A few years ago, In the hype of Instagram and Tik Tok Avery, our daughter and her friends found a home in Scottsdale where “THEY JUST HAD TO STAY.” So naturally, a girls’ trip was planned with four girls and a few moms, to this gorgeous Airbnb. I soon got home and told Matt about our experience. From the decor and atmosphere that was perfectly detailed, down to all the amenities we needed from home and a prime location - I don’t think I stopped talking. He had to see what all the buzz was about and looked up the property quickly from his phone. If you know Matt, when he saw the operation, how booked up this property was and how it was uniquely advertised - he was intrigued. We hadn’t stayed in many Airbnb’s before, and I loved the idea of an investment property turned into a business. Before we knew it, we had bought our first, second, third, and fourth homes!
Our First Vacation Rental Home (VRH)
When we purchased our first VRH, we had two long-term rental properties and one personal vacation home, so we weren’t too nervous. We have already gone through the process of buying, decorating, renovating, and making a home FEEL like a home. We’d also been talking a lot about making a real estate investment, but we weren’t sure when, where, or how.
A friend of ours posted a home, which is now Deep Creek, and we felt comfortable with the price. It was in a location where we could enjoy a fun time with the family, so we were excited to jump in! Matt and I honestly didn’t do a lot of research or even look at the going rates. We thought we could just get the VRH and it might cover its own costs. Who did we even think we were?
Front of Deep Creek
We were so overly excited about the whole process: buying the house, making plans, doing renovations, and making it a place that people would want to visit. We had a good experience, but it took us a little bit longer than we anticipated! (Remember our blog about Paint Colors?) The thing that you realize as you learn is that your time frame may not be what you think - for anyone who is just getting started, always plan for a few more months than you think! I laugh now because while you may have been reading this and thought “They had no idea what they were getting into.” I truly think that that’s the reason deep creek has done so well and has been such a blessing. We went into it craving a passion to really start our journey in this industry, we wanted it to be a place we could go with our family and we were open to what the opportunity would bring. Ever heard the saying Ignorance is bliss? Ya, that was us - but we love the story now!
How Our VRH Business Has Evolved
Our business model changed as we started to scale - I think any business owner can relate to that. We considered costs and expenses and started operating more like a business. Making better decisions that felt good as a long-term decision and the big one, learning to separate our emotions. When we first launched Deep Creek, we were so worried about anybody staying there. Did they make a mess? Mess up a pillow? Break a dish? It would drive us crazy. God forbid if we got a review from our cleaner saying they were slobs. We would be so upset with these guests that we literally didn’t even know. After hundreds of guests and stays, we are now in a space where we know things are going to happen - we can protect ourselves and separate ourselves from the emotions of it all! No one prepares you for those series of events but I think that’s what makes the adventure so gratifying. You have to go through those series of emotions to learn how to run your business.
There’s so much to running our business like marketing, coordination, and communication, but one of the biggest pieces to running a successful short-term rental business would be to have people you can truly rely on to be the eyes of your property if your guests needed anything and you’re not close by. A team that knows the ins and outs, if something’s out of place or broken, that can clean really well, and provide a good experience for our guests! After all, no one can do all of that alone. The people you have around you in this business can truly make or break you! Find some good people and keep them close!
Our Biggest Win
Our biggest win was when we scaled to our biggest property, Vista Lago. Deep Creek was a nice entry, but going from Deep Creek to Vista Lago was a big price-point, size, demographic, and strategy difference. There were times when we thought we were in over our heads, but we knew in our hearts that it would work. I mean, if we can make it from our first home experience together and it is all in between, we could do this! We knew about Havasu vacation rentals. We knew there would be a lot of demand, and we definitely knew it was going to be one of the coolest experiences we’ve been through yet.
Vista Lago Under Construction - Front
Vista Lago Under Construction - Back
When we got the photos and went live on Airbnb, we received a booking THE NEXT DAY! I wish we could have a recorded reaction to getting that notification! We were so excited when we saw that people were willing to book a stay for our creation! It told us that our planning and strategy would work. And sure enough, it took off immediately!
Front of Vista Lago
Our Advice For Your First VRH
To anyone who is wanting to get into the industry, do the research! Talk to those who’ve been in the game about what their successful Airbnb’s look like and how they create those experiences. Everyone’s journey is different and so unique. Consider your goals. Are you doing it purely for business investment, or are you doing it for the emotional place to go with your friends and family with the offset expense of Airbnb to handle that for you? Both are great ideas, but knowing your ‘why’ is going to help you make important decisions down the road!
Make sure you confirm that you can do short-term rental in the community you’re looking to buy. Whether that’s HOA or certain cities and certain counties that don’t allow it, you have to make sure it’s permitted. If they require permits, it’s super important to see if you can get a permit before investing your money! This can save you a lot of time and help you narrow down a location that may be perfect for you to start. Another thing is to learn to pivot. Because we were doing this in the middle of a pandemic, we waited on a lot of different things for the house, like appliances, furniture, and flooring. Now that we’re on our fourth VRH, it’s backbreaking work; but the fruits of the labor that come at the end of the efforts are worth it every time!
Thanks for coming along and reliving our journey with us! If you are a fellow AirBnb’er or you’re thinking about diving in - message us right here - we’d love to connect and say hello!