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[00:00:00] Sarah: Hello, listeners, welcome back for another great episode. My name is Sarah Karakaian.

[00:00:03] Annette: I am Annette Grant. And together we are–

[00:00:06] Both Annette & Sarah: Thanks for Visiting.

[00:00:07] Sarah: All right, we are going to start this episode like we do every week, and that’s sharing one of you, our amazing listeners or viewers who’s using our hashtag on Instagram #STRShareSunday. We are going to share you here on the pod, give you some love, highlight what you do well. Annette, who are we sharing this week?

[00:00:23] Annette: This week we are sharing @waddingtonflats. Again, @waddingtonflats. W-A-D-D-I-N-G-T-O-N. And they are in Victoria, British Columbia. Sarah, I’m going to have you go through some of the design elements, but my key highlight, I love this. Right when you link in their Instagram, it takes you to their website, and the first call to action video is to watch a video tour. And it is a very well-done video tour. I’m going to make an assumption that it was professionally done. It’s just top-notch, and I love that. I think video is going to be the future for short-term rentals, for vacation rentals.

And they are crushing it here because I think people are going to want to really get that view of where they’re staying. So congrats on crushing that. So listeners, check that out, and start working on some video. Sarah, do you want to talk about some of the design elements, though, in these flats?

[00:01:16] Sarah: I just really appreciate the pop of– my eye went right to it. They’ve got this bedroom, this bright, looks like an orange or a bright–

[00:01:26] Annette: Coral.

[00:01:26] Sarah: Coral wall. They’ve got a floral wallpaper with this fantastic pendant situation. I am a grandma chic lover. 1920s, 1940s. Give it to me. Floral, here for it. And that’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I love that. So they’re using color wisely. It does pop out to me. So remember, if you do have some money to freshen your space up when you’re in the renovation spot, what is going to be that wow factor moment?

It doesn’t have to be the entire property. Great, if you can afford it, but if you’ve got those one or two or three moments throughout the home where those photos are going to stand out in the sea of online listings, see who your competition is, what colors aren’t they using, what aren’t they highlighting, and then you do that. It’s really going to help you stand out.

[00:02:13] Annette: Something else they’ve done very well is each flat is very different. There’s a Chinatown quarters. Each loft has a distinctly different style. And I think that is going to help them when they have different travelers with different tastes. Because if you get stuck in your own design style, you might have six flats that are only appealing to the same guest. So I think they’ve done a really good job diversifying their design also to welcome a multitude of different guests. 

[00:02:42] Sarah: All right. With that, let’s head on to the episode. We’re very excited to share with you our top seven plus– You know Annette and me, we like to throw in bonuses. 

[00:02:51] Annette: There’s a bonus. Yeah.

[00:02:52] Sarah: There might be a couple bonuses in there. But I think one of my favorite tips we give is why it’s so important to be preventative and not reactive, because summer is a really busy time. And it’s not just for your family, your friends, and all the good times. We have to think about summer for your guests and your rentals. So Annette, today we’re going to go over the top seven things you could do this weekend to get ready for summer.

[00:03:18] Annette: And if you’re not doing them this weekend, make the list and get somebody to help you do them. All right. Number one, you are going to want to. This is exciting though, because everybody’s being cooped up. And this is, obviously, just– let’s blanket this out in the front of the episode. This is for, obviously, places that are renting in the summer.

I know some of your seasonality is different, but what we want to do, number one, is activate this outdoor space. We want the guest to know that we are not asleep at the wheel. We are excited about spring and summer. We want them to enjoy the outdoors. And so let’s activate the outdoor space. And what I mean by that is, obviously, the front. It’s the walkway. 

Let’s focus there first of how they’re getting to the home. Who knows what’s gone on during the winter months. So let’s clean out those– I’m not going to lie. I had my mom last week cleaning out all the outdoor lights because the bugs have all hidden there in the winter. It was cold. So the cobwebs, the bugs, the mulch, just any of that outdoor space. Putting out some flower pots. We did our outdoor furniture. We got new, um, cushions, new rug.

[00:04:31] Sarah: We spray painted them to make them look fresh.

[00:04:33] Annette: It looks good. Yeah. So anything like that, that outdoor space. I don’t know if you’ve seen any of our stuff on Instagram with Justin Ford. This is also a time for your outdoor space and your outdoor furniture. Let’s check all the screws. I mean, if it’s been outside during the winter, let’s do a really good safety check on all of the furnishings that we do have outside. If you have fire pits, things like that, is the time to not only activate the space but freshen it up and make sure it is guest ready.

[00:05:03] Sarah: Does the grill need deep cleaned?

[00:05:05] Annette: Oh, you know it does.

[00:05:06] Sarah: How are the gaskets and all the connection points if you’re using propane or gas? Have those been checked? Do you have an extinguisher of some sort near any outdoor grilling areas? Think holistically, get a new fresh set of eyes, walk your properties, and activate those exterior spaces.

[00:05:25] Annette: And we know that sometimes outdoor furniture, um, can be an investment, but take a look at what you’ve earned last year, maybe this year. It might be time to invest in some new stuff. But get those outdoor spaces all ready for the guests. 

And number two after this, and the reason we’re doing this after is we want you to adjust your photos in your listing. I cannot tell you how many times– just this week, it happened. I was going to someone’s listing. It was like– there was no– they must have launched during the fall, and there was just piles of leaves. There’s nothing on the trees. Maybe there’s even some snow.

Hey, we get you. We understand. Maybe you launched and those were the only photos that you could have gotten. Or maybe it was before you had a chance to freshen up your outdoor space. All right. They were good while they lasted. Let’s freshen this up. Sarah, I think you’re taking some new photos this week.

[00:06:21] Sarah: Yeah. Tuesday, we’re sending the photographer to the property because the property looks one way in the fall, and it’s beautiful, and in the winter, it’s beautiful. In the summer, it’s a different kind of beauty. And we haven’t captured that. I don’t have any of those images. I’m like, how do I not have summer images for this property? So we’re going to go get that. 

[00:06:35] Annette: And that one has beautiful front porch, back porch. Yeah. You really want to highlight it. And so this is one of those things. Our listings are always a work in progress. And if you have that photographer out, there might be some things that you did on the inside too that you need to freshen up a few pics. Maybe you have some new furnishings, you’ve changed a few things around. It’s a great time to capture those images.

[00:06:55] Sarah: And maybe if you are changing your images on your listing, the first five that are featured that people see either as the hero image, the photo they see on the listing when they first find it, and then the following four that are highlighted, does that highlight the outdoor area if that’s a feature this summer? Does your title say anything about the outdoor area? Is it complete fenced in? Can they bring their pets? So you want to make sure your title and your photos, let’s bring the summer to the forefront.

[00:07:23] Annette: Yes. And number three, segue way. Thank you, Sarah, brilliantly. This is what we want you to do. We want you to highlight– bring the summer fun to your guests. Let’s highlight those seasonal hotspots. And you can do this in your listing. You can do it on your social media. You can do it in your email, newsletter that you’re sending to your past and hopefully future guests.

And what do I mean by that? What are these seasonal hotspots? I know here, in Columbus, we have a minor league baseball team that has an amazing stadium, one of the top in the country. Great place for families. We have a soccer team, um, with a great venue. There are so many outdoor concert venues and theater.

What are those hotspots? They might be, um, a favorite ice cream, like a local ice cream. Shout out, Jeni. I don’t know if everybody knows Jeni’s from Jeni’s ice cream that started here in Columbus, FYI. So how many steps are you from a Jeni’s ice cream? Those are the type of things getting your guest thinking about.

And I mean, gosh, if you’re near a beach or you have a pool or anything in your area, a water park, we have one of those too, put those in the listing. Get your guests excited about seeing, because maybe someone down the street has a very similar listing, but they’re not highlighting all that stuff, and they stay on your listing longer and like, oh yeah, I want to do all these things there.

So pointing those out. And not only that. When you do this work, people are going to ask you, how close are you to this X, Y, Z? How many steps is it to this? So this work is not in vain. You’re going to be answering guests’ questions about this.

[00:08:54] Sarah: You can also save this. You can copy that listing, put it in a Google Doc and that drive for that property, and every season you can go back, tweak it. Maybe there’s a new venue or new thing to do, but this way, you don’t redo that work every season. Save it. Save your future self some time. And then you just copy and paste, dump it in the listing. And make sure you do that.

[00:09:14] Annette: Next, number four. If you don’t have these yet, I encourage you to do this, getting outdoor lights and then setting those outdoor lights on timers. It might be time to change them because obviously sunset, sunrise are different. And I actually had a call recently with a landscape company, and their focus is outdoor lighting. And they really just talked about so many elements of the outdoor lighting.

And one of them I want everybody to think about, if you’re making your list of things that you want to invest in, outdoor lighting is a huge safety feature, not only for your guest but for the neighborhood, for your property. So if you’re trying to think of a few things that maybe you want to add to your outdoor landscaping that really would make a difference for the guest, it is the outdoor lighting. And so much of it is solar now too, which is really great. So just want to put that out there. So it’s time to switch those timers up and make sure that they’re coming on at the appropriate times for your guest and your neighborhood.

All right, number five and number six go hand in hand. And for those of you– it’s still wild to me, but we just had a guest on. Some places don’t have AC, but if you’ve got air conditioning, let’s get ahead of this. Let’s get it serviced. Let’s make sure it’s pumping out all the cool air because your guest might like it a different temperature in the home than you do. We get a lot of DMs about this and emails. Hosts listening, I know you try to control these levels of the thermostat.

[00:10:54] Sarah: That’s my husband.

[00:10:55] Annette: You got to let them live. Let them be them. Let me put that out there. Everybody, roll your shoulders back. No pun intended. Chill out about the thermostat. Hosts, you get real stressed out about this thermostat. And I understand it’s financial, and things can get wild, but they are also your guests.

And some people, they run hot. They run cold. What’s normal for them, it’s not them being malicious. It’s not them– I’m going to tell everybody right now. I am someone that does not understand thermostats. This week in my house, it’s been 78. It’s been 58. It’s like, I’ll set it and something goes haywire. So give them some grace. But just get it serviced so when you do get somebody in there, like me, and it gets wild, it’s able to keep up with the pace.

[00:11:42] Sarah: That being said, if you want to put a little bit of control, there are smart thermostats out there that can set, like a guest cannot dip below a certain temperature, but I wouldn’t make it to where you want it to be, listener. I would go a little bit extreme so that for the people who want to really indulge can, but also there is technology out there as well that can connect with your stay calendar. 

And so if a guest checks out, boom, the temperature goes back to whatever setting you want it to be when the guest checks out. Even if it doesn’t connect with your property management software or your Airbnb listing, there are settings like on the Nest thermostat, if they don’t detect movement after an amount of time, it goes to an eco setting. So there are things you can do where we can meet in the middle.

[00:12:24] Annette: Yeah. That’s where you switch it up, is the checkout time, things like that, that’s where you want to really try to control it. I just got an email. I have to put this out there. I could not help this listener. They wanted to let me know if there was any technology that when a window opens, the air conditioner shuts off. I do not know about that technology, and I’m going to let everybody know I am that person. I will be that guest that has the AC and the window open at the same time.

[00:12:48] Sarah: No one’s going to– if you see Annette Grant pop up in your listing–

[00:12:52] Annette: The reason being– 

[00:12:53] Sarah: No, I get it.

[00:12:54] Annette: This week I did that because there’s water in front of my house, and I wanted to drink my coffee and have a little bit of the breeze coming in just for 20 minutes, and then I shut the window. But that type of stuff, you really want to be careful with making the guests not feel–

[00:13:10] Sarah: We’re going to get so many angry emails. 

[00:13:12] Annette: It’s okay because, no, this is something–

[00:13:14] Sarah: No, it’s real.

[00:13:15] Annette: Imagine being a guest and feeling like some big brother is controlling the temperatures. To me, it would feel very evasive. Wait. Is it evasive or invasive?

[00:13:26] Sarah: Invasive.

[00:13:26] Annette: I don’t know. It’s like, are there– that’s where people are like, wait, are there cameras? How do you know what the– they don’t understand that. Yeah. People, let me know how you feel about it. I’m sure you will. But, um, Sarah, have Nick come at me. I’ll chat with him about my perspective on, um, heating and cooling.

[00:13:44] Sarah: I am in the car, the AC on, windows down. I’m not going to lie. It feels good.

[00:13:49] Annette: Mm-hmm. So it happens. And when you’re getting this AC, getting it checked, making sure we’re firing all cylinders and changing out the filters, this is another thing. Whether it’s for you or not, this is inexpensive. Let’s be prepared for– what I love about this next tip is this is preparing you. I love things that can be multifaceted. Getting some nice fans for your property for a couple of reasons. Number one, if something were to happen to your AC, you’ve already got some fans there to help the guests.

[00:14:23] Sarah: Oh, yes. 

[00:14:24] Annette: Secondarily, I know people like white noise. Some people like a noise machine, but some people really love some fan to sleep with. And it doesn’t– sometimes it’s not just the ceiling fan. They like an actual oscillating fan in the room. I don’t see there being anything negative to having a few available. That way, if something were to happen, you already have something there. Or if a guest just wants some extra cooling during the summer, those are there, and they’re available for them. So it’s a small investment to make to hopefully save you a really big headache or time if something were to go wrong and you’re trying to get fans out to your guests.

[00:15:02] Sarah: You also have– we’ve got two emergency window units. You can’t put window units in all of our properties, guests, or listeners. I know that that might be true to you too, but I’ve learned from having backups for refrigerators, freezers. What else do I have that’s random? Fans. It’s really safe. Room heaters, um, yeah. Window units, ACs. I mean, the Wi-Fi thing you had. I’m telling you what, it saves the day.

[00:15:30] Annette: And if you don’t already have them, have them picked out on Amazon for next day delivery. If you don’t want to make the financial commitment, you at least know, okay, hey, this is what I would get. This is how I could get it there. If the refrigerator were to go out– 

[00:15:43] Sarah: Because then you have them. So it’s better than moving a guest to a hotel room or cutting a stay short because you can reuse these items. So they’ve come in clutch for our team.

[00:15:51] Annette: All right. And then, ooh, this one is a big one. It’s last but not least, but getting anybody on your outdoor team, your outdoor vendors, setting expectations because this is a pain point right now. Everyone knows we’re having some troubles with it. It’s springtime. Any landscaper, pool service, hot tub, mosquito spraying, it’s go time. It’s graduation parties, and Mother’s Day, and people want to get outside, and so they’re backed up.

 I did some mulching, Sarah’s husband did some lawn mowing, and we have a great service provider, but it was just like, we did not set proper expectations, or we set them, but I think y’all know how it goes sometimes. It’s just literally– and my heart goes out to them, and they are just doing the best they can but–

[00:16:45] Sarah: They’re small businesses too. And sometimes, when you put that into perspective, how many times has it happened to you as a small business owner where you set the systems up, systems were malfunctioning at the moment?

[00:16:56] Annette: Yeah. It’s their Super Bowl. It’s their check at this time when everybody decides to call them. So here’s the deal, setting expectations with them. This probably should have been done a while ago, but let’s still just do it. Have a backup plan about your lawn care, any mosquito. If you have pool service, hot tub service, what’s the plan for the whole summer, and do you have a backup plan if they were to be late or if a guest was getting ready to check in and that’s not met?

I think communicating with them and knowing, hey, I’m a short-term rental. These are the hours. And also, that’s the thing, listeners. If you can communicate, that’s one thing great with these vendors is you could say, hey, I really like to let my guests know, if they are, they’re on a Tuesday, my lawn gets done every Tuesday. And that way you can be up front with your guest. If there’s a whole– depending if you have one person or a team that’s going to be around the property, you really do want to communicate, if you can, what’s going on there.

[00:17:49] Sarah: All right. Listeners, hot tip for you. Shout out to our podcast sponsor, one of them, Breezeway. This is where they come in clutch. They have in their arsenal already for you, a preventative checklist for summer. You can add to it. Take our suggestions on this episode, add to it, make it your own. Make it special to your property, each of your properties. Get ahead. Don’t be reactive. Be preventative with your asset. Get on top of it.

I know maintaining it, getting an HVAC tech out, and doing these things there’s no problem, but the more you can have the professionals make sure there are no problems and get ahead of things, honestly, the better it’s going to be in the long run for you, your guests, your business. You don’t want to have to shut down for things. So Breezeway, their checklist, they come in clutch, and then you can reassign it. Every summer season comes along to repopulate.

[00:18:40] Annette: Yeah. And then I’m going to throw a curve ball in here. We did not talk about this one before the episode, Sarah, but last but not least, get the calendar out and schedule yourself a vacation. If you do not have a vacation planned, it can be a staycation. I just want to make sure, hosts, that you’re taking care of yourself, that all of your hard work, you’re able to relax from time to time.

And guess what? I’m telling you, if you do not take the time right now to mark off some time in the summer to enjoy yourself, it will fly by because it’s happened to me one too many times. So make sure if it’s– whether it’s the 4th of July. Let’s talk about that. 4th of July. There are these holidays, Memorial Day, Labor Day. Let’s be aware of those on your personal calendar, on your calendar for your guests. So I just want to make sure that you’re planning your calendar out and you’re taking some time.

[00:19:34] Sarah: For our listeners out there with a larger operation, make sure you’re getting the schedule from your team, your vendors. Are they preventative in terms of like, oh, we’re not going to be available to help you that day, or we will be short staffed that day? So I just ask my team, send me all of your trips.

[00:19:48] Annette: All your vacation days. All your stuff that–

[00:19:50] Sarah: Let’s make sure we’ve got coverage. Let’s make sure that our guests aren’t going to feel that. Your business is still supported. If you have the luxury of being able to shut down your listing for some time while you go on vacation, great. Just make sure your calendar reflects that. Anything else, Annie?

[00:20:05] Annette: No. I just want to make sure they’re– 

[00:20:07] Sarah: I love that.

[00:20:08] Annette: They’re doing some trip. Taking some time off.

[00:20:09] Sarah: All right. So have a really wonderful summer. Keep us posted on all the things that are happening in your lives and your listings. Tag us on Instagram. DM us. Email us. 

[00:20:19] Annette: Feel free to invite me to test your thermostats out.

[00:20:23] Sarah: Or not, because she’s going to drive it down to 60 degrees. With that, I am Sarah Karakaian.

[00:20:28] Annette: I am Annette Grant, and together we are–

[00:20:29] Both Annette & Sarah: Thanks for Visiting. 

[00:20:30] Sarah: Talk to you next time.