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[00:00:00] Sarah: Hello, welcome back for another great episode. My name is Sarah Karakaian.
[00:00:03] Annette: I’m Annette Grant. And together we’re–
[00:00:05] Both Annette & Sarah: Thanks for Visiting.
[00:00:06] Sarah: And this is the–
[00:00:07] Both Annette & Sarah: Hosting Hotline.
[00:00:08] Sarah: If you want your question answered on the Hosting Hotline, all you have to do is go to hostinghotline.com, record your voice, share your challenge with us. We’ll answer it here on the podcast, or do our best, or involve experts. And today, we have a special guest, a character from our beloved TV show, Saved by the Belt. No, I’m joking. But you’ll know what I mean in just a moment.
[00:00:30] Questions: Hi, Annette and Sarah. Greetings from the Costa Brava in Catalonia, Spain, just North of Barcelona. My name is Zack Morris. Yeah, just like Saved by the Bell. And recently, my wife, Jocelyn, and I bought a villa on the Costa Brava, and we have a dream of turning this into a short-term rental. It’s one of our favorite places in the world.
[00:00:47] We found this gorgeous property that we fell in love with. It’s called Casa de Gotis, C-A-S-A-D-E-G-O-T-I-S. Check us out on Instagram. We live in Philadelphia. So we’re attempting to become international hosts. I know that’s a whole set of new problems. But we’re confident we can do it. I’m a winemaker, and a sommelier, and a wine bar owner, and Jocelyn is a realtor.
[00:01:09] So we think we have the skills to do it, but there are a lot of new issues that come with being an international host, no doubt. I’m hoping you’ll consider addressing this topic on a future episode with some experts that know a lot more than us. Anyway, thank you for doing all you do in podcast land. I know we’ve benefited greatly from listening to your show. We love it so much, and thank you. Moltes gracies. Adieu. I hope to hear from you.
[00:01:34] Sarah: Okay, Annette, you say we’re going to visit all of our listeners, but we really need to visit this one.
[00:01:38] Annette: Yeah, even if it’s just the wine bar in Philly. So Zack, we’re going to have our team reach out to you for the formal invite. And if you haven’t left us a review, we’re going to ask you for that, Zack, since you just did a fabulous verbal one. But let’s get it. First of all, congratulations. How exciting.
[00:01:56] And I know Zack is asking us about future episodes, but we’re going to go back and highlight really quickly three amazing international-focused podcast episodes that we’ve done. And Zack, we’re going to give you and all the listeners today a little snippet of why we found these episodes so valuable.
[00:02:17] So let’s start with Episode 143, Sarah, which is with Lisa Byrne. And the Byrne sisters– yes, you heard that right. It is a slew of sisters that run this business. It is currently vacation perfect, but they also own Italy Perfect. Paris Perfect. A hosting hot tip. If you do not follow them on social media, please follow them.
[00:02:39] Their places are fabulous. You need to put them on your upcoming trip list. Just follow them. They are amazing. So Sarah, let’s talk about Episode 143 quickly, and Lisa Byrne, and the Byrne sisters, and how some of them are local and some of them are overseas, and how they’re crushing that.
[00:02:55] Sarah: The trick here with Vacation Perfect is Lisa lives in California. Lisa lives in the States. I think it’s California. But her sister lives in Paris. So they got their start with having boots on the ground, which, Zack, I know that isn’t your exact story, but they then have branched out because they learned the system.
[00:03:16] They learned what they needed to do, which honestly, I think that the reoccurring theme here is going to be trusted boots on the ground. Someone you can really rely on to be there for you because you can’t be all the time. For Lisa, it was her sister in Paris, but I know the other countries that they host in, they don’t necessarily have family there. And I also know, Zack, that Lisa goes back often.
[00:03:40] Annette: And they’re very aware. Lisa has told us it has always been a challenge, the time zone difference. So being really aware of that, having a plan for that, having a backup plan. And I can say that they, I believe– I’m not sure now post COVID what they do, but they did meet every single guest individually to check them in. But listen to that episode.
[00:04:04] Sarah: It’s a great episode.
[00:04:05] Annette: Every listener, please go back and listen to that one. And the Byrne sisters are truly inspiration to Sarah and myself. They do a great job email marketing. They do a great job with their social media marketing. And they just do an amazing job with choosing their properties also. Okay, next up on the list is Episode 231 with Simon Lehmann.
[00:04:27] Sarah: Simon is the, I don’t know, godfather of vacation rentals. This man has so much knowledge, and he is based international, and I know that he consults with companies all over the world. So if you listen to the episode, he shares a ton of great perspectives on, especially if you work with owners, which, Zack, I know this doesn’t pertain to exactly, but when you hear this episode, Simon goes to properties and does inspections because he helps consult with businesses, and he tells them the harsh truth. So there’s some good takeaways there, butalso–
[00:05:05] Annette: Check your toaster. Your toaster tells a lot. The crumbs in your toaster.
[00:05:09] Sarah: Or the bottom of your dishwasher. If I can see what you had for breakfast, or your guest had for breakfast, it’s a telltale sign. But also, Zack, we’re sharing this one with you because Simon is a consultant across the world. Maybe check out his company as well for guidance.
[00:05:26] Annette: And everyone, I know he’s an excellent follow on LinkedIn if you hang out on LinkedIn. All right. Last but not least, international episode focus is Episode 245 with one of our beloved Hosting Business Mastery Members, Julie Ramsey. And so let’s talk about her episode. She actually uprooted her family from Canada to Costa Rica.
[00:05:50] And I think what I love most about hers, and Zack, this will play in, is really the differences, cultural differences, but also labor differences. Your team, how do they commute back and forth to your property? What type of communication style do they have? What are payment terms in the country that you are hosting in?
[00:06:12] Even though Julie’s local and right there, she said there was a pretty large curve there on labor. And also, I know, Zack, you said you’re from Philly. You’re East Coaster. Even in the US, there’s a different, let’s call it, sense of urgency for getting things done. I think that was one of Julie’s biggest issues. And then also taxes.
[00:06:36] Sarah: Yeah.
[00:06:36] Annette: Just figuring out, obviously, US, and is there a plan for the future for you to move? I don’t know if this is somewhere you want to potentially spend half of your time, but those are the three. So let’s go over them really quick again. Episode 143, Episode 231, Episode 245, and we’ll make sure to have them in the show notes also.
[00:06:56] Sarah: Zack, we cannot wait for all the success you’re going to have. Yeah, I love that last one, Julie, Annette, to not only think about yourself as an owner, Zack, and as a host, and how you’re going to communicate with the guests over there, but also that team culture and the culture of the community that you’re in, and knowing that that’s a whole other dynamic that you’re going to have to do your best to understand and incorporate into your business. So I love that. With that, I am Sarah Karakaian.
[00:07:25] Annette: I’m Annette Grant, and together we are–
[00:07:26] Both Annette & Sarah: Thanks for Visiting.
[00:07:27] Sarah: Talk to you next time.
