning

working? Is the pillow the right.

00:42:54:10 - 00:42:55:14

You know, thickness.

00:42:55:14 - 00:42:57:19

What's the right stop list. That's right.

00:42:57:23 - 00:42:58:14

Yeah. Yeah.

00:42:58:14 - 00:43:01:02

Like yeah. You're going to drive yourself

absolutely nuts.

00:43:01:02 - 00:43:02:17

So you have to kind of separate.

00:43:02:17 - 00:43:03:17

Okay, that was great.

00:43:03:17 - 00:43:06:02

Okay, good.

It's like, three times. I'm so sorry.

00:43:07:05 - 00:43:08:14

Well, it was the same words.

00:43:08:14 - 00:43:09:05

It doesn't. Care.

00:43:09:05 - 00:43:10:11

Like I'm.

00:43:10:11 - 00:43:12:00

Phrase. Is that how it rolls?

00:43:12:00 - 00:43:14:03

I love that under.

00:43:14:03 - 00:43:19:01

100% how it works in my house.

00:43:19:01 - 00:43:19:19

I love it.

00:43:19:19 - 00:43:19:26

All right.

00:43:19:26 - 00:43:25:00

Well, this is the last the last option,

which is if you were to go back in time

00:43:25:00 - 00:43:28:16

into your hot tub time machine,

where would you have invested?

00:43:29:15 - 00:43:30:15

Well.

00:43:31:05 - 00:43:35:11

I feel like I would have invested

in the same places where I did invest

00:43:35:11 - 00:43:41:04

because I did a lot of research prior

to selecting my markets.

00:43:41:23 - 00:43:43:20

And so

00:43:43:23 - 00:43:47:13

I feel really good about where we chosen

00:43:47:19 - 00:43:50:03

to have our our properties.

00:43:50:15 - 00:43:54:03

However, if money were no object.

00:43:55:03 - 00:43:57:13

And I like my question.

00:43:57:13 - 00:44:00:27

I was going to say,

if money were no object, I would have

00:44:00:27 - 00:44:04:14

a place in the Caribbean because again,

00:44:04:14 - 00:44:09:18

I love looking at that water.

00:44:09:18 - 00:44:13:27

The color of the water in the Caribbean

is something that I believe

00:44:13:27 - 00:44:15:13

everyone should experience.

00:44:15:13 - 00:44:19:09

It is so incredibly beautiful

and not something you can really describe

00:44:19:09 - 00:44:20:04

without seeing it.

00:44:20:04 - 00:44:26:02

So I would love to wake up

and look at that regularly.

00:44:26:02 - 00:44:29:09

Well, I'm going to put that on both of our

vision boards for the next five years.

00:44:29:09 - 00:44:33:23

Okay, Let's get that on the vision board

immediately.

00:44:33:23 - 00:44:36:12

And I think that's a great

I mean, hey, that is a great answer.

00:44:36:12 - 00:44:38:13

You're like, no, like, I did the homework.

00:44:38:25 - 00:44:42:17

I made sure that I was going to go into

a market that I was not going to regret.

00:44:42:17 - 00:44:44:17

And I don't feel like

I missed an opportunity.

00:44:45:05 - 00:44:46:18

That's fabulous.

00:44:46:18 - 00:44:50:29

Well, Stacy, if folks which I know

they will want to know more a get more

00:44:50:29 - 00:44:55:05

of the good Stacy St John methodology,

how should they get a hold of you?

00:44:55:05 - 00:44:56:25

Where is the place to find Stacy?

00:44:56:25 - 00:44:58:27

Say, John,

apart from the Caribbean. Or part of.

00:44:59:04 - 00:45:00:06

The Caribbean?

00:45:00:06 - 00:45:01:00

Well, the people.

00:45:01:00 - 00:45:04:26

At different places,

they can go directly to my website

00:45:04:26 - 00:45:07:08

which is Stacy St John dot com

00:45:07:25 - 00:45:13:02

and that is probably the

the easiest place to get me.

00:45:13:04 - 00:45:15:10

You can also find me on Facebook.

00:45:16:02 - 00:45:19:19

Ladies,

you are more than welcome to dive into

00:45:19:23 - 00:45:23:04

my Facebook group

called Female short term rental Investors.

00:45:23:04 - 00:45:24:27

I'm also on Instagram,

00:45:25:25 - 00:45:27:08

so I try I try

00:45:27:08 - 00:45:30:07

to be in as many places

as possible on LinkedIn,

00:45:30:07 - 00:45:33:12

but probably the easiest place to get me

is through my website.

00:45:33:12 - 00:45:36:01

Stacey St John dot com.

00:45:36:01 - 00:45:38:05

I love it

when it's a beautiful website, by the way.

00:45:38:26 - 00:45:41:04

I enjoyed going through it myself.

00:45:41:10 - 00:45:43:18

Thank.

00:45:43:18 - 00:45:45:10

It's been an absolute pleasure.

00:45:45:10 - 00:45:47:04

Thank you so much for joining me today.

00:45:47:04 - 00:45:49:13

So many good pearls of wisdom for anyone,

00:45:50:00 - 00:45:51:09

no matter where they are on their journey.

00:45:51:09 - 00:45:52:25

I think again,

like whether you're just trying

00:45:52:25 - 00:45:55:04

to get into one market,

figure out what you want to do there,

00:45:55:10 - 00:45:58:08

or if you're ready to diversify

and you're trying to like sort of hedge

00:45:58:08 - 00:46:01:14

those seasonality ebbs and flows.

00:46:01:14 - 00:46:03:13

Lots of great things from Stacey St John.

00:46:03:13 - 00:46:05:00

So thank you so much for. Thank you.

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