Download the full transcript PDF.

451. Solo

Introduction and Listener Spotlight

Sarah Karakaian: [00:00:00] Hello. Welcome back to another [00:01:00] great episode and my name is Sarah Karakaian.

Annette Grant: I’m Annette Grant, and together we are Thanks for Visiting.

Sarah Karakaian: Let’s start this episode like we do each and every week, and then a sharing what of you, our incredible listeners who is heading on over to s st share.com, sharing everything you can about your short-term rental so that we can celebrate you here on the podcast and on our Instagram account every single Sunday.

Annette, who are we sharing this week?

Annette Grant: This week we are sharing @theshotgunhouseWaco and they are famous because they were on Fixer Upper season three.

Sarah Karakaian: I remember this episode

Annette Grant: with Chip and Joanna, so make sure to give them a follow.

Promotions and Creative Marketing Tips

Annette Grant: One thing I want to comment on that I really like in their Instagram feed, I want you to take a look everyone of how they’re running promotions, they’re doing promotions on their feed, and the reason I wanna bring this up is noticed recently.

A hosts not getting, I’m just gonna say it’s scrappy [00:02:00] enough or creative enough. Like sometimes even the best of us, even the shotgun house, Waco, who is the best of Waco, has to run a promo, you know? Um, and these promos don’t even, you don’t even have to discount your price really.

Sarah Karakaian: No.

Annette Grant: Like you can raise your price and discount it. You know, it’s like sometimes we just have to like. Uh, call, let’s just call them a faux promo. It’s like, get people excited about it. Sometimes it’s even you getting yourself excited about it again. So I just want you to check out the way that they’re doing promotions in their feed. I also love, I believe they have full-time signage outside of their house, I mean Chip and Joanna have made Waco such a destination now, and this is like an iconic destination too, since they were using the not notoriety of Fixer Upper to bring in in guests. So they’ve just done a really, um. Amazing signage outside of the house too. And the reason that we wanted to highlight the shotgun house today is this home was days [00:03:00] away from being like demolished and they had to put their heart, their soul, and really get after some blood.

Deep Cleaning and Refreshing Your Property

Annette Grant: And today’s episode is how you need to put some heart, soul, some elbow grease into prepping your property.

Sarah Karakaian: I know that the TFV audience, I know that all of you are so dialed in on hospitality and on cleanliness of your property. We love you all for it. But when is the last time you actually moved furniture away from the wall? When’s the last time you, maybe you have to, I guess you don’t flip your mattress anymore now with the new mattresses.

But you know what I’m saying? Like all that stuff that you kind of put off, we call it spring cleaning. And so today’s episode is dedicated to getting your creative juices flowing to getting your calendar out and scheduling time and putting aside funds to make sure that you’re refreshing your property.

Now that the winter months are getting behind us and the summer [00:04:00] months are ahead, is your property fresh? Is it crisp? Is it super clean? Have you maybe replaced certain things that are beyond refreshing? We’ve got seven tips for you. Obviously you’re gonna take it beyond these seven tips, but we wanna get those juices flowing in your brain so that you can get after it.

Bedroom Cleaning Tips

Annette Grant: Number one, refresh your living spaces. We’re gonna go through the bedroom, the living rooms, the family rooms.

Sarah Karakaian: Yes. So let’s start with the bedroom, Annette. Mm-hmm. The number one thing that I think people overlook is actually taking off that mattress protector, taking off the pillow protectors.

And washing them.

Annette Grant: Yeah, give them a good spring cleaning and. If you’re like us, we get, we now get the mattress protectors. Like you can zip off the top, but this is a time to actually take the whole thing off. Yeah. And wash it all.

Sarah Karakaian: Yes. Uh, other things to think about in the bedroom. The duvet [00:05:00] insert. First of all, you can think about it. Do you wanna put the duvet insert and the duvet cover back on the bed for summer months? Maybe you wanna lighten up the bed and switch to more a lighter feel on your bed. So quilts or coverlets or things of that nature.

But regardless, when’s the last time you cleaned that duvet insert? Ugh. The cover I get every single time, but I don’t know if hosts are thinking about that insert. What else Annette?

Annette Grant: Oh, if you have any sort of carpets or rugs. Let’s do some carpet cleaning there again, if you, I mean we do baseboards all the time, but this is another time to like, maybe you wanna like wax ’em up. Again, if you have, let’s think if you have any sort of dressers, this is a time to get in there and like vacuum them, dust them, clean all around. And even just, this is the time to move all the furniture.

Sarah Karakaian: Yes. I was just gonna say that.

Annette Grant: So it’s like. Move the furniture and then get the baseboards back there too. There’s just, there, we’re busy during, you know, during turnovers, so this is a time that you can [00:06:00] actually like. Get, get your crew, move the furniture and make sure everything is getting deep cleaned.

Sarah Karakaian: What about those vent covers, right? The registers.

Annette Grant: Oh, your ceiling fans. You know, like we’re always, you know, refreshing the ceiling fans, but this is the time to like really get after it once, like all the beddings off. So if there is any extra dust bunnies or anything you can really get, get in there.

Living Room Cleaning Tips

Sarah Karakaian: We can take the same theories to the living room. Mm-hmm. Get a professional upholstery cleaner in to do a deep clean of your sofa and your rugs in there. What about throw pillows? Hopefully you can unzip the cover and wash it.

If you can’t, can you spray some sort of disinfectant

Annette Grant: or is it time to just buy some new

Sarah Karakaian: Right. Do we donate them? Do can the upholstery cleaner also clean those? What else can you think about in tops of the curtains? So you’ve got curtains in your bedrooms and living room. When’s the last time you took the curtains off the curtain rod or the shears down? Because dust settles on top of them. Maybe you’ve hit [00:07:00] them with the, with the, the duster every once a while, but I’m telling you, wash your curtains and you’re gonna see like dirt that comes out in that water, and it’s gonna feel so fresh and so clean when you get those, those soft goods in these living spaces.

Kitchen Deep Cleaning and Inventory

Annette Grant: Number two, we’re gonna deep clean our appliances.

Sarah Karakaian: Ooh, all. We got a little list here. I don’t wanna forget any of them. Yeah. So you have your washing machine, so your washer and your dryer. You not only wanna run a cleaning cycle, but when’s the last time you actually got into that gasket area that like rubber liner?

And let’s hope she’s not moldy. Uh, I’ve in, I’ve onboarded clients from previous mm-hmm. Co-hosts and property managers and like, I’m like, you are not washing your bedding and towels in here. Like, you’re just spreading around this, like mouthiness of the gasket onto them. So make sure it’s truly clean in there.

Mm-hmm. You might need to replace. Parts of it to [00:08:00] really refresh it, but now is the time to get in there and make sure it’s in top notch top notch conditions.

Annette Grant: Yep. And get, we hire a vent cleaner to come in, get the, the vents going out of the house. And this is the time too. Let’s be honest. When is the last time you’ve actually like wiped down and cleaned the tops of your washer and dryer too?

If they’re not stackable. Even if they are stackable, like getting up there and dusting. So that’s. The first set of appliances,

Sarah Karakaian: I’m thinking. So we have these, um, I dunno about you guys. We’ve got washer and dryers that are stacked and they’re in a closet. Mm. If you can move them out,

Annette Grant: that’s what I’m saying. You, you, we, we need to, we need a team when we’re doing this, uh, spring cleaning. Yes. This is no joke. Right.

Sarah Karakaian: And so, and, and that’s actually a great tip Annette, it might not be your usual cleaner who does this. Mm-hmm. You might need, there are specialty companies out there that handle these types of cleans. It might take that maybe you’re rolling up your sleeves and getting it done. But now is the time to do it.

Annette Grant: And maybe it’s even your cleaning team, plus you, plus maybe a family member or two, right? Hands on deck helping out. So what now we’re gonna move on to predominantly kitchen [00:09:00] appliances at this point in time, but this is the time to really deep clean everything.

You know your refrigerator, you can pull that out, get underneath on the side from top to bottom there, your oven. No, that needs a good cleaning. Um, this is like your garbage disposal, your. Um, dishwasher. Thank you. I could not think of that. Your microwave, all of it is like coffee maker underneath. On the sides on the top.

Sarah Karakaian: Take Take it apart. Yeah, take it apart. All the parts still all good. Does anything need to be replaced there? So get in there, get your elbows dirty, and if it’s not, you call a professional. Here’s the tip of the dishwasher. When you open up that dishwasher, you should be doing this more than every spring, but you’ve got that, uh, the. And it catches all the food particles. I can’t think of the name of it, but you gotta unru that. It’s, it’s in the, yeah, it’s in the depths. When you open the door, there’s that lip underneath the door. Depending on what make and model you have, they’re not all created equal. And some allow [00:10:00] the dishwashers to get really built up over time.

Like all that dirty water, they’re taking off the dishes. So make sure, again, all the cr nooks and crannies of your appliances.

Number three, kitchen inventory check while we’re in the kitchen already with all those appliances, now it’s time to get into the kitchen itself.

Annette Grant: Ooh. And here’s

what normally happens with the kitchen. You’re gonna have things that you never put in there, have made their way in, that guests have purchased and brought in, and then you’re gonna have things that are probably missing. So we’re being serious here. This is where you wanna pull everything out. Um, I’m kind of, I’m the, I’m the organizer of like, you gotta pull everything outta every cabinet. Every drawer. And that’s where you wanna wipe those down again too. Top of the cabinets. In the cabinet side of cabinets. ’cause it’s the kitchen. It can get crummy.

Sarah Karakaian: And you’ll notice that I said inventory check. Okay, now’s the time. Do the knives all match? Are there enough? To not only meet, if you house six people, you don’t want six [00:11:00] knives, you probably want more like 18, uh, or, or more, right?

So they don’t have to use one knife for the dishwasher, and then they have no other knives to use in the house. It goes for your bowls and your glassware and your mugs.

Annette Grant: We, we were just, uh, we were just at, uh, a property earlier today and we were, we were doing some filming in the kitchen and we were doing inventory, and it was like.

It’s almost every item. It was like, oh, we need to add an additional, you know, it’s like random. You might have more bowls for some reason, less plates. It’s like it. This is always things that you need to be inventory, but this springtime is take that full inventory and maybe actually. You know when you’re purchasing more, hold some back, get, always order more than you think you’re gonna do.

Sarah Karakaian: Yeah. Have a use supply area. How about if you offer any sort of storage for leftover food? Again, people stay in our short term rentals because we have kitchens and if they make food and they have leftovers, first of all, do they have a place to put the leftovers? And then if you offer any sort of Pyrex or Tupperware. [00:12:00] Do the lids match up? Does it match? Yeah. Is it a, did they put ’em in the dishwasher and now they’re like deformed, they don’t fit anymore. I’m serious. You know what I mean? Like, oh, the deform? Yeah, like the, like, you know what, the plastic gets too hot and then it can’t, how, how about the handles on your pots and pans? Are they tight? Are the handles on your cabinets? Are they tight? Really just like, get in there, try all the things, take ’em apart, put ’em back together again. Wipe on all the cabinets. How about the top of your cabinets? If your cabinets don’t go to the ceiling? All that dust has settled on the top. You can get your vacuum up there, get that cleaned.

Yeah. What else we got?

I think that’s, that’s a lot of it. Yeah. Anette’s getting grossed out over here, right.

Annette Grant: I’m not getting grossed out. There’s just a lot of work to be done. Yeah. Some the work I need to do. Yeah.

Bathroom Maintenance and Upkeep

Annette Grant: Number four, that bathroom maintenance and upkeep, we wanna get in there first and foremost.

You know, it’s the, do you have a shower curtain, shower liner, shower door. This is where we wanna make sure we are really doing a deep clean there or buying new. Mm-hmm. If we need to, this, I’m [00:13:00] saying this with like a sigh because this feels like it’s a battle, a constant battle of making sure all the caulking is always refreshed.

Um, that is just a place where I, I see wear and tear. Everywhere I stay from short term rentals to hotels, it is just, they’re kind of constantly being, you know,

Sarah Karakaian: but you know why I wanna say, I’m gonna call out some people, like there you do get what you pay for with caulking. There is caulking that you can get that.

Is mold resistant and it has like, you know, 10 years lifespan, like invest in the good materials. Mm-hmm. Okay. And because with caulking you have to remove the old stuff before you put the new on. So if you’re gonna do this, which we recommend you do, ’cause there’s nothing nicer looking than fresh caulk.

Remove the other stuff, the old stuff completely, and then invest in the good stuff. This next time. It is more expensive, but I mean, gosh, I don’t, taking it caulk off like it’s, it’s hard. Mm-hmm. It’s not

fun, but it is a place that like you can just see so quickly. Yeah. [00:14:00] Um, if something’s clean and what kind of wear and tears there.

Annette Grant: The other thing that we want you to do during this spring cleaning is really, um, snake your drains. I mean, this is something that like, I mean, you can see my hair. Like it is always, it’s a daily battle in my own home. I can only imagine compounding with each and every guest. They don’t care. No. You know, they are like.

The hair’s going.

Sarah Karakaian: I like, whenever I’m in my shower, my hair comes out. I, I try to like, don’t. Right. You don’t be grossed out. I put it on the wall though, so at the end of my shower I can take it off and like throw it away. Guests aren’t doing that for you?

Annette Grant: No. It is just gonna be, and it’s all drains, you know?

Yeah. Because even like you’re sink, you just wanna take the time, get it done. You will think yourself,

Sarah Karakaian: how about your grout? You know, maybe like you spot treat it here and there, but what if you got a really good. Steamer in there and got to all your grout. Make sure that satisfied the steamer satisfied.

Yeah. Make sure that’s clean. If you have any windows in your bathroom, open them up. Like make sure get in there, get after it. Again, everything’s tightened. The [00:15:00] cap. If you have cabinets in there, if you’ve got mirrors, if you’ve got light fixtures, do those need dusted, taken apart, put back together again.

Do your light bulb colors match, like get after it.

Safety and HVAC Maintenance

Sarah Karakaian: Number five, safety and HVAC maintenance. Oof. Yeah. We combine the two because your, depending on what kind of furnace or AC you have, like there could, if they’re gas powered, if mini splits, mini splits, like it’s a whole thing. So get them serviced, get them cleaned, get the filters changed.

Yes. Clean the inside. Clean the outside. Yep. You just wanna make sure they are in working order because. It’s not, you don’t wanna ruin a guest day with that.

When it comes to safety, are you stocked with flashlights, light bulbs? Uh, are your, uh. Smoke detectors. Do those need vacuumed on your ceiling? ’cause those where the the sensors are can get dusty.

Annette Grant: It it, do you have ladders to, to your upstairs? Like, has anybody removed those? Put [00:16:00] them in check. All anything that is safety related in your home, this is the time to even should be checking it on every turnover. This is a time to go through slowly, meticulously, make sure that all of your fire extinguishers are there.

And ready for anything that might, they might need.

We can go back to tip one with the living spaces. If your rugs are curling up and you’ve like tried to remedy it, or you’ve moved it around the living room and they’re still curling up, like now’s the time, buy those. Buy the corners for the curlers, or remove it all together.

I know we love rugs. They add color, but again, safety, safety, safety. Anything else with safety? HVAC maintenance.

I don’t think so. Okay.

Windows and Walls Refresh

Annette Grant: Number six are the windows to the wall. Okay. Uh, here, here’s the deal. We all know it like there are. It’s time to get out the paint, the walls get scuffed up. You need to refresh it.

I know it feels like sometimes a losing battle, but have that one week of the year where you feel like you’re winning, which is spring cleaning, [00:17:00] and also your windows, the interior and exterior of your windows. Get the screens out. Yeah. People might wanna open up the windows, let fresh air in, make sure it’s safe.

Yeah. It’s just this, and this is one of those things that I’m telling you. This is not this. This list that we’re going through, this is a not for the faint of heart, and two, this is not trying to cram this in in between. Um, in between stays, you really need to block some time off, especially if you’re gonna be doing this grout, we’re gonna be doing the painting.

You need to have proper drying time. And this might be your deck also, like, depending on what, what’s going on outside, you might need to, you’re paint that you’re

jumping ahead. Oh, I am? Yeah. Excited. Oh, i, but you know whats excited? The walls to the deck.

Sarah Karakaian: But actually I have a TFV Pro tip for you all. So, Annette just said this can’t just be like this like couple hour thing that you do, right?

Like this is, we’re getting in deep, we’re rolling up our sleeves budget for this, right? I know that we all wanna, like I, I once had a client who. [00:18:00] We were booked. It was a very popular property. We were booked out a lot and getting them to like let the home breathe and LISC in they’re, and deep clean, mm-hmm.

Was a little bit of a challenge. I get it. Like you’re, you’re missing out because you’re like closed for business, right? You’re closed for business, but you’ve gotta do this. And so if you’re getting into your high season, or maybe you’re listening to this and you are in your high season and you didn’t do this yet, I don’t know, like.

Having a fresh space has been like turned over. Every square inch I think is worth it for my pride of welcoming the guest in there. And so next year too, budget to be down for a couple days, budget for extra team members so you can move all the furniture and just have that be a part of your operations.

Outdoor Patio and Curb Appeal

Sarah Karakaian: Numbers seven, Annette already alluded to this, but the outdoor patio and prep. What’s we, what? We’re gonna paint it. Maybe we’re gonna scrape it. We’re gonna paint it. Oh. Hopefully not. We’re gonna, we’re, you know what my favorite thing is? We’re gonna power wash it. Mm-hmm. The [00:19:00] sidewalks, the back patio is so satisfying to do that.

If you’ve got like a rug out back on your patio, on your front porch, taking that up and getting underneath it, maybe you wanna clean off. The house siding with your power washer. Oh

Annette Grant: yeah. Power washing the siding. Mm-hmm.

Sarah Karakaian: You probably wanna make sure those gutters, you probably did this like at the beginning of fall time to get them ready for the leaves, but how do they look now that fall and winter are over?

Are there sticks in there from like the spring storms? You know what else we got outside? Those are the big ones. And here’s the thing with outdoor patio prep and why I told you it was, if it’s not on your list, it needs to be. ’cause I think we underestimate. I don’t think I know. Mm-hmm. Your appearance when a guest pulls up that curb appeal absolutely plays into, and that guest leaves you a review on value and the check-in process.

So like that curb appeal appears twice in your, in what comprises your entire review. Mm-hmm. And

Annette Grant: sometimes we get so focused when we think spring [00:20:00] cleaning inside, we think inside the walls. Yeah. But you really have to go outside of the four walls also.

I don’t know about you, but I got excited. Been slightly defeated, overwhelmed, but this work needs to get done. But I know it’s gonna take some work, but I’m excited to do it.

Conclusion and Call for Tips

Annette Grant: And if you guys have any like cleaning tips to share with us, if you think you’ve mastered some sort of clean or have the hack, please email us.

Let us know. I want to know, my mom has taught me like so many things about. Cleaning and, and spring cleaning. But if you have some trick that you think we need to know about, please share it with us because maybe you can share it, um, either on the show here or somewhere on social media. But sharing is caring hosts, so share with us hi@thanksforvisiting.com.

Sarah Karakaian: With that, I am Sarah Karakaian.

Annette Grant: I’m Annette Grant, and together we are. Thanks for visiting, visiting.

Sarah Karakaian: Talk to you next time. [00:21:00]