Alisha Arnold in the Master bedroom in her Kona, Hawaii vacation rental Kona Landing

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I’m Alisha Arnold and this is my story

You guys, as you’ve probably gathered I LOVE short term rentals and I had the absolute pleasure to be a guest on the HomeBnB Podcast with Gustavo Briseno. We had a real conversation about how I got started in the short term rental industry, what I’ve learned along the way, and real tools and tips for beginners and hosts. This episode is not to be missed. You can listen in on your favorite podcast platform or watch the YouTube Video.

Who is Alisha Arnold?

If you don’t already know me I’m a Creative Director, mentor, short term rental owner, wife (to Weston) and mom (to baby Ryder). I’ve lived and worked in the San Francisco Bay Area my entire career, after moving there 5 days after I graduated from college! I worked in the tech industry as a Marketing Creative Director until I quit my job to teach people about short term rentals. I’m originally from a small town in Vermont and I went to college in Boston for Illustration. Art, design and business are in my blood.

How did you get started with Short term rentals?

It all started because a few of my friends had short term rentals and they seemed to be really successful. It ranged from part-time apartment renting to cover half the rent, to a full-blown wine country rental that was not only affording that friend a property by covering her investment but was netting a pretty penny too boot. That friend got me obsessed with wanting a short term rental in wine country.

Me and my husband Weston started off renting out our own home on the weekends to see if we liked being hosts, and we loved it. We were making a bunch of extra cash just renting our home when we would travel and it wasn’t that much work. So we decided to buy our first dedicated short term rental - Lodi Landing which, you guessed it, is a short-term rental in wine country.

Alisha Arnold setting up her new short term rental Kona Landing

What has been your experience with Vacation Rentals?

My experience has been positive overall. Most of the work is in the set up of the spaces which comes naturally to me as a Creative Director. Setting up the physical space, operations and online listing are where the bulk of the work is. Once your rental is up and running it’s minimal work for a great reward. You will have extra cash in your pocket, plus a property that is paying for itself.

My family uses our rentals as vacation spots for our family so that’s also been an amazing bonus. Traveling with kids is hard enough and to know you have a family-friendly property to vacation at makes travel with children possible and even enjoyable.

What is your strategy in teaching people about short term rentals?

I left my full-time job over a year ago to teach people about STRs. My strategy is to create online resources for hosts so I can help as many people as possible. My blog is full of free resources for people starting out and hosts that want to take things to the next level. I also offer an online course for beginners that walks you through step-by-step how to get started in the short term rental industry.

Alisha Arnold Website

Alisha Arnold Blog

The Short Term Rental Lab

Our family’s vision is to have 3-5 properties so I can be hands-on with the property management, which helps me to create relevant content for my followers. Short term rentals are a great way to expand your property portfolio and build long term wealth for your family.

Benefits of keeping your Vacation Rental operation small

You get to create a special environment for your guests vs, a copy-paste experience of bigger hosts when you keep your portfolio small. The vibration of the space is much more special and comfortable giving your guests a boutique experience.

Have you thought of investing in more vacation rentals?

Yes, in fact, we just bought another STR in Kona, Hawaii. Kona Landing, is a 2 bedroom 2 bath condo with ocean views. It’s a boho beach vibe and it’s in a super special location on Ali’i drive. You can walk downstairs to all of the bars and restaurants that are all right on the ocean.

The next home that my husband and I want to buy is a ski destination. We are a big ski family and we want to buy somewhere that is easy to fly to from the San Francisco Bay Area that has world-class skiing. So we’re thinking of Utah for our next rental property.

What are the keys to success in the STR Industry?

Don’t get in over your head. Starting a short term rental is a big money and time investment. Don’t expand too fast and make sure you can cover the expenses of the property in a worst-case scenario such as a pandemic, seasonality, unexpected repairs, etc. You don’t want to lose your property.
Think in years not months. This is a long term investment. Think about your long term goals and don’t get discouraged with minor hiccups.

If you had the opportunity to start over would you do something different?

I actually did get the opportunity to start fresh with our newest short term rental Kona Landing. What I did differently was I found the “hook” of this property from the very beginning. If you have an Airbnb you need to market what is special about your place. I have had the opportunity to see some amazing rentals because my business is coaching short term rental hosts. I’ve seen a mermaid rental, an alpaca rental, treehouse properties, and the list goes on and on. These places are really special and have found their marketing “hook.”

Lodi Landing was our first property, and when we got it started it was clean and nice and a really great place to stay, but I hadn’t articulated the “hook” of this property. It’s important to figure out why your place is special and market it with the “hook” in mind.

Lodi Landing is the only place in Lodi that sleeps 10 with a pool. There are over 85 wineries in a non-crowded friendly environment. I now have my “hook” and I market with that in mind.

The other thing that is really important is to know your client. Talk to your guests as much as possible - How many people? Ages? Why are they there? If you have a lot of families staying in your space make your place family-friendly. If it’s dog owners, make your place more dog friendly. Talk to your guests and read your reviews and update your property based on that feedback.

What makes your properties unique?

Lodi Landing

Lodi Landing is really special because I stay in the space. Every time I notice something that isn’t quite the way I want it, I upgrade it. I noticed that there weren't enough plugs for my guests so I added charging stations on the nightstands. I noticed that there weren't enough hooks for towels so I added more hooks.

We also have a Leave-a-Wine Take-a-wine wall, where guests can sample local wines and leave a bottle of wine behind that they have discovered. If a guest is having a special occasion, we leave special gifts for them as an extra special welcome.

Kona Landing

Kona Landing is so special because of its location right next to the ocean on the famous Ali’i Drive. I’ve also remodeled the kitchen to be an amazing place to make a meal or mix up some Mai Tais. The lanai has ocean views and the boho decor will help you get into your vacation relax zone.

What platforms do you use?

Airbnb, VRBO and Furnished Finder. We are currently looking into a direct booking solution as well. We get about 70% of all of our bookings through Airbnb and 30% through VROB. The Airbnb bookings tend to be a younger crowd that is rougher on our property and VRBO tends to be an older crowd that stays longer and is more respectful of our property.

What is your biggest challenge in the STR Industry?

My biggest challenge was getting a hold of my profit and loss statement. I hired a bookkeeper about a year ago and my profit and loss statement is finally very accurate and organized. Our accountant has made a lot of good suggestions on how to save money and optimize our spending. If you don’t have an accountant, run, don’t walk, to get one.

How are you dealing with the shelter-in-place situation?

The rules are county-specific and I’ve done different things for each of my rentals to get bookings during the shelter in place order due to the Coronavirus. For Lodi Landing, I made a duplicate listing that only rents out the master suite and not the other bedrooms to make it attractive to business travelers (since they won't be traveling with large groups.) This booking is only available Monday - Friday. I also opted to host essential workers for both of my listings on Airbnb.

How do you market your short term rentals?

Most of my marketing is done through the platforms I list on including Airbnb, VRBO and Furnished Finder. I also started Instagram accounts for each of my rentals to make local connections and build a following. You can follow those accounts here: Lodi Landing and Kona Landing. I also optimized my Airbnb listing by hiring an expert and I’ve partnered with him to give my listeners a chance to work with him. I got $6,000 worth of bookings after this optimization in less than a week. www.alishaarnold.com/optimize. Update your listing on the daily because the Airbnb algorithm favors active hosts.

What is something special that you’ve done for a guest?

I believe STRs are a way to breathe life into local economies. And I always love to support women-owned businesses. I connected with this one lady who had a local business and was doing a Monet Party and I let her host it at Lodi Landing for the price of the cleaning fee. It was totally adorable the way they set up the space and I was really glad to help a local business.