Hosting Your Home - Airbnb Host Stories

Join Debi Hertert and Michele Fitzgerald as they talk about Michele’s vacation rental in Sedona (that is not on Airbnb).  Debi and Rob traveled to Sedona, Arizona in early 2017 to find some sun, and stayed in Michele's wonderful vacation rental home. She teaches intuitive methods, leads tours in Ireland, operates on-line businesses and manages her beautiful and successful vacation rental.  And, as you will hear in the podcast, she has big plans for next year!  Michele doesn’t use Airbnb – and explains why. (9:00) How did she get started?  She’d owned this property for a long time and it was her first home in Sedona.  She bought another house, and turned this house into a metaphysical center.  In 2005 she began an on-line training program instead of the classes in the house – she was paying the mortgage and in 2007 she converted it to a full-time vacation rental.  She had very relevant prior work experience training managers of long-term rentals. Michele has a 1-week minimum, Saturday to Saturday, and an 80-85

Debi Hertert interviews Portland Superhost Evan Ross, owner of Cycle Portland.  She visited Evan at his Cycle Portland business in downtown Portland.  They first met at the 2017 Host2Host conference where Evan participated as a vendor. The two began with Evan’s hosting experience  in the popular Alberta Arts area.  He began hosting in January, 2017.  Evan does the cleaning himself – he initially thought he would see how it went by doing the cleaning himself, and so far just doesn’t find it so difficult and can fit in other work like phone calls while he cleans.  He has prior experience as a guide and finds that experience helpful in hosting. Bicycling – this is Evan’s 9th year of leading bike tours as a business.  He initially went to school in mountain guiding, whitewater rescue and other outdoor challenges.  He had traveled in several continents and when he moved to Portland he found there was no one providing tours.  Being entrepreneurial, he opened his own touring business. Their talk ended up with a disc

In this episode, Debi Hertert talks with Alanna Schroeder of “The Distinguished Guest”, a vendor at the Host2Host 2017 conference in Portland, Oregon.   Alanna started as a commercial real estate agent, then wanted to have another baby, so started renting out her house in Lake Tahoe.  She recognized a need for a source of higher-end products for vacation rentals and started a business.  She spent a lot of time sourcing products, finding those that looked good and are good.  Alanna tries to source from large providers, so the same products will be available a year from now. She ended up getting so busy with her Distinguished Guest business that she put the Lake Tahoe property on long-term rental, and now has a place in Hawaii on short term rental including Airbnb.   She has some clients that stay multiple weeks, even up to three months. Debi asked Alanna about her third business, “VR Mastered”.  It’s something that Alanna is doing with Tyanne Marcink and Beth Carson of Vacation Rental Travel Magazine.  VR Mast

Download Episode! Prior to the Host2Host 2017 conference in Portland, Debi Hertert of HostingYourHome interviewed Andrew Kitchell of Wheelhouse.  Wheelhouse provides a pricing service for short-term rentals.  They analyze the pricing of the local home-sharing listings, local hotels, and current events.  Those three components affect pricing of accommodations, and Wheelhouse uses data scientists to make highly informed pricing decisions. The current product allows a high degree of personalization by the host, as Andrew discusses during the interview.  Debi is a user of Wheelhouse and is highly interested in how it works. Here are some points that came out in the interview.  Listen all the way through, for Andrew’s special offer! Andrew talks about how Wheelhouse started. His home was in the first 100 homes that listed on Airbnb.  He co- founded the company after one of the principals attended a Y Combinator Accelerator meeting and heard about “Airbed and breakfast”; and now they have grow to about 23 people

Listen in as Nolan Mondrow, founder and CEO of LockState is interviewed by Debi Hertert of Hosting Your Home.  LockState offers electronic locks for Airbnb hosts, and in a beautiful illustration of responding to hosts’ needs, the codes for the locks are produced automatically within the Airbnb platform.  The host does not need to change the codes for each guest. The product is integrated with Airbnb (and VRBO) and is called “RemoteLock”. LockState also offers a lock that does not rely on having an internet connection at the house, yet still allows owners to remotely set unique codes for each guest stay using what Nolan calls an algorithmic method.  That product is called “ResortLock”.  It doesn’t have the direct integration with Airbnb but does have some different benefits. Nolan says he grew up in Denver, spent years in Japan and other places, and returned to Denver.  He and his wife bought a house there and then bought a ski condo in Keystone.  Without intending to rent it out, much less make a business of

Debi Hertert interviews Rod Fitts from AVROA, in her series of Host2Host 2017 Vendor interviews.  AVROA stands for "Association of Vacation Rental Operators and Affiliates".  Rod began this company in 2008, when the recession wiped out his education business and he needed to reinvent himself.  The model of AVROA is to provide a free listing platform to members, so that owners can inexpensively gain exposure outside of shade cast by the large listing platforms.  You will hear Rod's obvious enthusiasm for his association and mission. Visit AVROA's website at www.avroa.org

Join Debi Hertert for her interview with Portland's Becky Knecht (pronouned "connect"), owner of TBH Clean, specializing in Airbnb-style homes.  Becky's company slogan is "Your Mess is Our Mission!"  Debi is working her way through interviews with hopefully all of the vendors who are attending the Host2Host 2017 conference in Portland on April 22, 2017. Becky cleans for Debi and several other local hosts.  She is so dependable that she hasn't ever missed a single clean for Debi, something Debi brings up in their interview.  Becky says "The condition of your property is the first impression for your guests.  TBH Clean takes pride in partnering with hosts to help maintain a clean space and make sure it's welcoming for guests, with all the small touches.  We grow by helping you grow, and are committed to make sure that every detail is to your satisfaction.  TBH Clean is ready to make Portland shine!"     You can find Becky's company info at www.facebook.com/tbhclean  

Airbnb host Debi Hertert of the HostingYourHome podcast interviews Carlos Rafael Camarena, a Portland, Oregon photographer who specializes in architectural photography and is expanding to add Airbnb and other short term rentals. Carlos is a professional photographer with a background in portraiture and real estate photography. In early 2015 he seized an opportunity to create images for and serve commercial architecture and interior design firms in Portland, which became a footing to make the move from Central California with his wife in late 2015.  Debi and Carlos met two years ago and when the Host2Host conference came into being, Debi remembered Carlos and asked him to participate.  He not only agreed to speak, but is doing photography for the day as well, and throwing in an amazing prize for a lucky participant. You can see images from the two Airbnb/VRBO homes he mentions in the interview: go to http://www.carlosrafael.photo/sellwoodairbnb  and http://www.carlosrafael.photo/p883172008 To see examples of h

Join Debi from HostingYourHome.com as she interviews many of the vendors who will attend the upcoming Host2Host 2017 conference in Portland, Oregon.  Vendor support is critical for Airbnb hosts who want to provide the best accommodations and hospitality for their guests. Insurance is a critical issue and not always understood by hosts.  But it does not have to be difficult, as we learn from Geoff Dorn.  Geoff  is an insurance agent with Country Financial in Portland and has been serving families and small business owners for ten years. He uses his experience to help his clients choose the right insurance solution to cover their Airbnb exposure.

No interview!  In this episode, Debi explains her dream of having a local Portland conference to support Airbnb and other hosts, and how it's come true: Host2Host 2017.  If you don't see the links to the conference in your iTunes or whatever podcast listener you use, go to HostingYourHome.com and check out the show notes.  This is a nice episode to just learn how one person's motivation to make something happen can come true, further made possible because of the tremendous contributions of time and knowledge by a dozen other local hosts who have brought this conference to life.  And Airbnb has really stepped up and helped when we have asked them to. If by any chance, you can be in Portland on April 22, 2017 this conference is inexpensive and can help you out, whether you are just thinking about hosting or are a veteran. The local conference is called 'Host2Host" and so this year, it's Host2Host 2017.  A non-profit organization was established, Host2Host.org and all proceeds from ticket sales and vendor contri

Please join Debi Hertert of the podcast HostingYourHome and Portland's Airbnb Superhost Shannon Hiller-Webb.   Debi discovers Shannon’s amazing involvement in hosting and curating guest experiences, and about her own local food business “Green Zebra”.  Shannon uses her connections with the local food scene, art scene and other social contacts to help guests find the right place to eat and what’s happening that night in Portland.  She has guests from all over the world and relates a great story about being an unkowing contributor to a Japanese book “The Ultimate Guidebook to Portland for Creative People.” And then found out the book was commissioned by Travel Portland, who gave her a copy.  This is an unusually long episode but absolutely worth the listen! The episode starts with a tour of her house for the first fifteen minutes or so, but even during the tour a lot of information is given such as her feelings about pricing, cleaning fees, and her use of Instant Book.  She may be the only Instant Book listing

This episode is part 2 of our podcast about the 2016 Airbnb Open in Los Angeles. Debi Hertert of HostingYourHome.com interviewed several hosts there, and there is the same happy background noise that gives you a flavor of the overall vibe of the event.  This episode includes June Stoddard, Diane Sherry Case, and Myranda Love.  As in the “part 1” episode, we just ran the three short interviews one after another.  They average about 8 minutes long.  June has a great story about finding Airbnb at the right time to help her with her mortgage and two daughters’ college; Diane is an actor and directs a fun Airbnb TV series about Airbnb; and Myranda is a southerner who moved to Idaho and offers an online Airbnb training program.  She hasn’t lost her southern drawl! EPISODE TIMING AND SEQUENCE: 0:00-2:00 Debi’s intro 2:00-10:00 June Stoddard 10:00-17:00 Diane Sherry Case 17:00-28:30 Myranda Love 28:30-31:00 Debi’s wrapup June Stoddard [caption id="attachment_729" align="alignnone" width="233"] Santa Monica Superhost

Join Debi Hertert of HostingYourHome.com as she interviews three people at the 2016 Airbnb Open conference in Los Angeles.  For each of the past three years, Airbnb has held an annual conference called “The Airbnb Open”.  In 2014 it was in San Francisco, in 2015 it was in Paris, and this year it was in Los Angeles.  Debi has attended all three of these incredible, gala events.  Airbnb brings in big name performers, authors, designers, politicos, artists and speakers.  It is very exciting to attend these events and meet people from all over the world.  With all the bad press about Airbnb that we have to listen to, it is uplifting to participate in a giant communal experience of hosting and hear stories. This year, Airbnb came up with the concept of “Brain Dates”, where people could offer their experience on any subject, Airbnb would post that in the pre-registration info, and participants could sign up to meet one-on-one. Debi offered to interview people about their hosting experiences.  It was a great concept

Debi Hertert of Hosting Your Home talks with Todd Brandewie, owner of a whole-house rental near Dayton, Ohio.  At the time, Debi and her family were renting Todd’s house for a family reunion. Todd is a single dad and lives in his house with his four-year old son.  Several nights per month, Todd and his son move to Todd’s dad’s house, or Todd’s RV, in order to rent out his Dayton house.  When Todd got divorced and found himself unable to pay the mortgage, his mom suggested Airbnb.  That suggestion saved Todd’s house and has given him a new outlook on life.   [editor's note]: Many municipalities restrict short-term rentals of whole houses, concerned about depleting the stock of long-term rentals.  Todd's is one of many examples in which homeowners would not choose to share their space as long-term rentals, because it does not fit their family living situations. As communities try to estimate the impact that Airbnb and similar platforms have on long-term rentals, they often rely on unreliable data "scraped" from

Portland, Oregon Airbnb host Nina Liebow talks with Debi Hertert of the Hosting Your Home podcast about Nina's life and how she came to hosting with Airbnb. Listen in as Nina shares her wonderful story, her Japanese connection, and her deep, heartfelt feelings about hosting. Nina hosts in the historic Irvington neighborhood in the heart of Portland. 1:20 Debi introduces Nina Liebow, who tells Debi a story - way back, in high school, Nina was at a used book store and found a book titled “Make a B&B anywhere you live”. The book was meaningful to Nina. She had grown up in difficult surroundings, and when she was old enough to be on her own, her spaces became very important to her. She lived and traveled in Asia much of her 20’s, often staying in a “Ryokan” which is a one room space, with a tatami mat on the floor – this one room would be changed in function throughout the day, from living space, to eating space, to sleeping space. It was always women who managed the Ryokans and the sense of welcoming and car

Join Debi Hertert of the podcast HostingYourHome.com as she talks with Bob and Sue Low, the Portland citizens and now Airbnb Superhosts who prompted the City to change their ordinance prohibiting short term rentals. A concept:  “Age in Place” 1:40 Sue starts by telling about the remodel of their home in Lauralhurst and moving to their basement during the remodel.  After living in it for 6 months they had some friends who  knew about Airbnb and who had recommended they try it.  They did, and were excited!  It was the summer of 2012. They met some really nice people, but then their neighbor filed a complaint.  Bob then said that in September of 2012 the City gave them a Cease and Desist order regarding their short term rental.  At that point, they went about trying to get the City to change the ordinance. 6:30  They researched out the status quo and found about 1,500 listings for short term rentals on various platforms such as VRBO, Home Away, FlipKey, and Airbnb.  They decided to let the City know the magnitud

Debi Hertert of the podcast HostingYourHome.com talks with Portland Airbnb host Nancy Stevens.  Debi hears a great story of Airbnb support when Nancy needed it most. 0-02:15 Introduction 02:15-06:15 A short tour:  Nancy shows Debi the view, and gives her a short tour, punctuated by a stained glass window that Nancy gave to her late partner to commemorate their favorite fly fishing spot in Idaho. 06:15-15:30 Nancy’s Story:  Nancy told Debi that she had a major health emergency and was hospitalized for two weeks and unconscious for one of those.  Her brothers knew she had Airbnb guests arriving but knew nothing about Airbnb. Her sister-in-law called Airbnb and Nancy describes her as working with almost no information and how much help Airbnb provided.  She goes on to answer Debi’s question about why she started hosting. It’s a warm reminder of the emotional value of hosting. 16:45-21:00 Discussion: Then Debi and Nancy talk about a variety of topics.  The difference between residential and hospitality cleaning;

In this interview, get to know Airbnb Superhosts Alex Nigg and Tammi Sims as they talk with Debi Hertert of HostingYourHome.com. Alex is the creator of “Properly”, a suite of tools that allows homesharers, vacation rental owners and property managers to manage guest turnovers remotely. Properly users can send detailed visual and text checklists to their helpers, and have peace of mind that every detail of their hospitality instructions was completed just as intended.  Properly also allows the community of hosts to share their best service providers, providing opportunity to their favorite helper, as well as a trusted resource to the community.    But any of you who have listened to previous podcasts know that Debi can’t just talk about an app, she has to know about Alex and Tammi!  They put on a great workshop for our local HomeSharePDX (Meetup.com) group earlier in the day.  Before getting into the Properly app, Deb asks Alex and Tammi to tell her how they each got started hosting. [3:30]  Tammi had worked f

Debi Hertert of podcast HostingYourHome.com visits with Steve Niebrand, owner of the "Hoffman Woods" Airbnb in West Linn, Oregon, a whole-house listing where large families can celebrate special times together. Debi and Steve talk about his very special house on 2 acres near Portland. He explains how he got started hosting, buying a house specifically intending to use it for Airbnb rentals. Steve has had 99% great guests but tells Debi how he came to learn how to directly communicate with guests before they arrive, regarding parties and events.  He meets and greets every group and takes that opportunity again to confirm no events or big parties. Not that Steve minds small parties :)  He frequently joins his guests and has had some fun experiences. Steve has started making and selling "Belos", which are the Airbnb symbols that mean "Belong Anywhere". We included a picture of one of the Belos below, and you can also see better pictures on his listing site.   You can check out Steve's listing at https://www.airb

This week's podcast is a special treat as Debi Hertert of HostingYourHome.com tours the brand-new “Hobbit Hole”, Greg Raisman’s artistic creation for an Airbnb apartment in Portland, Oregon.  Greg and Beth and their architects, builders and carpenters have been working on this project almost as long as it takes to grow a new human, and it really is their "baby”.  (One listener recently asked if we would include the recording times in the show notes for people who needed to save time and listen to just certain topics, which sounded like a good idea.  You’ll see times included below). But first, A SPECIAL REQUEST.  Rob and I are really enjoying these podcasts and hope you are as well.  It is a communication medium that is very one-way, and we really want to grow past the one-way boundary.  You can help us do that by simply going to our website, hostingyourhome.com, and request to join our Facebook group. As more listeners join the Facebook group, it enables valuable conversations, and also allows Rob and me to