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Sarah Karakaian : [00:00:05] You’re listening to the Thanks for Visiting Podcast. We believe hosting with heart is at the core of every short-term rental. With Annette’s background in business operation– 

Annette Grant: [00:00:14] And Sarah’s extensive hospitality management and interior design experience, we have welcomed thousands of guests from over 30 countries, earning us over $1,000,000 and garnering us thousands of five-star reviews.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:00:28] We love sharing creative ways for your listing to stand out, serve your guests and be profitable. Each episode, we will have knowledgeable guests who bring value to the short-term rental industry– 

Annette Grant: [00:00:39] Or we will share the stories of our own experiences so you can implement actual improvements to your rentals. Whether you’re experienced, new or nervous to start your own short-term rental, we promise you’ll feel right at home. Before we dive into the content, let’s hear a word from our sponsor.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:01:02] Hey. Hey. Welcome back from a great week. My name is Sarah Karakaian.

Annette Grant: [00:01:05] I am Annette Grant. And together we are–

Both Sarah & Annette: [00:01:07] Thanks for Visiting.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:01:08] We’re going to kick off this episode like we do every week, and that’s sharing one of you, our amazing listeners who’s using our hashtag #STRShareSunday. We will share you here on the podcast, on our email, on the gram, all the places that we can. Annette, who are we sharing this week?

Annette Grant: [00:01:22] Today we are sharing @thetexasaframe, again, that’s @thetexasaframe. And they actually have two properties. They have an A-frame and a container home. And listeners, I want you to go to their Instagram because we talk about this all the time. They have multiple properties and they’re doing it underneath one Instagram. 

It’s a lot to manage, managing your life, managing your property, and then managing social media. So Sarah and I always say try to keep it simple, which they are. And it’s very clear. They have two different properties in two different cities. And I’m just going to say, it is beautiful. I haven’t seen a feed this beautiful in a long, long time. You’re going to get lost in it. And go and like every picture. 

One thing that I love, they have a horseshoe wall. They’ve made that design, I’m sure. I don’t know the price of horseshoes, but it seems like it’s a very affordable wall of art. And I thought it was just a great accent wall in the Texas country where they are. 

Another thing that I noticed that I haven’t seen in too many places, if at all, is they have a specific meditation area with a meditation mat. And I was like, oh, and like a pillow and I thought that was lovely. They have also a cowboy pool almost, and a hot tub, but they’re built into the property.

So I want you to check out how well they have designed the amenities. And it is just super, super photogenic these houses are. So if you’re looking for some design inspiration, maybe some travel inspiration, please check them out. Again, it’s @thetexasaframe. Well done. We will have to put it on our wish list.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:03:04] And if you want to know how you can be featured on STRShareSunday, all I have to do is be on the gram–

Annette Grant: [00:03:12] Use the hashtag.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:03:13] Use the hashtag. We are prowling it all the time. We want to share you, so–

Annette Grant: [00:03:16] And let’s talk about it. This guest has been featured.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:03:21] Yes.

Annette Grant: [00:03:22] See, this is how it starts, people. She was using the hashtag, and then it turned into now she’s on the show. And I have to admit, and I’m going to let her fix it. I am not going to guarantee you when I feature your property that I’m not going to botch the name of your property. So please just I’m going to ask for forgiveness ahead of time and probably after. But, Sarah, let’s talk about our guest today.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:03:44] Today we have Addie, who is a remote cabin, super host from northern Minnesota, and has been hosting for almost two years and renovated or built three cabins on 62 acres, which is no easy feat. She has a passion for creating unique stays and helping people unplug and reconnect with nature. She’s a marketing expert and has built an Instagram audience of 10,000, plus, an email list of 500 in one short year. Also, no easy feat. 

Her cabins are greater than 75% occupied year-round. So for all of you out there wondering, where your bookings are, I think Addie is going to be the perfect person to clue us in on how she’s been able to keep her calendar, I think outside of Minnesota, 75% occupancy. So, Addie, welcome to the show.

Addie Wales: [00:04:32] Thanks so much for having me. I’m excited to be here.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:04:34] All right, Addie, let’s clear up my faux pas. Let’s give your Instagram handle a shout-out right out of the gate. Go ahead. Correct me.

Addie Wales: [00:04:41] It’s elylogcabin. So it’s spelled E-L-Y.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:04:44] Okay. And is Ely the city?

Addie Wales: [00:04:46] Yes, that’s the name of the city.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:04:48] So I should have researched that. But it’s–

Addie Wales: [00:04:51] But you can say town, very small town.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:04:52] Okay. Okay. Again, I watched it. I got one here. All right. Talk to us. Tell us about this adventure that you’re on and these remote cabins with solar power. How did this get started? Is this a dream or did you fall into it? Give us the background.

Addie Wales: [00:05:06] Yeah. So I actually grew up in this small town and I moved away when I was 18, went to college, and moved to the city. So I currently live in Minneapolis, which is four hours away from Ely. But Ely is up north and it’s a really special, really popular tourist small town. It’s one of the two entry points for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. I didn’t realize how special of a place it was until I moved away, and I went to college I was in the working world and people would ask where I’m from and I’d say Ely and everybody knew it, even though it’s just a teeny, tiny place with only 3,000 people. 

My gears started turning and I’m like, “Okay, this is a really special place. How can I stay connected to it?” And my husband and I were talking and he was actually telling me that he had a dream of building a cabin someday. So long story short, we usually come up to Ely and visit my parents they have a home here, but my uncle lives here as well. And my uncle had texted me during COVID. It was in September of 2020, and he texted and said that one of his neighbors was selling an off-grid remote log cabin and it was a very good deal. And we should probably come up and take a look if we’re actually serious about doing the cabin thing.

So we drove up and we toured it and then drove back the same day. And on our drive back to the city, we decided that we had to do it. We had to try and get the loan and try and figure it out and make it work, even though it seemed it would be a challenge. But we really wanted to do it.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:06:34] So was it off-market before he even put it on the market? 

Addie Wales: [00:06:37] Yeah. So we actually bought it directly from the owner and I’m really lucky, my dad is a realtor, so he drew up all the paperwork for us.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:06:46] Boom, boom, boom, Bada bang. I love this. Can we actually dig into that just a little bit? Because I think our listeners are like, wait a minute, need to know more about that. Since your dad was the realtor, did the seller bring a realtor to the table, or was he okay with it being your dad and it being your realtor in that transaction?

Addie Wales: [00:07:03] He was okay with my dad doing all the paperwork. We signed all the paperwork at the title company. But yeah, I don’t think he had any of his own realtor. He was definitely trying to do it more of a for sale by owner. But he had said if we didn’t purchase it, he was going to list it the next week for a higher price.

Annette Grant: [00:07:24] Awesome.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:07:24] Okay. And so how those negotiations go when it’s you, the buyer talking to the seller, did you negotiate with him? Did you just offer what he was asking? Talk to us about that behind the scenes.

Annette Grant: [00:07:34] Yeah, we didn’t negotiate because it was actually such a good deal. I can tell you the price. I know that. It is like talking numbers and you’ll probably be blown away by how cheap it was.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:07:44] Give it to us.

Addie Wales: [00:07:45] So for 40 acres and a hand-built log cabin, it was $125,000.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:07:51] Winner winner. Love this. All right. So what was the reason for that? Why was he giving it away essentially?

Annette Grant: [00:07:57] He was done.

Addie Wales: [00:07:58] I know. Because he built it by hand and he put in all these hours.

Annette Grant: [00:08:02] Sweat equity.

Addie Wales: [00:08:03] So I think it was more of a personal choice for him because his connection to Ely was his ex-wife, and he wasn’t really using it anymore other than maybe hunting with his dad once or twice a year. So it was just sitting empty. And he had a different cabin that he went to with his new wife. So it wasn’t in use and he wanted to let it go.

Annette Grant: [00:08:25] Just be done with it. So you were solving a problem for him.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:08:28] And he was not short-term renting it at all. It was just personal use?

Annette Grant: [00:08:32] Oh, no. It was funny to see some of the old photos. I don’t even know what they would have done if he had gone to the point of listing it because it wasn’t photogenic at all. It was just a lot of old random furniture and it really was a hunting shack, so we had a lot of work to do.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:08:50] You said when you were driving back to town you decided, can you give us some visibility to the financing? Were you already working on securing a loan or had you been saving for a while? What happened there with the actual purchase, the funds? 

Addie Wales: [00:09:03] Yeah. So we decided we wanted to buy it. But then of course, when we got home, we had to find a bank and find the lender. We were able to work with a local bank in Ely and they said yes right away and gave us a really good rate. So we were lucky to have that. And then I think we had to put 20% down because it was a secondary home. But I’m lucky that my husband is more of a saver and he had that money, so we were able to make it work.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:09:29] All right, let’s shout out your husband. What’s his name? We’ll give him some love.

Annette Grant: [00:09:32] His name is Ben.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:09:33] All right, Ben.

Annette Grant: [00:09:34] Good job, Ben.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:09:34] Good job, Ben. Ben was the saver. But you had the vision. Did you know right away that you wanted to turn it into a short term rental?

Addie Wales: [00:09:43] No. So right away, we just wanted to have a place to call our own. And we love Ely, but we don’t love camping so much. A lot of people come here and they camp in they are outside with the bugs and the weather and the rain and all that. But we wanted really comfy beds to sleep in and then we can just go out and enjoy nature during the day. Anyways, that’s why we were like, yes, a cabin is a thing for us.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:10:09] When did you decide that you wanted to share it?

Addie Wales: [00:10:11] Oh, right. Your question. So that was our original vision, which was that we would just use it for us. And then we were like, “But we’re only going to be here maybe once a month, like one weekend a month, maybe once every other weekend. So that just seems like a waste. And then I was listening to your podcast because I have another friend in Ely, Makjabba the Hutt.

Annette Grant: [00:10:33] Oh, yeah.

Addie Wales: [00:10:35] She rents hers out. And I just started DM ing her on Instagram. I actually started our Instagram just to show people the renovations before I had decided that it was going to be a rental because I thought it would be a fun way to document. And her and I became friends on Instagram. She told me about your podcast. 

I started listening, and then I just realized how much more potential there would be if I was able to share this place with others and how fun it could be. And I have an entrepreneurial spirit. So I dove into the business part and haven’t turned back.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:11:06] Oh, I love it. And did you have to have a long conversation with your husband about the short-term renting it, or was he on board from the beginning?

Addie Wales: [00:11:13] I don’t think he ever said no. Once I make up my mind about something, he knows that am not changing it.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:11:18] Like, I’m not going to fight that fight.

Addie Wales: [00:11:20] I just charge forward. So I don’t think he ever thought that.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:11:24] So it sounds like you didn’t really have a grand plan for revenue and what your occupancy rate was. It sounds like you were just wanting to share this and potentially make some additional income. Is that correct?

Addie Wales: [00:11:35] Yeah, we had no idea at first. We were really nervous because it is off-grid, so we knew that we’d probably have to charge way less than other places were charging because it’s also not on a lake. And in Minnesota, that’s like the epitome, everybody thinks like the cabin has to be on a lake and then it’s a true vacation and they’ll pay more for that too. They want the lake views. So we really had no idea if it would even do well at all.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:12:02] So spoiler alert, do people need to have a lake to make it worthwhile?

Addie Wales: [00:12:07] No, they do not. We’ve been able to sell it as a unique experience, like on 40 acres. It has out-the-door hiking. We have all the trails labeled. We provide little trail maps and we provide snowshoes in the winter so they can still hike in the winter. And I think it’s really all about just how you’re selling the experience.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:12:26] Okay, wait. I think you’re the first person we’ve ever interviewed that an amenity is snowshoes. I think maybe we said that about your share. What is off-grid? What does that mean to you? Define that. Let’s go back to that. I think it means a lot of things. What does it [inaudible]?

Addie Wales: [00:12:40] It means different things to different people. 

Sarah Karakaian : [00:12:46] I think off-grid is no Wi-Fi. That’s probably not correct. I don’t know.

Addie Wales: [00:12:51] So we actually have Wi-Fi. We have StarLink satellite Wi-Fi and it’s amazing. I’m so happy that we were able to do that because then we can provide that amenity for people who want to work remote. And it also helps us manage our solar system remote. And we can do like the ring camera and all that.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:13:09] Wait a minute.

Annette Grant: [00:13:10] This does not sound off-grid at all. It sounds like you’re all on the grid.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:13:13] I have so many questions for you. Manage your solar system. Wait a minute. Okay. So what is off the grid to you then, since it’s not Wi-Fi?

Addie Wales: [00:13:22] So off-grid technically means that you’re not connected to municipal power and utilities. So we have our own solar system, we have our own well, which we drilled, we have our own septic system, so nothing comes from the city.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:13:36] Okay. Now it sounds off-grid.

Addie Wales: [00:13:37] We live self-sufficient.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:13:39] Oh, wow. So you don’t get an electric bill?

Addie Wales: [00:13:43] No.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:13:44] You don’t get a water bill.

Addie Wales: [00:13:46] No.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:13:48] Wait. You don’t get an electric bill. You don’t have a water bill. Do you pay taxes?

Addie Wales: [00:13:51] We do pay property taxes. Yeah, but they’re not too bad since it’s not on the lakeshore.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:13:56] You’re winning all over the place here. Okay, so off-grid, I have to ask, because of the power and because of the water, just had Linda Moore guess incident. Is the power great, though? Is it super reliable? Is the water really reliable? It sounds like it gets really cold there. Does that mess with being off-grid at all? Like we’re in a really cool time here in Ohio, and you have no one to call. So if the guests are calling you, have you encountered anything that’s been negative with off the grid?

Addie Wales: [00:14:24] It is really cold here. At first, we didn’t think we wanted to rent it out in the winter at all because there’s just so many extra logistics with that. But over the last two years, we’ve learned a lot and with the solar system, we knew that we had to have a very reliable, self-sufficient system. So we have a backup generator that runs on propane and that is automatic. 

So that kicks on if there’s no sun, which is the downside about being in northern Minnesota, is that there is no sun as much there would be, especially in the winter. You might only have like five days of sunlight and then it might be cloudy for five days straight as well. So we have a backup generator and that has been a lifesaver for us. There have been issues where the generator didn’t start like it was supposed to. 

It can be really stressful when you’re remote because you have to call on someone who’s local. And a lot of that has fallen on my uncle because he lives a mile away and he also lives off-grid, so he has the skill set. But I also feel bad taking advantage of him because he doesn’t want me to pay him and he doesn’t want the job. I’ve offered it to him. I have to like find other local people who are willing to be people I can call.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:15:41] And I know our listeners want to know, how easy is it to get a cleaner to help you clean this off-grid cabin?

Addie Wales: [00:15:49] Yeah, that’s actually not a problem. I get that question all the time, but we actually started with one cleaner, I think she would have been awesome but she kept sending this other man who was on her team and he was not awesome and he just didn’t clean to our standards. At that point, I was having my mom be the inspector and she would show up and she’d spend an hour or two basically cleaning because he wasn’t doing the job. So that was causing a lot of extra stress for me because when you’re in this business, your reviews rely on it. 
So I interviewed a bunch of other local cleaners. We have a Facebook group in Ely, and it’s called What’s Up Ely? And you can post in there, Hey, looking for a cleaner. Anything you want to post in there. And I found one that she’s amazing. She keeps an eye on the place and she’ll text and call. She has that attention to detail and she’s even willing to sweep off our solar panels in the winter, which I’m so thankful for.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:16:46] Yeah, hopefully, you gave her a holiday bonus for that.

Addie Wales: [00:16:50] I still plan to. I need to go buy her a massage.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:16:53] Well, here’s a reminder.

Addie Wales: [00:16:53] Yes, thank you.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:16:56] Well, it’s funny because I actually was just at my parent’s for the holiday, and their neighbor has solar power, and there was snow on it. And I was like, is that a problem over there when they’re snow on the solar panels? Can you see that? You said you can get this solar system on your app. Can you check on the power remotely?

Addie Wales: [00:17:13] Yeah. So we can check on how much is being used and how much is available. I don’t have a camera pointing at the panels. I don’t have anything high-tech enough. I think that could be a potential future thing to do, but it also might just give me extra anxiety, like nobody’s cleaning the panels right now, they need to clean them. So I don’t know.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:17:34] If it kicks over to the propane, is that pricey to go to the generator? Is that three or four times what just electricity would be?

Addie Wales: [00:17:43] Yes, the propane is pricey. So I’ll tell you a story of like one of the most stressful hosting moments. So last winter I was on a trip in Mexico and I got a text from my cleaner. She’s like, the cabin has gotten cold. There is no heat in the cabin. The fireplace won’t turn on because our primary source of heat is a propane fireplace, which usually works great and it keeps it toasty warm. And it’s super cozy. People love the fire to look at, too. 

But she’s like, the cabin has gotten completely cold. And we have another guest checking in at 4 p.m. Through the process of elimination, I figured out that our propane tank was empty and you can’t just call and get it filled immediately. They have like a 7 to 10-day wait time. Also with the solar system, our batteries could be completely destroyed too, if they get too cold. 

And obviously, you can’t accept guests when the cabin is cold. So I was in the airport in Mexico, like bad cell service, trying to find a quiet corner. I had to call the emergency line for the propane company and they were able to go out within two or four hours. But you pay an extra $200 service fee for that. 

And then once they filled it, the guest arrived and they were cold that whole night. And I just felt horrible. But I didn’t know what to do. I was like, “You can make tea and hot chocolate and I’ll give you a discount. And I feel so bad.” And they put a bunch of blankets on and they were really good sports about it. But that was one of the scariest hosting moments.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:19:13] How did you reimburse them? I know a lot of our listeners always wonder, is it a full reimbursement? Is it a partial? How did you come up with that number? 

Addie Wales: [00:19:21] No. I just reimbursed them for that first night. Then the cabin was able to heat up overnight. And I also offered them, if you want to stay somewhere else tonight, I understand, we can help pay for that. But they wanted to stay and they were good sports about just cozying up.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:19:36] I think if you’re doing the booking on an off-grid property, you might have a little bit of anticipation that things could be off-grid. So let’s talk about your 75% occupancy all year round. What do you attribute that to? Is it that you offer this off-grid experience that other people initially don’t offer? What do you think it is?

Addie Wales: [00:19:57] Yeah, I think part of it is that it’s a unique experience and it’s also how we market it. So we try to be really upfront about exactly what you’re getting into and explain to people how it’s different from anything else that they might experience. We play up the nature aspect like you’re more connected with nature and you have all this privacy like you’re coming to the woods to get away and to have privacy. 

And then also just having Instagram and being able to market ourselves. So we’re not only relying on Airbnb to send us those leads. That’s been huge. And then we’ve also worked with a lot of influencers and they’ve been really good for us too.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:20:38] So what’s your biggest tip with influencers? What has worked the best for you with those relationships and what would you advise against if you could do it again, you wouldn’t do it again?

Addie Wales: [00:20:46] I think it’s about having more of a niche local influencer that’s been more helpful for us. So most of our guests are only going to travel from Max four hours from the Twin Cities. Most of our guests come from the Twin Cities. So having influencers from the Twin Cities, but also influencers who are travel or outdoorsy or in the realm of what we’re offering, they’ve been a huge success. 

And then another tip is just being really clear upfront with them via email, what exactly they’re offering, how many posts they’re going to offer. That’s been really helpful for us. We’ve had some who have reached out and they’re like, “Hi, I’m from Texas. I’m a news reporter, I’m going to Minnesota to visit my family. Can I stay? I just don’t think that that’s going to be quite as successful. So we don’t necessarily work with those ones.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:21:35] So off-the-cuff type offers. No, off-the-cuff it off the grid when you’re doing the say, quote unquote contract via email, what the expectations are, are they paying for the stay? Are you discounting the stay? What’s the financial trade-off with the influencers?

Addie Wales: [00:21:49] Yeah. So we’ve been really lucky. We don’t need a huge audience, so we’ve been able to find influencers that have maybe even 3,000 to 15,000 followers, but they’re really that localized niche audience and they’re willing to do it for free. So that’s great for us. We just have to pay our cleaner fee. 

I am seeing and I am friends with some of the local influencers in that realm too, and they’re all now starting to charge, but they’re also all getting bigger audiences. And then one charge and that allows another to charge. So I think it is changing a little bit. I’ve gotten quotes from some recently because we’re building a new cabin right now and I’m going to have to start promoting that one really soon. But I’ve gotten quotes from some who also are photographers and they can also offer that and they’ll charge maybe five or $600 and they want to stay for two or three nights.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:22:42] Yeah. What’s up with these new cabins? Are they going to be off-grid?

Addie Wales: [00:22:46] So we’re building a new one and it’s actually not off-grid. Originally–

Sarah Karakaian : [00:22:50] You chose your tree. Does your uncle know this?

Addie Wales: [00:22:54] Yeah. So we wanted something that would just be a little bit easier and more self-sufficient for a rental. So this one, I’m like, if we’re starting from scratch, everything can just be planned out and planned perfectly for a rental, and it won’t be so much of that stressor for me. And also being in a small town, there aren’t a lot of people who know solar. 

Our solar system was installed by a friend from the Twin Cities, but he can’t come up any time there’s an issue to troubleshoot it. So I wanted something that would just be really straightforward and easy and it’ll be really interesting to see how the occupancy compares in the new modern cabin compared to the rustic off-grid log cabin.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:23:36] Where do you think solar technology is today? Do you think as good as it can be for your pocketbook and for the environment potentially too, do you think it is where people think it is, or is it still really hard to navigate, especially if you’re not in the middle of a city? 

You obviously chose to make your new cabin on the grid. And I know you have to still sees how that data comes in terms of who you’re selling to and how they perceive it. But how do you think the whole solar industry is right now If someone is considering right now going solar, what would you say to them?

Addie Wales: [00:24:09] I think it’s becoming a lot more affordable. So if they live in a place that it’s more of a city or there’s access to solar techs, unless you’re going to completely DIY like we did, otherwise you’re going to hire a company to do it. And I think it can be a really nice way to just eliminate that ongoing utility bill and we’ve been able to sell it as a sustainable experience and our guests seem to really love that.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:24:36] True. You can also do a double up there for sure.

Annette Grant: [00:24:39] Interesting. The solar. I want to see the phone though, and what it shows. That’s really what I’m interested because I just love this juxtaposition of it’s off the grid, but there’s so much technology behind it.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:24:50] Yes, it’s interesting for sure. We gave some metrics, your Instagram following, but I really want to dig into this email list because that is so valuable. How did you acquire these emails and how are you corresponding with your guests? Can you talk to us about that? I know a lot of our listeners want to get into direct booking and just communicating and getting their guests back in. What’s your strategy there?

Addie Wales: [00:25:13] Yeah, so we just keep it really simple. We use MailChimp and I have a link tree in our Instagram bio. That link tree just has a little input field and it says, “Join our email list and you can enter it right there.” And it goes directly into our MailChimp list. 

I’ve been collecting emails since the start because I knew that I wanted to build a business and I don’t send a large amount of emails because I don’t want to spam people or make people get annoyed. But I mostly only send an email when there’s a last-minute cancellation. So that’s a call to action that I have in the link in bio. It says, “Get notified if there’s a last-minute cancellation.”

And I think most of our subscribers have come because of our Instagram. I love being able to do links in Instagram stories too because a lot of times if I’m about to send an email, I’ll do a little precursor in the story and say, Hey, you might want to get in on this information that’s coming to our email subscribers, click this link here. Make sure you get on the list before I send the email tomorrow.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:26:12] Have you found when you send out we’ve had a cancellation, are you getting it booked pretty quickly from your email list?

Addie Wales: [00:26:20] Oh yeah. Yes. Especially if it’s a weekend, it gets booked up, snatched up right away.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:26:26] I love that. That’s a hosting hot tip. Everybody use that immediately and actually go ahead and I hope I’m not going to flood you, but go ahead and join their email list so you can see how she’s making this happen. So I’m going to use your heads up.

Annette Grant: [00:26:41] Please, please do. 

Sarah Karakaian : [00:26:43] I might not book, but I do love how you’re taking your business off the grid in terms of not relying on Airbnb for all of your leads because you want to be more sustainable. Do you like the theme I’m going with here? Got it. Let’s talk about you building. So you’ve renovated this one. You’ve done some work to it to make it to where you wanted it to be for your vision, for your brand. Correct?

Addie Wales: [00:27:04] Mm-hmm.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:27:05] And then you built another one and then you’re currently building one, is that correct?

Addie Wales: [00:27:08] Yeah. Okay, so the 40 acres that we originally bought had the log cabin, and then it also had a historic log cabin that was 100 years old. It was just plopped onto the land and it was being used as a woodshed. So we hired my brother-in-law to renovate that one for us last May. He had to do a new roof and all new doors and just a lot of cleaning up. And it’s a really cute little, we call it a bunkhouse, I guess, and it just has a queen bed in it. 

So that one, I’m legally only allowed to rent to the same group, and that’s part of the county because it’s residential. We’re not allowed to have multiple groups on the same property, even though it has a separate road. So I haven’t rented that one out yet. 

So the plan is starting this summer and I’m not going to deal with that one in the winter, I’m not going to put a fireplace in there or any of that. So we’ll see if guests want to add that on. It’s like an extra little sleeping quarter this summer.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:28:06] We can workshop this right now if you don’t mind. So what is your plan for that? How will you only offer that in the summer? Is it going to be a separate product that you’ll have like a listing and then you’ll connect the calendars? Will it be on your list and you’ll say, if you’d like, you can upgrade to this extra bedroom that is down the way? How do you foresee this happening?

Addie Wales: [00:28:27] Yeah, I’d love to get your thoughts. So I’m thinking that I’m going to use our direct booking site. We use Logic Phi. I was thinking of just putting it on there as an add-on the same way we have our pet fee, so it’ll say book the little bunk house for an extra $100 a night, and then they change their quantity for however many nights. I think that’ll be pretty straightforward. Airbnb, I probably just have to have it in the listing description and then if they’re interested, they can message about it. And I can add that in the Resolution center.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:28:55] Does the bunkhouse have a bathroom?

Addie Wales: [00:28:57] Nope. So that’s going to be completely off-grid, so it will have a little outhouse next to it. But otherwise, the idea is that they go up to the main cabin and cook their meals there with their group. They can use the restroom and shower there.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:29:09] This is interesting because inside of our membership, we just answered and workshopped the same exact question for someone that has not so much a bunkhouse, but they have something in there on their property and they’re trying to figure out exactly. I think they used it as an office prior and they’re trying to figure out how you put that in the listing. How do you make sure it’s hospitable for guests and mainly how do you describe it? And is it good for kids? Is it good for adults like the safety of it also? 

And we have experience with someone that had it in was bunkhouse. It’s more of a luxury cabin. And it’s like, I don’t know, just a few steps out the back–

Annette Grant: [00:29:47] Maybe 20 yards or something.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:29:49] Yeah. What are your thoughts there? Do you have a vision of who you don’t want to stay in there? Could they send the kids off to that bunkhouse?

Annette Grant: [00:29:56] Is that too far away or too dark or dark?

Sarah Karakaian : [00:29:58] Yeah. How does that work?

Addie Wales: [00:29:59] Yeah, I would be fine with that if the kids aren’t afraid. It’s far away. So I would say maybe teens would be comfortable. I think little kids would be too scared because you’re off alone in the woods.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:30:12] So that cabin is a part of the other one. That’s a bunkhouse addition. But then the new cabins are going to be just– how many people can your cabins hold?

Addie Wales: [00:30:21] So the log cabin sleeps up to six, and then the little bunkhouse will sleep up to two. And then we have a new piece of land, a new 22 acres. And that is where we’re building Aurora’s modern cabin, which will sleep four. And then on that land, we’ve also prepped the site for a second modern cabin, but we’re probably not going to build that one until summer 2024. We want to just weigh off instead of jumping right into it in summer 2023, we want to wait and see what the occupancy is and save up money too.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:30:53] So you just slid this in there. Did you just buy 22 more acres of land?

Addie Wales: [00:30:57] Yeah, we bought that in May. Yeah.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:31:01] Oh, congrats. Was that on the market? How did you find that land?

Addie Wales: [00:31:05] So that one, my dad’s friend owned it and we did an interesting setup. My dad bought 62 acres from his friend. It was zoned commercial because my dad’s retirement plan is to build a storage facility on a portion of it. And then my dad technically sold us 22 acres, but the way that he did it, he put it into the LLC and the bank was willing to take that as a down payment. So we didn’t have to put any down payment for our construction loan at all.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:31:37] Okay, listeners, we didn’t anticipate this being part of the episode, but this is some creative financing and just finding deals off-market extraordinaire here. I love that all of your deal finding has been from someone you know already– your uncle, dad, which just goes to show you, listeners, that I do this myself still is I discount my own circle of family.

Annette Grant: [00:32:01] No family, no blood. This is like blood.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:32:02] But I’m saying, I don’t know the last time I said like, “Hey, we’re looking to buy, friends, family, is anyone selling? Here’s my look. So I love that that’s how you found your deals.

Annette Grant: [00:32:11] That’s pretty good.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:32:12] Yeah. And are the 40 acres or 22 acres, are they close together at all?

Addie Wales: [00:32:16] Yeah, they’re a mile and a half apart. So we love the area because it’s right by both of the state parks. It’s literally as close as you could be to the state park. So it’s just the perfect location for visitors.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:32:30] Wonderful. I love it. So you’re off-the-grid property. How do you guys handle the laundry?

Addie Wales: [00:32:36] Yeah, our cleaner is willing to take it home and do it at home. So I don’t even know what we would do if that wasn’t an option. That was one of the reasons I wanted our new cabin to be on the grid I wanted to have a washer and dryer unit. The solar system wouldn’t be able to handle that.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:32:52] Oh. What’s your backup of your backup? What if your cleaner gets sick or gets stuck? Do you have a plan?

Annette Grant: [00:32:57] Mom, and dad are going over there, and the uncle and the brother-in-law, they’re all on the property.

Addie Wales: [00:33:02] No, she has a team, which is why I love her. So she has a business partner, so if she ever can’t make it, she’ll call on her business partner first. There’s been one time when she asked me, she’s like, “Any way you can just ask your mom to do it today? I need to go out of town for a funeral. I’m like, “Yeah, absolutely. I’ll ask my mum.”

Sarah Karakaian : [00:33:19] Yeah, I love that. So really is a team effort, not just with her team and your team, but you two together are working as a team to get it done. That partnership is pretty good. Yeah, that’s awesome. Okay, what’s ahead for you? So you build this one. It’s going to be awesome. It’s going to be great. How many do you plan to have? Are you guys dreaming and scheming of owning all of Ely or what’s the deal?

Addie Wales: [00:33:41] I think probably four will be our max. I think that’s all I can really manage. And I also don’t want to take over the town. I want to save some for other people.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:33:49] All right. And do you and your husband work full time?

Addie Wales: [00:33:52] Yeah. So I work full time in marketing consulting, and then he works full time managing a totally different business. It’s in Minneapolis. It’s a fitness and co-working space.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:34:02] Oh, that’s right. I read that in your bio. So you guys have the background there on the property. Awesome. We love to share that with our audience of that. You can grow your portfolio, still work full time and do all the things. So I love that. Do you guys still go see your cabin every 4 to 6 weeks?

Addie Wales: [00:34:17] Not as often. We don’t really block off time for ourselves necessarily anymore. But now that we have a few, it’ll just be rotating which one we end up going to. And I’ll be curious to see which one feels like my favorite, the one that I actually want to get away at.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:34:32] I did have one last question. I don’t know if Annette has any more. But my last question to you is, okay, you bought it when COVID was rearing its really ugly head and people didn’t want to go to hotels, and off the grid was super attractive and people were getting into this drivable destination situation.

We understand what COVID is. We’re living with it. Have you noticed any travel changes with your clientele, with your leads? Are they still common and hot? Are you having to change your marketing strategy to make sure you’re still attracting people to come stay because people are worried? So what are you seeing?

Addie Wales: [00:35:04] Yeah, I’ve been super curious about how that’ll play out as well, but so far we’re still at probably 75, 80% at Ely Log Cabin. So I’m not worried about that yet. Once we have two or three cabins, it’ll be interesting to see if that occupancy drops off. Ely will always be a tourist destination and it’ll always be a great driving option for families who want to get away for a long weekend. So I’m not too worried about that.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:35:32] But you said it’s only four and a half hours from the Twin Cities?

Addie Wales: [00:35:35] It’s just a little bit under four hours. You can do it in the weekend.

Annette Grant: [00:35:38] That’s awesome.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:35:39] That’s awesome. I love that. And if you build it and it’s an experience in itself, whether it’s off the grid or whatever it is that you’re offering, you can clearly convey that. Vacation rentals have been around forever. I do have one more question.

Annette Grant: [00:35:52] Yeah, go for it.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:35:52] The gentleman that sold you the property, do you think he would have feelings about you renting to others?

Addie Wales: [00:35:59] Yeah, I’ve been curious about that, too.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:36:02] Not that it matters because he’s not the owner anymore. Well, I guess you didn’t really know you were going to rent it, but I’m just wondering if he knew it was potentially going to be. Some people have a lot of feelings about you– 

Addie Wales: [00:36:12] Yeah, I don’t know. Because it was his baby and he built it from the ground up. And it’s just a beautiful space. So I hope that he’s able to see that people love and appreciate it. I don’t know how he feels about all the marketing of it, because for him it was just like a total off-grid, getaway. It had nothing to do with advertising and commercialism. But yeah, I don’t know. I could ask him if I ever run into him.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:36:37] Yeah, I see it as, oh my gosh, so many people are being able to enjoy this space that he built. But yes, people are like, “No, I want to keep it sacred.” And people don’t want anybody to know about their little secret or whatever, but he sold it. So it’s yours. So you can do whatever you want with it.

Annette Grant: [00:36:51] I love that.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:36:52] A couple of things. We want to thank you for just following along on Instagram, using our hashtag, reaching out to us to share your stories. Anything that you want to leave with our listeners at all?

Addie Wales: [00:37:03] Yeah, I’m super passionate about helping other hosts who want to go off-grid or they want to build from scratch. So if anybody has questions, they can send me a DM and we can set up a phone call and chat. Yeah, I’d love to help people out.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:37:19] Cool.

Annette Grant: [00:37:19] I love that.

Annette Grant: [00:37:19] That’s amazing. We will put all of your information in our show notes. So listeners, if you want to dive in and reach out to Addie, we’ll make sure that she is accessible. And thank you for being an amazing host. Thank you for getting creative and tapping into solar and off the grid experience. It just proves that you don’t have to be like everyone else and doing all the same things. Sometimes not offering things is an amenity.

Annette Grant: [00:37:43] Absolutely.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:37:44] So that’s very cool. With that, I am Sarah Karakaian.

Annette Grant: [00:37:48] I am Annette Grant. And together we are–

Both Sarah & Annette: [00:37:51] Thanks for Visiting.

Sarah Karakaian : [00:37:51] We’ll talk to you next time. Thanks for listening to the Thanks for Visiting Podcast. Head on over to the show notes for additional information about today’s episode. And please hit that subscribe button and leave us a review. Awesome reviews help us bring you awesome content. Thanks for tuning in and we look forward to hanging out with you next week.