Peggy and Bud Rahe are experienced landlords, but…
The Situation
One of their rentals is a little house just outside Dayton, Ohio. For the past 20 years, this rental has always been a looser. It typically had a vacancies every 12 months; they felt they couldn’t get a good paying tenant for it.
In January 2016, they heard my presentation on short term rentals at a Mr. Landlord Retreat in Cancun. I told them the smaller the house, the better it could do as a short term rental.
Bud, a fellow engineer, said, “We heard you speak and bought your course. Came home and put out our feelers.”
So in February, they posted an ad on Airbnb to test the demand for their rural location.
Peggy adds, “I started getting reservation requests for the property…I panicked and said I should pull this ad!
BUT a miracle occurred… the renter of our small house said they were not going to renew their lease! So I asked if they would like to move out early! They agreed!
The Contemplation
Bud said,” We have wasted tons of money buying programs we did not use or could not really implement. We said we would NOT buy any more and have not…. that is until Al’s Airbnb program for short term rentals.
We both looked at each other and knew right then that this was something we wanted to try!!! We were not skeptical, we just knew Al before from Mr. Landlord conference and his honesty was paramount.”
Massive Action
Although Peggy may be 5-feet tall with heels on, she is a go-getter. She started accepting bookings in March before their tenant moved out!
“Our tenant moved out March 30th and I had furniture delivered April 1st. I had the entire family cleaning and putting the furniture together.” The first guest was scheduled for April 6th.
In Airbnb for Landlords, I recommend testing your market to ease your nerves, but I didn’t think you could actually secure bookings. But Peggy closed a few deals with her test ad! That really takes the risk out of the venture.
In order to successfully pull this tight turnaround off, they had to hustle and put in a lot of work. “I ordered lots of things online and we went to town day and night decorating. Bud and I stayed at the house and worked until 2 am every day until our first guest,” Peggy notes.
Bud and Peggy went with a bicycle theme
The Assist
Bud and Peggy were smart and took advantage of the unlimited email support that comes with the course on how to make money from airbnb. To help ensure they would become successful Airbnb Landlords, I personally:
1 – Proofread their ad and caught typos
2 – Answered general set up questions and specific insurance questions
3 – Pulled over to immediately answer “Help Urgent” questions within five minutes of receipt
4 – Suggested refinements to fees and details that increase their net revenue
5 – Critiqued their ad from a first time viewer’s perspective, since I’ve never been to Ohio
Bud says, “The communication is great so when we need help we always get it! Quick and easy via email. LOVE it.”
Big Results
The new Airbnb Landlords learned they had a huge asset on their hands. Their little house is close to Dayton but not in Dayton. Guests love knowing the house is outside the high crime rates zone. Peggy says, “It sounds crazy, but it’s really working.”
Their property that they used to rent out at $850 per month in good times currently grosses $2,100 per month. That’s nearly a 250% improvement!
And they’ll do even better after they bump up their rates.
Parting Words
“Thanks Al! I never would have thought of turning a problem property into a cash cow if I had not heard your presentation about Airbnb for Landlords.
Also Al, thanks for all of the tips and quick responses when I have a problem, I really appreciate that very much.
It is so important to have access quickly when a pressing issue comes up! Most instructors are NOT available even if they say they are…. You are all you say you are and MORE!!!”
What Will You Do?
Short term rentals will continue to grow in popularity as long as we 
have the Internet. Consider becoming an Airbnb Landlord; get in front of this trend to maximize your rental revenue.
Check out my other articles on maximizing profits with airbnb below:
- The Overhwhelming Benefits of long term Airbnb rentals
- How to make money on Airbnb
- The Airbnb Landlord Experiment
Leading Landlord is a weekly blog that focuses on providing new residual and passive income strategies and ideas for property managers and landlords.