WEBVTT NOTE This file was generated by Descript 00:00:01.260 --> 00:00:02.500 Speaker: It's the CasaCast. 00:00:02.580 --> 00:00:03.410 We've got Orange Credo. 00:00:03.410 --> 00:00:04.630 The CasaCast. 00:00:05.570 --> 00:00:07.170 Our company's neato. 00:00:07.480 --> 00:00:08.310 The CasaCast. 00:00:08.540 --> 00:00:09.590 Created by CasaGo. 00:00:11.560 --> 00:00:12.580 It's time for the show. 00:00:12.610 --> 00:00:12.799 Let's go! 00:00:15.670 --> 00:00:16.620 Steve V2: Hey, welcome to CasaCast. 00:00:16.760 --> 00:00:17.623 I'm your host, Steve Schwab. 00:00:17.833 --> 00:00:22.816 Here today with Felipe Caldera . From Port Boulevard, and we're gonna be talking 00:00:22.866 --> 00:00:25.106 a little bit about flower fields a day. 00:00:25.206 --> 00:00:26.046 Welcome to the show Felipe. 00:00:26.406 --> 00:00:31.396 Thanks Steve It's a pleasure to be here So I met you probably two months ago 00:00:31.396 --> 00:00:37.356 now and you and I had this fantastic conversation about elevated design and 00:00:37.356 --> 00:00:42.346 how it was actually elevating revenue And it was one of my big aspirations this 00:00:42.346 --> 00:00:47.826 year of rethinking about maybe some of my own blind spots inside of the industry. 00:00:47.856 --> 00:00:50.476 And I wanted just to talk to you about that today. 00:00:51.026 --> 00:00:53.136 Maybe you can tell us a little bit about your background. 00:00:53.526 --> 00:00:55.096 How did you end up getting into Casago? 00:00:55.346 --> 00:00:55.996 Speaker 4: Yeah, absolutely. 00:00:56.426 --> 00:01:02.746 So I go a little bit farther back, even in Casago, I bought my first short In 00:01:02.746 --> 00:01:07.391 this market in Crystal Beach or Port Bolivar market back in December 21. 00:01:07.491 --> 00:01:10.741 So you can say it was at the height of the Airbnb frenzy. 00:01:10.741 --> 00:01:11.781 Everyone is getting in. 00:01:11.781 --> 00:01:14.861 It's like the gold rush of, I want to get into short term rentals. 00:01:15.451 --> 00:01:18.671 And I remember the house that I bought from my now partner. 00:01:18.721 --> 00:01:21.521 It's kind of things come full circle, but George was my 00:01:21.521 --> 00:01:22.471 partner in the business today. 00:01:22.891 --> 00:01:25.581 He sold me the house and it was a house that. 00:01:26.151 --> 00:01:29.741 It was a beautiful beach house, but there was literally 10 other houses on the same 00:01:29.741 --> 00:01:31.871 neighborhood that were identical to mine. 00:01:31.991 --> 00:01:33.681 So everything looked exactly the same. 00:01:34.661 --> 00:01:35.411 And I'm looking at it. 00:01:35.411 --> 00:01:38.501 I'm like, why is somebody going to book my house and not my neighbors? 00:01:38.501 --> 00:01:39.731 They literally, one is green. 00:01:39.731 --> 00:01:40.571 The other one is blue. 00:01:40.671 --> 00:01:41.111 Sure. 00:01:41.171 --> 00:01:42.321 But everything else is the same. 00:01:42.861 --> 00:01:46.101 And I kind of looked, took a step back and try to see what 00:01:46.101 --> 00:01:47.331 was working in different markets. 00:01:47.361 --> 00:01:47.611 Right? 00:01:47.611 --> 00:01:48.821 So hot tubs. 00:01:49.426 --> 00:01:51.316 I cannot tell you how many people told me it was a dumb idea to 00:01:51.316 --> 00:01:52.786 add a hot tub by the beach. 00:01:52.806 --> 00:01:53.966 But I was like, you know what? 00:01:54.066 --> 00:01:54.836 Let's give it a try. 00:01:54.916 --> 00:01:59.746 We added a hot tub, we added a game room, a fire pit, and we 00:01:59.746 --> 00:02:03.876 significantly outperformed our competition neighbors and so on. 00:02:03.876 --> 00:02:06.906 So that was my first signal like, hey, maybe there's something to this. 00:02:07.546 --> 00:02:10.176 Uh, and again, that was my very first short term rental and we 00:02:10.186 --> 00:02:11.906 replicated that over and over again. 00:02:11.986 --> 00:02:15.396 Not only in this market, but I also own a few others in Pittsburgh. 00:02:15.396 --> 00:02:19.096 And we added I mean some crazy man is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 00:02:19.096 --> 00:02:21.996 which is not a vacation rental market and did really well. 00:02:22.006 --> 00:02:25.361 So I got really confident approaching owners after that and 00:02:25.361 --> 00:02:26.921 saying, Hey, here's a guidebook. 00:02:26.941 --> 00:02:29.141 Like here's the, I'm going to tell you how to succeed. 00:02:29.141 --> 00:02:32.461 I'm going to, if you do this one, two, three, four, five things, I 00:02:32.461 --> 00:02:35.791 know very confidently that your house is going to generate more revenue. 00:02:36.331 --> 00:02:38.931 Uh, that's how we went over the last few years. 00:02:39.001 --> 00:02:40.111 Speaker 2: And that's how you got started, huh? 00:02:40.201 --> 00:02:40.991 Yeah, absolutely. 00:02:41.641 --> 00:02:43.681 I find it interesting on two fronts. 00:02:43.991 --> 00:02:48.601 One, I think with the saturation of the inventory now. 00:02:49.226 --> 00:02:54.406 A lot of investors and people look at the industry like oh, there's oversaturation, 00:02:54.456 --> 00:02:55.796 it's not going to be a good investment. 00:02:56.851 --> 00:03:01.421 And on some level, there's truth to that, especially if you're just a blend 00:03:01.431 --> 00:03:05.031 vacation rental, that's just like, quote, unquote, another one of those. 00:03:05.031 --> 00:03:05.381 Right. 00:03:05.941 --> 00:03:10.661 But I think when you get into a property that differentiates itself, 00:03:11.121 --> 00:03:14.551 the demand curve goes up pretty dramatically for it, especially 00:03:14.551 --> 00:03:16.281 when you're in a sea of sameness. 00:03:16.761 --> 00:03:19.581 And I was telling you earlier about a story about, you know, when 00:03:19.581 --> 00:03:20.750 you drive through Kansas, Kansas. 00:03:21.171 --> 00:03:23.431 And you're seeing, you know, wheat field after wheat field or, you 00:03:23.431 --> 00:03:25.911 know, cornfield after cornfield, this field after field after field. 00:03:26.421 --> 00:03:29.431 And then you come across these wild fields of, you know, these beautiful 00:03:29.431 --> 00:03:31.241 flowers and, and, and wild flowers. 00:03:31.251 --> 00:03:34.151 And all of a sudden everybody pulls over and starts taking pictures of 00:03:34.151 --> 00:03:35.371 them and, you know, photo shoots. 00:03:35.371 --> 00:03:39.871 And, and when you go through Airbnb or VRBO or, you know, any listing 00:03:39.871 --> 00:03:41.491 site to include, you know, casago. 00:03:41.491 --> 00:03:41.811 com. 00:03:42.251 --> 00:03:47.116 And if you're going through a search and everything looks the same, Why book yours? 00:03:47.116 --> 00:03:51.496 But when you come across that one property that pops is that flowered field, right? 00:03:51.496 --> 00:03:51.916 Exactly. 00:03:52.136 --> 00:03:53.486 I think that's kind of what you're on to. 00:03:54.276 --> 00:03:58.126 Speaker 4: What I like to say is you could throw anything on Airbnb three, four 00:03:58.126 --> 00:03:59.876 years ago, especially during the pandemic. 00:03:59.896 --> 00:04:00.696 And it would make money. 00:04:00.716 --> 00:04:01.026 Speaker: Yeah. 00:04:01.166 --> 00:04:02.616 Speaker 4: Like it was, it was that easy. 00:04:02.616 --> 00:04:05.786 And people don't like to, I think it's an ego thing. 00:04:05.786 --> 00:04:06.986 It's like, Oh, I was so good at this. 00:04:07.046 --> 00:04:08.555 But in reality, honestly, it was pretty easy. 00:04:08.856 --> 00:04:10.246 Kind of easy to make money back then. 00:04:10.856 --> 00:04:14.806 And now we're having people who are, have lots of options, have lots of options. 00:04:14.806 --> 00:04:20.236 And why are they going to stop that scroll through Airbnb or through VRB 00:04:20.236 --> 00:04:25.786 or even our own website, uh, our direct booking or Costco website, something 00:04:25.786 --> 00:04:27.086 has to catch their attention, right? 00:04:27.086 --> 00:04:28.026 Something has to catch their attention. 00:04:28.026 --> 00:04:31.916 So I think that's, that's point one and then point two, just kind of just as 00:04:31.916 --> 00:04:35.246 important because pictures, you know, and pictures do make a difference. 00:04:35.286 --> 00:04:38.406 Design makes a difference, but it's also about experience. 00:04:38.866 --> 00:04:39.116 Right. 00:04:39.186 --> 00:04:43.516 Again, we're, we're in a beach market and the majority of my competitors were 00:04:43.526 --> 00:04:45.386 betting that the experience is the beach. 00:04:46.286 --> 00:04:47.206 What if it rains? 00:04:47.866 --> 00:04:48.506 What are you going to do? 00:04:48.526 --> 00:04:51.746 Like, we have this, this huge family, you know, we have big houses of 00:04:52.346 --> 00:04:54.406 maybe have 10 kids in the house. 00:04:54.526 --> 00:04:55.346 What are they going to do? 00:04:55.346 --> 00:04:56.716 They're going to drive mom and dad crazy. 00:04:56.716 --> 00:05:00.816 And, you know, but instead if you have a, you know, uh, amenity or the 00:05:00.816 --> 00:05:05.346 experience, you know, with a game room or a hot tub, there's something to do. 00:05:05.396 --> 00:05:05.546 Right. 00:05:05.546 --> 00:05:07.146 So you're selling that experience as well. 00:05:07.471 --> 00:05:11.461 Speaker 2: Everybody who's raised a child knows that when you take them 00:05:11.461 --> 00:05:17.261 to the beach, you only get maybe two to three hours of beach time with them 00:05:17.261 --> 00:05:18.921 before they're bored and they're done. 00:05:18.921 --> 00:05:22.091 It just becomes a blue stuff out in the backyard that the 00:05:22.101 --> 00:05:23.691 kids don't want to do anymore. 00:05:23.881 --> 00:05:25.671 They're like, come on, we're at the beach. 00:05:26.081 --> 00:05:27.241 What are we going to do next? 00:05:27.671 --> 00:05:29.971 And having a home that has amenities. 00:05:30.311 --> 00:05:33.611 Keeps them busy to let the parents have vacation also. 00:05:33.691 --> 00:05:34.231 Speaker 4: Exactly. 00:05:34.231 --> 00:05:36.331 And that's, I mean, I've had three kids under the age of 00:05:36.331 --> 00:05:38.231 eight, so I know how that is. 00:05:38.231 --> 00:05:42.941 And we go, we go to our houses and the first day they love the beach. 00:05:42.941 --> 00:05:44.631 The second day it's like, can we go home? 00:05:44.631 --> 00:05:45.301 Can we go play? 00:05:45.341 --> 00:05:47.021 And they want to go and they want to be in the hot tub. 00:05:47.021 --> 00:05:47.991 They want to be playing games. 00:05:47.991 --> 00:05:50.261 And it just makes the whole thing more enjoyable. 00:05:50.271 --> 00:05:50.441 Right? 00:05:50.441 --> 00:05:52.961 So that's the experience thing that we also need to. 00:05:53.701 --> 00:05:55.061 Think for our guests as well. 00:05:55.101 --> 00:05:55.431 Speaker 2: Right. 00:05:56.141 --> 00:05:59.781 So Philippa, I'm wondering what the needle movers are when it comes to 00:05:59.791 --> 00:06:02.361 the properties and occupancy and ADR. 00:06:02.361 --> 00:06:04.911 And as I think about it in four different categories, I want to go 00:06:04.911 --> 00:06:06.351 through each one of them with you. 00:06:06.851 --> 00:06:10.071 So I think about it in style, I think about it in story. 00:06:10.496 --> 00:06:13.636 I think about it in upgrades and then amenities. 00:06:13.666 --> 00:06:15.366 And I want to break down each one of those. 00:06:15.366 --> 00:06:18.046 And I also want to find out if I'm missing any categories 00:06:18.056 --> 00:06:19.246 that you might have as well. 00:06:19.256 --> 00:06:22.996 So what are the big needle movers that you see in style? 00:06:23.136 --> 00:06:25.706 Speaker 4: Yeah, that's a really good question. 00:06:25.736 --> 00:06:28.566 And it's interesting because I'm here talking about design. 00:06:28.566 --> 00:06:31.806 I'm the least designing client person you can think of. 00:06:31.806 --> 00:06:33.296 I just, it just not my talent. 00:06:33.866 --> 00:06:36.676 I'm very lucky that my wife is a professional interior designer. 00:06:36.796 --> 00:06:37.056 Yeah. 00:06:37.136 --> 00:06:42.351 And I've seen her take Properties that were quite honestly, just ugly, 00:06:42.441 --> 00:06:45.711 boring, but kind of the same and turning into something beautiful. 00:06:46.171 --> 00:06:48.331 And I've observed her process a lot. 00:06:48.371 --> 00:06:50.771 And there's a couple of things that that comes with the design. 00:06:51.281 --> 00:06:53.141 One, of course, is making it look good. 00:06:53.201 --> 00:06:55.121 Like it has to be something that pops right. 00:06:55.141 --> 00:06:58.431 And we have this conversation a lot, especially because I'm sometimes working 00:06:58.441 --> 00:07:03.016 with homeowners and, you know, if you give up a designer, Unlimited budget. 00:07:03.016 --> 00:07:04.786 She's going to redesign or he or she's going to redesign 00:07:04.786 --> 00:07:05.746 your entire house, right? 00:07:05.786 --> 00:07:06.006 Speaker: Right. 00:07:06.396 --> 00:07:08.446 Speaker 4: And some people think, Oh, no, let's put a little bit in each 00:07:08.446 --> 00:07:10.556 location, a little bit in the bedroom, a little bit in the living room. 00:07:11.046 --> 00:07:14.856 And, and Julie, my wife is always like, I'd rather like choose two 00:07:14.946 --> 00:07:17.856 and go all out and make those spaces really, really special. 00:07:18.196 --> 00:07:19.946 Because that's going to be our hero photo, right? 00:07:19.946 --> 00:07:22.486 It's going to be like, something's going to be very eye catching and 00:07:22.486 --> 00:07:25.151 people are going to look at him and like, I can see myself there. 00:07:25.151 --> 00:07:25.831 This is beautiful. 00:07:27.191 --> 00:07:28.331 So that's, that's one. 00:07:28.331 --> 00:07:33.131 But the other one, which is just as important is at the end of the day, 00:07:33.171 --> 00:07:37.721 we are a proper management company and functionality has to be top of mind. 00:07:37.721 --> 00:07:41.331 There was one house that we've worked, that she worked with in the past. 00:07:41.971 --> 00:07:48.541 The house could sleep 28, but they were sitting for Like, what do people eat? 00:07:48.591 --> 00:07:48.941 You know what I mean? 00:07:50.171 --> 00:07:53.001 So there's a functionality, and this is an example, but also the 00:07:53.001 --> 00:07:54.031 type of material that's used. 00:07:54.031 --> 00:07:56.331 Is that something that can be used over and over again, right? 00:07:56.331 --> 00:08:01.491 So, I think design serves the two, those two points, which is making something look 00:08:01.501 --> 00:08:05.341 really good that people want to be there, but also having the functionality and 00:08:05.361 --> 00:08:06.220 the quality that people want to be there. 00:08:06.491 --> 00:08:09.011 People can keep using it and you don't have to be replacing 00:08:09.201 --> 00:08:09.361 Speaker 2: a 00:08:09.391 --> 00:08:10.541 Speaker 4: piece of furniture every three months. 00:08:10.541 --> 00:08:10.841 Speaker 2: Yeah. 00:08:11.211 --> 00:08:14.691 And also making sure that you can replace it with like items if you need to. 00:08:14.691 --> 00:08:14.941 Right. 00:08:14.951 --> 00:08:18.311 Like I've had homeowners who bought beautiful Mexican hand 00:08:18.311 --> 00:08:20.301 painted plates for the property. 00:08:20.821 --> 00:08:23.981 Like, man, one of those busts. 00:08:24.271 --> 00:08:24.591 Speaker 4: Yeah, 00:08:25.001 --> 00:08:25.751 Speaker 2: I've got a problem. 00:08:26.111 --> 00:08:27.051 And of course they're going to. 00:08:27.711 --> 00:08:28.741 And so there you are. 00:08:28.791 --> 00:08:31.401 Speaker 4: We were just joking about that actually internally that there's 00:08:31.401 --> 00:08:36.546 a homeowner that said, It was a very sentimental piece made out of glass and 00:08:36.546 --> 00:08:40.136 she's like this means the world to me So, please make sure nobody breaks and we're 00:08:40.136 --> 00:08:44.866 like, you know what if it means so much Let's make sure it's not left out that 00:08:44.866 --> 00:08:48.206 it goes in your owner closet that want to use it when you're in the house Let's 00:08:48.206 --> 00:08:51.546 do it because again people will come to the house if we're doing our job Well, 00:08:51.626 --> 00:08:52.956 the house gonna be booked all the time. 00:08:53.106 --> 00:08:53.296 Speaker 2: Yeah, 00:08:53.846 --> 00:08:56.326 Speaker 4: and we do not want to be in a situation where we're, you know 00:08:57.041 --> 00:09:00.301 Speaker 2: And no matter how much stewardship you put into that property 00:09:00.311 --> 00:09:05.151 and guest selection and filtering, accidents are going to happen. 00:09:05.171 --> 00:09:05.531 Yes. 00:09:05.741 --> 00:09:09.031 I had a homeowner, when I first got started, they were an older couple, 00:09:09.241 --> 00:09:11.981 maybe in their 70s, very sweet couple. 00:09:12.521 --> 00:09:16.945 And she had her hand painted, hand painted portrait of her as a young bride. 00:09:17.936 --> 00:09:20.006 She's like, yeah, we just need to make sure nobody touches this. 00:09:20.016 --> 00:09:21.266 I'm like, you got to take that down. 00:09:22.116 --> 00:09:23.016 Speaker 4: You got to get that out of here. 00:09:23.016 --> 00:09:23.476 Because 00:09:23.486 --> 00:09:27.026 Speaker 2: if I can't replace it with money, it can't be in this property. 00:09:27.076 --> 00:09:27.646 Exactly. 00:09:27.666 --> 00:09:27.856 Yeah. 00:09:27.886 --> 00:09:28.176 Yes. 00:09:28.236 --> 00:09:28.846 Oh my gosh. 00:09:28.856 --> 00:09:29.406 So yeah. 00:09:29.466 --> 00:09:29.746 Yeah. 00:09:29.826 --> 00:09:31.966 So talk to me a little bit about story. 00:09:32.056 --> 00:09:35.456 Tell them the story with the property and what actually moves the needle when it 00:09:35.456 --> 00:09:37.496 comes to creating demand for the property. 00:09:37.766 --> 00:09:38.176 Speaker 4: Absolutely. 00:09:38.196 --> 00:09:43.741 I think is being very mindful of, uh, Who are you trying to rent to, right? 00:09:43.741 --> 00:09:46.761 So for us in our market, we want to rent to families, right? 00:09:47.101 --> 00:09:49.661 So whenever you're thinking, uh, where does the grill go? 00:09:49.821 --> 00:09:51.851 And George, my partner talks a lot about this. 00:09:51.851 --> 00:09:55.921 He spent a lot of time thinking about this is the beach houses are always on 00:09:55.921 --> 00:09:57.641 stilts, they're pretty high up the ground. 00:09:58.091 --> 00:10:00.641 And it's like, well, if the kids are going to be playing inside or in the 00:10:00.651 --> 00:10:04.721 hot tub, nobody's going to want to go downstairs to grill and bring the food up. 00:10:04.721 --> 00:10:07.381 So it's like, let's put the grills up on the deck, right? 00:10:07.461 --> 00:10:10.731 It's a simple change, but like, now we're thinking of. 00:10:11.601 --> 00:10:14.171 When mom is doing something, when kids are doing something. 00:10:15.446 --> 00:10:17.746 Somebody can go grill and still be kind of part of that conversation 00:10:17.766 --> 00:10:18.846 or that experience, I should say. 00:10:18.866 --> 00:10:19.176 Right. 00:10:19.526 --> 00:10:23.546 So I think it's just being very mindful of who are you designing this house to? 00:10:23.546 --> 00:10:25.066 Who are you putting the amenities to? 00:10:25.456 --> 00:10:28.276 Because when you try to sell something to everyone, it's 00:10:28.276 --> 00:10:29.596 difficult to sell it to anyone. 00:10:29.826 --> 00:10:30.106 Speaker 2: Right. 00:10:30.146 --> 00:10:30.396 Speaker 4: You know, 00:10:30.976 --> 00:10:32.006 Speaker 2: plant your flag, right? 00:10:32.036 --> 00:10:33.356 Like this is for this property. 00:10:33.356 --> 00:10:34.946 This property is for these types of people. 00:10:35.026 --> 00:10:35.466 Exactly. 00:10:35.596 --> 00:10:35.916 And 00:10:36.236 --> 00:10:39.091 Speaker 4: one thing that I've been looking into doing, but I haven't been 00:10:39.091 --> 00:10:43.841 able to successfully do it yet is, uh, and I'm sure you've seen now the 00:10:43.841 --> 00:10:47.621 new somewhat trend I would say is in the photos you have actually actors 00:10:47.621 --> 00:10:49.391 and people they're doing stuff, right? 00:10:49.391 --> 00:10:52.691 So you kind of, okay, if I'm, if I'm trying to sell this to a family, I'm 00:10:52.691 --> 00:10:55.981 going to have a family here that is acting throughout the photos and you're, 00:10:55.991 --> 00:10:59.101 again, you're selling the experience and not just selling the house. 00:10:59.766 --> 00:11:03.316 Speaker 2: So I, I personally struggle with having actors in the photos cause 00:11:03.316 --> 00:11:06.366 I feel like it almost replaces in their mind that these people are there and not 00:11:06.366 --> 00:11:11.676 them, but I've come to a place where I've started to stage properties and if you 00:11:11.676 --> 00:11:15.866 go through some of our inventory, you can see where we're staging it as if it 00:11:15.866 --> 00:11:20.326 was you that had left a drink there or, you know, it's telling the stories as if 00:11:20.336 --> 00:11:23.586 you're there with, with, you know, a drink or play to something, whatever it looks 00:11:23.696 --> 00:11:25.116 like, trying to make it look like that. 00:11:25.116 --> 00:11:25.356 But. 00:11:26.086 --> 00:11:27.356 I don't know which one's better. 00:11:27.636 --> 00:11:31.346 Statistically, it'd be interesting to run the AB testing. 00:11:31.366 --> 00:11:31.626 I would 00:11:31.626 --> 00:11:32.086 Speaker 4: love to. 00:11:32.126 --> 00:11:35.866 And that's one thing that I've, it's been on my radar to test as well. 00:11:36.096 --> 00:11:40.946 I've known people who have done the acting at this age and have done extremely well. 00:11:41.396 --> 00:11:42.576 You should report back on this one soon. 00:11:43.176 --> 00:11:43.846 Speaker 2: I will say this. 00:11:43.946 --> 00:11:44.716 Telling a story. 00:11:44.716 --> 00:11:46.396 There is a gentleman, and it went viral. 00:11:46.821 --> 00:11:52.321 He has some cabins in the woods and he ended up buying a Sasquatch costume 00:11:52.651 --> 00:11:56.441 and taking pictures as a Sasquatch, like out, like hanging out by the fire 00:11:56.451 --> 00:11:58.041 and doing s'mores, whatever it was. 00:11:58.701 --> 00:12:00.321 And it really worked. 00:12:00.411 --> 00:12:00.681 Yeah. 00:12:00.781 --> 00:12:04.381 So being incredibly unique like that absolutely will work, you 00:12:04.381 --> 00:12:05.331 know, and that's telling the story. 00:12:05.331 --> 00:12:08.851 So let's talk a little bit about amenities and upgrades. 00:12:08.851 --> 00:12:09.851 We'll just going to put them together. 00:12:10.381 --> 00:12:14.431 Give me a few amenities that you've seen in your experience that are absolute. 00:12:14.856 --> 00:12:16.526 Needle movers when it comes to it. 00:12:17.186 --> 00:12:19.076 Speaker 4: This one is very unique to a market. 00:12:19.326 --> 00:12:23.506 For example, if you're in the smoke is every single cabin has a hot tub. 00:12:23.506 --> 00:12:25.986 So like it's more of a requirement than a needle mover. 00:12:25.986 --> 00:12:26.216 Right. 00:12:26.846 --> 00:12:29.346 But I tend to look at what's working in other markets and 00:12:29.356 --> 00:12:30.806 replicate validating to ours. 00:12:30.806 --> 00:12:33.096 So let's stick with hot tub is a good example, right? 00:12:33.546 --> 00:12:36.946 We have a little over 2000 short term rentals in our market in general. 00:12:36.956 --> 00:12:37.716 That's the whole market. 00:12:38.146 --> 00:12:40.726 We have less than 10 percent of those that have hot tubs. 00:12:41.461 --> 00:12:45.011 You know, once I saw that, hey, it worked out for me, let 00:12:45.011 --> 00:12:46.021 me look a little bit deeper. 00:12:46.041 --> 00:12:47.721 If it worked out for others in the market. 00:12:48.151 --> 00:12:52.791 And I have the numbers memorized from AirDNA because I usually show this slide. 00:12:52.791 --> 00:12:55.641 But if you look at the average revenue for every single house 00:12:55.641 --> 00:12:57.221 in the market, it's about 58. 00:12:57.321 --> 00:13:00.001 9 thousand for every single house in our market. 00:13:00.491 --> 00:13:05.301 If you just look at the 10 percent that have hot tubs, that goes up to 91. 00:13:05.301 --> 00:13:05.315 3. 00:13:05.906 --> 00:13:08.646 If you take hot tubs out, it goes from 58 to 53. 00:13:08.686 --> 00:13:10.186 So it actually goes down by 5, 00:13:10.186 --> 00:13:10.735 Speaker: 000. 00:13:10.736 --> 00:13:10.976 Speaker 4: Right? 00:13:11.266 --> 00:13:15.986 So for us, as difficult as it is to maintain a hot tub at the beach in a 00:13:16.116 --> 00:13:20.226 brutal environment for anything that is, you know, outside, it moves a needle. 00:13:20.316 --> 00:13:20.486 Yeah. 00:13:20.526 --> 00:13:21.756 It makes a big difference. 00:13:21.806 --> 00:13:25.686 And, and I've noticed, especially, and this is where I noticed the 00:13:25.686 --> 00:13:28.126 most benefit, is in the winter. 00:13:28.486 --> 00:13:30.006 In the down season, right? 00:13:30.016 --> 00:13:36.066 So it goes from getting no bookings to getting weekends booked every weekend. 00:13:36.146 --> 00:13:40.836 Speaker 2: Hot tubs and ski markets are amazing for rentals. 00:13:40.866 --> 00:13:42.276 I mean, always a needle mover. 00:13:42.726 --> 00:13:42.896 Okay. 00:13:42.896 --> 00:13:43.856 I'm going to ask you a question. 00:13:43.856 --> 00:13:45.791 Cold 00:13:45.791 --> 00:13:47.725 Speaker 4: plunges. 00:13:47.726 --> 00:13:49.376 I have not tried that. 00:13:49.566 --> 00:13:52.376 And it is actually, I have two that I've been considering. 00:13:52.426 --> 00:13:55.436 It's, it's, It sounds crazy again, but you know, it's not a crazy 00:13:55.436 --> 00:13:56.876 investment that it's worth a try. 00:13:57.266 --> 00:13:58.956 It's cold plunges and sauna. 00:13:59.026 --> 00:13:59.346 Speaker 3: Yeah. 00:13:59.506 --> 00:14:01.416 Speaker 4: Like one of those like smaller saunas you can put on the deck. 00:14:01.666 --> 00:14:04.046 And I've seen people doing really well with that as well. 00:14:04.076 --> 00:14:04.366 Speaker: Yeah. 00:14:04.816 --> 00:14:07.696 Speaker 4: But I think at the end of the day, it's like kind of back to 00:14:07.696 --> 00:14:09.226 the same conversation about design. 00:14:10.136 --> 00:14:14.596 A code plunge is not very expensive and quite honestly neither a hot tub or 00:14:14.596 --> 00:14:18.916 a sauna and you can usually make that money back in one off season in bookings. 00:14:19.116 --> 00:14:23.466 And the more boxes you can check on Airbnb or on the OTAs or on your own 00:14:23.466 --> 00:14:27.186 website saying I have this amenity, this amenity, this amenity, the higher they're 00:14:27.186 --> 00:14:28.606 going to push you on the algorithm. 00:14:28.676 --> 00:14:29.086 Speaker 2: Absolutely. 00:14:29.116 --> 00:14:29.966 And they talk about that. 00:14:29.966 --> 00:14:33.386 You know, you talk to Jenny and Alex and you know, those guys over at VRBO. 00:14:33.596 --> 00:14:33.906 Speaker 4: Mm hmm. 00:14:34.726 --> 00:14:37.536 Speaker 2: Making sure you can check those boxes is one of the biggest 00:14:37.766 --> 00:14:40.575 differentiators in their algorithm. 00:14:40.576 --> 00:14:43.816 Speaker 4: And just to, I do have proof that that is true actually. 00:14:44.116 --> 00:14:46.886 Because what we do as well is, have you heard about RankBreeze? 00:14:47.761 --> 00:14:50.391 Basically link breeze will look at your house and we'll say, here's where 00:14:50.391 --> 00:14:52.281 you rank on Airbnb for the house. 00:14:52.331 --> 00:14:55.231 You know, are you, your average is first page, second page, you 00:14:55.231 --> 00:14:56.731 know, third page, whatever it is. 00:14:57.371 --> 00:15:02.581 When we do a major redesign slash upgrade, we can see what date that is and we 00:15:02.581 --> 00:15:04.271 can see when those boxes got checked 00:15:04.581 --> 00:15:08.531 We can clearly see the jump in ranking , it's pretty clear that 00:15:08.581 --> 00:15:10.811 it does have an impact to me. 00:15:10.811 --> 00:15:12.001 That's a leading indicator, right? 00:15:12.001 --> 00:15:16.236 It's like, Hey, If you're ranking well on the OTAs, unfortunately, only 00:15:16.236 --> 00:15:20.716 does Airbnb, not others, but if you're ranking well on OTAs, bookings will come. 00:15:20.726 --> 00:15:21.446 It's a matter of time. 00:15:21.886 --> 00:15:25.106 And I've actually used that with homeowners that contact me and say, 00:15:25.106 --> 00:15:28.646 Hey, I noticed that bookings kind of took a little bit of a break. 00:15:28.656 --> 00:15:30.816 You know, I'm like, well, first of all, we have more bookings in the 00:15:30.816 --> 00:15:32.166 calendar, so less availability. 00:15:32.566 --> 00:15:34.456 But second of all, I can see the ranking here. 00:15:34.456 --> 00:15:35.336 We're doing really well. 00:15:35.386 --> 00:15:36.226 We're getting views. 00:15:36.256 --> 00:15:38.376 It's a matter of time before the bookings come. 00:15:38.376 --> 00:15:42.751 And more often than not, like, I say that and next day we got a booking. 00:15:42.751 --> 00:15:43.721 I'm like, . See, it's working. 00:15:45.181 --> 00:15:48.181 . Speaker 2: Any other unusual amenities before I go to one last question for you? 00:15:48.471 --> 00:15:52.661 Speaker 4: Not amenities, but I would add just a new category if that works. 00:15:53.091 --> 00:15:55.191 And it is marketing in general. 00:15:55.771 --> 00:15:58.981 Back to my comment earlier, A few years back, you just put it on the 00:15:59.011 --> 00:16:00.401 OTAs and you get booked, right? 00:16:00.731 --> 00:16:03.931 Now, I think over the last few years, people noticed that not only it's more 00:16:03.931 --> 00:16:07.101 profitable to have direct bookings, but you also have more control, but 00:16:07.101 --> 00:16:10.281 I'm seeing another benefit now here is, uh, you may get bookings that you 00:16:10.331 --> 00:16:14.511 otherwise not get by being active with your marketing, by being active with 00:16:14.511 --> 00:16:17.961 the communication with your, with your guests, by offering Labor Day sales. 00:16:18.001 --> 00:16:19.961 It costs us 0 to send an email. 00:16:19.961 --> 00:16:22.336 We've got five reservations out of the, One email. 00:16:23.106 --> 00:16:25.706 So I think if you can combine like everything we talked about in the 00:16:25.706 --> 00:16:30.456 experience, amenities, design, but also good strategic marketing plan, I 00:16:30.466 --> 00:16:33.556 think there's a, a lot should benefit, you know, you and your homeowners. 00:16:33.826 --> 00:16:34.726 Speaker 2: I agree with that. 00:16:34.726 --> 00:16:38.176 You know, and I can tell you that also from just us doing email marketing, 00:16:38.196 --> 00:16:44.146 we've had a single email produce 50, 000 worth of the reservations 00:16:44.146 --> 00:16:45.266 just for one email sent out. 00:16:45.876 --> 00:16:48.216 If you're not doing email marketing, , you're just missing out. 00:16:48.356 --> 00:16:48.776 Absolutely. 00:16:48.786 --> 00:16:48.976 Yeah. 00:16:49.791 --> 00:16:52.791 So as we're winding down, , hero walls. 00:16:53.681 --> 00:16:59.401 My theory is that there has to be one place in a property that, whether it's 00:16:59.401 --> 00:17:03.561 a hero wall or a hero angle, whatever this is that you're like, this is where 00:17:03.581 --> 00:17:08.951 I'm going to show this property off to get into people's heads that they 00:17:08.951 --> 00:17:13.331 want to come here and take pictures for Instagram with their pals to show 00:17:13.331 --> 00:17:14.891 that they are living a better life. 00:17:15.346 --> 00:17:16.696 Then everybody else is looking at it. 00:17:16.776 --> 00:17:19.696 And I think that's a big motivator for some of these properties. 00:17:19.716 --> 00:17:20.916 Do you agree or disagree with that? 00:17:20.976 --> 00:17:22.136 Speaker 4: I agree a hundred percent. 00:17:22.176 --> 00:17:23.996 It's the, we just talked about marketing. 00:17:24.406 --> 00:17:25.566 It's the cheapest market you can get. 00:17:25.576 --> 00:17:26.026 It's free. 00:17:26.336 --> 00:17:26.406 Yeah. 00:17:26.426 --> 00:17:29.686 You know, you put something there that people want to take a picture of. 00:17:29.686 --> 00:17:33.816 And I wouldn't only call it hero walls, but hero features even. 00:17:34.016 --> 00:17:34.276 Right. 00:17:34.506 --> 00:17:36.986 So for example, we added one of our beach houses. 00:17:36.986 --> 00:17:38.646 We added a, a swing. 00:17:39.016 --> 00:17:41.266 It's in cost us a couple thousand bucks to put a swing, 00:17:41.266 --> 00:17:42.806 but people love sitting on it. 00:17:42.806 --> 00:17:43.106 Yeah. 00:17:43.801 --> 00:17:46.301 Taking a picture with the beach in the front and they're on the swing. 00:17:46.301 --> 00:17:49.841 So anything that you can add that people will share on Instagram, 00:17:49.841 --> 00:17:50.921 will send to their friends. 00:17:51.361 --> 00:17:51.871 It's free. 00:17:52.191 --> 00:17:53.511 You get free marketing. 00:17:53.571 --> 00:17:54.101 Yeah, I love 00:17:54.101 --> 00:17:54.291 Speaker 2: that. 00:17:54.911 --> 00:17:58.601 . Appreciate you coming on to Casa Cast and sharing your knowledge 00:17:58.601 --> 00:17:59.741 with all of our partners. 00:18:00.106 --> 00:18:03.736 Appreciate becoming part of the family and looking forward 00:18:03.736 --> 00:18:05.046 to a lot more conversations. 00:18:05.196 --> 00:18:05.666 Speaker 4: Absolutely. 00:18:05.706 --> 00:18:08.736 This is really great to talk to you and meet all the franchises 00:18:08.766 --> 00:18:09.766 this week here in Casa Cone. 00:18:09.766 --> 00:18:13.766 It's been an eye opening experience of possibilities and the connections 00:18:13.986 --> 00:18:14.896 that are being built here. 00:18:14.896 --> 00:18:15.926 So again, thanks. 00:18:15.946 --> 00:18:16.366 Thanks a lot. 00:18:16.366 --> 00:18:17.145 It was my pleasure. 00:18:17.146 --> 00:18:17.896 That's fantastic. 00:18:17.896 --> 00:18:18.286 Thanks again. 00:18:18.736 --> 00:18:20.296 Speaker: It's the CAA cast. 00:18:20.386 --> 00:18:25.671 We're so luxury Casa Cast, they wanna be a CAA cast. 00:18:25.936 --> 00:18:27.646 Just don't call it in their B 00:18:30.971 --> 00:18:31.276 CAA cast. 00:18:32.056 --> 00:18:33.871 We've got Orange Credo, CAA 00:18:33.871 --> 00:18:34.071 Cast.