A Journey into Property Management: From a Side Gig to 65+ Properties with Branson Lakes Lodging

In this episode of the Hospitable Hosts podcast, we welcome Scott McAdara, Co-Founder of Branson Lakes Lodging, providing co-hosting and property management services in Branson, Missouri. Together with his wife, Christine, Scott manages 65+ STR properties and uses Hospitable to streamline operations (he is a Mogul plan user).

During the conversation, Scott shares why he enjoys hosting, his biggest challenges while growing his property management business, and how AI-powered automation helps him scale efficiently. He also explains how he vets property owners who want their properties managed and shares the key things that owners should consider when finding a property manager who is the right fit.  

Press Play now to discover how Scott scaled to manage 65+ STR properties and uses technology to overcome challenges and ensure an excellent experience for guests and property owners.

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

How Scott Got into Short-Term Rental Property Management

At the beginning of the conversation, Scott shares his first experience running an STR property. In 2014, he and his wife bought a house by the lake as a second property for themselves. After they renovated it, Scott's wife suggested renting out their home for a week a month to pay their mortgage.

They knew nothing about the STR market and had no idea how much money they could make when they put their property on Vrbo. But it turned out that turning their house into a short-term rental wasn't legal.

"We didn't want to disturb the people in the neighborhood and violate the neighborhood rules," Scott explains. "So we sold that property, and in 2016, we purchased our first condo in the Branson area next to the Silver Dollar City amusement park and started organically growing from there. And we're now at about 65 properties and adding 5 to 6 a year."

How Their Business Has Evolved

"It went from a good side gig for my wife originally and for me just to play with while I had a full-time job," Scott says. At first, his wife did all the cleaning, but they started hiring local people to do turnover cleanings when they had four properties.  

"We started growing that way and eventually got to the point where one of the people cleaning for us said, 'Hey, look, I'll take over the scheduling of cleaners, and I'll even take over their payment.' So she started her own cleaning company and now handles all our properties exclusively."

In 2022, when they managed 22 or 23 properties, Scott quit his corporate job to focus full-time on their vacation rental management business. "One of the big contributing factors of our ability to scale has been Hospitable," Scott points out. "You can fully automate messaging in linking calendars—from their early basic functions when it was Smartbnb. It helped us and made it so we could focus on processes, procedures, and growth."

Business Plans for 2025 and Beyond

Scott plans to continue to grow his business. “My realistic target is 100 properties because I treat each property like I own it myself. And we do; we own 11 properties, ensuring that they're well taken care of and that our owners don't have to worry. Our guests having a fantastic experience is a top priority." He adds that their property owners are satisfied with their service level, underlining that Hospitable makes it easy to do and is "a big part of it."

Pros and Cons of Hosting

Scott lives in a tourist town, and he thinks it's "super cool" that people visit the place he chose to call home and spend their money and time making memories with their family and loved ones.

"So that is helping our guests and owners have great experiences. Not only with the community when they visit the town, but also by us offering lots of suggestions on things to do, and making sure the properties are great. We also provide the same experience to our owners and ensure they know their property is well taken care of. That brings me a great deal of satisfaction."

A “positive negative" of being an STR property manager is that Scott has a very flexible schedule and often has to change it. But he points out that he can work wherever he wants with Hospitable.

How Hospitable Helps Scott Grow His Business

Scott says that Hospitable's basic messaging and calendar management had a significant impact on their operations and that they established possibilities for managing more properties. Then, Hospitable introduced features like smart device management and AI-powered communication tools in Inbox, which saved him a "tremendous" amount of time.

Scott takes advantage of Hospitable's API, allowing users to connect to their self-built tools. "I've spent much time in the API since last summer, helping tweak the system for my company and me. And it's made my operations one million times better. I've gone from being a company run on spreadsheets to a database-driven, web-driven company for areas I need to properly manage my business and ensure everything's getting taken care of and nothing drops."

Scott also uses Hospitable's integrations with third-party tools like PriceLabs to set dynamic prices and Turno to automate turnover cleanings.

Tune in to the full episode of the Hospitable Hosts podcast to learn more about Scott's short-term rental journey and the effective strategies he uses to grow a successful property management business.