How Patrick Scaled His STR business to 40 Units in Colombia (Ep517)

By Jasper Ribbers

October 24, 2022

When you own an STR business, there will always be issues. Someone will lose their key, someone will clog the toilet, a piece of furniture will break, and then there’s the money issue.

It can be chaotic, but when you are not making the revenue you desire, AND there is no work-life balance, it becomes no fun.

Patrick Spanfelner was struggling with all those issues and more, all while parenting a one-year-old and a three-year-old with just one unit. He was the epitome of a hectic host. But all that changed.

He's now successfully managing 39 units, including one of mine in Cali, Columbia.

So, how'd he go from a hectic host barely hanging on to a successful host who seems to hardly work?

Patrick Spanfelner has been living and investing in STR real estate in Colombia for over seven years. His current portfolio includes over 33 units. You can find his units at EXSTR Apartments and learn more about visiting, living, and investing in Cali and Colombia on his blog, The Cali Adventurer.

On this episode of Get Paid for Your Pad, Patrick joins me to discuss how learning to automate and develop systems helped him to scale to 39 units.

We discuss why it's vital to determine where you add the most value in our operation if you want to scale and how Patrick used the property abundance plan to dominate in his market—even in this economy.

Listen in as Patrick shares how homing in on just one tool has made it possible for him to spend $0 on marketing and the critical strategy he uses to make every Airbnb reservation work for him now and in the future.

He walks us through his top tips and tricks, which you can apply right now for more success in your business. Plus, insider advice from Patrick on where he is looking to expand his business in the coming years.

Are you interested in learning some of the same tricks and tips our Legends X students are using to scale your business to $1m and beyond? We have a FREE workshop that will walk you through the steps so you can implement the formula to discover your perfect guest avatar, so you have guests dying to stay at your properties. Check it out NOW!

Topics Covered

Patrick shares what his life was like before he learned to automate
Patrick's #1 piece of advice for securing more reservations
Why it's vital to determine where you add the most value to your operation
How Patrick is using the property abundance plan to dominate the market in his area even in this economy
How becoming an expert in his market area solved ALL of Patrick's marketing issues (hint: he doesn't spend any money on marketing)
Why building relationships with developers is a hugely powerful scaling strategy
How focusing on a marketing channel you enjoy will help you build your business faster and with less stress
Patrick's top 3 pieces of advice to grow YOUR Airbnb business
The #1 thing you can do right now to scale your STR business
How to make better decisions by getting 100% clear on what your home market is
Small actionable tips and tricks you can apply in your business right now for more success
The key strategy Patrick uses to make every Airbnb guest reservation work for him now (in the future)
Insider advice from Patrick on where he is looking to expand his business in the coming years
Patrick shares the details behind Colombia’s digital nomad VISA being launched in November