Ekabo Home Financial Freedom Mastermind Podcast
A podcast for those who do not believe they were put on this earth to work 40 to 50 hours per week for 40 to 50 years, to hopefully retire at the age of 65.
Ekabo Home Financial Freedom Mastermind Podcast
148. How Smart Hosts Survive Airbnb’s 15.5 Percent Fee And Win With Direct Bookings!
🌟 To achieve financial freedom, seize the moment—embrace the power of strategic action, foster community support, and finish the year strong with unwavering determination! Your journey starts now! 🌟
Welcome to the Ekabo Home Financial Freedom Mastermind Podcast! In this episode, host Niyi Adewole discusses the importance of staying focused and accelerating your efforts as we approach the end of the year. Join us for an open session filled with valuable insights and discussions on navigating real estate investments.
💬 Quote of the Day:
"This is the time to accelerate, not take the foot off the gas." — Niyi Adewole
This quote highlights the urgency of maintaining momentum in your investment journey, especially as the year draws to a close. It serves as a reminder to finish strong and capitalize on the opportunities that lie ahead.
🏡What You'll Learn:
🎯 The Importance of Goal Setting:
Niyi emphasizes the need to stay focused on our goals as we approach November, encouraging listeners to reflect on their progress and finish the year strong.
💡 Book Recommendations:
The discussion touches on personal development books and their impact on success in real estate and life.
🔧 Navigating Changes in Short-Term Rentals:
Niyi and AJ discuss recent changes in Airbnb's policies, including increased service fees for hosts, and the importance of diversifying listing platforms to maintain profitability.
🏗️ Short-Term Rental Licensing:
The conversation delves into the complexities of short-term rental licensing in Atlanta, highlighting the importance of staying informed about local regulations.
💰 Strategies for Financial Freedom:
Niyi emphasizes the importance of leveraging your W-2 job to invest in real estate and build wealth before facing potential job market shifts.
🏡Key Takeaways:
🔄 Stay Committed:
As we near the end of the year, it's crucial to remain committed to your goals and make the most of the opportunities available.
📅 Adapt to Change:
Be prepared to adjust your strategies in response to market changes and evolving regulations in the real estate landscape.
🤝 Build a Supportive Community:
Engage with like-minded individuals who can offer insights and encouragement on your journey toward financial freedom.
⚛️ Why This Matters:
By embracing proactive strategies, adapting to changes in the market, and leveraging community support, you can navigate the complexities of real estate investing and work towards achieving financial freedom. Understanding these principles equips you to build wealth effectively in a competitive environment.
🗓️ Tune in every Wednesday at 7 PM Eastern! Don’t miss out on our journey toward financial freedom through smart investments.
👉 Hit that subscribe button and turn on notifications so you never miss an update! Let’s unlock your potential together!
Our Links
➣ Financial Freedom Mastermind Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/53083...
➣ Peer Space Host Referral Link https://www.peerspace.com/referrals/g...
➣ AirBNB Host Referral Link https://www.airbnb.com/r/niyia41
➣ Ekabo Home Network (IG, Youtube, Email) https://linktr.ee/ekabohome
Niyi Adewole is a licensed realtor in Georgia, brokered by EXP Realty. Feel free to reach out at Niyi.Adewole@exprealty.com if you would like to work with an investor friendly real estate agent.
Welcome to the Financial Freedom Mastermind Group Podcast. Here we're all about breaking free from the 40 to 50 year work pride and accelerating our journey towards financial freedom. Join us every Wednesday at 7 p.m. Eastern as we explore different types of investments that can fast track your path to financial independence. We serve as a hub for connecting with fellow members during our sessions so you can share successes, ask questions, and keep the momentum going.
SPEAKER_05:Good evening, everyone. This is Nii Adwale, host of the Acaba Home Financial Freedom Mastermind Podcast. And I'm excited to be joining you here on Wednesday, the 29th of October, the final Wednesday in the month. And it's crazy to think that we are literally two months from the end of the year. And so this is the time to accelerate, not take the foot off the gas, and to while others are starting to wind down for the year, turn it around and really finish the year strong. And so I'm excited to be joining you here today. This is going to be an open session. Uh, we have no idea what we're going to talk about today, but I'm excited to see who joins and to jump into conversation. And I will leave it at that. Bonaka, how you doing?
SPEAKER_01:Great. Thanks, Ms. Halkey. I'm super good.
SPEAKER_05:Well, it's you and I. What books do you like to read? Do you read any like real estate related or investment or personal help books?
SPEAKER_01:Not real estate, more personal help.
SPEAKER_05:Any good recommendations? What are some of like the top books you've read?
SPEAKER_01:Well, from the top of my head, let me just have a look on my bookshelf.
SPEAKER_05:You're good.
SPEAKER_02:And while she's looking, AJ, how you doing? Hey Neek, I'm doing really good. Give me one second while I set everything up. Absolutely. And now the weather has changed. I'm low key disappointed. We got to figure out tennis when it when it turns a little bit better than it is today. Yeah, is that is that an excuse to not want to get out now? Listen, man, I was winning the game.
SPEAKER_05:I don't know what you remember about it, but I was I was out there cooking for and not playing for a bit.
SPEAKER_04:Give me one second. Um, I don't know why my AirPods are not connecting right now. But um are those AirPods? See, these are AirPod Maxes. So I have the AirPod Maxes and then I have the AirPod Pros. Gotcha. I typically use these when I'm at my desk getting things done, and you know, I'm just kind of in that studio vibe, and I'm just like, you know, on my laptops and doing all my tech work. These are uh my pros when I'm on the go. I feel like these are some of the best Apple products to ever be created. Um, I think these are highly undervalued, but just their flexibility, like being in the house, going out running errands, how they seamlessly connect to like their iPhone. I love these things.
SPEAKER_05:So yeah, no, I got I got mine right with the little uh name on it, which is cool. So I love these things as well. I use these and then the meta glasses are surprisingly pretty good for like having conversations too. As long as you don't mind people looking at you weird because it looks like you're talking to yourself.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, no, those um really surprise me when I'm on the phone with people. They say the audio was really clear. So I was surprised at how well that technology is. So oh yeah.
SPEAKER_05:Well, Naka, what you got for top books? I'm super interested. Top books? Um, I actually have one right beside me right now.
SPEAKER_04:So this is Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People. Great book. Yes. So I've heard a lot of great things on this book, and it was just kind of one of those books that is just kind of like, hey, you gotta read it at some point, especially as an entrepreneur or someone who wants to just elevate their career. Not only that, just in life. Um, the the business of just, you know, operating and communicating with people. I'm always looking for ways to just improve that aspect of my life. So it was only a matter of time before I picked it up for sure.
SPEAKER_05:Oh, yeah, especially in the business that we're in. I mean, it's it's needed. And and one of the things that you told me about, and I'm happy you did because I was kind of just in my own zone and then started looking it up, was some of the changes coming to Airbnb, and it's official, right? They officially have changed the percentage they're taking from 3% to 15 and a half from the host. And so previously you could have it to where it was split, where there'd be an additional service fee that was given to the guest, but now Airbnb is removing that option and they're saying, hey, we're going right to the host. And it's in line with what they've been doing the past year or two, really, probably closer to two years, which is shifting a lot more in favor of the guest, even where it's a clear-cut case of guest malpractice, they're still erring on the side of, hey, the guest is always right and hitting the owners. And so it's more important now than ever to have other avenues that you're listing your properties, whether it be a direct site, whether it be the VRBOs, the booking.coms. And I think that at least the people on these calls have built out the ecosystem to have that in place and be ready for this. But what are your thoughts on that? Have you seen that start to come across?
SPEAKER_04:Oh, yeah, absolutely. In my opinion, I'm a little bit maybe I just don't understand the concept behind it because it's like, are they just expecting hosts to not implement these changes? Like, you know, guys like us, we're gonna be on it. Like, and I know I mentioned to you the last time we playing tennis, I'm like, hey, you gotta make sure you're on this. And I knew you were aware of it, but that hospitable actually has the feature that will automatically automatically do it for you. But I'm kind of like just with the decision-making process, like you mentioned, you know, they're moving to kind of support the guests and not support the host as much anymore, which is extremely frustrating as a host. But at the same time, the savvy hosts like um myself, I'm gonna be on top of that and aware. Um, and I'm just gonna up the price to make sure that I receive the same net profit. So I don't know. I'm just like, I guess I get it. But then again, I'm kind of I'm I'm a little confused by it, especially if they think they're trying to maybe it's are they just trying to get a one-up on host or something? I'm not, I'm not too sure. I don't know. They're not gonna find me.
SPEAKER_05:When I look at it, I think more from a guest standpoint, and guests have a lot of places they can choose from, right? Marriott and Hilton are now starting to do unique stays. Like you can go stay at a Marriott that doesn't look like a normal Marriott. They're gonna have like all the the you know art on the wall. And and literally, we did this when we were traveling to Costa Rica. We went to stay at a spot that you can book through the Marriott, but it resembled an Airbnb. It was like a standalone house, it was pretty nice, yet you could use hotel services that were on site, which is kind of a nice addition. And so Airbnb is seeing that competition, at least this is my thought process, and they're saying, hey, we need to cater and get more to the guests. Because if we bring the guests, then the host will choose our platform. Because still, 60% of the bookings that we get are coming from Airbnb. We want to get that below 50%, but it's a slow grind to get there and get that name out there and things of that nature. And so I think that's where they're going. But it is frustrating, it's very frustrating for those that knew what it was like before, and you got to be on your P's and Q's. And you definitely, definitely do not want to be competing at the lower level tier. You want to be doing more of what you just put together and more of like the mansion type of houses where toward the upper echelon where people are not worried about price, they're just worried about experience.
SPEAKER_04:Absolutely. I agree with everything you just said, 100%. And I think that is uh more of the reason why I leaned into getting in my direct platform set up, um, especially after acquiring my third property uh back in August. I'm like, we have too many different uh short-term rentals to not have multiple ways to bring in revenue. Like Airbnb is a big chunk of it, of course. But if you can start to cut into that uh portion of revenue and try to get it on different platforms, I definitely think that's the way to go. And you're definitely the man to talk to about it because you've been killing it ever since you set up direct. So I may have uh some questions for you just to, you know, just the tips and tricks on how to uh just bring more attention to your short-term rentals uh through the hospitable direct.
SPEAKER_05:Absolutely. Absolutely. And I gotta ask you, did you ever you went down the path of booking.com as well, right? You set that up.
SPEAKER_04:Okay, how was that been for you? Um, so funny thing, uh, this past weekend, we actually realized that we got a booking that came in and we realized that the uh the the net on our end was like really low. So I was like, what the heck? Long story short, uh the guests like pulled up to the house and everything. It was crazy, but we got the reservation canceled. But good thing we did because we actually did not have the cleaning fee embedded in it. And I'm just like, whoa, like we just uh averted like a huge disaster. Essentially, I I thought I set the cleaning fee on hospitable, but for booking.com, it's a bit different because the connections are are just wonky when it comes to booking.com. It's not easily integrated. We had to set the cleaning fee on uh booking.com directly. So, like I said, we averted a crisis there. We almost gave a guest basically not gonna say free because they still had to pay, but a lot less than what they should have been paying for the for this day.
SPEAKER_05:Come on now, yeah. And booking.com is one of those weird ones where guests don't even really have to verify much, and so you should be charging a premium for for those guests. Like we charge 20, 20 to 30 percent more for booking.com guests because they can just book randomly and I don't know who it is. And so it's like, all right, let's let's get some more. And have you started using the security deposit feature from I was just gonna bring that up.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. So that was something I was trying to figure out like, okay, you can set up a security deposit on Hospitable, but how do you actually enforce it? And I did not know until recently when we had this almost disaster, but difficult situations and times like that is when you you know figure things out. Um, and I found out that Hospitable sends the guests a portal link right after they booked the reservation. We just had to set it up to where immediately after they confirmed the reservation that the message and the portal link sent to them. I don't know why the default is the next day. I don't know if you've seen that, but I was like, that doesn't make any sense. Um, we want the security deposit up front. We don't want to give them the portal link to do the security deposit the day after check-in. Like they had to do it immediately when they confirmed the reservation. So got that all set up, and I'm happy that I know how it works now.
SPEAKER_05:Come on now. And and and I'm with you. Like before, I think I talked about it maybe last year or the year before. I'm blanking on it, but we used to use something called AutoHost that did the same thing. And I think that's where Hospitable got the idea from. And AutoHost was good when it worked, and it was terrible when it didn't, because people would have a bad experience and they'd give us a bad review based off of that. Like, hey, the stay was great, all this, but it was an issue trying to get in and get through this whole software. It couldn't take my ID. Hospitable built their own, which is much more seamless. And to your point, we're using it across the board. Booking.com, you have to go through that before we send anything. Uh, we had a guest try to book at like 7 p.m., which is after checking and pull up to the house, like, hey, you know, we're at the door, da da da. And we've trained our team to say, hey, listen, you need to fill out this portal. And once you fill that out, the code will get sent to you automatically because we need that security deposit for making sure they're not throwing a party and things of that nature. And then for properties like the mansion or our bigger five-bedroom properties, it's been invaluable. Because once somebody puts like even just a 700 or a thousand or fifteen hundred dollar security deposit down, that they're more than likely not going to want to lose that. And you don't got to go through the channels to try to recoup funds from Airbnb. Like, for example, we had one person in in the back unit that you saw during our women's event last year. Yes. And they broke one of the desks. Like they just broke a desk, said nothing about it. You know, cleaning team goes in there and they're like, Hey, did you know about this? No. So we were able to take$350 from their security deposit because that's what it costs to replace it. And and, you know, they couldn't really dispute that.
SPEAKER_04:I was gonna say, so a question for you, and this is something that I'm trying to figure out for my properties as well. What is a good rule of thumb that in your opinion for the amount of the security deposit? And I know I'm gonna assume you're not setting a blanket security deposit for each property because every property is different and has different amenities. So, how do you go about determining what the security deposit is for each of your properties?
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, I usually do it by uh number of bed count and then like the the luxury level of it, right? And so if it's a one bedroom, the most I'll ask for a security deposit is like 150. If I'm gonna take one, that's the most, right? Because a single night could be 75 plus a cleaning fee, right? And so I'm like, you know what? Let's just do 150 to make sure we're protected. For the more luxury properties, like the back, we have it set at 750, right? For security deposit, because I think that'll cover most everything. For the mansion, we have it set at, I want to say 1500, and then it goes up to like 2500 for a single night because somebody's gonna do that. We're like, hey, we want to make sure we're protected there. And then for some of the properties in between, it's anywhere from 300 to 500, right? So uh, for example, the property that you just put together, I'd probably put it in that 300 to 500 range, right? Just to make sure it's enough to protect you, but not piss anybody off, you know, because you don't want to do that. You want you don't want it to be two grand or more than their actual stay. And then they're like, hey, why am I putting this much down?
SPEAKER_04:Exactly. Yeah. And I was another thing I was gonna bring up is deterring guests because like if you, you know, set it to a point where it's too high. And that was something that happened with that um, that almost disaster reservation that we ended up canceling, I'd let them know that they had to pay a security deposit. And then once they found out and they got the portal link actually sent to them, they're like, oh, I didn't know about it. Oh, it's kind of like, ah, I don't I don't want to pay the security deposit. And it's like, well, I understand it from a guest perspective, like you don't want to front more money. My thing is if you just respect the household rules and you treat the property the way it's supposed to be treated, it'll get refunded back. You know what I mean? So, like a person like me, I'm very responsible. You ask me to pay a uh a security deposit, and so long as I get it back, it's no no issue. Just put it right on the credit card. I'll treat the property with with respect, I'll get it back. But having those kind of guests who like feel a little bit uh weird about paying a security deposit, that gets me thinking, like, okay, well, what are you trying to do? Like uh I just don't understand that that part.
SPEAKER_05:Especially if they're through booking.com. That's when I my my antennas are like, all right, this person's trying to throw a party. Like, we don't need that, we don't need that in here.
SPEAKER_04:Why should you be so concerned about a security deposit? It's just to secure the reservation. Should anything happen, nothing should happen, right? You get it right back.
SPEAKER_05:And it's the same thing that hotels do, like literally Airbnb is kind of merging with that, it's just a different kind of experience. And nobody questions this with hotels, with car rentals, right? Like it's it's all kind of it's one of those things that you just know you're gonna have to do, right?
SPEAKER_04:But with short-term rentals, I guess everybody, as soon as we you know put a security deposit in there, it's like, oh, it's an issue. Why are we paying security deposit? You would do the same thing if you went to a hotel or, like you said, a car rental.
SPEAKER_05:So come on now. Question for you, completely unrelated to this piece. Are you and have you started to put in to try to go to some of these World Cup games that are coming to us?
SPEAKER_04:Um, I haven't. I've been so focused in on just hosting uh guests for it. I'm excited for that, but I actually hadn't thought about it. How about you?
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, so I actually applied, and it's more difficult than you think, right? So you got to go online and apply through this raffle, and you can do it for multiple locations, but just because you live somewhere doesn't mean you're gonna get it. And I lost out on the first one so far. I'm still waiting to hear back from like the second and third. I'll put in for here, Boston, Mexico City, because Mexico City would be dope. Oh, wow. I wouldn't mind going out there. I think there was one in California. So put in for all those. I heard back from the one here, didn't get it. There's like a lot of people going for this, and there's only X number of tickets that are actually available. So you got to keep putting in for the raffle and see if you can get one, and then you have the option to buy the ticket.
SPEAKER_04:Wow, that's insane. So you don't even get guaranteed tickets, that's just the opportunity to potentially buy it.
SPEAKER_05:Exactly. That's insane. Wow, yeah, and it's already started. So that that is encouraging to see. Like, okay, you know, despite everything going on in our country, right? And and kind of like different different pieces that may ward people off, there's still a demand to come see, you know, the biggest sport and biggest sporting event in the world.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, that's that's honestly crazy. Gives me chills, getting me excited to host the World Cup at least. Pretty sure all of our properties they should be occupied. I think you mentioned that you already have some reservations. I opened my calendar up for those dates. Now I have a uh 12-month calendar for the first time. Nice, but uh have not gotten any reservations quite yet. So it'll come. It'll come.
SPEAKER_05:A lot of people are booking a lot closer to the time now, as you probably noticed. Like, hey, I'm gonna book for this weekend the week prior, but it's gonna start to extend out as we get into the new year, as we get closer. I think people are still trying to secure raffles, to be honest. But yeah, we have had a couple bookings, which is awesome, and they're paying a premium because of the way they got the pricing set up. For sure, man.
SPEAKER_04:A transition here, I got a topic for you. So, how are you doing with short-term rental licensing and keeping up the speed with the laws concerning that?
SPEAKER_05:Man, so this is uh something I cover just about every day because we're helping other people get short-term rentals around here. And so I don't know if you were you on when we had the president of Amstra, the Atlanta Metro Short-Term Rental Alliance. This was like beginning of last year, he joined the podcast to talk about it.
SPEAKER_04:I may not have been a part of that podcast, but I've spoken to him virtually and in person on multiple occasions.
SPEAKER_05:So perfect. Okay, okay, so he helps keep me up to date. I reach out to him every so often just to be like, hey, what are you hearing? What's the news? And so we're still at a standstill. I think it's gonna get sorted out by Q1 of next year because they really want to make the revenue for the World Cup, right? I think there's just financial incentive to get it done. And so what is actually on the books right now, and quote unquote, if you were to call like the short-term rental office, is still the old rules. Hey, you have to live in Atlanta, and then you can only have two, one that you live in and one extra one, but that's already been struck down, right? Like they're they're constantly going through like and and putting it up for votes and things of that nature. And if you look at the website where they're actually going through the short-term rental ordinance, they've crossed that rule out. They've made it more of a grandfather rule where if you already have one up and running, you can get grandfathered in, and then they're gonna put a limit on the city itself, right? Like, hey, we can only have X number of short-term rentals, and they're gonna try to weed it out over time as people get, you know, kicked off due to having turning into a party house, as people just delist their property or sell them, and they're gonna try to get that number down. But right now we're still at a standstill. There's nothing really being enforced in full transparency, like they're not sending people out to go and knock on doors and say, hey, do you got your license? And so you kind of keep going. And I personally am trying to keep expanding because I want to get grandfathered in. Because once you get grandfathered in in a city like this, just hanging on to that license is gonna be super valuable in my mind.
SPEAKER_03:Are you like are you licensed for all the properties or majority of them?
SPEAKER_05:Or I'm licensed for a good portion, but not all of them, right? So I'm practicing what I preach. Like I literally don't have a license for all the properties and definitely don't have a license for all the ones that we're managing, but we did go through the process. I encouraged all the owners to keep the documentation so that we can show it once all this stuff kind of shakes out and they officially roll out the new ordinance that will be enforced. And so we're just continuing business as usual across the board. I will say this though, when you look at ordinances, Fulton County is the one that we're talking about right now. Cobb County is pretty simple, man. Cobb has made it so seamless. Up in like the Marietas, the Smyrnas, the bindings of the world. Once you get your license, and it's not that hard, it's the same process, but they've already eliminated that whole thing and rolled it out and they have a team working through it. You just pay$150 and you renew it every year. Speaking of which, I have my renewal. They send it in in the mail. So I just need to like fill this out and then I got to drive into there because they want to see you, and you turn it in manually with a check, and they give you a renewal for as long as you want to keep it.
SPEAKER_04:Got it, got it. Yeah, Hulton County is definitely convoluted. However, I've done it now two times, and I brought this up because I'm excited to say that I got my the duplex that I just purchased, that just got licensed. Um so I went through that process. Um, it was much easier to do it the second time around because the first time is just like completely unfamiliar. You're like, what are these documents? I think even the first time, um, I paid for the deed, and that was because that was for my first purchase. And I didn't even know that I likely had access to the deed somewhere. Yeah, I definitely I definitely have the deed somewhere. But I was like, man, I I don't know exactly where it is, but I found that there was an online service where you can go ahead and pay for it. So I mean, in the grand scheme of things, it was like 10 bucks or something like that, nothing crazy. But this time I was like, oh yeah, no, I'm not giving up 10 bucks for the deed. I just closed, I just closed not too long ago, so it was fresh in my mind. I'm like, I have the documents right here. So I went through that process and um I officially have two out of my three properties licensed. The third one, um, that might be a little bit different because that is in the city of. Yeah, but so the duplex is also in the cab as well, but it's Atlanta. So yes, we're in the cab, right?
SPEAKER_05:So yeah, so to that point, I I had mine, right? That when I lived um in the single family in law suite, that was the cow. It was like literally on the line of the cow. And so you do go to the cow, which is slightly different and slightly easier, I would say, than Fulton.
SPEAKER_04:Right, right. But but I think the ordinances themselves, so it's not county specific, it's city specific, right? Because my short-term rental license, it says like the city of Atlanta, but it doesn't mention anything about the county. So because this duplex is in the city of Atlanta, regardless of it being Fulton or DeCab, I don't think that really matters. But the fact that so the the short-term rental that I'm or the property I'm referring to that's in Decatur, that's because it's in Decatur. So I think they may have a separate licensing process, which I have to figure that out. So I'm not sure, I'm not sure they're they're enforcing it as much as it the city of Atlanta, because the the pressure of short-term rentals in Atlanta is obviously like much more immense than it is in Decatur.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, and it's one of those where to that point, they're not really uh across the board. Like it's still pretty early on. It's only if your house is like turning into one of those party houses where the police are getting called every other week that they'll start to show up and and try to shut you down. But it's pretty relaxed right now until they figure out all this and how they can start to make income and then enforce it. When I look at other cities, like for example, I was thinking about buying a short-term rental like two years ago in Louisville, Kentucky, because I traveled down there for like the business that I have down there and things of that nature a lot. And it's tough, man. So what they did down there is they put a limit on the city, and now they have I'm surprised Atlanta doesn't have something like this right now. So I know they can do it because if Kentucky can do it, Atlanta can do it. But they have like a map, like a heat map, and it shows you where all the homes that are licensed are, and you can't be within, I want to say, a thousand feet of another home that's licensed, which essentially means just one per block. And so it's like it's a legal.
SPEAKER_04:They tried to do that, they tried to do that with Atlanta, didn't they? Yeah, that one got struck down. I don't think how does that even make sense? I don't I don't understand that one.
SPEAKER_05:It it's it's just to limit the number, and I think it's it's going to make our properties more valuable when they actually finish and roll this thing out. But for right now, I'm just trying to stack as many as possible with the uh intent of getting grandfathered in.
SPEAKER_04:Exactly. And and that's what that was my perspective, essentially, is like, you know, whatever's going on with the city and the council trying to figure it out, and also we have Amster fighting against them. I was just like, while you guys are rocking the boat, figuring out, going back and forth what's going on, all of that different type of stuff. Let me sneak in and get my license. So then, you know, once the death settles and then they do have, you know, the law set, um, I feel like that is a time where everybody's gonna be scrambling and trying to get it and yada yada. I'm like, I don't even know. I don't want to deal with that. So let me just get my license now. And then, like you mentioned, you'd be grandfather then and I don't have to deal with the.
SPEAKER_05:Absolutely. And and the thing that I always keep in perspective as well is when I talk about like short-term rentals, I like this because it allows you to buy in awesome neighborhoods and actually make the cash flow work year one. But if I could make the cash flow in a long-term rental, I would absolutely go long-term rental. And so for some of the properties that we've purchased, like the fourplex up in Snellville, we turned two of those into short-term rentals to begin with, but now we've converted one of those over to a long-term because the numbers make sense, and we're continuing to just evaluate and see, okay, when the numbers make sense, switch it over because then you can set it and forget it.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, I mean, that's the that's honestly the goal. Um, when I first got into real estate, obviously at the time it was around like 2020, 2021. So that was kind of like the the Airbnb boom. And you know, you saw a lot of people making it big and short-term rentals. And I'll be honest, that you know that caught my eye. Um, it was a way into real estate. It's like short-term rentals. You can, especially with the economy growing the way it was and you know, inflation and things like that. Um, but as I've gotten years in as an experienced real estate investor in multiple properties under my belt, I'm kind of like, oh, wait, no, I don't want to continue to grind and having to manage all these properties. I mean, I'm still gonna have to manage them regardless of, you know, if they're short-term, midterm, or long term. But like you mentioned, it's it's a little bit more of a set it and forget it. And I we say that loosely, right? Because, you know, we don't want to just completely just hands off the deck. But you know, you you know the the difference. Um it's a huge difference between managing a long-term rent rental versus a short-term rental. Like with the long-term, you put a tenant in there. If you have a great tenant, they take care of the property, everything is good. I think the worst thing you'll have to deal with is when the tenant actually moves out and you have to, you know, fix some things up, painting, things of that nature. Um, but short-term rentals, I feel like for me is like it's hospitality. It's a completely different industry. So you're not just providing a space for someone to stay, you're also providing amenities. You're also providing toiletries and, you know, dish cookware and uh just, you know, all sorts of things. And if your property is limited in those areas or you're, you know, you're lacking in some some of those areas within hospitality, that could impact your business. You know, so I say all that just to say, like, yes, I at some point um down the road, I would love to just transition my short-term rentals into a longer, more stable approach that can just carry me cash flow-wise and less work for me.
SPEAKER_05:Absolutely. And I think you're spot on, right? When you when you talk about the the short-term rental piece versus long-term rental, long-term rentals, after somebody's been in a place for 30 to 60 days, yes, they're gonna have some things. Hey, what about this? Can you fix that? Can you do that? But then they're just gonna go silent and essentially just pay every month and they're not gonna hear much, right? So you can manage a bunch of those solo and be good with the short-term rentals. There's one of two ways. Either you stay smaller, right? And you've got to start to use all the software and really put a lot of work in to do that or automate as much as you can, or you just go big and then you can get a little bit out of it, right? And so, you know, I took the path of like, okay, we had our portfolio and then all of a sudden started managing for an investor and then another person and then another. And I was like, you know what? Let's just go as big as we can, right? And pull in more people to help with this to where now me is not spending every hour trying to message people, which which works as well. And now with AI, you could do that a lot easier with like the AI inbox and things of that nature. Have you started to turn that on and tap into it?
SPEAKER_04:So, and in what respect? Because you can apply it in many ways. Like I know uh AI is integrated within hospitals, so I use it in that respect. There's not any other areas where I feel that there's a need to, unless I'm just unaware of it. So, you know, if you have some tips and tricks for sure. But um, as of right now, just messaging, I think that that's like the biggest part when it comes to running a short-term rental business and then the automation of you know, scheduling your cleaner and also like a maintenance team and things like that. I can't think of really any other areas of opportunity, but you know, if if if you have some ideas or some areas that you're using at, please enlighten me.
SPEAKER_05:No, no, I think you're spot on. I'm talking about hospitable, right? Yeah, yes. And just turning it on and allowing it to do the auto-reply even at night and things of that nature, that's been a game changer. And the fact that it learns over time from some of your responses, like, okay, this is how I should respond to this, that's been incredible. And we've been using that a heck of a lot.
SPEAKER_04:So I am a little bit wary though. I don't just uh fully unleash the AI portion on hospitable right now at least. Like we do have some aspects where, you know, just like the automation, and that's something that you set up. So I wouldn't typically consider that AI. That's just like, you know, your process is guest messages, things like that. In terms of responses, I will definitely like generate a response to a guest so that takes the think piece out of it. I'd be curious to see how you're using it, but I don't know if I necessarily trust it to like, you know, just let it off the leash. Because sometimes it will say things that I won't agree to. And I don't want that to be the case where it's like, oh, you know, it's just being like way too nice in terms of hospitality. And it's like, oh yeah, sure. You can you can say two hours after. And I'm like, wait, hospitable, hold on. Like, I did not agree to that. So I am like taking it slow with that piece, but I'd be curious to see if you know how you're handling it within hospitable.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, so within hospitable, you can hear my son in the background. He is a little bit hungry, but I actually cannot hear it. Really? Okay, this mic is awesome. So yeah, so within hospitable, you can turn it on to where auto replies, and you probably already know about this. And we had it turned on just for overnight initially. And did you know about this? Uh for auto replies? Yeah, let me let me pull it up here. I'll show you.
SPEAKER_04:Okay, let me yeah, I've been really trying to dig into hospitable a lot lately. I even went to the town hall meeting at 12 o'clock today. So I've been trying to get more consistent with that.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, as much as you can, right?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, I mean, this tool is gonna help us.
SPEAKER_05:So this piece is making it to where we used to have a VA team of three working around the clock, eight-hour shifts to answer all the messages. Now we just have one VA and we utilize the inbox AI to help us um make it happen. And so we've upgraded to Mogul, right? So I think they they have this in Mogul, but in the default settings, we updated this a little bit. It used to be delay sending for like five minutes because we wanted our VA to be able to check it, make sure it was good before. So we did that for about a month, and now we have it sending immediately, and then we used to only have it overnight. Now we've turned it on for all day. And what we focus on now is one, making sure that the issue gets addressed, and that if there's anything that is off key, we jump into the knowledge portal behind this for each property because that's where it's pulling all the info from, and we edit that piece so that has the correct info.
SPEAKER_04:The other piece is that the is that like the document where you upload like a bunch of just random facts about the property and then from that.
SPEAKER_05:They made it easier and better, and I'll show you in two seconds. But yes, that documents where this is pulling from, but now the knowledge portal is pulling from your messages going to the guest as well. We also put a caveat in here where, hey, if there's a lockout or it seems like the guest is getting upset and not being adequately addressed, send this message. Please provide the best number to call you. So the guest will send a number to us, and then our VA and our operations manager know, okay, let me jump into this one and maybe respond personally or just give them a call. And that's helped. So if a guest was like, hey, I'm locked out, right? Hey, please send your number, it'll send that through, and then we can just go ahead and call and it lets you know. And then we also put this message underneath for right now while we're still teasing this out. But once it gets really, really tight, which is getting better and better, we'll delete this message. So it just looks like it's coming from us.
SPEAKER_04:Got it. So at this point, it sounds like you're fully comfortable just uh letting the AI off the reach and you don't deal with any manual replies at all.
SPEAKER_05:So we still got the VA to handle things. Like if somebody is asking, hey. Hey, can I do an extension? Things of that nature. Or hey, can I, yeah, can I do an extension? You still need a man to go in and send that to them and things. You still have him, but this is essentially his partner. He's got a VA partner or a AI partner that's helping him. And then when you look at the knowledge hub, this is where it's pooling all of the info. A lot of this comes from, and it tells you what the source is. Some of this comes from what we put in there, others come from, and let's pull this one up.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, it's been a while. Um, I think I got into the knowledge hub when they like first created it, like the first iteration. But this looks a lot different from from then for sure.
SPEAKER_05:The first iteration was really tough to use, right? Because you had to keep updating a PDF. Now you can do a PDF if you want, but it tells you the sources, it's detecting from the inbox, right? And pulling it, like, hey, they answered this question like that. Let me pull that. It's getting property details, message history, and the knowledge hub that you you you put in. And then you could add new sources pretty easy, whether it's that piece, or you could just jump into a section and say, okay, hey, we have this amenity. Don't forget about that. Or hey, you know, like a bunch of different things. So we we're jumping in and we're editing all this. Like when people ask for checkout instructions, right? You can have it auto-reply, but now we just have it in here so that it can just send it off to them, right? And it pulled this from the message that we typically send. So it's it's getting better and better.
SPEAKER_04:Like okay. So it's kind of just like the more you the more you feed it, the the likely the better it'll operate for your properties.
SPEAKER_05:Absolutely. And so I get excited about this because I'm like, you know what? If we lean in now, it's only gonna get better and we're gonna be able to eventually just have the AI run this system like almost fully and have our VA continue to oversee it, but then do other things.
SPEAKER_04:Well, right. So even in that example that you had brought up, right? Say because I just feel like uh guests and the situations can be so nuanced and very particular, right? Um, and I would love to be in a position where I can just let the AI do its thing. But like, for example, you brought up the extension piece. Say, oh, the guest, I'm at your property and I want to extend another another night or something like that. Your AI responds and says, Of course, AJ, sure, we you can make another extension, but the AI is handling that. So how does your like VA know that the guest has requested it and then the AI has essentially said it? Because there's no action that actually where the AI actually you know does it for you, like you mentioned, the VA actually has to go and do it. So how does that piece work?
SPEAKER_05:So the cool thing is, right, when you look at this, share my screen again. It actually will pop up an alert whenever there's something that you need to attend to. If somebody says something like that and it doesn't feel comfortable answering it, it won't, but it'll pop up an alert. You see these red things? Like this person mentioned something about being locked out, so it popped up as an alert and it pops up as like a notification uh on your phone, like, hey, locked out. So you click into it and you go to that guest and see what they're saying. This person mentioned ceiling water spots. This is a roof that we were replacing, I want to say. And this person mentioned like a service animal dispute. This person's crazy. We actually had to call call the police for them. They stayed for like 30 days, tried to stay over. They had pets in there, right? And tried to claim service animals, but didn't have any paperwork. But that's a whole nother thing. But long story short, like you can see, and there's still messages coming out, right? Um, locked out, service animal, boom. So you can see at a high level what's going on. Click in and go and handle that dispute. So if it says somebody wants to extend, it'll pop that up there. And so you can go in and send that extension. Eventually, because now you can start doing alterations on here, right? I think they'll they'll probably have a connection where they can do it for you. But I still like doing the alterations with our VA because sometimes that price is too low and we want to adjust it. Got it for an extension.
SPEAKER_04:Does that make sense? No, that makes absolute sense. Um, I think I think for me where I'm at, I you just kind of have to lean into the PMS, right? Like, yeah, regardless of what PMS. And I think I was uh I was reading like an article somewhere because uh there's a bunch of different PMSs out there. Is hospitable, is Guesty another popular one? Some others three, four. Yeah, that's so I think the answer, you know, to this, and as property managers and owners, we're trying to find a solution to make our short-term rental hosting experience as seamless as possible. And some people will say, Oh, go with guesty. Some people say go with hot go with hospitable. That really doesn't matter as much. I think it's just you pick one, right? And the post or article that I was reading was saying this. And I agree. You pick one and then you kind of have to lean into it. So um, with hospitable, you know, I owe that to you because when I did first get into the short-term rental game, that was the the process or or the PMS that you were using. And I say, hey, my realtor's using it. I may as well, I'm not gonna try and re reinvent the wheel, you know, try to learn this thing as much as I can. Hospitable has like so many different features. I know for a fact I'm not using nearly as many it's like in I'm not even using what you just brought up uh to the fullest extent, but it does take time. So um I'll just have to have some dedicated time where I'm just like locked in and really trying to feed that thing.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, and to that point, like all the stuff takes time. I think that yeah, that's the key. Like, you gotta be in this for the long term. And if you are, you're just gonna get better over time. Like, we this was not going well when we first started using the AI reply. It was like, all right, you know, it's it's sending something, and then our VA was sending something. So we had to have a conversation, like, no, no, we want you to let it send it or at least review it first and then go for it. Because we had him trained up to respond immediately. Like it was like 30 seconds, he's he's out responding. He's like, no, no, no, let's let's let's wait a second, let the thing do its thing and kind of learn. And so, yeah, our goal is just to continue to lean into all this technology because like all the big guys are doing this, so why can't we? And it's gonna allow you to sleep better at night, especially if you turn it on overnight to where like, hey, you know, after 7, 8 p.m., you don't even got to look at the inbox, it'll handle it. And if there's a major issue, it'll shoot you a message.
SPEAKER_04:Hey, Nee, you are one of the big guys at this point.
SPEAKER_05:Come on now. We're trying, we are trying, man, little by little. No. For sure. But AJ, what else you got? Anything else top of mind?
SPEAKER_04:Nothing, man. I think um, you know, just very interesting place in my my life and and my career. You know, a year ago I was laid off, and then fast forward to today, um, that company is actually still doing layoffs, which is not fun or anything to like really joke about. But like, you know, I just try to make light of the situation because things could always be worse, right? And that was a very difficult time in my life, but I still found a way to persevere through just, you know, being consistent every day, but also the support of, you know, my wife and my loved ones, my family. Um, and I was able to get through it. So, fast forward to today. I mean, it's insane to say that I closed on my third property and it being a duplex, which is what we've been trying to uh acquire ever since moving down in Atlanta. So it's just it's just all full a full circle moment for sure. It feels surreal, but I definitely don't want to take my foot off the pedal. I want to just continue to um just just grow, learn as much as I can, and just uh surround myself with individuals who are trying to better their lives as well.
SPEAKER_05:100%. And and you said something that was huge there. First and foremost, we're so happy that you were able to bounce back, figure it out, get a new company, and then again acquire that next house. And when you look at what's happening right now, like companies are actively bragging and having their stock go up because they're cutting headcount and using AI to replace, you know, this position in that role. And so now more than ever, what we talk about on these calls, which is achieving financial freedom, is super important. I truly believe that over the next five to 10 years is like one of the last opportunities to use that business or that W 2 as a partner to at least get started in this real estate realm or whatever investment you want to before they start looking to lay even more people off. And so I'm like, it's like a mad rush for me. In my mind, I'm like, okay, how can I get to financial freedom through investments whether that's stock, whether that's real estate, alternative investments before these companies understand that they can replace you with whatever robot and whatever system that comes out because it's it's getting crazy out there.
SPEAKER_04:100%. I definitely agree. I think Amazon just laid off some tens of thousands of workers.
SPEAKER_05:14,000. I was I was I was listening to a report this morning. I was like, what?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, I think it was even more. I think like 30,000. So double that. But it's really insane. But I think I've heard you mention it before. It's starting to become, you know, a situation of haves and the have nots. And it's like, you know, I feel for people who are in certain circumstances, especially uncontrollable circumstances. But while I have the time and the um the knowledge and the wherewithal to take advantage of opportunity that may never be here again. And when I say, you know, that opportunity that may never be here again, it's just where the economy is as a whole. Um, inflation is, you know, uh growing higher and higher, the dollar is uh losing value. It's just a point, a crucial point in time for everybody to involve themselves in some form of external investments, whether that be, you know, crypto, crypto, uh, uh real estate, uh, some other third thing. But just starting now and not waiting, not waiting for someone to come and like save you, just jump into something and um just continue to learn and grow and uh be in that space. So with real estate, I'm trying to be in this space for as long as I possibly can. So, you know, 10 years down the road, I'm gonna have, you know, 10, 15 years worth of equity built up in all of these properties. And then I have more uh control to which I can, you know, do different things. So that's ultimately, you know, my goal, and I think will help me achieve financial freedom for sure.
SPEAKER_05:Come on now. At that time, we'll be slapping fives in Hawaii and and playing tennis at the French Open, man. I'm excited.
SPEAKER_04:For sure, for sure. Um, and then like one more thing, I think um, just career-wise, I'm actually gonna make a big transition here. Okay. I'm not gonna say exactly what it is, but I'm actively pursuing it um and I'm really excited for it. So that's in the works, and I think I'll have a big update in just a couple of months here. I'm really excited for it.
SPEAKER_05:Hey man, a teaser, a teaser at the end of October, AJ. I'm pumped for it. Whatever you jump into, I know you're gonna be successful. And so I'll be patient and wait for you to announce it, but I'm pumped to hear about it.
SPEAKER_04:For sure. Yes. Um, I'm at the beginning phase of it for sure, but it's gonna require some hard work. But uh I I have my I'm eyeing everything up right now. I'm building out my plan. And you know, one thing about me is like once I get that set on something, like I'm gonna achieve it for sure. So no doubt in my mind, and um, I'm just excited to get to that point in my career path. Come on now.
SPEAKER_05:Well, we will end on that note. I appreciate you joining, and I will catch you a little bit later, man. Be safe. And if you're going out this Halloween, don't do anything I want to do. All right, be safe out there.
SPEAKER_04:All right, D, I'll talk to you later.
SPEAKER_02:All right, AJ. See you back.
SPEAKER_00:Join us every Wednesday at 7 p.m. Eastern as we explore different types of investments that can fast track your path to financial independence.
