Researching short-term rentals and I think I'm about to talk myself out of it.
Not long into researching short-term rentals.
The income looks great until you start reading
what actually happens when you own one.
Everyone makes it sound like passive
income. But every host subreddit reads like a
support group.
I'm starting to think the $10K - $20K mo is just the
glamours part.
The thing that keeps tripping me up is cleaning
and turnover coordination. From everything I've
read it sounds like the operational backbone of
the whole business and also the part most
likely to collapse at the worst possible moment.
So I'll just ask directly. And be honest for crying out loud.
What's the worst thing that's happened to you
because a cleaner didn't show up, didn't confirm,
or just completely ghosted you two hours before
the guests arrived?
While you're at it:
Are you still manually texting your cleaner
before every single checkout, or have you
actually found something that works?
When it does fall apart what does it really
cost you? Refunds, one-star reviews, driving
out there yourself in dress clothes, with mop and bucket, honking at
every car in your way, just so you can get there before
your guests arrive in 30 mins?
Or is chaos just baked into
the business model at this point?
I want the horror stories. The "nobody warned
me about this" moments. The stuff that made
you seriously question whether the cash flow
was worth the headache.
If it's as bad as I think it is, tell me.
If I'm overthinking it, tell me that too.