Managing the Momentum: Ryan and Sara’s Journey with Desert Concierge

In this episode of the Hospitable Hosts podcast, we are excited to welcome Sara Crawford and Ryan Dumka, Co-Owners of Desert Concierge Management LLC, a full-service co-hosting company for short-term rentals. Sara and Ryan manage 85 properties in Bullhead City, Fort Mohave, and Lake Havasu, AZ, United States, and use Hospitable to streamline operations and save time. Follow on Instagram

During the conversation, Sara and Ryan share how they got into the short-term rental industry, the challenges they faced while growing their property management business, and how technology helps them scale efficiently and focus on providing an excellent guest experience.  

Press Play now to discover how Ryan and Sara built a thriving co-hosting business and how using Hospitable helped them scale to managing 85 properties and have many on the horizon.

If you prefer to read the highlights, we’ve got a summary of the key takeaways below.

How Sara and Ryan Got into Short-Term Rental Management

Sara says she met Ryan 5 or 6 years ago while she was running a cleaning company. He hired her to clean one of his vacation rentals in Bullhead City. “He called, hired me, and then within six months, it was super easy for him, and he ended up buying a second one in Bullhead City.”

Ryan shares that he used to manage restaurants, and when he met Sara, he was working at Microsoft and operating an Airbnb as a side hustle. Everything was “perfect,” but then the COVID pandemic hit. “With Microsoft, I got reassigned with everything and started to re-examine my career and my life. I would commute 14 hours a day away from my kid, and it was bad,” Ryan says. So, he decided to quit his job and develop a plan to grow a full-time property management business alongside Sara.

“I remember I pitched it to my wife. It was like, “Look, if I took these 40 hours a week that I work and not to mention my commute, I think we can do something better,” Ryan explains. “We have Sara there, who is detail-oriented, knows the properties, and is a great resource locally on the ground. And we work well together on managing the Airbnb that we have together already.”

Ryan says he wanted “to be more involved in hands-on” in managing properties. ”I think we both took a risk on this, and I mean it became a passion of both of ours,” he adds.

How Ryan and Sara’s Business Evolved

Currently, Ryan and Sara manage 85 vacation rental properties in Bullhead City, Fort Mohave, and Lake Havasu. They also started a cleaning company together in Lake Havasu, which handles their properties in the area.

“We don’t do ads, we don’t do any Facebook marketing, any of that kind of stuff,” Ryan reveals. “Our growth has been organic through either leads from the cleaning side, or leads from realtors, or a lot of our existing guests, or a lot of our existing owners have referred us to other ones that they know.”

Why They Started Using Hospitable

Ryan notes that they began searching for software when they were managing 5 to 10 properties. They needed help with the automated messaging to ensure that every guest received the check-in instructions. They also installed smart locks on their properties.

“I was like, okay, Hospitable has the auto messaging, and then they have this software where it can create the codes for the guests, the last four digits of their phone number, Ryan says. “I don’t have to worry about messaging, and I don’t have to worry about the locks. That’s a huge chunk for me, and we can go from there. So we got in with Hospitable, and then we’ve grown with you, guys.”

Ryan says they’ve been accepting direct bookings for the last two and a half years, and they also utilize Hospitable’s Dynamic Pricing solution. They enabled the Dynamic Pricing feature for 75% of their properties. “It’s working. We’re getting a lot more bookings, and it’s very easy to use. I definitely like it.”

Ryan thinks that Hospitable has taken a lot of stress off their plate so they can focus on providing a great guest experience, taking care of the properties, and growing their co-hosting business. “Once you get the software up and running, once the systems are in place, which is so important, then it allows you actually to grow.”

“It keeps us all completely organized and on the same page,” Sara points out. “It helped us a lot. Honestly, I don’t know how we could keep 80 properties in order without it.”

Advice for People Looking to Start an STR Business

Ryan notes that running an STR property comes down to hospitality. “You have to deal with people, and these are your guests. And if you don’t have a passion for hospitality, then it’s going to burn you out. And so, you must ensure that hospitality is at the root and forefront. Because people might like your property, but if they don’t like you and what you’re offering, they’re going to either not book again or not give you good reviews. Then it will eventually affect your bottom line.”

Sara underlines that it’s essential to hire reliable STR cleaners. “If you don’t have a good cleaner or someone you can trust, then it just doesn’t work. I couldn’t imagine trying this without having our team involved with it and cleaning the houses.”

Tune in to the full episode of the Hospitable Hosts podcast to learn more about Sara and Ryan’s short-term rental journey and practical strategies that help them grow a successful property management business stress-free.