In this episode of the Hospitable Hosts podcast, we welcome Amy Servis, Owner of Free Bird Consulting, a vacation rental home and guest management firm. Amy manages 20 vacation rentals in Lake Harmony and Bucks County, PA, and uses Hospitable to streamline operations and save time (she is a Mogul plan customer).
Amy shares how she got into the short-term rental industry, what she loves about being an entrepreneur, and how technology helps her overcome challenges that she faces as a host.
Press Play now to learn about Amy’s journey and find out how Hospitable helps her improve efficiency and grow a successful STR business.
If you prefer to read the highlights, we’ve got a summary of the key takeaways below.
How Amy Got into STR Management
“My husband and I bought our first short-term rental in 2015 in the Poconos, Pennsylvania, which is like a ski resort, lakes, all year-round vacation type area,” Amy says. “We did very well with it, and we’ve morphed to now to five properties up in that same area that we own. And we keep building from there.”
Amy explains that initially, her husband was managing the properties, and she had a corporate job as a technology consultant. “But COVID hit, and I wound up losing my job. And my husband just said, “Look, you’ve made a lot of people a lot of money over the years. Why don’t you put that same focus and energy into us and make us a lot of money?” So I dove in, and I’m now my boss.”
What Amy Loves about Running Her Own Business
Amy reveals that she was always petrified of being an entrepreneur, but now she enjoys running her own business. It gives her independence and freedom to handle her hours. But most of all, she enjoys providing a great experience for guests to make them happy.
“It’s just thrilling to me to have people come and stay at any of mine or my owner’s properties and just rave about how much fun they have and the memories they've had with their family, and how they can't wait to come back again. It's just really something. I think that’s what drives me the most.”
Amy notes that for her, running vacation rentals isn’t just about making money. “I'm not worried about making a living, but to be able to make a living and truly enjoy that outcome and feel good every day. And if there's a challenge, I'm a go-getter. I know how to get things done.”
Growing Property Management Business
Now Amy manages 20 properties, including six that she owns, and she doesn’t have staff. Amy says she has three “amazing cleaning teams” and some repair folks who take care of plumbing and HVAC issues. “So I’m very fortunate, but it did take me a good long while of being there, and getting to know people, and folks trusting me and wanting to work with me to where now I'm part of their team as much as they are part of mine.”
Amy points out that she can self-manage all her properties and grow her portfolio without hiring more people, thanks to Hospitable. “I just took on two more properties because of you guys and because of the add-ons that you keep adding to the mix.”
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Using Hospitable
Amy began searching for vacation rental management software when she had three of her own short-term rental properties and managed properties for three owners. “Trying to stay on top of all of the messaging and not miss anything, and calendars, and all that sort of thing. I knew right away when I started bringing on owners that I had to have some managing system.”
She chose Hospitable because it could help her manage all messages on Airbnb and Vrbo using a unified inbox. Amy notes it was a big deal for her.” I didn't feel like I needed a lot at the time, other than just the calendar sync and the conversation capabilities with guests. Things change, and I realized how much more I can do, and how much I am doing with all the additional features that you guys have made over the years.”
Amy likes that Hospitable regularly adds new features that she can utilize to make her business more efficient. She says she migrated to the Mogul plan to take advantage of additional features, such as owner statements, accounting integration with QuickBooks, and an Auto Inbox, which are huge time savers for her. Amy emphasizes that with Hospitable, she feels confident in “pulling into more properties,” which increases her earnings.
Attributes to Look for When Choosing a Property Manager
“There are some property managers out there that are extremely business-like, which is great, but they're very robotic,” Amy notes. They can be a good option for someone who buys a home for business purposes, even if they never visit it.
But if you want to rent out your own home when it’s vacant, and you’re going to come to visit it for family vacations and keep some items there, you’ll want to have a property manager who is “sensitive to you as an owner and your physical space.”
“So I would say that when you’re interviewing a property manager, make sure that they know the area, they know all the local folks, and have a good team behind them. Look at their reviews, make sure they have a lot of reviews,” Amy points out.
Listen to the full episode of the Hospitable Hosts podcast to get inspired by Amy’s journey into short-term rental management and learn about the strategies that help her succeed.
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