Today joining Alex & Annie is Tony Stancato, Owner-Operator of Book ‘n Gather - a vacation rental management company that helps you get the most out of your vacation rental by helping with optimization and maintenance. He’s also the co-host of Michigan Short Term Rentals Podcast, their show is about to hit their 50th episode milestone - so if you’re in Michigan, queue their show on your podcast list!
Tony’s background is in manufacturing - he was in that industry for 14 years prior to pursuing short term rentals as his career. The original idea was to grow their roots in short term rental hotspots like Florida or Tennessee, but as they dug deeper they noticed that it made a lot more sense for them to stick to their current location - Michigan - and they’ve scaled their business to a dozen properties since.
The biggest decision anyone has to make when starting out their journey as an owner/operator of a short term rental property is - where do I begin? Do you start by purchasing the smallest possible property to see if it’ll work out, or do you go for a large multi-family expecting higher ROI?
Tony mentions that the one thing that helped him the most was having a group of people that would join him in evaluating potential investments and encourage him to make the leap when the right opportunity presented itself. Working up the courage to start this journey, especially if you’re a conservative buyer, is never easy - so a strong support system is worth its weight in gold. So your main takeaway should be to stop falling for analysis paralysis, and take the opportunity once it presents itself. Whatever choice you make, things won’t be perfect from the get go and you’ll have to learn along the way, so the sooner you start the quicker you’ll get to where you want to be.
When you’re a bit further in your STR business road, selecting the right software vendors will be your next big move - and it’s one that can drastically improve your life as an owner-operator if done right. Tony suggests that you visit STR conferences as a good source for potential software vendors, as well as be proactive researching new tools through peer-reviewed channels such as social media and social media communities.
Tony operates strictly out of Michigan, and has his finger on the pulse when it comes to local regulations. Michigan isn’t a conventional STR hotspot, so in many ways they’re still learning and developing their legislative approach. In some locations there’s a huge disconnect in how decisions are made - at times regulations go from 0-60 overnight, meaning a lot of stress for operators who can go from choosing their own rules to being effectively handcuffed overnight.
Tune in for the full episode to learn how to start your own Short-Term Rental Owner-Operator Journey!
HIGHLIGHTS:
04:25 Where Should You Begin Your STR Journey?
06:17 Access to Education in the STR Space
09:42 Tony’s Tech Stack
12:03 Choosing the Right Software Vendors
16:30 What STR Conferences Are Missing
21:35 Regulations in Michigan
25:14 The Importance of Safety Regulation
This episode is brought to you by Casago and Rev & Research!
Connect with Tony:
Website - https://bookngather.com/
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonystancato/
Connect with Alex and Annie:
Alex Husner - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-o-husner-%F0%9F%8C%8E-1844306/
Annie Holcombe - https://www.linkedin.com/in/annie-holcombe-vrgal/%20AlexAndAnniePodcast.com/
