STR Legends Live hosted 25 top operators from all over the world. Attendees represented 10 countries on 5 continents, with a grand total of more than 1,000 combined listings. So, what can we learn from these Airbnb big fish running businesses at scale? What were some of our top takeaways from the mastermind retreat?
Eric Moeller is the creator of Cohost Mastery and the cohost of STR Legends Live. Erica Beers and Rebecca Slivka serve as head of Operations & Finance and Customer Service & Business Development for Pillow and Coffee, a short-term rental company built on the master lease model that manages 100-plus listings. Today, Eric, Erica and Rebecca join me to share their top lessons learned from STR Legends Live, discussing the guests’ willingness to connect and learn from each other.
Erica and Rebecca describe how the quality of operators differentiated this event from other vacation rental conferences and offer insight around finding your niche in the short-term rental marketplace. Eric weighs in on what he learned in terms of scaling with intention, addressing the importance of adding listings that fit your business model. Listen in to understand how defining your guest avatar makes other decisions easier and learn how you can leverage systems to grow a successful STR business!
Topics Covered
Eric’s top takeaways from STR Legends Live
- Similar challenges regardless of location
- Willingness to share + learn together
What made STR Legends Live different from other conferences
- Everybody brought value (quality of operators)
- Opportunity to connect, learn from each other
Erica & Rebecca’s advice for growing the master lease model
- Build relationships with owner/operators
- Solve pain points (i.e.: maintenance, vacancies)
- Negotiate contract as business partners
How Erica & Rebecca choose properties
- Goal = $800 to $1K per month per unit in profit
- Understand market (e.g.: seasonality, average daily rates)
Erica & Rebecca’s tips for finding your niche
- Define guest avatar to make other decisions easier
- Analyze marketplace for needs
Eric’s insight on intentional growth
- More listings don’t necessarily mean more money
- Choose properties that fit defined business model
How Erica & Rebecca can add a new listing in a couple of days
- Designer selects furniture + décor to fit brand
- Standard queen bed and appliances
- Systems for onboarding to booking software
- Team executes on checklist (i.e.: utilities, internet)
My top takeaways from STR Legends Live
- Inspired by professionalism and systems
- Benefits of entrepreneurial mindset
- Listing on multiple vacation rental websites can lead to more direct bookings
Connect with Eric
Connect with Erica & Rebecca
Resources
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