[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.
[00:00:29] Speaker B: Hey, y'.
[00:00:29] Speaker A: All.
[00:00:29] Speaker B: Welcome back to the Short Term Show. Got a really cool guest today. We're going to talk about some design, a lot of different things, but first, we are, as always, hiring agents in a number of vacation rental markets. So I think we've got Park City, Outer Banks, the Smokies, and Angel Fire, New Mexico. So if you guys are an agent in one of those markets, email us at
[email protected]. we would love to talk to y'.
[00:00:54] Speaker A: All. And.
[00:00:55] Speaker B: And now on to our guests. We have Celeste Durocco and Philip Payne with Parkland Interiors, which I'm really surprised we have not had them on yet because I see their name all the time. A lot of our clients use them, so really glad to have them on finally. How are y' all doing today? Celeste and Philip, Great.
[00:01:12] Speaker A: Doing good, thanks. Hey, how are you?
[00:01:14] Speaker B: Thanks for having us. Yeah, thanks so much for coming on. Why don't y' all just start with telling us a little bit about yourselves, how you ended up in the real estate industry and little bit about what y' all are doing.
[00:01:24] Speaker C: Okay, you want me to go?
[00:01:26] Speaker A: Oh, you go first. Okay.
[00:01:28] Speaker C: Well, we.
It started in 2021 is when we actually ventured into the space. But before that I grew. I'm a California gal. Grew up in Southern California, but kind of out in the boonies, in between, kind of halfway in between Los Angeles and Palm Springs and went to usc. We were a big sports family. Every weekend was at tournaments or meets or whatever. So I went to SC for sports and that actually was my first time in Los Angeles, but ended up staying in LA after I graduated.
[00:01:59] Speaker A: Let's just say not just sports, full ride, scholarship, track and field.
[00:02:03] Speaker C: Oh, thanks.
[00:02:04] Speaker B: Oh, wow.
[00:02:05] Speaker A: What event?
[00:02:07] Speaker C: So I, after graduating, didn't know what I wanted to do with my leg.
[00:02:11] Speaker B: I want to hear what event. Don't breeze past that.
[00:02:13] Speaker C: Oh, sorry.
[00:02:14] Speaker B: It's a big deal.
[00:02:15] Speaker C: Javelin and the disc.
Javelin and discus. So kind of weird. Yeah, so I did that.
[00:02:21] Speaker B: How do you get into that? Because, I mean, I'm over here. Like I grew up in the Southeast. We didn't even have a volleyball team. But I don't think I've ever met someone who, except for when I was in college playing athletics that did javelin and discus, especially a woman. So I'd love To hear how you got into that.
[00:02:37] Speaker C: Thanks. So we.
We didn't have it in high school either, so it's kind of weird. I joined a club track team at age 12.
Started throwing the discus and javelin. My sister ran, so she did the running events and I did the throwing events.
[00:02:50] Speaker A: And didn't you hold a record?
[00:02:52] Speaker C: Yeah, at age 12, I broke the American record for the discus. Yeah, that's like my claim to fame still to this day.
I was 12, but.
[00:03:00] Speaker B: Whoa.
[00:03:01] Speaker C: Yeah. So at that point decided to. I should probably stick with it. And then from there on, went to school. Didn't throw after school, which was. I'm kind of regret that. But went to SC on a scholarship so that it paid for my education, so. So that was awesome.
[00:03:16] Speaker B: I love that. And you were about to not even say that and just breeze pass by.
[00:03:23] Speaker C: We're talking about real estate. Right.
So after college, didn't know, you know, early 20s, didn't know what I wanted to do, so stayed in Los Angeles actually.
Waitress was kind of like the shift manager at a restaurant called Sushi on Sunset. So living in Hollywood and that was a lot of fun.
It was right across from the Roxbury. So I'm kind of dating myself because Roxbury doesn't exist anymore.
But waitress at a few different places and then decided, okay, you know, time to join the real world. Well, not that waitressing is not, you know, it's great for then, but.
So I decided to get into sales. And I liked the idea, you know, the more you put in, the more you get out of sales career. If you work hard, you make more money and all of that. So I got into telecom sales.
Promoted a few times in my twenties, managed a bunch of people, had babies, and decided to kind of shift my focus.
Still in sales, but went to corporate insurance at that point.
So babies were born 2008, 2010, and then kind of like on the side. I started Parkland Interiors way back when. And at that point I was focusing on nursery design. But I had big dreams like starting, you know, creating my own textiles and all of that. So 2008, 2010, kids born, parkland Interiors born, but then ended up getting separated.
The stability. Parkland Interiors definitely was put on the back burner at that point and then met him. And I was single mama for about six years. Met Philip in 2018, so. And he was a mile down the road. And we lived. We were neighbors, but didn't know for a long time.
[00:05:09] Speaker A: But yeah, she may have swiped the wrong way on me a couple of times. On the dating app, I think.
[00:05:17] Speaker C: Yeah. So 2018. And then what about your backstory before we met? Pre me.
[00:05:24] Speaker A: Pre me? Well, I talk a little funny. I'm a little wester here, so.
Grew up in Australia.
I actually was a CPA back in Australia of all things.
Didn't really like that being behind the desk all day long. Moved over to the States. My dad lived over here and pretty much since I've been here, I've had a bunch of my own businesses while I've been here. So I've done sales, I've done corporate staffing, I've had a bag manufacturing company, I've had a payday lending company, a corporate finance company, flower delivery company.
We still currently own an F45 training studio, which is a gym.
And now since I met Celeste, we're into the short term rentals and the interior design for short term rentals. So yeah, it's been a big swing. If you'd asked me 10 years ago, would I have a small portfolio of properties and be designing for other people, I would have said, what are you talking about? What even is that?
But here we are.
[00:06:30] Speaker C: So in 2021. 21. Yep. October 21st, we bought our first property. We kind of had that Covid bug where everybody was renovating you properties and we didn't have anything left to do in my tiny place out here. So we decided to find a property that needed a little work. So we went to Gatlinburg first.
And Gatlinburg was honestly, neither of us had been to Tennessee. I hadn't even heard of Gatlinburg. I heard of Dollywood and whatnot. But we did some research. There was a big move from a lot of folks in California moving out to Tennessee. So we knew there was, you know, growth out in that area. And then also just being a big market standalone by itself. So that was our first property in 2021, sight unseen.
[00:07:15] Speaker A: The realtor sent us a video and we're like, oh, we're so cute. What a beautiful little place. Little one bedroom with a loft and
[00:07:21] Speaker C: yeah, yeah, now we have six.
[00:07:25] Speaker A: Six. We've owned seven. We just sold that one in Gatlinburg actually just a few months back. Yeah, we're onto our six capital now. Own six. We got still have the one in Tennessee. We've been buying pretty much 2 since we started. So we have the one in Pigeon Forge. We have three in North Carolina, one in Georgia, and a most recent one up in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, which we're currently renovating. That's our biggest project yet and it's going to be a eight bedroom sleeping 20. So yeah, it's a big project.
[00:07:56] Speaker B: Yeah, that is a big project.
[00:07:59] Speaker D: Are you looking for a change?
Well, the short term shop is hiring realtors.
If you live in or want to move to one of the best vacation markets in the United States, we want you to join the team.
We are a small family owned business, but we are one of the biggest real estate teams in the world.
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[email protected] careers theshortermshop.com careers okay,
[00:08:39] Speaker B: so I'm gonna make you run back through all that again real quick. So where are all your properties that you currently own?
[00:08:45] Speaker A: Okay, so we have, we still have the one in Pigeon Forge, that was our second purchase.
[00:08:49] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:08:50] Speaker A: There's that one in 2022.
And then we moved over the mountain to Bryson City.
[00:08:55] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:08:56] Speaker A: Have two in Bryson City.
[00:08:57] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:08:58] Speaker A: We have one down a little south, a little town called Lake Santitla. If you haven't been to Lake Santitla, pull it up, take a look. It is the most beautiful lake, most serene place we've ever seen. Celeste ran across this place by accident, happened to be driving around. We saw this little a frame for sale. The realtor was behind her randomly. They stopped, started talking. Two months later we owned the property. Yeah, yeah, it's just beautiful little town. Yeah.
And then we have one over in Georgia and now the new one up in Virginia in Massonutton.
[00:09:36] Speaker B: Okay, awesome, awesome. So what made you decide to come all the way over here to the east coast to invest from Los Angeles?
[00:09:46] Speaker C: Yeah, well, buying in California is rough, you know, property values and also property taxes. Property taxes.
[00:09:55] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:09:55] Speaker C: So. So, you know, we kind of are drawn to the region and we feel eventually our kids, our youngest kids are in high school now. And so eventually we feel we're going to make it more of a part or a full time move. So we've just drawn to the region. Love the people, love the area. Beautiful. Just completely different than Southern California. It just kind of feels like our second home now. So that's pretty much why.
[00:10:21] Speaker A: And then, you know, the contractors we've met out there, I mean we have, we met them originally for business, like to do, help us do work on these properties. And they've all become friends. I mean we go out there, we're not renovating a property, we're going out on boats with them, we're having lunch with them, hanging out with them. It's Just become kind of like our second family out there. Yeah, we love it.
[00:10:39] Speaker C: Yeah. Yep. Okay, great.
[00:10:42] Speaker A: And it makes us money out there, so.
[00:10:43] Speaker B: Right.
That certainly doesn't hurt.
[00:10:48] Speaker A: So.
[00:10:48] Speaker B: Well, what I want to hear about now is how you kind of made the jump from Parkland interiors, put on the back burner to doing all of the short term rental design for, like, a lot of people. I hear our clients talk about y'
[00:11:02] Speaker A: all all the time.
[00:11:04] Speaker C: Yeah. So in 2022, so shortly after our first one, the Gatlinburg property, you know, there are all those Facebook groups where you start posting and collaborating or getting ideas from other hosts in the market. So I started posting, Posting a few things about our property because we did quite a few changes from, like, dated property to a lot of different, like painted all the. The wood and things like that. So it was a little fact that it was kind of like, whoa, what are you doing? Painting all this wood. So, yeah, they will.
[00:11:33] Speaker B: They would yell at you. Back in the day, the.
[00:11:36] Speaker A: Our contractor was like, you want to what? You want to paint tongue and groove? No, no, no, I'm not going to do that. And we're like, yeah, we want you to do that. We had a big argument about it, like, yes.
And then another one was, we want to take the pool table out and add bunk beds and a foosball and make it a little bit more of a game room. No, no, no, no, you can't. You have to have a pool table. And we're like, no, we're taking it out.
[00:11:55] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:11:55] Speaker A: So a few little things that they would just.
[00:11:57] Speaker C: Yeah, we feel like, you know, back then it was like, kind of rare that you were doing that. But to me, I'm like, everybody has Pinterest. Everybody has ideas of what they would like their. Their property or a vacation to look like. So we kind of took the risk and painted a bunch of walls and whatnot. So I started posting and other hosts would reach out saying, hey, who did your design? And I said, we did it. And they asked, can you do it? I'm like, we're all the way in California, so it probably can't happen. So the wheels started turning. We did ours remotely. Never saw the property, planned it all before we went out there. So I said, why can't you do that? For other hosts Researched and it found out that it's quite common in the short term rental market to Design virtually in 2022. Was first client. Then just really started putting into kicking it into gear. But with my corporate career, you know, doing it at Nights, weekends, and just trying to get it. Take. Get it off the ground. And 20, 22, we had about 10 clients maybe, but then it just took off from there. And then Fast forward to April 24th. I left my corporate job and then doing this all full time. So.
Yeah, okay.
[00:13:06] Speaker B: Love that. And how many. How many properties would you say you have design for short term rentals, specifically over the years?
[00:13:14] Speaker C: Yeah, I tried to go back and look over 200, between 250, somewhere around there. A lot. Yeah.
[00:13:21] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:13:21] Speaker B: Wow. All in the Smokies are all. All over.
[00:13:25] Speaker C: All over and. But a lot in that region. But there are a few markets that are very kind of repetitive for us because I think we just start building relationships and referrals. And so the Smokies definitely a lot in that market, the Shenandoah market, a lot. We've got relationships with contractors, property managers.
And Poconos is actually kind of big lately. Just in the past couple months, about four or five properties in the Poconos. We have one of our clients, he helped with the setup a couple years ago. He's a big referral source for us, and we have a good relationship with him.
[00:14:00] Speaker A: Florida. We got quite a few more down in Florida.
[00:14:02] Speaker C: Yeah, down in Florida. So. And then just spread out and then,
[00:14:05] Speaker A: you know, we've done them in Maine. We've done Colorado, Washington, everywhere. So we've gone all over the country. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:14:12] Speaker B: What would you say is your favorite market to design in?
[00:14:16] Speaker C: Oh, it's tough because we do so many, like, mountain markets. But it's so fun to do. We're doing a big one in Myrtle beach right now. It's just so fun to shift gears and get creative doing different markets. But we liked the Shenandoah Market area a lot. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.
[00:14:34] Speaker B: So I would imagine you've done all different sizes from, like, studios on up to big, huge properties.
[00:14:41] Speaker C: Yeah, that's part of the whole 200 to 2. You know, some of them, when we say we designed that many, most are like full property, but, you know, some of them are just like a game room or a garage conversion or something like that. But we. We've a lot of folks, and this is what we like to do with our properties is, you know, find the diamond in the rough. Convert the five bedroom to the eight bedroom or the three bedroom to the four bedroom. So there's a lot of construction work being done in advance, getting the property, you know, to the optimal guest capacity or whatever the case may be. But so we're managing larger projects and kind of Helping with that pre work in advance. And it's a lot longer process, so. But it's all over the board. Some of them are real quick and easy and some are long process.
Just depends.
[00:15:32] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:15:33] Speaker B: So I have a lot of questions about, you know, just. Just the process in general. So if a new investor is maybe listening to this show and they're like, I really want to buy something, I want to do it the right way. I want to make sure that. That it's got good design. But I want to maybe I don't have, you know, six figures to drop on design. What would be your advice for somebody like that who's getting started?
[00:15:57] Speaker C: Yeah, so obviously finding the right property. Right. Right property and right market and.
But, you know, we realize not everybody does. So we do come from the ROI standpoint or the investor standpoint. You know, you don't necessarily. Even if you have the six figures to drop, you know, you don't always have to drop the six figures.
And then definitely if you don't have the six figures to drop on a remodel or then you're focusing on those areas that give you the most bang for the buck. Where do you spend your dollars?
So obviously, depending on the market, you've got to identify what the amenities are, the bare minimum amenities, and just identifying gaps in the market to differentiate yourself from the competition. And then when it comes to design, having those wow factors spread throughout the property that don't necessarily have to cost
[00:16:46] Speaker A: a lot of money, and finding maybe something that's unique as well. Like with our first cabin in Gatlinburg, we loved it just because it had a little pond next to it. And there's not a lot of cabins have little ponds.
Another one, like our Pigeon Forge one, doesn't have a great view, doesn't have a pond, doesn't have water. But it's a mile off the parkway and there's no steep roads to get to it. And it still has that cabin feel. So it's something unique about that property that people can feel attracted to and want to. Want to book when. When you. When you're scrolling through.
[00:17:18] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:17:22] Speaker B: I mean, getting. I think you kind of hit the nail on the head.
Getting people to stop scrolling and click on your property is, you know, the first step to actually getting bookings and being successful at investing in real estate. So having something in your photos that attracts people to click on, which a lot of times is a. I mean, you got to have professional photos. But good design, you know, it doesn't matter if you have professional photos, if you've got a junkie house that they're taking pictures of.
So what would you say are the top few? Like, bang for your buck. If you only have X amount to. To do in a property or X amount you can spend in a property, what would you say are the biggest bang for your buck? Items like wow factors that if you can't do, if you can't just do a whole immersive design.
[00:18:08] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, paint goes a long way, right? That's like pretty basic.
Paint goes a long way. It can add up. It can be a little pricey for the labor. But obviously paint and accent walls are huge. And they don't have to be super fancy. They don't have to require, like a master carpenter. You know, it can be a basic accent wall to frame that shot in the bedrooms and make your property stand out.
The exterior is huge. You know, folks wanted that whole indoor outdoor living and that whole wellness vibe is big. So if you can find a few key elements to incorporate into your property that make somebody, you know, first of all, make it stand out, but then also kind of attract the whole wellness vibe that folks are looking for when they're looking to be pampered on a vacation. So those types of things are huge. And then, you know, there are minor tweaks that you can do. Bedding, decor items that don't have to break the bank in bathrooms. It's not hard. You know, you get rid of the old mirrors, you replace the light fixtures, the hardware, things like that that really don't have to cost a lot of money. Yeah, yeah.
[00:19:20] Speaker B: I love that you said accent walls because it really does make a huge difference. And I remember back in, you know, the 2016, 17 cleaners and contractors would flip out about you painting the tongue and groove. And I think they just had a weird picture in their head versus what it actually looks like. I've seen so many clients of ours that just buy like a, you know, a grandma cabin and they do like a matte finish, dark gray or white or dark green accent wall. And it just not even the whole thing. I think a lot of times when people were yelling at us back in the day, they thought we were going to paint all everything. But just that one accent wall really does update a fully, you know, yellow pine everywhere tongue and groove cabin and makes it just so much nicer looking. And you're right, it really, I don't think that's too terribly expensive to do. And then having nice bedding, like a lot of that is, is, is a game changer and not expensive to do.
[00:20:19] Speaker C: Yeah. And you know, when you've got wood, wood, wood everywhere, there's this. It kind of is flat on the page when you're scrolling through all the properties. So adding just paint or an accent wall really just adds that depth to the, the property and makes it pop. And it doesn't cost a lot at all. And you just do it strategically throughout the property. If you're not, you know, you don't have to do the entire.
[00:20:39] Speaker A: And we've actually put wallpaper over the Tongue and groove. We've done a few properties like that these days where we'll actually drywall over the top or sheetrock over the top, flatten it and actually drywall that way in the future, if they want to take it down, they could actually take that wall back down and go back to the tongue and groove. And actually we're adding wallpaper over the top of tongue and groove.
[00:20:59] Speaker C: Yeah, we've got a guy in the Smokies. We have somebody who's really good. He's like real meticulous. And so that's just opens up more options. You don't feel like you're stuck because you have all tongue and groove. And again, it's just strategically placed throughout the property. It's not like it's the entire thing. It's still a cabin. Folks still want a cabin when they're going out to the Smokies, I believe. You know, not too modern. Just want that warmth, but just break it up a little bit and make it unique and stand out.
[00:21:26] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:21:26] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:21:27] Speaker B: That's a great tip.
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[00:23:17] Speaker B: flip side of that. What are some of the biggest design mistakes that you see new investors making?
[00:23:24] Speaker A: One I see is, and again, some people like it, I think, because I see a lot of it. But it's going way over the top. Like just throwing money and colors and just throwing a lot of stuff together and just making it like, wow, what is that?
And I don't think it's going to last a long time. And I think it kind of limits your market a little bit when you start throwing the kind of like the circus into your game room or into your backyard and just spending all this money on over the top amenities as opposed to making it more of a cohesive, beautiful design customer experience.
[00:24:05] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm interested to hear y' all say that actually, because that's the opposite of what a lot of designers say is. No, no, we do. We got to fully immersify, like we got to do all these crazy things. But I have noticed, you know, the, the ones that the design is just a nice, beautiful, elevated. This feels very luxury. And I think there's, there is a time and a place for, for the circus. But on the listing side of things, I've had listings where the, they were the circus where they did the fully immersive, like murals in every single room. And it's just really a lot and really crazy. And we had a hard time getting those sold. And a lot of the feedback we would get is, well, you know, it was a. The one I'm thinking of was a pretty big property. It was eight bedrooms, $3 million. And the feedback we got from all the buyer's agents was, yeah, the rental history is great because those properties do rent well. They do make money. The rental history is great and all, but my client for the price point here just wants it to feel a little more luxury for a 3 million doll house. And this feels like, you know, a kid's fun house. So I, I do think that yeah, there's a time and a place for that. But I think overall in terms of A, adding good cash flow and income to your property, but also B, resale value and equity because you don't ever know you're. A lot of times people are not keeping their short term rentals forever. And if you're going to do something really crazy, you need to make sure that you're going to hold that thing for a minimum of 10 years. But if you do something just beautiful and elevated that is appealing to everyone, then you can still, you can sell it, you can get out. Like you're still, you're not cutting off a huge amount of your buyer pool at the end because you do need to have your exit strategy in mind when you're getting into anything.
I'm really excited to hear you guys say that. I think that's such a reasonable answer.
[00:25:59] Speaker C: And it, and there is a time and a place and there are certain markets that kind of call for that. So it just depends. But yeah, we do like that more just like refined, elevated, more approachable, comfortable, you know, looks expensive, but you don't have to do restoration hardware. You know, we partner with Wayfair and we've, we've. Majority of the products in our properties are Wayfair. You, they've got all price points. You know, they're the largest retail marketplace and you know, you don't have to spend like a ton of money to make it look elevated and luxury. But at the same time, we like doing themed properties sometimes too. We did a Notre Dame property where you know, not something that you would see everywhere. But obviously in that market it made sense. So just depends.
[00:26:41] Speaker B: Yeah. And I don't want to like crap on the, the circus properties because I, I do think that there are markets where that's called for, like Bradenton, that works really well. Nashville, Scottsdale, Austin, I think those types of markets, it really does well. But at least in the Smokies and like down here on the Emerald Coast, I think people want to want that more luxury, expensive vibe.
[00:27:03] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. And then other mistakes are just things on like where to spend the money, you know, like we recently had a call with a client where they wanted to remove all shower inserts in the property. There are five bathrooms, they're just shower inserts. You know, you don't have to do a walk in shower with new tile in every single bathroom. That's not the primary focus. And you just kind of have to think what's going to make the property book versus not book. And is it the shower inserts? Probably not. You know, if you want to do that more elevated and so spend money in the primary, that's fine. But instead put the shower curtain, put the stool with the amenities in front of the tub, you know, make it look cute and stage it. You don't have to replace all as long as they're in good condition and yeah, and so those types of things where to spend the money.
[00:27:45] Speaker B: Yeah, I think that's also again really wise. Like they're probably not going to see the shower inserts. Let's put the money elsewhere in places that they are going to see like the kitchen and the game room and things like that.
[00:27:55] Speaker C: Exactly. Yep, yep. Yeah, yeah.
[00:27:58] Speaker A: And also too we do see a lot of clients trying to put too many bodies into a property that just will not accommodate that many people.
I want to fit 20 people in this four bedroom house that's got, you know, a dining table for eight.
[00:28:14] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:28:14] Speaker A: You know, it's that happy medium between cramming enough people in and actually making money with how many people you really should have in there.
[00:28:22] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:28:23] Speaker A: And that just leads to bad reviews and non repeat customers and yeah, so that's another issue we see quite a bit.
[00:28:29] Speaker C: Yep, yeah, yeah.
[00:28:31] Speaker B: I think those are all very good call outs. So where do you see at this point in time the design trends going in the short term rental space over the next few years?
[00:28:43] Speaker C: Definitely the experience is still at the forefront. You know, the guest experience is at the forefront and making sure that the amenities and the space speaks to those guests experiences and maybe even taking it to the next level. You know we've talked about in our larger Bryson City, that's our latest property that went live in June.
It would just be so cool, like how can we enhance the guest experience? Last night actually we got our guests said wow, the details in this property and we just don't even realize that we're doing it. It's just thinking of what they would like from their conveniences and feeling pampered but then taking it to the next level.
Like actually private chef having a masseuse come on site. Kind of what Airbnb is doing with their experience, like being able to find experiences. Can hosts do that and have kind of add on bundles that tie in the design as well as the guest experience. Yeah, but we just haven't figured out how to do that from, like, a liability standpoint as a host and.
And whatnot.
[00:29:50] Speaker A: But all the basic stuff, like the stock coffee bar, making sure, you know, little things like hair bands, makeup removers, the shower stuff, and just all those little bits and pieces that when they get there, it's like, oh, everything's here for me.
It's making them happy when they first walk in and realize that you've taken care and actually thought about what people want when they come in.
[00:30:12] Speaker C: Yeah. And then I think the design just on the design forefront, it's more the natural materials. A lot of folks lately are their appeal to that whole nature inspired stay. And again, it depends on the market, but those organic mixed materials, lots of textures, lots of layers that don't have to be. Not clutter, not expensive, but just enhancing that again, that guest experience. So I think they tied together design and guest experience.
[00:30:39] Speaker B: Yeah, I agree with that totally. So, last question before we get to the lightning round. Last three questions of the show. If somebody's listening to this and they don't own anything yet, and they're trying to think as they're looking, looking at properties, how can I. How can I buy a property? I want to obviously get a good deal. But what. What should they be looking for in terms of properties that lend themselves to be easier to create a nice space?
I don't know if I'm wording that well. Like, you know, if they're looking and there's something that's got, like, you know, super low ceilings, or should, you know, what should they be looking for in places that become easier to design rather than, you know, buying the cheapest thing they can get that, you know, at the end of the day, lipstick on a pig is still lipstick on a pig. So what. What element should they be looking for?
[00:31:26] Speaker C: Yeah, we do have clients sometimes run, you know, before we actually do the design. Hey, we're looking at these two. We don't do it all the time because we can't. But, you know, they'll send like an email.
[00:31:38] Speaker A: Don't trouble me. We don't do it that much.
[00:31:40] Speaker C: Yeah. But, you know, hey, this one or this one, what do you think? Because the fact that we've gone through it, we've designed our own, and investors also there are things, key elements to look at, look for. And I mean, Philip talked about location, obviously, and something that separates yourself just right off the bat, whether it's water, you know, slope ceilings or peak ceilings or whatever it might be that just immediately you can see beautiful view, etc. But then besides that, you just want to make sure there's not, it's not like a full Renault gut job. Like if, you know, if you're going to get into the market, you want to make sure you're at least at that mid tier where you just have to do some light changes if you don't have the big budget.
[00:32:19] Speaker A: But if you're handy and like to do a little bit of work, which is what we like to do, every single one of the properties that we purchased we've done except that first one we've done a pretty major like gut job overhaul on and we like that because number one, we can do it. We're pretty handy and it builds the equity as well.
So like our Bryson City one that we just did, it was an older property. We bought it for 460.
We did have to put, we did a full renovation on that four bedroom, three bath up to a five bedroom, four baths, converted the game room and we were in it for total maybe 780.
It appraised for 1.2.
[00:33:04] Speaker B: Oh wow.
[00:33:05] Speaker A: Now on a real estate market job, we can flip it, turn it, make a nice little profit. And now it's also cash flowing as well. But we did have to put that four months worth of work into it.
But that is the perfect solution for a short term rental property is that you have the equity and you have the cash flow, you could go either way, sell it off, keep it. Yeah, that's an ideal situation to be.
[00:33:28] Speaker C: We have friends who actually just bought in Tennessee and they're looking for their second home property.
They're afraid of that whole like look on paper.
But that's kind of the opposite of what I said. Right.
You know, but I think the shift in the market also if they're, if you're able to wrap your brain around it and you have the funds and you can on paper, it makes sense. The versus looking for turnkey, looking for some. Don't be afraid of needing to do
[00:33:53] Speaker A: some work because the cash on cash still works.
[00:33:56] Speaker C: Well, it's even better if you find the right property better a lot of times versus the turnkey. So yeah, yeah, I agree with that.
[00:34:02] Speaker B: It's nice to have the property that cash flows and the property that has quite a bit of equity in case you ever need to get rid of it or tap into that equity.
You want to have that there.
[00:34:12] Speaker C: All right.
[00:34:13] Speaker B: All right. Well guys, thank you so much for coming on. Now we're to the last three questions of the show that we ask every single guest. First question, what advice would you give 20 year old Celeste and Philip if you knew then what, you know.
[00:34:25] Speaker C: Now for me, I guess it's, yeah, you need the nine to five, you need to pay the bills, but at the same time go after that. You know, I could have been designing for the last X amount of years instead of only the last three. So go after that passion.
Don't let your fears and, you know, get in the way of going after it. But then also I remember in my 20s, I was talking to Philip about it. I swear I went to Starbucks every single morning. I'm like, get a coffee maker, get a toaster.
Like, you know, stop wasting your money on the little things and just start setting it aside.
[00:34:56] Speaker A: And I would have said to myself, I bought my first property back in Australia when I was 24.
I would have said to myself, don't sell it or, you know, kind of, or buy some more. Don't just buy one and then sell it and don't do it again for another 15 years.
Real estate, pretty much majority of millionaires in this country have real estate portfolios. So I would say just start early on the real estate. And that's what I'm telling the children. Yeah, my old, our oldest son, he's 22. Like, okay, you need to have a property before you're 30.
You know, start building that real estate wealth now.
That's what I would tell myself.
[00:35:37] Speaker B: Yep, all good advice.
Second, what advice would you give a new investor who's looking to get started today
[00:35:46] Speaker C: again? I guess it goes back to don't be afraid of the, you know, a little bit of elbow grease if you're handy. So definitely don't be afraid and you know, consult, use resources, your resource, you're a resource. You know, make sure that you're doing your homework. Make sure that you're, you know, learning as much as you can up front. And if the numbers make sense, don't be afraid to make that jump, you know, and actually go for it.
[00:36:10] Speaker A: So just ask, ask questions. There's a lot of people with a lot of knowledge who are very welcome to open to sharing and just get all the systems in place up front. There's so many automated systems these days that it streamlines a lot. Have that all set up up front
[00:36:26] Speaker C: and then, yeah, and it's not so scary, you know, it's not so scary once you understand how it works.
[00:36:32] Speaker B: So yeah, it's really not scary at all.
Right. All right, last question. What's your favorite book that's impacted your mindset.
[00:36:42] Speaker C: Well, it's funny. Short term rental, long term wealth, I swear to God. So I was.
[00:36:47] Speaker A: I told her that's not true. And she's like, actually, it is.
[00:36:50] Speaker C: I pulled up my Amazon purchase and he says, like, I didn't read it. I'm like, yes, I did. In 2022. Pulled up my Amazon purchase. So we bought October 21st.
The very first book I bought was yours.
Yep. And I remember talking to Philip, and it's finally now, four years later.
What I had talked to him about specifically was how you talked about how, not how many doors. Right. I mean, it's like having the right kind of door, the right doors. And, like, just because you have 10 little two bedrooms. What about having two, five bedrooms? You know, that type of thing. And it resonated with me. Like, makes sense. But of course, we had a bunch of small ones up until now. We're finally figuring it out, but. So I'd have to say your book.
[00:37:33] Speaker B: Oh, well, thank you.
[00:37:34] Speaker C: Thank you very much.
[00:37:35] Speaker B: What about you, Philip?
[00:37:37] Speaker A: Celeste will roll Horizon a little bit, but I like history books.
Okay. I like to learn about history. Don't get me started on Egypt. We'll be here all day. Yeah, but I read a book quite a few years ago. It's called Undaunted Courage. It's about Meriwether Lewis, Lewis and Clark. Guys kind of mapped out this country for everyone. It's a very interesting story about a man's journey through persistence, overcoming challenges, his own personal demons, and just the strength and character it takes to be on your own, managing a group of people, and just overcoming adversity. It's a really interesting story of a man's journey while actually exploring this country. It was.
It's a very cool book.
Awesome.
[00:38:27] Speaker B: Well, great recommendations and thank you guys so much for coming on. And if our listeners want to find you or follow you on social media, use your services to design their next property. How can they do that?
[00:38:38] Speaker C: It's ParklandInteriors.
[00:38:40] Speaker A: Parkland Interiors.
[00:38:41] Speaker C: Yep, yep.
[00:38:42] Speaker A: And the website ParklandInteriors.com and.
Yeah, and Southern Serenity Stays is our property site. So. Yeah.
[00:38:51] Speaker B: All right, well, thank you all so much for coming on and listeners. We will see y' all next week.
[00:38:56] Speaker C: Thank you. Appreciate it.
[00:38:57] Speaker A: Thanks.
[00:38:58] Speaker C: Bye,
[00:39:06] Speaker A: Sam.
