by Paris Achen | Jul 20, 2023 | Hosting and Management, Marketing, Responsible Renting, Supporting Local Businesses
Listing on online booking sites like Vrbo and Airbnb is a great way to draw eyes to your vacation rental listing and get more bookings especially if you’re new to hosting. But as your vacation rental gains a trail of happy guests, getting more direct bookings will...
by Paris Achen | Jun 20, 2023 | Leadership, STR Advocacy 101
Kelsey Wood and fiance, Josh Knapp, stood to earn thousands of dollars from renting out their vacation rental, Mulberry Bungalow, during Super Bowl weekend in February in Phoenix, Arizona. Instead, the couple donated two nights at the vacation rental to a terminal...
by Paris Achen | Jun 6, 2023 | Humans of Short-Term Rentals, Responsible Renting, Sustainability
Like many first-time vacation rental hosts, Deborah Labi didn’t have a path laid out before her to follow. She first rented out her home in Sydney, Australia, in 2006 as a vacation rental to earn money for traveling. That endeavor organically grew into a full-scale...
by Paris Achen | May 19, 2023 | Community Engagement, Hosting and Management, Humans of Short-Term Rentals, Nuisance Prevention, Professional Development, Responsible Renting, Rules and Regulations, Social Responsibility & Giving Back, Supporting Local Businesses
Sarah Bradford and Tim Cafferty recently marked a milestone with the recording of their 150th episode of Sarah and T: The Professional Vacation Rental Manager’s Podcast. Every other Monday for nearly six years, they have released a new 30-minute episode packed with...
by Paris Achen | May 2, 2023 | Community Engagement, Hosting and Management, Local Government, Marketing, Professional Development, Self-Growth, Social Responsibility & Giving Back, Team Culture, Wellness
Tyann Marcink, front-center, at the CASA Justice is Served fundraiser in 2022 Have you ever heard the quote, Help yourself by helping others? According to research, helping others, aka volunteering, can also help your vacation rental business. Volunteering can help...
by Paris Achen | Apr 28, 2023 | 2023 Spring RR Summit
At RR Summit Spring 2023, Dana Lubner, director of community development at Rent Responsibly, and panelists Tiffany Edwards, strategist consultant for the Vacation Rental Management Association and other vacation rental trade associations, Scott Leggat, director of...
by Paris Achen | Apr 18, 2023 | Humans of Short-Term Rentals, Responsible Renting, Supporting Local Businesses, Sustainability
Vacation rental tech entrepreneur Vanessa de Souza Lage grew up with sustainable practices. Recycling and compost gardens were part of daily life at her school. As an adult, she gave up eating meat to reduce her impact on the environment. For most of her career, she...
by Paris Achen | Apr 12, 2023 | Community Engagement, Humans of Short-Term Rentals
The concept for the Alex & Annie Vacation Rental Podcast got its start in the middle of the Covid pandemic inside an exclusive Clubhouse group called STR Professionals. It was a time when vacation rental professionals and others were looking for ways to stay...
by Paris Achen | Apr 10, 2023 | Advocate Engagement, Leadership, Local Government, Local Leaders Series, Partner Features, Powered by Vrbo
Jennifer Batchelder Polcyn, a vacation rental host and property manager in Montcalm County in Central Michigan, knows the power of showing up before the firestorm. Soon after she established her vacation rental management firm, New Journey Properties, she made a...
by Paris Achen | Apr 4, 2023 | Advocate Engagement, Community Engagement, Hosting and Management, Humans of Short-Term Rentals, Local Government, Property Care, Rules and Regulations, Short-Term Rental Regulation
Like many in the short-term rental advocacy sphere, proposed regulations at the local City Council brought hosts Annette Grant and Sarah Karakaian together. Both had come to speak at the Columbus City Council meeting in spring 2018 to oppose a proposal that would have...