[00:00:05] Speaker A: Welcome to the Short Term Show. The show about short term rentals and long term wealth with real property owners hosting real properties who are crushing it in the vacation and short term rental space.
And here's your host, Avery Carle.
Hey y'.
[00:00:29] Speaker B: All. Welcome back to another episode of the Short Term Show. Ignore my sunburn if you're watching this on YouTube.
Struggle Bus. This week we have a really, really cool guest today. Her name is Lindsay Pleasant. She is a short term rental property manager and investor in Round Top, Texas, which we have not talked about yet in the five years and hundreds of episodes that we've done here on the Short Term show. So really excited to talk to her and, and guys, just want to remind you real quick for those of you out there in the world listening to us, that the Short term shop, we are a team of real estate agents, the top team of real estate agents actually in the short term rental space. So if you want to buy a short term rental in any of the 20 markets that we work in, we would be super happy to help you do that. Just reminding you because somebody came up to me in the parking lot of Bucky's and said how much they love the podcast and that they had just bought a house with a different agent in a market that we're in.
[00:01:23] Speaker C: So I want to just make sure
[00:01:23] Speaker B: you guys know we're here for you. We're happy to help. Anyway, it's not about me today, it's about Lindsay. How's it going, Lindsay?
[00:01:29] Speaker C: Good, how are you?
[00:01:31] Speaker B: I am doing awesome. So, guys, I met Lindsay because I did a few YouTube episodes last year where I walked through people's short term rentals and talked about the different things that were cool about them. And I walked through, I put a, I think I made a post on Instagram and said, I'm going to be in Texas. I, I need some, some short term rentals to walk through. And she had one in Wimberley, which is probably, I would say my favorite place in Texas. Number two would be Austin, but Austin of, of 2006, not Austin today.
And anyway, this house was so nice. Actually, Lindsay, if that seller, that person ever decides to sell, please let me know because I will buy it.
[00:02:11] Speaker C: Okay? It was so great.
[00:02:13] Speaker B: And you know, one of the things that I noticed when I'm walking around properties that are managed by property managers, at least down here, some of the bigger ones, it's like, man, these are beat up, these are dirty, and this house was immaculate. It just looked like somebody's vacation home that nobody ever Stayed in. So I'm really curious to talk to Lindsey today because how do you do that? That seems to be the code that property managers can't crack to make it feel like a vacation home and not just like a turn and burn property.
[00:02:45] Speaker C: Right, yeah.
So I think that when I started Hostie, I knew that we had to be a portfolio of homes that were just very, you know, high end. You know, you're going to attract a different type of client, they're going to take care of the home.
But also having the standards for your operations.
I think a lot of property managers try and scale, scale, scale and then they have like, you know, 500 homes with lack of operations on the cleaning side, on, you know, just the overall management.
And so I think as we have scaled from 0 to now 80 properties, every single home we take on, we make sure that it fits all the criteria. We have to make sure that the owners are under the impression that, you know, when they come stay at their property, if they come even for a day, that it's essentially like a hotel. Right. And so every time you leave, regardless of, you know, how long you're staying, if it's just for a day, you have to make sure that, you know, those properties are, are prepared and ready for the next guest. Because I think we run such a professional operation that a lot of property managers that I've seen in the past don't really take things as seriously as we do. And it's such an interesting industry and you know, division of business that a lot of people wouldn't take serious. And so anyway, just for us having those standards up front of, you know, how we're going to run the business, every single property and every property owner have to understand that we do things a little over the top because a lot of our homeowners have second homes in Aspen or Florida and so they have property managers. So they've dealt with them in the past. And so every single time an owner comes to us after having a property manager somewhere else, they're like, wow, you guys really do things differently. I'm like, well, I think that should be the standard. I think vacation rentals nowadays have such a bad rapid just because especially with property managers, you know, people don't pick up the phone, they don't, you know, do what they say they're going to do. And cleanliness, I think is one of the top priorities. So we've really been able to hone in on that and perfect that as we scale.
[00:04:58] Speaker B: Yeah, I think a lot of property managers kind of treat cleaners as a cost center to streamline and to cut costs. And instead of spending extra, they're like, whoa, well, why would I pay this person $500 a clean when this person over here charges 250 a clean? Or, you know, the bigger property managers just pay them like $20 per house or $50 per house and it shows in the results of the cleaning. So I think that, sure, that's really, to me, the most important thing. There is nothing more important than cleaning, not revenue management, nothing than having clean.
[00:05:33] Speaker C: Well, you could have a, you know, $5 million vacation rental that, you know, make, you know, you're, they're paying 5,000 a night, for example. I mean, when they arrive and they see a property's not clean, they're going to cancel their reservation. So I think it's, you know, you can have all the nice things, the well designed, but if you don't have your cleanliness, I mean, it just stock and work.
[00:05:59] Speaker B: Totally agree with that. Now, we jumped right into that because that's how, how I led up because that was my first impression of the, this property, your management company and you. And you know, now here you are a couple years later on the show and I've never been able to tell you that, but let's tell our listeners a little bit about you, how you got into this business and Hostie.
[00:06:19] Speaker C: Sure.
So April this year would be five years. So we kind of entered this market right after Covid.
I couldn't imagine doing this during COVID I think I probably would have quit, but we started with one property. I am Texas A and M graduate.
After I graduated, I knew I was going to do something in hospitality, but I just didn't know what. And I've always been a firm believer in, you know, provide, find where there's a need and provide a solution.
And in our small town and in our area, Roundtop is population, I think it's 90 now.
There's not a lot of opportunity. And so I saw where, you know, I think my mother had an opportunity to manage this Airbnb and she's like, you know, I know nothing about this, but maybe you can look into it.
So as soon as I kind of developed and started my company, I'm like, okay, there is such a need for this. I have to learn more, more, more.
So, you know, I paid for all the like I think it was do you know, thanks for visiting. Oh, yeah, yeah. So join that group.
You know, got involved, started networking with everyone I could that's in the space because in our area, there's really no one that does what we do and to the level.
And so, you know, just like trying to find mentors, couldn't really find anyone. So just, you know, basically learned all that I could, you know, branded really well. I come from a marketing background, so I knew how to market myself and market our services, but in a way that is attracting, you know, a lot of our second homeowners in Round Top are, they're very high net worth people. You know, why would they trust me to rent out their $5 million asset?
So.
And you'll, you'll laugh at this. When I first started out, I had no contract, I had no management contract.
[00:08:10] Speaker B: Oh my goodness.
[00:08:11] Speaker C: Yeah. I said, you know what, it's based on a handshake. This is all the things that we say we're going to do. And then hopefully, you know, you trust that we'll fulfill those, you know, services later on. Obviously, now I have a contract. I think it's one of the most important things we learned. I was young. I was young. I'm 30 hard way.
Luckily, I never got screwed over.
[00:08:36] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:08:36] Speaker C: People paid on time. People don't pay on time anymore.
That's a internal conflict we need to figure out. I'm just too nice. And so now that you, as you scale, you can't be loose anymore. You have to have tight, you know, rules. And a lot of my homeowners, when they first started with me, every time we send out an email with a new policy, they're like, man, really, does that apply to us? I'm like, yeah. I mean we, you know, as you grow, you can't just be the good old boy anymore. You've got to like, you've got to run a business. I mean, it's operation anyway. I'm trying to think where, where I was going with that. But.
So we're in Central Texas. Round Top is between Houston and Austin. So we're a very central location for, you know, people wanting to escape the city.
Believe it or not. I mean our occupancy I think year round is about 30%. And I tell everyone for not having a beach, river, lake, you know, there's no, there's no attraction besides antiques or just the small charm of this area, the small town charm. There's really nothing to do. And so it's interesting how many people come to our area just to kind of slow down and they don't need much. And so our, our guests can be a little less high maintenance than I think somewhere where there's A destination, because people really kind of want you to plan their trip and tell you all the things to do. You know, we don't have many restaurants. There's, you know, unless you venture out. But Round Top is such a unique town because we have the antique show two times a year. You've got.
I don't quote me on this. Someone told me a number. I'm like, no way. I think it's a hundred thousand or two hundred thousand people that come through our. Our little town within a span of 17 nights, and that's twice a year. And we host, you know, celebrities. We have, you know, people flying in on their private jets. I mean, people flying in on their helicopters. I get the. I see the texts come in and they're like, hey, our pilot needs to know where we can land in the pasture. I'm like, in the past, there are cows in that pasture. You can't just land your helicopter, you know, so we get, we. We get the. Yeah, we get the craziest people. We hosted Kevin Bacon last summer for about three months because they were filming a movie. So, you know, it's a mix of variety of people. Why. Why they're coming to this area. But yeah, yeah, so is that.
[00:11:04] Speaker B: It's mainly the antique show, right? It's like a huge, huge, huge antique show. And I've seen a lot of influencers lately talking about, oh, I've been dying to get to Round Top. I finally made it to Round Top, and you said there's 90 people that live there.
It's crazy.
And all of these people are coming in. A lot of your. Your clients have second homes here and in Aspen. So is it just the antiques that makes people want to have a nice place here or. Or people to travel and stay in these properties or what exactly is it just the antique show?
[00:11:39] Speaker C: We. There's a lot of weddings now.
But to be honest, I think people who live in the city, they. They get so tired of the hustle and bustle and the traffic and just all the things that. It's just a place where they can come and escape with their family and enjoy. You know, in your rental, you may have, like, a pond where you can go fishing. You know, the kids can go fishing for the first time. They see a coyote. They see, you know, cows of the neighboring, you know, pasture. So it's just a different experience than you would receive than if you were going to the beach or, you know, going to a lake. I think, like, the slowdown, just the countryside of just being on land is something that people desire because they get burnout from the city.
So, and I think it being so central, it's a great meeting spot for people in between Houston and Austin.
Yeah,
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[00:13:28] Speaker B: yeah, so you've got a few restaurants, like if, if somebody's coming there and they need to go to the grocery store, like where's the closest decent sized town? Is that like Lagrange? Is it by La Grange?
[00:13:39] Speaker C: Yeah, so kind of in between Lagrange and Brenham. So Brenham is going to be your biggest city and they have an heb and Walmart and I think actually Walmart delivers now, which is crazy. All the way to round top. Yeah, we do have a little store in town, Round top Mercantile that you can get, you know, basic things. But that's another reason why we offer grocery delivery is because, you know, in such a rural destination, people are getting in late at night, they have no groceries.
So our grocery delivery service is actually pretty popular just because of our, you know, where all the properties are laid out.
[00:14:18] Speaker B: Okay, so I want to hear about. Okay, you're managing properties that have like a 30% occupancy rate. A lot of investors get so hung up on average daily rate and occupancy rate, whereas I typically only look at the gross annual income.
So for a property, maybe you can give us an example that has a 30% occupancy rate. What kind of annual income are you looking at on these?
[00:14:43] Speaker C: I would say about in between. Depends on how many it sleeps and depends on if it has a pool.
I'd say between they're probably grossing between 100 and I think our highest is maybe 2 50.
[00:14:57] Speaker B: Wait, so let's, let's talk about the highest one. How big is that?
[00:15:02] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:15:02] Speaker B: And does it have a pool? And how much does something like that cost?
[00:15:06] Speaker C: Well, that one's actually for sale right now for 10 million.
[00:15:09] Speaker B: 10 million?
[00:15:10] Speaker C: They're due 10 million.
And I believe it's on 40 acres. It's a huge villa and then there's like extra guest cottages. So I think that they do about 300.
[00:15:22] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:15:23] Speaker C: So that sleeping total, I think, combined, I want to say maybe 25 people.
[00:15:29] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:15:29] Speaker C: And then what about compound?
[00:15:32] Speaker B: Okay, let's talk about then what one that will do a hundred thousand. What does that kind of look like in terms of.
In terms of how big is it, how many bedrooms, how many people does it sleep? How much does something like that cost?
[00:15:50] Speaker C: It's crazy because they. They all vary. We either have properties that are in town, in Round Top, you know, where you can walk everything, or you have a ranch that's 10 minutes down the road. I would say they're at least sleeping 10 plus, you're looking at probably in
[00:16:05] Speaker B: between
[00:16:07] Speaker C: 1 to 2 million.
Okay.
On the low side, Round Top, the price of really, I mean, everything is really high here.
The market hasn't really leveled out yet. I think sellers are a little unrealistic on, you know, we need to.
Because the problem is when they bought four or five years ago, we were at the height of the market. I mean, real estate was about a million an acre in town, and it kind of still is in Round Top.
So, you know, it's hard to get good deals anymore. And I think that scares a lot of folks for investing here. And I always say you have to be emotionally attached to the properties that you're buying, because if you're not going to use them, there's no way you're going to cash flow enough to really get the return that you need. And so our market is not strictly investors. It's people who want second homes that are going to use them, come, you know, once a month, maybe even more.
So if they can justify that, they can justify, you know, okay, it's going to pay for itself. Maybe.
It depends on how people are, you know, how they're purchasing the properties. If they're just doing cash or they're doing ten 31s, you know, everyone has a very interesting, you know, way of doing that. But a lot of these homes also have been owned in their families for many years. And so the kids inherit them.
They're like, what do we do with this?
We don't want to sell. So, you know, obviously renting is a great way to do that. You know, pay for the property taxes, pay for the upkeep. Because when you have larger tracts of land, you know, there's a lot going on there. There's a lot of maintenance, fences, you know, you've got your cows or whatever, you Know, whatever you have on the property for your AG exemption.
There's just a lot, lot of more moving parts in the country I feel than you know, just a small like one bedroom cottage, you know, close to downtown Austin.
So it's a whole different ball game.
[00:17:59] Speaker B: I'm looking at properties on Zillow now because I was so shocked by those numbers for this town to be this small and they're really not to be a whole lot to do.
So I'm looking at Zillow and like everything a 2800 square foot house, four bedroom, four bath, 2.6 million.
Are these like ranch type houses that have a lot of acreage usually or.
[00:18:24] Speaker C: Man, it just depends. I mean you can.
In town, I'm trying to think what the most recent sale was.
Which one are you looking at? I'm just curious, what, what road is that on?
[00:18:35] Speaker B: Well now I found a deal for 1.8.
Okay. It was, where did it go?
[00:18:44] Speaker C: I'm finding a lot of problems. So I have kind of become the resource and the kind of go to person for agents. If they have a buyer looking at one of their listings, they'll say, hey, can you please, you know like help run the numbers on this.
The problem we're running into is it's only like a two bed, two bath in town for, you know, 1.7. Well obviously if you're sleeping only four people, there's no way you can cash flow enough to even justify the purchase. So if some, you know that, that, that can be the hardest thing because in our, in Round Top, I mean you've got a lot of homes that were built in the 80s, the 90s, early 90s and so they were much smaller and it's hard to justify. Okay, I'm going to spend 1.7 for a 2, 2. That maybe is going to generate 60,000 a year. I mean just, you can't justify it and then you know, adding on to it would be a substantial amount. So you know, it's, this is not a place for investors who are looking for short term gain. It's the appreciation in this area. I have never seen anything like it. That's where you really cash out. And that's what I try to educate investors on is if you can hold it for five years, you might be buying it for 1.2. But I think maybe by that time It'll be worth 3 million. So you can pay for itself, hold onto it, then you know that's where you're going to cash out.
[00:20:15] Speaker B: Okay, pardon me for the brief interruption from the doordash man who brought my much needed venti iced coffee.
[00:20:21] Speaker C: Starbucks.
[00:20:23] Speaker B: I hate to do it, you know, I'd much rather support local. But I went. I walked across to the local one earlier, and it had a line of like 20 people, and I didn't have time, which I'm so happy for them, though, because they're amazing. They're called Kith and Ken. And you should. You should go if you're in 38. Anyway, so I'm completely fascinated by this area now because everything is so nice that I just looked out on Zillow and everything's so expensive, and it actually makes me want one because I'm like, what? I have fomo. Like, what do I want? A ranch in Texas. So who.
If it's really hard to make the numbers work here, yet there is enough vacation rental demand to, you know, warrant having a property management business.
[00:21:03] Speaker A: Who.
[00:21:04] Speaker B: Who are the people that are buying these? Like, what are they buying these for? Because it actually kind of brings me back full circle to the first property that I walked through of yours, of how clean it was, that it almost felt like somebody's vacation home that people don't actually rent, even though they do. You kind of have to run your business like that because these are, I would imagine, true vacation homes that people are just renting when they're not there.
[00:21:28] Speaker C: Right.
Majority of my clients are out of Houston.
You've got, you know, oil and a lot of oil and gas money.
A lot of these folks have bought these properties. In terms of retiring in a few years, I would say the demographic of my homeowners are probably late 50s and up.
You don't really find a lot of young.
Not a lot of young people have the capital to just put 3 million into something and cash flow 200.
It just doesn't make sense to them.
A lot of my clients, I think, also have bought, you know, before COVID and have held these homes for so long.
A lot of these second homes kind of sit for a while. I think a lot of what I've just seen in the past. A lot of people think it's a great idea because their friends have places here or, you know, they've always wanted to buy. The wife always wanted to buy in Round Top because she comes for the antique show. And I think it'd be a great escape from the city.
Well, depending on what's going on in their life. Their kids are graduating, they're going to college. They don't come as much as they used to, but they really don't want to sell it. And so they call me and say, hey, we only use this property two times a year.
We got to figure out what we're going to do. And so I think most people are buying properties now at these prices because they're planning to retire.
And, you know, everyone has. Has different interests, but most. I mean, I have a ton of buyers right now looking for a specific property, but they are doing 10, 30 ones or, you know, they need to put money somewhere for tax purposes. So truly it is an investment. But they're also looking at it as, you know, emotional attachment where they want to spend more time with their kids. And so getting out to the country on the farm is a way to do that and interact with no electronics, no devices, all the things. So, yeah, it's a very interesting market of people looking. And we have a lot of.
For the antique show because people are coming from all over the world. You also have people out of California.
You have people out of the country buying because they also stay here during the antique show.
And for any vendor that stays during the show, they're typically here for a month at a time. So two months out of the year, they are having to rent something else. So they may be spending 10,000amonth, twice a year. They've been doing this for five years. They're like, you know what? Let's just invest in Round Top because we see the growth.
And I think five years ago, if everyone knew how crazy it would be now, I think everyone would have bought land and bought houses when it was a little more affordable.
[00:24:19] Speaker B: Yeah, well, wouldn't we all? Anywhere. Yeah.
[00:24:21] Speaker C: And that's just anywhere. Yeah.
[00:24:24] Speaker B: Okay, well, so this is only an hour and a half from Houston, so it's really not terrible in terms of you wouldn't, like, commute into work, but it's a definitely a weekendable place. And you can get to Houston for everything in the world in an hour and a half.
[00:24:39] Speaker A: So.
[00:24:39] Speaker C: That's right. Houston, Austin, airports is a breeze. Most people fly in the Austin, but it's. It's a unique place. It's unique enough that people continue to buy here.
[00:24:50] Speaker B: Yeah, the houses are very pretty. The land is very pretty.
[00:24:55] Speaker C: Yeah, it's.
People always say, like, what. What's the best thing about Round Top? What's so great? I'm like, I don't know. You just have to come here and see it for yourself.
There's really no frills. There's no. I mean, we have a few great restaurants that have been around for a really long Time Reuters Cafe. I mean, they have the best pies that you'll ever have in your life. And so they've been on multiple TV shows and they've had a lot of PR where in the past, you know, people drive hours away to just come to Royers to eat their pie. And so, you know, we have a few of those like mom and pop still places that are still around that people still like to come to. And it's just, you know, the people here are really nice.
They're just, you know, small town people who thrive on tourism. So the arts are a big thing here.
You know, antiques and so yeah, it's just a very interesting. It's interesting from my perspective because I grew up here, actually grew up in lagrange, but we used to drive through Round Top all the time. And you know, it definitely isn't.
Wasn't what it is now back then. And so it's just, it's interesting from my perspective compared to what someone else would say about it.
That's not from here, so.
[00:26:08] Speaker B: Well, guys, listeners, I think that this should really be an inspiring story for you if you want to start a property management company in a town that maybe you live in that you know a lot about that's similar to this. But sometimes I feel like people get really discouraged about the Smokies or Panama City beach if they're. They feel like if they're not in one of these big name markets that, oh, I shouldn't bother because whatever. And the competitive edge that you have in any market anywhere, whether anybody knows about it or not, is market knowledge. So I always use the example. I could be super successful in Starkville, Mississippi, where I'm from, because I know everything about it, who comes and when and what would work. Whereas somebody coming in from Omaha may have a hard time because they don't. It's not the same type of town. So you've really, Lindsay, done a good job of like embodying that.
This is a tiny town of farms and ranches halfway between two larger towns that has a few big kind of tourism events a year and you've been able to build a successful property management company around it. And I find that really inspiring. And hopefully we have some listeners who maybe will get off the sidelines this year and just start because they listen to you and thanks so much for coming on.
[00:27:26] Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely. It's, you know, the rural market for short term rentals. Every time we go to a conference and we're talking numbers and kind of how they're operating, they Operate totally different than we do in a rural market just because they have more occupancy. But for us, we stay pretty steady throughout the year unless it's, you know, the heat of the summer, it's like 100 plus degrees. If a place doesn't have a pool, like, no one's coming just because it's too hot. But with, with our small operation, we are able to build relationships. And I think goes back to what you're saying, you know, if you're from a small town and you want to start a property management company where you're from, because you know the market in and out, it's also the people that, you know, you know, our guests, we have a lot of word of mouth there, you know, in town, maybe had too much to drink or they like, want to stay the night. Most people would say, oh, my gosh, call Lindsey with Hostie. Or if we have a problem with a house, you know, all of our contract labor, all of our H vac, plumbers, electricians. If there's ever something that happens, like we have everyone in our back pocket because, number one, they know who we are. We're local people. It's, it's very interesting. People that are from here, like locals, they don't like outsiders. And I think that kind of is, you know, standard in a lot of places.
[00:28:42] Speaker B: That's a tourist mentality for sure.
[00:28:44] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. So we, we, we do a really good job and you have to maintain these relationships and you have to pay people well and treat them well because it is a market, it is an industry of like, you know, you got to get here quick. You can't just, oh, I'll get to it in a day.
So we've done a really good job of that and I'm really proud of that in such a small, small, small space.
And we have a great team. I mean, I couldn't do this without my team. And so, you know, you have to treat people well. Know what you're doing. Yeah.
[00:29:14] Speaker B: So you mentioned your team and the standard of cleaning we've already established is high. How do you teach a new cleaner how to make sure they're hitting that bar and not just doing the bare minimum, like vacation rental turn, leaving the, you know, for leaving the floor sticky or forgetting to wipe out the inside of the microwave. How do you kind of quality control that?
[00:29:36] Speaker C: So I actually, I don't really manage cleaners anymore. My mother works for me full time.
She, growing up, she would be cleaning office spaces and cleaning houses and things like that. So she she knows the standard more than I do of how things should look.
The reason why they do so good, I would say, hopefully my mom doesn't hear this. They don't want to hear from my mother because my mother will find something small and say, hey, you texting them, sending them photos?
No, the standards. I think we usually interview people first and then put them on a, you know, one house just to kind of see what they do.
And a lot of times you can tell really quick if a cleaner is going to be, you know, lazy and not, you know, finish things to completion. And so we've been able to hold our. I think we have about 30 cleaners.
[00:30:31] Speaker B: Oh, wow.
[00:30:32] Speaker C: Yeah. Seasonal. We don't use every single cleaner every weekend, but we've been able to, you know, raise our clean fees in order to attract these quality people that stick with us and stay with us, because they know during the show they're going to be making, I mean, a substantial amount of money because you're cleaning, you know, one house every day, maybe two houses, and you're averaging probably $500 each day for 17 days.
So in order to answer your question, how do we find these people? It's kind of extensive. I use Forewarn, the background check app.
I love Forewarn. Yeah, Love it. You can find out so much about people. And not to say that you shouldn't hire someone based on something that happened 10 years ago. I think we're firm believers in giving everyone a chance. And if they're a good cleaner, you know, they have something on their record from 20 years ago, you know, still give that person a chance. But people know our standards and they. I think they're kind of scared to mess up. So I think that's how we can kind of keep the right people, because it is work. I mean, it's. When I first started, I was scrubbing toilets, I was making the beds. And when I first started, I knew if I was going to hire anyone, you have to know firsthand what that job entails.
And so with our first property, we would hire people. You know, I had cleaned it in maybe three hours, but this next cleaner we hired took five or six hours. I'm like, what? You know, I know exactly what it takes. So obviously, I don't think this is going to be a good fit because, you know, it's taking too long.
So I think also knowing for the role as a cleaner, what that takes, I think it's easier to be able to hire people because you kind of have that expectation because you. You've done it.
[00:32:19] Speaker B: So I got, I jumped straight into the cleaning and the fascination with the market that I forgot to ask you at the beginning of the interview about how many properties you managed. You mentioned 30 cleaners. So that's a lot.
[00:32:30] Speaker C: We have, I think we're at about 80. 80. I think we'll.
[00:32:35] Speaker B: In the town of people.
[00:32:37] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:32:38] Speaker B: Okay. You have almost as many properties under manage people as there are people in the town.
[00:32:46] Speaker C: Yeah, I know.
You know, our county is just. There's a lot of little cities and it's, it's very spread out. I don't even know the radius. But our county is very large and so we do it in Wimberley as well. So, you know, that's like our largest. I mean, sorry, our furthest property that we manage. That's about. I think it's like an hour 30 from us.
But yeah, we, I mean we've really. We're the largest lodging operator in our whole county, so we can house.
[00:33:16] Speaker B: I would imagine you are.
[00:33:18] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:33:19] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:33:20] Speaker C: I'm so proud of that. I hope I can say that for a long time. But we kind of. Yeah, we definitely have cornered the market in a way that no one else has. But we also turn away people every week.
We have so many people inquiring for, you know, hey, I just bought this little cottage and we want to rent it out. Well, now we're so selective on who we take on because I know what makes money. The last thing I want to do is take on a property that is going to sit there and then their country and then. Yeah, yeah. It just streamline. We've, we've really tried to diversify what we were doing in the beginning to now just doing more luxury, high end and yeah, it's, it's awesome.
[00:34:05] Speaker B: That is so crazy. 80 properties and 90 people in the town.
Man.
Now I have to come. Now I've got to make a trip.
[00:34:14] Speaker C: You've got to come. Yeah, I will. But come during an antique show because that's kind of when you know all the things are going on. There's a lot of events and really cool stuff. But I mean, outside of the show too, you have to experience it because it's very slow paced and we do have more festivals coming year round. We have a film fest now that is, I think this year Kevin Bacon is going to preview his, the movie he shot here. So that'll be really fun.
Yeah, that was the coolest thing ever, having him stay with us.
But you know, we have people that are from Houston and Austin that are willing to invest in this area because they see the potential of growth for our tourism and a lot of people don't like that. But it's coming.
There's more, more year round venues now, so.
[00:35:05] Speaker B: Yep, I hear you well. So I want to hear about 80 properties is a lot. So I've noticed that, you know, we'll have clients who buy five, six properties and they decide they want to become property managers and then they either quit after a couple years or cap it at like 20. So how have you scaled to that many properties while still keeping that same level of quality and also not ripping your hair out?
[00:35:31] Speaker C: A lot of prayers and a lot of just believing that it's all going to work out. You know, I think it's funny, it's like, do we all really, do we really know what we're doing?
No, we, you know, as we have scaled, I had to hire the right people and I had to learn how to delegate because I'm a control very, very much control freak. And if I wouldn't have hired the right people, I don't think we could have scaled. I remember I used to talk to all my owners one on one and it got to a point where as we were growing and scal and our owners become more high maintenance I guess is what you could call that.
It got to the point where I'm like, okay, if we take on one more property, like we have to add one more person. And I think that's what's been the hardest because we are so seasonal.
It's not like we have a ton of income, you know, coming in on the management side. So it's been honestly to like, to answer your question, I just feel like we just kind of wing it.
And I think anyone who has scaled like hospitality is hard to scale.
I think it is a beast. And there are some weeks where it's great and then some weeks where it's like, you know, everything's going wrong, everything's breaking down. Owners want to fire you, they want to question your contract, they want to, you know, all the things and so. But luckily we built. We're so transparent with our owners that. And we have such a great owner and guest relations employee that they don't, we don't get those questions, we don't get those calls anymore. They just, you know, they like seeing money come in and everything looks good, then no need to call us.
But I do, I have noticed a lot of our clients are now eventually trying to sell.
There's a lot. When I first started, I Think there was maybe 75 rentals on Airbnb and now there's like 400.
So our market's oversaturated, but it's oversaturated with properties that aren't unique. And I call them amateur hosts.
The people who self manage, they don't know how to price their properties.
So then the ones that are professionally managed seem way too high because, you know, Sally doesn't have a clean fee. And Sally rents her house for $100 a night when it should be 500. So I, I call, I have her. I have labeled them as amateur hosts. And so you deal with a lot of those. So anyway, we have a great team and how I've been able to keep it together is just I have a very calm demeanor and so I don't hits the fan. I'm like, you know, we'll figure it out.
And I don't take no for an answer. So I think that's really been, you know, people love to push people over.
[00:38:20] Speaker B: I'll just say that, yes, they do. Well, I am so impressed with this business that you've built in this tiny little area.
We're going to have to have you on again sometime, and I think the listeners are really going to love this one. And before we close it out with the last three questions of the show, is there anything else about your story or building a property management business or working in a small town like this that you feel like our listeners would benefit from hearing?
[00:38:49] Speaker C: I think you have to have, you have to really understand your why in hospitality. You have to really figure out why you're doing what you're doing.
And for us, it's the, you know, knowing that a family that stayed this weekend was able to unplug, stay in the country, hear a coyote howl for the first time, catch their first fish. You know, seeing those reviews come in of like, what their experience was, that to me is like my why.
Also, you know, we provide jobs in our area where, you know, what they're getting paid is way more than what any hourly rate would be. So we're able to provide experiences. We're able to provide, you know, resources to people who might not be able to find them.
And so I think really loving what you do is so important. I think a lot of people are just in things for the money. And obviously, while we do need the money, I think if you really figure out why you're doing, what you're doing is really the game changer. And I think everything else just falls into place.
[00:39:50] Speaker B: Yeah, totally agree with that. All right, last three questions of the show. First question, what advice would you give 20 year old Lindsey if you knew then what, you know now?
[00:40:03] Speaker C: You know, I would say a lot of young, young people nowadays think that they just should come out of college making all this money.
While I may have thought that myself, every job I had, whether it be small, you know, admin task assistant type work to maybe a higher level, you don't realize when you're so young all of these jobs that you're taking are just stepping stones. And I think so many people want to start out right off the gate, like just head first.
And I think you have to have a lot of experience working with different types of people, you know, working in different industries so that you can take all that knowledge. And then when you do start your own business, if that's what you want to do, you have all of these different, you know, backgrounds that you can compile into one thing. So I think, you know, it would be always staying true to yourself. But also don't think that any job is too small for you because you never know where you're going to end up. So I think that's huge.
[00:41:08] Speaker B: Yeah, great advice. And I know I was like, I have to do what for how long?
[00:41:14] Speaker C: Right, Right. Yeah.
[00:41:17] Speaker B: All right, second question. What advice do you have for a new short term rental investor or property manager who's getting started today?
[00:41:26] Speaker C: Okay, investor. I think you need to find someone who knows what they're talking about.
They need to have some credentials of something in the short term rental background.
Definitely finding an educated real estate agent who is specific to that area.
For property managers, man, it's, it's a, this, this industry is not for the week and I think you would, you know that.
I think, you know, going back to like, you know, just understanding why you're getting into what you're getting into. I think so many people are doing it for the money and they're scaling and they just don't do it for the right reasons, I guess. And so I think, you know, your more professionally managed companies are the ones that are going to succeed. Boutique, I guess you would call it, not like large scale. Just because I think they'll, they'll have it all nailed down. So anyway, I think, I don't think I answered that question, but I think it went off. Of course.
[00:42:23] Speaker B: No, perfect. That's great advice. And last question, what's your favorite book that's impacted your mindset?
[00:42:30] Speaker C: Definitely Unreasonable Hospitality. Will Guardia.
[00:42:33] Speaker B: I can tell having been in your properties and Talking to you. I knew you were going to say that.
[00:42:38] Speaker C: Heard him speak at a darm conference in. What was that? Miramar beach, last December.
You know, if people haven't read that book yet, I think even without being in hospitality, it's a great understanding of knowing about people going the extra mile.
Customer's always right. And I think, you know, as long as you're really honing in on that and doing things over the top, you know, yeah, you might spend an extra hundred dollars doing something special for a guest, but it's how people are. It's how people feel. It's how you make them feel that I think that's. That's the, you know, best thing you could do, especially in hospitality. So. Totally. That book. Live and Die and breathe, that book.
[00:43:21] Speaker B: Great book.
[00:43:22] Speaker C: I have a signed coffee. Oh, wow.
[00:43:24] Speaker B: That's cool.
[00:43:25] Speaker C: Yeah.
Yeah, he's awesome.
[00:43:28] Speaker B: Yes, he is.
And that is it for the show. So, Lindsay, if our listeners want to find you, your properties, your social media, how can they do that?
[00:43:39] Speaker C: So hosting vacation rentals on Instagram or my personal page, which is so boring, is selling Round Top and yeah, just shoot us a DM and would love to connect and help others trying to get into the industry and give my advice.
[00:43:54] Speaker B: Awesome. Love that.
[00:43:55] Speaker C: Well, also, if you want to buy. If you want to buy in Round Top.
[00:43:58] Speaker B: Yes, if you want to buy in Round Top, which now minimal million dollars
[00:44:03] Speaker C: to enter this market.
[00:44:05] Speaker B: It's so cool though. I have the fomo. I'm gonna be looking around.
[00:44:09] Speaker C: I know.
All right, well, thank you again so much for coming on.
[00:44:14] Speaker B: And listeners will.
[00:44:16] Speaker C: Yeah, sounds good. Thank.
