In the latest episode of The Landlord Diaries podcast, hosts Katie and Kelly explore the growing trend of midterm rentals and share valuable strategies for maximizing their potential. Sponsored by Furnished Finder, this episode features Tiffany Rosenbaum, co-founder of Stunning Stays, who offers insights into managing larger properties effectively.
Understanding Larger Midterm Rentals
The Concept and Market Potential
Tiffany explains that midterm rentals, typically catering to stays of several weeks to months, attract a diverse range of tenants, including traveling professionals and families relocating. Larger properties, particularly those with three or more bedrooms, can meet the needs of these guests and enhance occupancy rates.
Innovative Approaches to Property Conversion
Tiffany shares her successful strategies for converting properties to accommodate more guests. By adding bunk beds or repurposing dens as additional sleeping areas, landlords can significantly increase their rental potential, catering to the growing demand for space.
Effective Pricing and Guest Attraction
Pricing Strategies
To optimize revenue, Tiffany recommends pricing midterm rentals at double or triple the long-term rental rate, especially when targeting the premium market. Conducting thorough market research—analyzing competitors on platforms like Airbnb and Furnished Finder—is crucial for setting competitive prices that reflect the unique value of midterm rentals.
Building and Maintaining a Strong Team
The Science of Team Building
Tiffany emphasizes the importance of assembling a team that complements her strengths. By using tools like the DISC profile, she ensures team members are in roles where they can thrive, leading to a more productive environment.
Vendor and Cleaner Relationships
Reliable vendors and cleaners are vital for maintaining property quality. Tiffany discusses the importance of setting clear expectations and conducting regular inspections, which foster accountability and enhance guest satisfaction.
Conclusion
This episode of The Landlord Diaries highlights the significant potential of investing in midterm rentals. With strategic property conversions, thoughtful pricing, and strong team dynamics, real estate investors can thrive in this lucrative market.
For more in-depth insights, listen to the full episode here (opens in new tab) and consider connecting with industry professionals like Tiffany Rosenbaum. Engaging with resources such as Furnished Finder can also help you navigate the evolving real estate landscape.
Are you ready to explore the world of midterm rentals? Share your questions and experiences in the comments below and join our community of real estate investors eager to learn and share knowledge!
Episode 119 Transcript
Welcome to the Landlord Diaries, where we talk about midterm rentals and the opportunities behind them. We'll share landlord stories, talk about maximizing investment potential, and discuss how to live the very best landlord life. This podcast is proudly brought to you by Furnished Finder, the leader and largest online marketplace for midterm rentals.
Remember to like and subscribe if you enjoy our content. Thanks for joining us for another great episode on the Landlord Diaries podcast brought to you by Furnished Finder. Katie and Kelly, uh, your hosts are here from the Furnished Finder marketing team. We are midterm rental operators ourselves with around eight to 10 properties each, uh, some at the room rental level, some at the entire unit level, some.
bedrooms. So we talk about all things, midterm rentals on the show. And today we get to talk about larger homes with Tiffany Rosenbaum. Katie, what did you gain from today's episode? Yeah, this was a great talk about larger properties, how to operate them, um, market them appropriately. And then we also get into the sales.
Science of building a team and disc profiles and kind of found finding your right counterparts. So this is an amazing one that you can take these tips and scale them. If you have a very large portfolio and business or take these tips and implement them, even if you just have one or two properties. So enjoy.
And we hope you get some wonderful takeaways from here.
Stunning. operates around 20 midterm rentals on Furnished Finder in the Phoenix, Arizona area. In the first part of our conversation today, we talk with co founder Tiffany Rosenbaum about the importance of larger midterm rentals in a market. Later in the conversation, we lean into Tiffany's expertise on the science behind building your business with the right team.
Tiffany. Ooh, I'm excited to hear your wisdom today. How are you? I am doing fantastic. Now, Kelly, thank you for having me on today. I am, uh, I'm excited to be here. Awesome. Well, what we love to start off with is, uh, your real estate story. You have a powerful story of how you jumped into real estate. So give us the scoop.
Well, it started, um, actually in 2009 when my husband and I decided to move to Arizona. Um, and start up a business, which was not in real estate, but as soon as we moved to Arizona, the money stopped and, uh, we ended up going on food storage, not having a heat in our home, um, and couldn't pay our bills. And, uh, I remember walking in the kitchen and looking at my son just, you know, Trying to figure out how we were going to make this.
And I found a mentor that taught me a little bit about real estate and how to analyze properties. And after I was like, Oh, this is a good property. He's like, no. And I had like about a hundred, 150 no's like, no, no, no. And I'm like, when am I going to get the yes that I need? So I can get out of this situation.
And then finally, one day he turned to me, he goes, You know what? I think you're ready. I was like ready for what? I'm ready for anything to get out of this food storage. I mean I had lost 20 something pounds because I wasn't eating We had no food and um He said I think you're ready to invest in real estate and I was like, okay, how I have no money He's like, you know what?
I'll loan to you And I'm like, uh, please. And, um, he said, yeah, but if you don't pay me back, then guess what? I'm going to take everything you have. I was like, well, I don't have anything, but, um, I went and we started to invest in real estate. And then our first business was created. Well, second, really that one got off the ground was created was Rosenbaum Realty Group, and that was in the long term rental business.
And we found that. People really needed a good asset management company. And then shortly after we started Repair Masters, and then shortly after we started Stunning's Days in the midterm and short term rental business. And so, but we stayed on food storage for about a year to get us off the ground. Um, and it was a rough time, but uh, I do find that people decide which way they're going to go when their back's up against the wall.
Either they're going to quit or they're going to fight like hell to get to the next step. And we decided we were going to fight to get out of the situation we were in to provide for our kids. That is a powerful story and I think if you're relating to that or you're having a hard time in life right now, feel free to share with us in the show notes and Tiffany or Katie and I will jump on and give you some encouragement.
Uh, so you're operating larger midterm rentals. You are creative in the way that you do that. So why don't you tell us how you've created 10, uh, Uh, homes that offer four bedrooms on Furnished Finder. So the big key on short term slash mid term rentals, mid term is where we, um, really hone in on when we go into homes, we go, okay, if there are three bedrooms, how can we create a fourth bedroom?
And so like, for example, we have a home in Val Vista Lakes. In Arizona and what we did is a three bedroom two bath. Well, it had a den. We're like, okay How can we create this to look like a four bedroom and we advertise what it is We make sure we're very clear on it, but it creates another bedroom. So this three bedroom two bath It actually sleeps 11 people and uh, it makes really good money Um, but we create this fourth bedroom that makes it feel bigger and in reality, it's not a bedroom, but it does sleep two people.
And so we do that with a lot of our homes because when you're in the midterm, even though it's a psychology behind it, Even though it's a three bedroom, two bath, if you state that it can sleep more people, people feel like they can have more room. And so if you only fit two per bedroom, it's only a six.
If I went into the house and I said, okay, it's a three bedroom, two bath. Well, two bed, uh, two people in each bedroom will all of a sudden people feel like it's smaller. But if you go, Hey, I can sleep 11 in reality, it has 11 spots to sleep. And so if you can do that, then people are. gravitate to those homes because it feels bigger, it feels like you can pull more people to it, even though we, nine times out of ten, do not have 11 people sleeping in that home.
So what we do in each home, we put custom bunk beds. So in this, Let's talk about Val Vista Lakes. We do it on every home. But Val Vista Lakes, we have a bunk bed, custom bunk bed that sleeps four. It's a four tier bunk bed. It's, it's gorgeous. And then in another room, we have a queen with a bunk bed over it.
Um, so it sleeps, um, three in that room. And then we have the king size bedroom. So the reason why you got to think about the psychology behind this, a lot of people do not think about this. And so when I have an investor come on, I'm like, you need to change the beds out because the more people you can sleep, say you sleep the better off you are.
Now, let me make sure I put a little disclaimer in here. You need to make sure you understand city code, all those things, but if city code allows it, and I've gone to my lawyers, it does. Then you're okay and you want to make sure you can sleep as many people as possible. That's the point of it. People want to know that there's space.
They want to know that there, it feels welcoming. And so the more people you can say it sleeps, the better off it will be. And I've done research on this. When I go on any, uh, site, The people that say they can only sleep two per bedroom, or one per bedroom, don't rent as much as the ones that can sleep more.
And so, you've got to look at the psychology behind it. My home in Val Vista Lakes, I can give you a statistic. I have a home that is mine, that rents for 350 a night, and then there's another home, because I do night basis, or monthly, but there's another home that goes 150 a night. My home stays occupied over 80 percent of the year.
And that other home does not. Now, number of people that a property can sleep is not something we typically hear talked about with midterm rentals. So tell us more about these tenant types that you're putting in these rentals. Um, and how successful that's been for you. It's, it's the same thing. So I, a lot of times I go nightly because we average nightly, but it's 10, five, it's 10, 500 a month.
And so that's the monthly gain off of it. So for instance. Right now we have a couple living in it, but because it says it can sleep 11, I, people gravitate to the home because it sounds, feels bigger. Even though it's two people or three people, we have a lot of snowbirds that come down as well, and they gravitate to home as well, and they'll stay six months.
You know, we have nurses, we have all these midterm people that need places, but they gravitate to the homes that have more sleeping capability, even though they don't use it. The psychology behind it says you have more room. If you can sleep more, it just, it's interesting to watch. I think this is a great time to lean into your other, uh, psychological analysis of what type of guests you attract at the number of days of stay because you are mainly midterm rentals and you fill your gaps with short term rentals, but you have a minimum night for those short term rentals so that you don't attract, uh, partiers.
So lean into the science of that. Yes, I go to bat with this all the time. People are like, why don't you do nightly rentals? And I'm like, uh, that doesn't get me out of bed at night in the morning. To be honest, I'm like the headaches and the turnover you're dealing with. There's no way I would touch a nightly.
So my minimums on these homes. And we only open up to these minimums if it's vacant within that month. So our minimum with the Val Vista Lake House or um, any of our other ones is seven night minimums. If we're struggling, which we haven't been so we haven't had to do this, but we do have this in policy, if we were struggling, we would go down to a four night minimum.
But um, we do this because when you go to a one night, Or even sometimes a two night, you're getting more transient people, not transient, like homeless, but transient of they're going, moving around a whole lot. And so they're not people that stay, they're not families. They're more partiers. When you go to the seven night minimum, nine times out of 10, you get more families, you get more, um, people that are wanting to stay and create relationships.
That's the research we've done. That's what we found that have been very successful. Anytime that I've ever talked to anybody that does nightlies, A lot of times they have damage or they have struggles and yes, you can get, um, reimbursed for those things, but it's more of a headache. You don't want to have to go to a guest and go, Hey, I need to be reimbursed.
So when it comes to how to analyze a midterm rental market and confidently price your rental, how do you do this, uh, with your midterm rentals? This is actually really interesting because if anybody asked me, they'd probably say you're crazy. Um, I look at the property, I analyze it and I go, okay, the one stay needs to cover that property plus a lot more.
Um, if I'm in the midterm, it has to bring in so much more money than a long term rental. Otherwise, there's no point to do it because the owner is paying for electricity, internet, all these other things, and you have consumables. So, what I do is, I actually sometimes double to triple the price of what anybody else is charging.
Like, it's like, do you want a Ferrari, or do you want a Honda? And there are people that will go on and say, I won't go any less than this. So, I'm grabbing the client that x nays any property, and I'm like, really? Less than on average, 300 a night. So I want the person that wants to pay 10, 000 a month.
That's what I'm going to grab. And I want the people that are looking at the Ferrari, not the Honda. And there's nothing wrong with a Honda, but my clientele are the ones that want the Ferrari. And so I, I go after the people that want the Ferrari. And so my prices are actually more expensive than most.
Katie, she's going to challenge you today on those analogies. You're going to have to keep up. Katie's normally our analogy person. Let's, let's talk about how you land on that price and what type of research you're able to do, um, and how, how you're coming up. With that price, right? Cause that's a big question we get in midterm rentals is I know, I know the property, I know the market, but how do I know what to charge?
So even if you're going for more of a luxury stay, how do you really land on that final number? The research that I've done is I've gone to insurance companies. I've looked on furnished renters. I've looked on Airbnb and then I have to go, what gets me or the owner out of bed in the morning? And I really look at that.
And I know that sounds really off the ball. But then I grab and I go to other people that are doing the exact same thing and say, Hey, what are you charging? What's your success rate? Because I have a buddy that charges 10. 5 on all of his 3. 2s. He's struggling a little bit right now because the market has softened because you have too many people in the market that are wanting to charge 2, 000 for a midterm rental, which makes no sense.
That is the worst thing you can do in a midterm rental. I'm passionate about that because what you're doing is going into the long term rental space, but you're providing the consumables, you're providing everything else, so you're losing your hand over fist. And I talk to people about this and they're like, but I just need to lower the price.
No, actually, a lot of times you need to up the price. Because people want what you're willing to give them, and they're wanting an experience. And you can't provide an experience if you lower your price. You can't. It's, it's not possible. So, I've gone to, like I said, you asked, what research have I done?
I've called insurance companies. And when I go into insurance companies, I go, okay, their contract is whatever the person's rent, uh, home is worth, On a nightly basis what they're gonna pay. So then if you go to Airbnb, VRBO, Furnished Furniture, you can grab all the data. And there are systems out there that give you the data anyways, but I like to do a little bit manual to make sure I get the right data.
And then if you come together, you can see what kind of prices are out there and then just up that price.
Today's episode is proudly sponsored by Furnished Finder, the ultimate platform for hassle free midterm rentals. Whether you're a seasoned landlord or just getting started, Furnished Finder has everything you need to find your next tenant. With Furnished Finder, you can say goodbye to booking fees, markups, and commissions, and hello to direct bookings.
If you're ready to experience all the benefits renting your property for 30 days or more, head over to furnishedfinder. com where you can list your property for one low annual price. We make it easy to get started.
The price is a, is a great conversation we try to have frequently on this show. Because everyone's got a different way of looking at it. One thing that I do is, because we're renting 30 days versus a year and you always hope for those longer stays and honestly a majority of our stays are 90 to six months, things like that.
Um, we do take one month, but we prefer 90 or more if we, if there's someone looking in the market at that time, uh, for a longer stay. And so when you start looking at it, Playing with the price a little bit is something that we do because the numbers work out for a shorter time than it does for, um, a longer time period, like an annual rental.
Uh, but once we go ahead and rent that home out, we Bump the price back up so that it encourages the others in the market that are trying to figure out How to price their midterm rentals since midterm rental pricing is more of soft data There's not a lot of hard data like there is for short term rentals.
So that's how I encourage others to kind of you know, stay alert in their market is When it comes 30 days prior to renting, kind of check what your competition is around you and then set the trend for future if you have a nice long stay that you can go ahead and aim for that nice, that next goal. Yeah, I think, I think it's really important to that.
You need to know what your strategy is and what your pricing is and like how many consumables are you providing, right? Are you going to provide paper products the entire stay? Most midterm stays don't, but if you do, you need to make sure you account for that. Make sure you account for utilities. Make sure you account for lawn care, things like that.
Um, and just make sure that it fits your model, right? Tiffany is going for a higher end model, which is. Amazing. Right. And that's, if that's your model also, that's fantastic. If it's not, that's okay. But what you want to do is make sure that you've accounted for everything so that you don't have a shock at the end of the day when you're like, Oh, I didn't account for this expense or this expense or this expense.
And now I just realized at the end of this day that I didn't charge enough. What you said was brilliant because every business does it so different and there's no right or wrong. It's a matter of, you got to stick to what you're doing though, you don't want to jump a lot because then you become into chaos, right?
So what you said was brilliant because how I run my business is not going to be the same as anybody else most likely. And how they run their business, it's okay if it's working for them as long as they're profitable. The problem is in midterm, I see so many people losing right now because they're lessening their price so low.
And like you said, they forget about landscaping or they forget about the maintenance or they forget about the utilities. But if you have all that data and it's working. Don't change what's working if it's not broke, right? So I love what you said because it's so true and I think so many times we forget that, that it's okay how you're running it.
If it's working, keep going after it and keep killing it. I like how you keep emphasizing, uh, What gets you up in the morning, right? Because we are running a business and burnout is real. So you have to make sure that you are running a business in a way that you have confidence that you're providing that five star experience for your guests.
Uh, and, and that's the goal, right? Is we're in the hospitality business. We want to make sure we're taking care of our guests. So let's. continue on. We've got, you know, a handful of questions on operating larger homes. So let's continue with that trend. When do you start marketing your larger homes? Do you wait till they're completely furnished or do you, uh, post the unfurnished photos and say coming soon with the date you could have it rented by?
So I would say that really depends on the property, meaning. If I bring on a property, I'm doing a whole remodel in construction, you're going to have delays. So I'm going to wait. If I know a hard date and there's no way I'm going to have any issues with it, and I've already had everything ordered, then I'll probably give a buffer of a month and say, Hey, it's ready on this date.
But it's so, it depends. There's so many variables in there that I really try not to post and make sure that I don't post until I have a very hard date. So I don't have to move it just in case someone says, Hey, I want the property. I want to make sure that I'm upfront with it and I don't have to move people around.
That's never fun for any guests, right? That's the worst thing that can happen. I'm sorry. The property is not available. What? All right. Let's talk about furnishing and budgeting for furnishing these larger properties. Um, I'd love to hear any furnishing tips you have, or kind of like what type of budget do you set aside to furnish these larger properties?
Cause it is one of these things that as you get. Larger, it gets more intimidating, both on a logistical and a budget standpoint, very, very quickly, right? It's not that a two bedroom or a three bedroom is two to three times more intimidating than a one bedroom. A lot of times it feels 10 times more intimidating.
So how do you manage that? And what kind of budget? What are you usually working with? You hit that on the head. A lot of people don't get into this business because of that. That was a brilliant question. A very good one too, because the numbers that I threw out is going to probably freak out people a little bit more.
It does. Even, even like I do it very conservatively and it still freaks people out, but it's like it's an investment, right? You're not afraid to spend 40, 000 on a car that's only going to earn like become worth less and less and less money. Why are we afraid to invest in things? And it, it can be really nerve wracking when you're hitting that checkout button.
And you know, you're, you're like, Oh, this is how much money I'm spending. It's a tough pill to swallow, but tell us, tell us more. Yeah. So let's go back to Val Vista. I, and I have another one, um, a few others, but Val Vista, three, two. Um, we spent 50 grand easy. Um, on the remodel and then it was like 65 to furnish it because we did some customs, but the thing is, is If you want to make money, you, you gotta spend money, and especially on furnishings.
If you go cheap, people know that it's cheap as soon as they walk in. And let's be honest, do you, are you, and there's nothing wrong with it, but are you going Motel 6 clientele? Or are you going Taj Mahal. You have to understand what kind of clientele you're going after when you start to furnish a property.
And you realize your furnishings are going to say everything. When they walk in, the paint, the couch, when they sit down, is it comfortable? Do they want to sit there and talk and just relax? Or are they like, Oh, this thing is horrible. Why am I sitting on this? Because everything anybody does in that home, It's going to turn back to, do they come back?
And so I, I go very high end when I go on pieces, like I'm doing another home in Sedona right now, and we'll easily be 50, 000 and it's a three, two. Easily. And my budget, I always put buffers in there. So when I say 50, I'm planning on 65, because if she comes to me and sees, she says, cause I have a designer that does it.
She comes to me and she says, Hey, I really think you need this piece, but this is it, I'll look at it and I'll say, go for it, do not hesitate because. The money does come back. I can say that wholeheartedly because I have homes that are netting over 80, 000 because the furnishings we did. I think it's important for everybody to remember too, that you can work your way up to this and that again, there's different levels, right?
Like it, Tiffany's spending more because she's going after that Ferrari client, right? If you're not, that's okay, but your furnishings need to match the type of clientele that you are going after. And don't be afraid to reinvest. It's an update and maybe you don't start with a 3, 000 couch. Maybe you start with a 600 couch, but then you say, okay, I'm going to put away 10 percent or 20 percent of my profits.
And at 12 months, you know, I'm going to revisit and we're going to, um, update these, right? Like this is a, this isn't, this isn't. Always evolving thing. I have a great example to go into this is the idea to set the, set the tone for those that don't even know where to start. Like, whoa, no way I'm doing that.
Well, what Dave and I did, uh, you know, through the, three to four years ago when we got started in midterm rentals is we said, Hey, let's try this, uh, midterm rental thing out. So what we did is let's start with our own house. So we put our, we got rid of all of our personal stuff, locked it up in one bedroom.
And rather than advertising our entire three bedroom, two bath home, we advertise a two, two so that we could lock things up in the third bedroom without having to like Totally jump in so you can start where you're at renting a room or renting your own place And then if it's working they say hey, I'm gonna go do it again.
So then we kept buying until we got You know five or so within the first couple of years then we got tired of moving around and we And, uh, you know, the taxes, you gotta be careful with all that. So we moved back home and we're at eight midterm rental doors now. So that's just a way to look at it. You don't have to, uh, commit from the very beginning, but you can, because all you have to do is be confident in your numbers, talk to people that are doing midterm rentals in the industry, like Tiffany, all the hundreds of stories we've had on the landlord diaries.
And then you can confidently invest in that furnishing a hundred percent. And what's. What's great about what you said is, um, before is people can do it cheaper than how I do it. I hire a designer. I have them come in. They do it for me because I run multiple businesses. But if I wasn't doing the first one, I'm, I don't know if I would have tried.
I'm not a designer. But I would have found someone to help me get the colors and everything right, make sure it looks right. That's the key though. Don't just hosh posh stuff together. You can do it inexpensive. You can go like for instance We got a text from a client said hey, I have this really nice bed Will you just take it off my hands?
So our designers going over there and putting it up in another home because it is a very expensive So you can go to estate sales that you can get stuff really cheap and looks very well put together I mean, there's a lot of things you can do to make it real cheap Real inexpensive. So like you said, it doesn't have to be, it doesn't have to be 50, 000.
It doesn't have to be a hundred thousand. It's like, if you're doing it yourself, it really doesn't.
Hey, landlords, are you ready to level up your rental game and simplify your midterm rental business? Well, get ready to meet your new best friend. KeyCheck is your all in one solution for stress free property management. With tenant paid screenings, online rent payment processing, custom lease creation, and a suite of incredible landlord tools, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it.
No more chasing down checks or sifting through piles of applications. KeyCheck helps you organize and manage all things landlording in a simple and efficient way. Make landlord life a breeze with KeyCheck. The game changer for modern property owners, visit key check. com to unlock the power of stress free property management and take your rental business to new heights.
Actually our, our latest midterm rental was it's a four bed, three bath with a loft. So it's big and um, it's the biggest one we've ever done. So furnishing it was a little intimidating. And we found that Hobby Lobby was clearing its shelves of last season's wall decor. And usually I'm like, I don't love like the kitschy wall decor, but you can't put up like family and photos and stuff.
So for rentals, it's actually really cute. I swear I filled my little Subaru four or five times, bought Almost everything, but it was like 75 to 80 percent off. And you'd be surprised how much wall art it takes to fill a whole home. So even if I wasn't furnishing, I probably would have scooped it all up.
My husband would have looked at me like I was crazy when I came home with all of it. And then I would have explained like, okay, but we're ready. Next time we get the next property. I'm like, I have 30 things to do, uh, or to hang on the walls and it's ready to go. So, um, Just keep that in mind, like always be kind of looking for those deals, um, and taking advantage of them.
You know, one thing you said that I think a lot of people forget is wall art, like wall art and how you put your walls actually says a lot. It'll invite people into the home so much more. Like if you do an accent wall, a cup of, I mean, a bell of paint, I mean, you can get really cheap, make it a different color, make it an accent wall.
Put wall art on it, put words, quotes, things like that. Grab people's attention and make them want to be there. I think that a hundred percent, I believe in that wholeheartedly. And we do that on all of our properties because people comment on it too. Like, oh, this is a beautiful wall. You never thought it would be a wall that would keep people coming back.
But you never know. Actually, one of my favorite tips is to pick one piece of furniture that will stand out, whether it's the couch or an accent chair, like in this, in the home we just did, I picked, it was a very neutral couch and we did a yellow accent chair, something to stand out. It'll stand out in pictures.
It'll stand out in someone's memory, something to stand out in one of them. We have, um, a blue couch, like a blue velvet couch, and just, just something to be a little bit different. If you have a furnishing tip, add it in the comments. We want to hear your furnishing tips as well. All right. So the last part of this section, because we definitely want to get into the science behind building your business with the right team.
So before we do that, I want to lean into a conversation, a quick one about Furnished Finder property fees, because you will go about doing it a little bit differently. different, uh, than the rest of us. A lot of us take the typical deposit, but it looks like you have an 89 non refundable deposit along with, uh, for your larger homes, along with a 375 cleaning fee and a 299 admin fee.
So what is that 89 non refundable deposit that definitely isn't going to cover much if it was a traditional deposit for, uh, you know, your, your homes that you've made into four bedrooms. We don't do deposits. It's an insurance thing. So it's 89 for insurance. It's 89 for insurance. And so like, if anything happens, we just go claim on the insurance and we don't have insurance claims nine times out of 10, the guests will come pay for it if there's an issue.
Like we had in, uh, our, one of our five bedrooms, we had a baseball team there that stayed for a tournament. And one of the sons came back and started throwing the baseball against the house. And at the, in the backyard, we have cameras and they're all advertised. But we went back there and we saw this hole in the stucco and we're like, what is this hole?
So we pulled up the cameras and we saw this kid just throwing it against it. And the dad said, it wasn't us. And we sent him a video. Here you go with you sitting right there watching the sun. He's like, wow. Okay. How much is it? I'll pay for it. But things like that can happen. And so that's why we have insurance too.
Just in case we get a guest that doesn't feel like it's their responsibility, we can claim on it. Is that when you turned into a claim for the baseball or you just paid for it? No, the family paid for it. They were like, Have you had any claims and how did they work out? Oh, we have, we have. We've had a bug, bed bug, sorry, I can't speak.
Bed bug issue in one of the properties. So we had a claim, but we handled it all before the claim. We had a guest enter in about a weekend. They said, Hey, we have bed bugs. So I moved them to another unit that we have. Um, within 24 hours, we had it treated within 48 hours. We had them back into the home, which is unheard of.
And then we had the other house treated as well. So we had both house trees put up and within 48 hours, they were back ready to go. We have a brand new product at Furnished Finder called Worry Free Waiver, and it's And it's a, it's a way that you can eliminate security deposits, just like Tiffany is talking about.
And it's a monthly fee. So there's different levels of coverage that you can get and they all come with a different level of monthly fee. Um, but it's very, very similar. So it's going to eliminate the security deposit. It's going to eliminate the back and forth. Or like if you have to keep some of the security deposit.
For even like something small, like a damaged rug or a hole in the couch from a pet or something, then you might get a negative review or a sassy tenant or something like that. It's going to eliminate that. What's nice is you can either charge it to the tenant as a fee. You can say like, okay, the waiver that we're getting, um, is 69 a month.
I'm going to add that to your rent. Or you can just build it into the price of your rent and they don't even know that they have it, which I think is probably what I will do because then it's like, I'm covered. Um, but nobody will really feel like there is extra coverage. So they don't just feel like it's a freebie to like go and, Oh, I can damage this or that I'm covered.
Um, you can also do it as an addition, right? So you can have a security deposit. And this waiver. So it's really cool. It's going to open up a lot of options and you're going to be able to integrate it into your business, the way it feels right for you, which I also really like, like there's not a one size fits all.
You can do it with some tenants and not other tenants or some properties and not other properties or for certain months, but not other months. Like it's a very, very, um, flexible product. I think it's going to be pretty cool and help to just. You feel more protected and be more protected as a, as a landlord without having to deal with security deposits.
Well, this has been such a fun conversation about the importance of how to operate larger homes well, and not only larger homes. But larger portfolios, we're talking about stunning stays, having around 20 midterm rentals, uh, that they hybrid, uh, between short term and midterm, but mainly midterm and fill the gaps with short term.
So you have to have a good team in place for that. So we've made it to that second part that we wanted to make sure and talk about with you guys is the science behind building your business with the right team. So let's start, Tiffany, by you telling us, uh, What your midterm mental team looks like and what those operational details are.
So I have multiple companies. So I have a backend team that helps me build up companies, uh, like on numbers. So it's not my only company. So it's a little bit different than most companies. Cause I have an audit team in El Salvador that helps us on numbers and audits. Um, I have a, she. Our scheduler is overseas as well.
Our property manager is here, boots on the ground. We have 35 team members across all companies. Um, but the science behind it is something that I'm really passionate about. Cause when I got into business, I was like, Oh, you just hire someone, put them in the seat and it works, right? No. So as I started to dive in, cause my background in psychology, I started to notice that there's these tests that you can actually have people take.
And I'm like, okay. Um, so I started learning about the DISC profile. There's culture index. There's a lot of different ones, but I, I really like the DISC profile, the DISC, um, and each letter is very different. And so I'm a very high D. High D, a little bit lower I, and then my C is midline and my S is lower.
Cause obviously I have multiple companies. So S is like your steady person, but because I jumped through different companies, I'm never going to be steady into one thing. My C is midline, but because my D is so high, I have to, I have to have a C, a really high C to compliment me because D's will rampage through companies and be like, Oh, I got to get it done yesterday.
Right. C's can organize it and make sure it gets done in a timely manner in a correct way. And so, your number two's, depending on what you are, uh, you gotta have kind of the opposite. And that will bring conflict if you don't know how to work with each other. But if you learn how to work with each other, it can actually bring the best results a company needs.
And so, um, So I found out that that's what I need. So for marketing, there's like, if my BDMs, I'm going to want a really high eye and a D D will be a closer high loves to talk to people. So your BDMs business development managers are usually your high eyes, but it's very important. So my accounting. Team, they're all C S's.
I don't want them to be D's because they're gonna make a lot of mistakes. And so as you go through this, it'll tell you the emotional, uh, the emotional side of the team members. It'll show what they're really good at, what they're not good at. And if you really learn it, then you can actually elevate your team to fly, to succeed.
And that's what we want. Right? We want them to succeed. But how many times do people come in to interviews and tell you what you want to hear? Because what? They want a job. Right? So you have to do the research on the back end to see what they're really good at and what they really love to make sure we help them succeed in their positions that they're in.
I love that because it's not about, it's not only about getting. Different skills and different strengths with your teams, but it's putting the right people in the right seats, right? Like finding those strengths and saying what role here complements what you do well. A hundred percent. I actually, um, in December, I redid the disc profile for all my team members because things can actually change.
So I, and as I did it, I realized, oh, I have, one of my PMs was actually a BDM personality. So I went to her and I was like, um, can we sit down and talk? I said, I really think you would soar and fly in a different position. She was scared at first. And she was like, well, you know what? Let's, let's talk about it.
So finally I moved her and she is loving it. She is like so much more happy. So it's when we care about our team members and we really try to develop and learn what they're really good at. And we learn the science behind it. We can put them in a position that they soar at. Anybody can do a position that they like.
The importance is to get them to soar. And when they soar, guess what happens to the company? It soars. And then when it soars, everybody has the ability to level up to get more money. I mean, it all ends up helping everybody. I love it. Let's dial back a bit. That was an amazing. Uh, large picture scale to look at of when your team is operating well, what it should flow like, but I think we have quite a few listeners that are probably thinking, I've got one listing or I've got just a handful of listings.
I'm just looking to add that first team member. So what is the process look like to, uh, build the right team for those midterm rental hosts out there that don't even know where to get started? Okay, so like if I am a one man shop and I'm like, okay, I want my first person first I got to find out what I'm really good at What do I love to do?
Cuz there's something in that company that you don't like to do and you hate it's not something I mean you can do it But you're not great at it, right? So what you want to figure out first is I would take the disc profile myself and go what am I really good at? What is my profile? And then go, okay, this is my profile.
This is where I should sit. And then I need to hire someone that's going to be my opposite. Like for instance, your BDM, someone that's good at growing the company is not going to be good at marketing and doing all the organizational side. You need someone to compliment. And I would most likely go overseas since I'm boots on the ground and hire for a fraction of the price, but it's a win for them because they make more money and it's a win for us because I can hire more faster.
So find the person that compliments you. So first, Run the disc profile on yourself. Figure out what you love. Write down what you love. Write down what you hate. And what you're not good at. Then look for a person to do that. And usually, you have an operational side, and you have a self side. So you need to decide, are you more operational?
Or are you more selves? And those two personalities are not the same. And they're different. And so that's, you need to find out. And this can be very intuitive and you can take this down very, very small scale. Like Tiffany's mentioning doing, you know, analysis and disc profiles and Kelly and I have done that.
We've done that within the Furnished Finder team and it is very, very insightful, but you can also just look at like, like you said, like, what do you not like to do? Right. What are you not great at? A lot of times those things overlap because, you know, shocker, we don't love to do things we aren't good at. Um, and like, how can you backfill that with someone who is great?
And maybe you're not ready for a full time person or a team, but maybe you're ready for, um, a little, like an assistant for a couple hours a week, or to share some of the workload with a spouse or to get one of your older children involved. Like you can get help in a lot of ways that doesn't have to be, you know, cause like Kelly said, if, if you only have one or two listings, right, or one or two properties, all of this stuff can scale up or down.
But the whole idea is to not feel like you have to take on the entire load by yourself. I love that you mentioned spouse because my husband and I work together and we run multiple companies together. And at first it was like, we would kind of hit a little bit because our personalities are actually similar.
So what we have to do is he has to run a different company because we're both DIs. Our number twos have to be similar as well. So like even if you're working with your husband or your wife or your, uh, Your mate or whatever, I would highly recommend running this profile because it'll tell you how to work with them better and it will help succeed because a lot of times when husbands and wives come together, it's not always a good experience because they don't know how to work with each other in business.
And so I love that you brought that up because even with a spouse Running the disc profile and understand and there's actually free ones. You don't have to pay for it right off the bat You can buy free versions on the internet and it'll help you understand each other Mine is like a hundred page document that I really go into detail and I pay for but you don't have to do that There's ways around if you're just getting started But for my team, I need it because my team's a little bit bigger.
Dave and I, so when we took the disc profile, I'm mainly an I, but I, uh, lean towards C in an untraditional way compared to the normal disc profiles, I guess. And. I know, I just know that Dave is an I as well, and maybe a little D in there as well. And so what exactly what you're saying, we run our midterm rental business together, but we do have a lot of the same, um, skill set, uh, and we both lean towards the sales side.
So you can still navigate the waters, but just as you're saying, it doesn't always feel like that. The, the best combination together. Um, so I love what, I love the advice of, you know, figure out what you don't do, want to do, or don't do well, and then who's going to be able to help you in that. We all know having a reliable cleaner is one of the, like, Easiest ways for us to feel successful as midterm rental hosts is just to have that one Boots on the ground person, uh, or even a couple that can take care of your properties And you don't have to be there every time you have a flip So if that's you and you're still showing up to flips i've been there, but you can overcome it.
So keep Uh, keep trying different cleaners until you find the right one and maybe Tiffany's got some advice on how to find that person for you. Cleaners, uh, vendors are key to any business, right? Without your vendors, like I even have a maintenance company, but my vendors are my overload. And so we bring them into the office.
We try to really do things together because that relationship is key to grow for success or anything. And cleaners can make or break your midterm slash short term rental companies, because without cleaners, you're getting bad reviews. And even with cleaners, you're getting bad reviews, unless there is a process when you set up, what you dictate, what you want them to do.
We do it a little bit different. We do have an inspector that goes in and looks at every, um, clean after it's done, but the cleaner relationship, like the number one reason why short term and midterm rental companies don't grow is because of cleaners, because they can't, they can't get the cleaner set up correctly.
And so. Your onboarding process with your vendor, especially your cleaners, is like so important. Go walk the property with them, make sure they have a checklist, make sure if you want them, there's softwares you can use like zInspector, so they have to take pictures so you can see it and it's uploaded immediately.
There's things you can do to make sure that relationship between the cleaner and you is really good. And the number one thing they have to know that they're being checked on somehow whether by The guest or something they have to know that there is a policy that hey after you leave Someone is gonna be checking on this or the guests are gonna let us know we follow up with the guests to make sure that You did a good job because if you're not checking on somebody People get lax.
That doesn't, we all need someone to be accountable to, to somebody. Does that make sense? You need accountability. Without accountability, we all get a little bit lazy. It just is what it is. And guys, this can even be like, send your cleaner, sending you photos or. If you're cleaning the unit yourself, taking photos so that you can hold yourself accountable again, let's take all these business tips and don't just think, Oh, I only have one or two properties.
This doesn't apply to me, but take it and even apply it in the smallest, smallest way, right? Like make sure you're documenting your photos afterwards so you can look at it later and you can be like, Oh man, you know what? Like. I could have done that a little bit better, or let me have the cleaner tweak, how they do that.
Like just these little, these little upgrades make a big difference. You know what you said is key because we all start with one and we're doing the work, right? So the, the, and we're talking about bigger volumes and stuff, but when you have one setting up, those processes are so important because when you get to guess what the process is already in place, when you get five, that process is already in place.
So what you said was, oh my goodness, it was brilliant, because you want to start with one. You want to make sure that process is so clean with one, because if it's not, then when you get to five, it just blows up. But if the process is keen with one, then when it gets to two, not a big deal. Three, you can just continue to go.
If that's your desire. If you don't desire, you just want one, still have that process down pack so that it runs smooth because no one wants to be in chaos, right? And let's play offense, not defense. Yep. And I think this is a great way to wrap up the episode before we, uh, let them know how to connect with you is you have a story of someone you talked with recently that was ready to sell their midterm rental portfolio, but instead you were able to help steer them on the right course.
So tell us that story to wrap us up. Yes. I had an opportunity to talk with someone that has a midterm rental company. We were in negotiations to buy them. And they sent us their books and as soon as I saw their books, when I talk about books, it's like keeping your accounting. Like where are you keeping your accounting to make sure you're profitable or not?
And they sent me their books and I realized they were a mess. So we went and we discussed with them how to get them clean and make sure the owner's money is correct, your money is correct, and then the management company is correct. Whether you have one property Or two properties or 10 properties. The most important thing is that you're keeping accounting to know if you're actually profitable or not.
And I find a lot of times people aren't doing that. They're mixing the money in their regular bank account. And then at the day, They don't know if they're actually profitable or not. So set up books and now this company is actually doing really well. We're still in negotiations with them, but we wanted to get them high level, make sure that we're all on the same page before we go through the contract phase with them.
So keep books, make sure you know if you're actually profitable or not, whether you have one or 10, it's the same thing. And you guys, your books can be an Excel spreadsheet. and not a super sophisticated Excel spreadsheet. It can be a very, very simple. You can make it very simple. And as you get more sophisticated, if that's the, and your portfolio gets larger, if that's your path, then you can make that more sophisticated and larger, right?
But like, just start simple, but start with it clean and comprehensive and where you have everything included in it so that you can scale it. And you're not just always trying to go back and undo the mess. Yes, and just make sure you have a separate bank account. Don't mix it with your everyday funds.
That's where I think I find the most issues with companies or someone that has one. Let's, let me get the word company out of it. If you have one midterm rental, make sure you have a separate bank account for that property and what you spend on a daily basis. Cause if they get mixed, you're, You're mixing money in it, shouldn't it be?
Definitely. All right. So whatever's on your mind right now that says, but I'd really like to know this about midterm rentals, put it in the comments. We will address those. We'll get Tiffany involved as since you can all tell she is super knowledgeable on the topic and how to run a business. Business, and we just appreciate y'all being here.
Reminder, uh, join us every Monday for new episodes from Furnished Finder hosts on the Landlord Diaries. And if someone wants to connect with you further, Tiffany, how would you like them to do so? Uh, the best way is all my social social media is Tiffany M Rosenbaum. And they're all the exact same.