Photo courtesy of Pink Pineapple Properties™
The RESA® mission for the home staging industry is to have well-established standards that are practiced universally. By sharing tips from industry experts who have extensive experience, we aim to raise the bar for all home stagers so that they can be successful as well.
Recently a home stager sent in a question from one of our industry experts, “What do I need to know before investing in short-term rentals? I have an opportunity that I don’t want to miss but am nervous about how I can manage it with my staging business.”
We shared this question with Chairperson of the 2022 RESA® National Board of Directors, Courtney Schomburg who founded Pink Pineapple Properties and Pink Pineapple Property Solutions to get her take on what stagers should know before investing in short term rentals.
Courtney Schomburg’s Advice for Stagers investing in Short-Term Rentals:
Purchasing a Short-Term Rental (STR) is a huge step that can generate great passive income. For some, it’s an obvious next step when thinking of adding revenue streams to your staging business.
There are several things stagers investing in short-term rentals should consider before pulling the trigger on their first investment property.
Photo courtesy of Pink Pineapple Properties™
The biggest mistake I see being made in the short-term rental world is lack of research.
It’s very important to make sure that the location (city, neighborhood, ect.) allows short-term rentals. Sometimes this means looking into the HOA bylaws of a neighborhood or pulling the city code.
Even if a city or home owners association allows short term rentals right now, that doesn’t mean it will always be that way. When running your numbers make sure that the property will also work as a Mid-term or long-term rental because things change quickly in the real estate world.
Photo courtesy of Pink Pineapple Properties™
Another thing to consider is whether or not you are going to hire a property manager to run the property. It’s more work than you think to manage a property and if your staging business is strong, I would suggest researching property managers. They will handle the day-to-day communication with guests, pricing, cleaning, and much more. If you do decide to work with a property manager, make sure you are taking the 20-35% cost into account when putting your numbers together.
Photo courtesy of Pink Pineapple Properties™
If you are new to decorating short-term rentals, take some time to research necessities for your rental. There is much more that goes into setting up a short-term rental vs. a staged property. You will need a checklist to make sure the home has everything needed for your first guest to leave a 5-star review.
Purchasing an investment property is a great way to diversify your business. It’s a huge step but with the right research and team in place, it can help bring your staging business to the next level. I highly recommend taking the leap!
Resources to help you on your journey from RESA®
June 2022 RESA Professional Development Webinar: Mastering the Short-Term Rental Staging Consultation – Sarah Karakaian & Annette Grant, Thanks For Visiting
June 2021 RESA Professional Development Webinar: How to Diversify Your Business with Airbnb Design – Debbie Boggs, Staging Studio
RESACON Vegas 2022: Add Short-Term Rental Design to Your List of Services – Sarah Karakaian & Annette Grant, Thanks For Visiting
RESA Professional Development Webinar replays are a member benefit, please log in here, to get the access password for the full webinar library.
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