It is finally summertime!!! Do you know what that means?!? It means it is time for that summer vacation that you deserve. The beginning of this year has been a whirlwind of events. We have had everything from the death of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna. The state of emergency in Australia due to the fires, and there has also been the impeachment of President Trump. Then there is the one event that we will never forget, COVID-19. That itself brought the National Emergency in the United States, the schools closing, and the stay at home order from Governor Ducey. Whether you had to become the teacher for your now homeschool children, were considered an essential worker, or were unable to work through the pandemic, we have finally made it, so let us plan that vacation. You have earned it!
Why Not Make it a Staycation?
Staycations allow you to break the cycle and spend some much-needed time relaxing. Staycations also help you save money and time because you minimize expenses. Some of those expenses include airplane tickets, rental cars and you can even cut out the cost of those expensive hotels by staying at a vacation rental.
Vacation Rental in Arizona
Vacation rentals offer a variety of options on why they are becoming the leading choice when planning a vacation. Some of those reasons include being more comfortable, can be cheaper, allow more privacy, are kid-friendly and many are even pet-friendly. Another great reason is all the amenities that you get to choose from. Each home has different amenities that they offer and the beauty of it is that there is a home out there that fits the exact type of vacation you are looking for.
Cleanliness of The Vacation Rental
One of the main concerns that people have when booking a place to stay during their vacation is how clean the place is. When you stay in a hotel you know that there is a team of people that get the rooms prepared and ready for their guests. Well, it is the same for a vacation rental. Moxie Girl is a company that provides its services to these vacation rental owners. A team of Moxie’s will go in and wash all the linen, dust, dishes, restock all the essentials, and disinfect! They make the home spotless, germless, and ready for the next guest to enjoy. If you would like to see additional services that Moxie Girl has to offerCLICK HERE.
“The Entertainment Oasis”
Now, let us look at a vacation rental that is available in Scottsdale, Arizona. This extravagant home has 8 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms. It can sleep up to 16 people so grab your friends and family members and get ready for a luxurious stay. This home was personally designed for its guests to have the ultimate indoor and outdoor entertainment experience. It offers something for both adults and kids. From the sparkling 5-star pool, horseshoes, golf driving range, and 9-hole mini-golf to a kid splash pad, playset, and a large variety of games to play.CLICK HEREto see how truly magnificent this vacation rental home is and all it has to offer for your next luxurious getaway.
Summer months are the most stressful time for vacation rental owners. Not only is it the busiest time for owners, having to make sure that homes are restocked, pools are maintained, and rentals are kept up on, cleaning is a very important aspect during this time. This is the time of year where everyone wants to travel with their family and just have a nice gateway. Since we live in Arizona, we have nice weather year-round so vacationing here is a must. The summer months include May through September. The weather during these months can get up to 120 degrees but hey, it is a dry heat so no worries about all the humidity. This is the time of year where people use their pools the most. Pool maintenance should always be up to date during these months, so it is easy for your guest to use it with no hassle. During summer months we also have a monsoon season (June- September). The temperatures usually start dropping during the monsoon season, but not much. Temperatures usually range from 80 to 105 degrees. This is the season where our rain comes from the most. Rainfall usually averages from 0.66 inches to 2 inches of rain for the whole year. So vacationing during this, it might rain one day which doesn’t ruin your whole vacation.
Getting your pool ready for guests.
Having a private pool for your vacation rental home is a huge benefit while living in Arizona. When guests rent your property out, they want to have their vacation hassle-free, so be sure to get your pool ready for them so they can enjoy their vacation. The first step into making sure your pools are ready, is to get rid of any debris. Even if you use a pool cover, although being located in Arizona, pool covers aren’t really necessary, you will want to make sure you have all the twigs, leaves, and bugs cleared out. Next to making sure that all your pool equipment is working properly is also part of getting your pool ready. Pool equipment includes pool pumps, hoses, filters, diving boards, steps, and ladders making sure that there aren’t any damage or safety hazards. Third, you are going to want to check the water for these three things, total alkalinity, PH levels, and Chlorine levels. If any of these are too high, it will cause your pool to be uncomfortable to swim in. Finally vacuuming the pool is the last and final step to getting your pool ready. Vacuuming will remove any debris that is left at the bottom of your pool. Once you have done all four things, your pool is ready for guests to swim safely. If you arent interested in doing these things yourself we recommend reaching out to a pool company for your pool service needs, one of the companies we know and trust is Aquaman pools!
Restocking your home
Restocking your home for the summer months will help you deal with certain unexpected elements that could keep you indoors including monsoon season in Arizona. Having your home restocked will ensure that your guest won’t suffer from any inconveniences. We all know that when we go on vacation, we don’t want to go to the store right away. You will also have to consider that most guests are coming from different states, so flying makes it hard to bring certain things, so it is thoughtful to have basic amenities on hand when they check-in. Basic amenities include things such as shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and lotion to get started in each bathroom.
Being a vacation rental owner most definitely has its challenges, but the more you are prepared, the more smoothly your renting season will go. As vacation rental cleaners, we are always up for new ideas to improve and make the next renter’s stay go even more smoothly. You can contact Moxie Girl or STRM to get into contact with Amanda to take about any cleaning improvements that are needed.
As an independent, locally-owned company ourselves, Moxie Girl strongly believes in supporting LOCAL, especially when the locally produced option produces amazing results at a very fair price! Truce is not only “local,” they’re actually our neighbors here at the Mac6 Park Lane facility in Tempe, Arizona, which is also Moxie Girl HQ!
What’s Truce?
Truce, founded in 2012, by Diann Peart, PhD, produces a line of eco-friendly cleaners which includes everything from household cleaners, laundry products – even pet care related needs! Truce’s mission, according to Diann, began and remains to help people get toxic chemicals out of their homes and away from children and pets.
But What is It Really?
Like, what’s IN those Truce products? Companies such as Truce aren’t actually required to disclose ingredients they use, and unfortunately less scrupulous producers (even those claiming to be “toxin-free”) can load their products with hazardous ingredients you probably wouldn’t be able to pronounce, even if they did list them. Truce, though, is a huge fan of transparency and WANTS you to know what they use.
“We think it’s important to prove zero toxicity and zero nastiness, which is why our ingredients have been listed on every product label since our start,” says Diann.Truce uses only commonplace (and totally pronounceable) ingredients – things anyone could track down and mix up themselves if they were so inclined. A complete list of all ingredients Truce uses can be found on their website.
Professional-Level Clean
Moxie Girl, the Valley’s vacation rental specialist, has no time for toxic chemicals – or ineffective products! And of all the incredible products Truce offers, our favorite Truce product just HAS to be the Truce All-Purpose Cleaner. Literally every vacation rental “turn” we’ve done for years, has included the use of Truce All-Purpose Cleaner.
As the Valley’s leading vacation rental specialist, Moxie Girl is committed to providing a fresh-smelling, toxin-free, and above all truly clean and welcoming environment for your next guests. Truce All-Purpose Cleaner cleans from kitchen to bath and each room in-between – even outside to patio furniture, windows and more – leaving everything sparkling clean and streak-free!
Is anyone starting to feel that cabin fever kick in after being inside for so long? With CDC( Centers for Disease Control) basically restricting any travel for everyone throughout the US. All governors have started closing unessential business and putting restrictions on staying at home and going out only when needed. With all the guidelines and restrictions in place, people are scared to travel or even leave their houses. This pandemic has caused everyone to go into a panic and has everyone worried about doing any sort of travel causing the travel lines to reduce air travel and take extra precautions.
The Effects of Covid-19
So you may be asking, what has the Covid-19 pandemic caused in the Vacation Rental Industry. Well for starters, the decrease in travel has caused multiple properties to lose travelers and causing most property managers to lose future travelers as well as seeing their current travelers canceling or departing earlier than intended. Even with travel violations, there are still plenty of ways to enjoy your staycations whether they are at home or at a local Vacation rental. There are tons of pros of staying at a vacation rental, especially when you’re keeping it local.
Traveling During a Pandemic
Vacation rental properties are places to travel during this pandemic while staying close to home and getting out of your house, but still maintaining social distancing. They provide quick getaways while being stuck at home without having to worry about being in close quarters with others like you would be staying in a hotel room. Some vacation rental homes provide private pools which is a huge advantage during this time, especially living in the Arizona heat when all public pools are being shut down for precautionary reasons due to Covid-19
Clean & Sanitary Staycations
Vacation Rentals also provide a clean and comfortable environment for your family during your stay. Moxie Girl is one of the vacation rental cleaning businesses located in Arizona. Moxie girl employees use disinfectant every time we clean a vacation rental to ensure that you and your family are well taken care of during your stay, focusing on those high-touch areas like Remotes, light plate switches, door handles, etc. Moxie girl’s first priority is the safety of all guests and the cleanliness of every vacation rental property we service. Short term rental properties are great for all types of families no matter how big or small they are. They can accommodate your families needs to sleep pretty much as many people as you want or need. So if you want to support Vacation Rentals, there are multiple ways to book your staycations. To get directly what you are looking for in a vacation home with certain amenities you can contact Moxie Girl or STRM about booking directly instead of booking through a third-party booking website, avoiding those third party booking fees.
If you currently own a vacation rental home here in the Phoenix metropolitan area and are looking to take some things off your plate, Moxie Girl can help you relieve some of the stress of running your rental property.
Moxie Girl not only brings together the services of a house cleaner and home organizer, but there are also the benefits of a personal assistant in many areas. It is a team of specialists that you can count on and trust with your vacation rental needs.
Recently a long-term client of Moxie Girl had become interested in selling their townhome vacation rental and upgrading to a larger property. They decided to place the property on the market and to their surprise, it was set to close in less than 10 days.
Once the contract was set in motion so was The Moxie Girl Team! They started right away to get the property ready for the new owners.
The Scottsdale property was to be sold with all the furniture, so they packaged all the other items to make room for the new owners and their personal belongings. Moxie’s know that organization is key, so they carefully packed the items in boxes and labeled the items with care as if they were their own.
While the team was actively working on getting the house packed and ready to be sold, Amanda, the owner of Moxie Girl, set up a storage unit, and together they were able to move all the items in the unit for the client until his other property is ready for the move-in clean & vacation rental set up. With a quick sell, it was apparent that they needed to work quickly. The great team over at Moxie Girl was able to get the whole project done in just two days!!!
Now, if you’ve have ever sold a home before or even moved from one place to another you know that it can be extremely stressful and there is a lot of work that needs to be done. The team at Moxie Girl has been helping reduce stress for vacation rental owners and keeping them sane through it all throughout the valley of the sun in a variety of ways since 2007.
If you own a vacation rental in the Phoenix area or are looking to start a vacation rental and would like to find out how Moxie Girls’ team of vacation rental specialists can make your life easier CLICK HERE for more information. Moxie Girl currently cares for over 100 vacation rental homes throughout the Valley and pride themselves on their reputation for client satisfaction!
Moxie Girl also offers flexible hours, weekly pay, all supplies are provided, and a supportive team environment with plenty of opportunities to grow. If this sounds like something you would enjoy CLICK HERE to apply today!
May Day…It’s actually a holiday – one of several celebrated each May 1st, depending on where you (and your head) are at in the world. Many of us hear the term “May Day” and think: distress call! It is, of course, that too. “Mayday”, the distress call, comes from the French term m’aidez, which translates to “help me” but has nothing to do with the holidays.
The Welcoming of Summer!
If you’re in the Northern Hemisphere, anyway. (In May, the Southern Hemisphere is getting ready for winter, so May Day as a seasonal celebration is, for the most part, a Northern Hemisphere thing.) May Day was originally an ancient pagan holiday celebrating the start of summer. In Gaelic traditions, it is known as Beltaine (or the Anglicized “Beltane”). Through the centuries, this celebration was adopted by different cultures and rituals modified to fit the beliefs within those cultures. Europeans and Americans most often celebrate in a secular manner, with traditions such as maypole dancing and wearing flower crowns.
International Workers’ Day
On the less-flowery, more serious side of things, May 1st has been celebrated as International Workers’ Day since the 1880s. (Think of it as sort of a world-wide Labor Day.) At the time, labor movements around the world were fighting for fair work accommodations such as eight-hour workdays and unionization. The date May 1st was chosen because it aligned with the anniversary of the Haymarket Affair in Chicago, where police killed four people at a peaceful protest after someone threw a bomb into the crowd. The Haymarket Affair had a huge impact on labor movements across the world.
Join Us?
Moxie Girl celebrates those who have fought – and continue to fight – for labor rights around the world. And we will wear flower crowns whenever we darn well please, because we’re Moxie like that. Looking to join a supportive, hard-working team that LOVES to have fun on a flexible schedule? Just click to APPLY!
If you’re a Phoenix-area vacation rental homeowner, find out how much easier your life can be with the Moxie Girl team working for you! Click for a FREE CONSULTATION!
Worrying about the unknown won’t get us very far, and these days there is a lot of unknowns.
The Rental industry is no different than the rest of the world right now with all of the uncertainty and unknowns we are all experiencing. Nobody really knows where we will be a month from now or even a week from now at this point.
Amanda Thomas, owner of Moxie Girl decided now would be a great time to team up with Ben Ellis, broker, and owner of E&G Real Estate and Property Management, and Brent McDonald, a lender with All Western Mortgage to discuss not only the trends they are seeing in the Phoenix rental industry but also going from short term rentals to long term rentals, selling your home, refinancing, and mortgage forbearance.
Short Term Rental Industry Trends
Homes are renting out still!
Get seen on all booking sights without lowering your prices.
Long Term Rental Industry Trends & Home Buying Trends
Ben Ellis, broker, and owner of E&G Real Estate and Property Management
Securing tenants for your long term rental property
Ensuring you get your home back in the condition which you rented it out
The ups and downs of running a long term rental property
The ups and downs of doing long term rentals during a global pandemic
What has changed and how to adjust your long term rental property in the midst of COVID-19
liabilities and owner responsibilities of managing a long term rental property
Brent McDonald, a lender with All Western Mortgage discuss the trends they are seeing in the rental and home buying industry.
What does it mean to go into forbearance and is now a good time?
The pros and cons of going into forbearance and what that will mean for your credit.
Rates in the market and where they are currently at, is it a good time to buy or sell your home?
Refinancing your home, what that could mean for you, your credit, and your mortgage rate.
Click HERE for more information on these topics from experts in these fields!
What Moxie Girl is Doing to Help Flatten the Curve
Disclaimer: This photo was taken before any talk of social distancing had come about. Moxie girl is practicing safe social distancing while on the Job.
In a matter of weeks, COVID-19 has swept across the globe, ushering in a new way of life revolving around social distancing, staying shut in quarantine for days on end, and disinfecting everything.
Business owners have had to adapt quickly to these many lifestyle changes and Moxie Girl is no exception.
We are seeing a shift in vacation rental usage. Instead of traveling abroad for spring and summer vacations, rentals are now being used by guests to self-quarantine away from family and loved ones, and others are renting homes with amenities that have been closed to the public, such as pools and playgrounds.
While we at Moxie are in the business of cleaning we have already had several cleaning and disinfecting policies in place, we would like to highlight the steps we’re taking to ensure that homes continue to stay virus-free:
Disinfecting high-touch surfaces. We use a cleaner that contains isopropyl alcohol. It is an effective antimicrobial and is used in the medical field to kill bacteria, fungi, and viruses. During our cleanings, we disinfect every high-touch surface on the property. This includes, but is not limited to door handles, touchpads and keypads, remote controls, countertops, appliances, and light switches. If a person can touch it, we disinfect it!
Deep cleans. New studies of COVID-19 are showing the virus can be spread simply through talking or heavy breathing, which can transfer the virus to other areas of a property, not just high-touch surfaces. At Moxie girl we are doing deep property cleans using our isopropyl disinfectant to ensure all surfaces, not just high-touch surfaces, remain clean. We wipe down every room from top to bottom, from light fixtures down to baseboards.
PPE. Personal Protective Equipment is essential during this difficult time, and we have armed our Moxies with gloves and face masks to ensure that if a home was used by someone who may have the virus, our Moxies do not contract it or spread it. We change gloves frequently to avoid transmitting the virus, and like everyone else, we frequently wash our hands! We are also disinfecting our equipment frequently and thoroughly. We wash our cleaning rags with bleach and water to make sure they are sanitized.
In addition, we are teaming up with our out-of-state property owners who are having increased difficulty managing their properties due to shelter-in-place orders. We are making sure their homes are clean and well-cared for, and when needed, we are taking on extra tasks they are unable to do right now, such as keeping supplies stocked, taking care of general maintenance they may normally do and performing house checks as their properties may be sitting empty more often than usual.
At Moxie Girl, we strive to make sure every property we service is clean and disinfected so that both owners and guests can have peace of mind and a nice escape from the stress and uncertainty this virus has caused. Together, we can help flatten the curve and bring life back to normal.
Stay safe, don’t touch your face, and wash your hands!
October 31st only comes around once a year, but the Halloween trick-or-treating can be unpredictable depending on which day of the week the 31st actually falls. Schools and churches – and sometimes entire communities – often band together to promote trick-or-treating on a night which won’t interfere with kid’s schedules the next day, but it’s not uncommon these days for trick-or-treating to happen on multiple days in some cities.
Decorate or Not to Decorate?
As a vacation rental homeowner, you should always assume your guests are not looking to spend their stay at your property answering the door and handing out candy. Decorating the exterior of your vacation rental home may not only be unwelcome (and judged “tacky”) by your guests, but it also gives trick-or-treaters the impression that the occupants of the house are participating in the celebration.
Do remind your guests that Halloween is near and that they should be sure the porchlight of your vacation rental is OFF if they don’t wish to be disturbed by costumed candy-seekers. Some vacation rental homeowners go as far as to place a friendly sign near the sidewalk or driveway of the rental property, stating something to the effect of “Sorry, No Treats Here” to prevent any confusion.
Check our extensive library of Moxie Girl blogs frequently for useful tips and information to help you get the most from your vacation rental home! Moxie Girl provides service to over 100 beautiful vacation rental properties throughout the Phoenix area. CLICK HERE to find out if Moxie can help you, too!
Moxie Girl is rapidly growing and looking for our next Vacation Rental Assistant. Experienced or not, our Moxies enjoy professional training, flexible scheduling and a supportive team environment where growth is encouraged! CLICK HERE to introduce yourself – an HR representative will be in touch shortly!
The vacation rental home industry is booming in the Phoenix metro area! A quick search on AirBnB turned up over 300 properties available for rent this coming weekend alone. Realizing there is money to be made, many people (and investment companies) have been converting Valley homes to vacation rental properties in the past several years.
The increase in popularity of Valley vacation rentals has also led to the realization that the current city and state ordinances regarding this type of short-term rental property are, at best, lacking in clarity. Even vacation rental homeowners who’ve done the research before converting their properties can find themselves with legal troubles.
Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened to Gilbert and Cassandra Cardenas of Phoenix. The couple had built an astoundingly cute “tiny house” in their backyard and had already enjoyed several years of success offering the dwelling as a vacation rental – with the blessing and support of their immediate neighbors.
Gilbert and Cassandra thought they were well within Phoenix city ordinance, since their tiny home was to be used for short-term rentals only AND it was on wheels. Due to a couple of anonymous complaints, the City of Phoenix now says the tiny home (nicknamed “The Nest”) must be “attached” to their existing house OR the Cardenases need to have their property rezoned as “multi-family” in order to continue their vacation rental endeavor.
With HB 2672 signed into law recently, the State of Arizona has already taken some steps to formally place some restrictions and reporting requirements on vacation rental home owners (read our Moxie blog on the subject!) The vacation rental home market shows no signs of slowing down, so we suspect that Phoenix and surrounding cities will become more specific with their own regulations for short-term rentals in the near future.
The owners of The Nest are examining their options – one of which may be to sell the tiny home they worked so hard to construct. It IS adorable – check it out HERE.To read the full AZ Central coverage of this story, clickHERE.
Moxie Girl is the leader in vacation rental home care, servicing over 100 beautiful vacation rentals throughout the Valley. We are just as interested as you are in making your vacation rental home a success! CLICK HEREto see what Moxie Girl can do for you.
Want to BE a Moxie? CLICK HEREto tell us why you would make a great Vacation Rental Assistant!
Valley vacation rentals are more popular than ever and with our cooler weather finally, within reach, the upcoming rental season could be the busiest yet. As a successful vacation rental homeowner, you’ve probably realized that many guests are looking for “a local experience” when they book a vacation rental in our beautiful desert.
When searching for places to visit and things to do, guests are bound to be inundated by the “top web hits” and not necesssarily the best, coolest, or even very “local” results. We’re sure your vacation rental guests will appreciate being alerted to the less “commercial” attractions.
For example, if your vacation rental is in the Gilbert area, the Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch is an amazing place for your outdoor-loving guests to explore. The preserve offers nearly 5 miles of hiking and equestrian trails and winding walkways and is open from 530am until 10 pm daily.
Park entrance is free, but the preserve does offer guided tours every 2nd and 4th Saturday of each month, October through April, at a cost of $10 per person. Check out their website here!
Stargazing vacation rental guests, in particular, tend to fall in love with our wide open desert skies and may also be delighted to know about the Gilbert Rotary Centennial Observatory located at the Riparian Preserve. The Observatory is open to the public most Friday and Saturday evenings, from dark until 930pm.
Some sky-watching guests go as far as to plan their travels according to anticipated meteor shower activity (shhhh…I know because I’ve done that – and I know I’m not alone!) Meteor showers for the rest of this year are listed below – let your guests know! The weather should be perfect!
Orionids: October 2-November 7 (peaks the night of October 21st)
Leonids: November 6-November 30 (peaks the night of November 17th)
Geminids December 4-December 17 (peaks the night of December 13th)
Need more help with your vacation rental home? Moxie Girl is a leader in the care of vacation rentals in the Phoenix area, serving over 130 properties of all sizes, Valley-wide. CLICK HERE to find out if we can help you, too!
Moxie Girl is always willing to add the best people to our team, too. CLICK HERE to tell us why you think you’d make a great vacation rental assistant!
As the owner/operator of a successful vacation rental home, you try hard to provide an experience that will prompt your guests to leave glowing reviews – but even putting forth your best efforts doesn’t protect you against the ever-growing list of scams affecting AirBnB hosts.
A quick online search reveals numerous tales of woe from AirBnB hosts describing nefarious guests’ attempts to garner anywhere between 25% to 100% OFF their reservation total. Some hosts claim that due to AirBnB’s guest refund policies and procedures, guests are doing everything from turning wi-fi routers off and claiming the internet “isn’t working,” to staging and photographing undesirable cleaning “misses” in order to whittle down their lodging expenses.
One way vacation rental homeowners are protecting themselves against the “discount” scammers is to snap pics of all areas of the “guest-ready” rental before their guests arrive. Moxie Girl Vacation Rental Assistants have been providing this service to our clients for several months now – and as it turns out, that’s a really great idea!
Moxie Girl has always provided photo documentation to our clients of any theft or damage to their property should we find it. Timely evidence is crucial for vacation rental hosts hoping to charge a guest for misuse of their vacation rental home or items that have gone missing during a guest’s stay!
Providing photos of their guest-ready vacation rental gives our clients peace of mind, knowing their guests will arrive at a clean, inviting space – in addition to being pretty solid evidence against false claims by guests that the rental “wasn’t clean.” Even a screenshot of the wi-fi showing as “connected” on a smartphone proves it WAS working when we left the property.
Moxie Girl recently even used a guest-ready photo to prove that a guest (or rather the guest’s child) was responsible for breaking a large mirror in one of our clients’ vacation rentals. The guests had claimed they found mirror broken upon arrival, but our time-stamped photo of that room from earlier in the day showed an undamaged mirror! Long story, short, the kid fessed up and the guests took financial responsibility for the replacement cost.
There are plenty of other (and far more costly!) scams being perpetrated against vacation rental homeowners as well. Many of those may be avoided by knowing what to watch out for. Most rental listing platforms such as AirBnB and VRBO offer secure payment processing and warm that guests requesting to pay by any type of check or wire transfer should be a red flag.
Vacation rental homeowners are also urged to never accept more than is due for any booking, putting them in the position of being persuaded to issue a refund outside the rental platform’s refund policy and structure – and ultimately lead to identity theft as well as financial loss.
Clearly you’ve got enough to worry about as a vacation rental homeowner – why not let Moxie Girl take away the stress of between-guest cleanings? Moxie Girl is a leader in the care of vacation rental homes throughout the Phoenix area – and we are just as interested in helping your property get great reviews as you are. CLICK HEREfor a FREE consultation!
Interested in being a Moxie Girl? We are always on the lookout for motivated individuals to join our growing team of Vacation Rental Assistants! CLICK HERE to introduce yourself – an HR representative will reach out to you shortly!
It’s that time of year again…we wait with great anticipation for the monsoon season here in the Valley! Monsoon storms often bring us much needed (and heat-relieving) rain, as well as spectacular displays of lightning, high winds and blowing dust. Okay, maybe we don’t look forward to the crazy wind and walls of dust so much…
If you’ve ever owned a home in Phoenix – especially one with a pool – you already know that monsoon storm clean-up can be a huge chore. While you might postpone clean-up for a few days at your personal residence, vacation rental homeowners don’t enjoy the luxury of procrastination if guests are due to arrive.
Because these storms can develop rather quickly, it may not always be possible for the vacation rental homeowner – no matter how well-intentioned – to guarantee that the outdoor areas of their rental property are going to look exactly as pictured when guests arrive. Vacation rental home hosts should always make their guests aware of the storms that can occur in this area of Arizona, and the effect they may have on the appearance of the outside of the property.
Now, this is not an excuse to not TRY to make sure everything at your vacation rental home is as perfect as it can be. In fact, there’s a lot you can do prior to these storms that will help keep your vacation rental looking its best, while at the same time ridding yourself of additional potential problems during the monsoon season.
Work With Your Guests
Aside from alerting your vacation rental guests to the possibility of intense storms during their visit, it’s also a great idea to ask for their help in keeping your property and equipment safe from storm damage.
Outdoor umbrellas should always be closed when not in use. Leaving an umbrella open during a monsoon says, “Goodbye and good luck, umbrella! I’ll be replacing you tomorrow.” Ask your guests to be sure to close your umbrellas unless they are sitting under them (which they shouldn’t be, during a monsoon!)
Landscaping and pool umbrellas aren’t the only casualties of monsoon winds – downed power lines also become a thing during this season. If your guests see downed power lines on or around your property, advise them to call 911 immediately. Oh, and DON’T TOUCH the downed power lines! (Astounding to think a guest might decide to pick up a live power line, but you never know.)
Guests should also be reminded that any floating items for the pool (toys, loungers, etc.) should be stored securely when not in use.
For more great information on Phoenix-area monsoon weather, check out these other Moxie blogs:
A professional landscaper will always advise thinning large trees and removing any tree branches that appear unstable – and this is particularly important before and during the monsoon season.
The winds created by the monsoon storms can be severe, easily breaking branches and even uprooting entire trees, so it’s crucial you be proactive in keeping your vacation rental’s landscaping as least vulnerable as possible to wind damage.
Also keep in mind that anything picked up by the wind has a really great chance of coming down in your pool, creating additional clean-up!
And Speaking of Pools…
Summer in Phoenix is the best time to have a pool – but it can also seem like the worst! Moxie Girl recommends a reputable professional pool service such asAquaman Poolsto take care of the pool at your vacation rental home.
If left unattended, foliage and other debris are blown into your pool can cause your pool pump and filter to work overtime, affecting their efficiency and lifespan – trash and leaves can also permanently stain some pool surfaces. So it’s best to “get the big stuff” out right away, if possible. Your guests may be of some help here – especially if they want to swim after a storm – if you provide a skimmer and a brush for them to use.
Check out our conversation with Chad Nikkel,owner of Aquaman Pools, for more summer tips for vacation rental homes with pools!
Don’t Forget the A/C Filters!
They should be changed monthly anyway, but during the monsoon season changing the filter in your vacation rental home’s cooling unit is an absolute must. Dirty filters negatively affect your unit’s performance – and summer is definitely NOT the time to have sub-standard cooling in your vacation rental!
Moxie Girl Leads the Way in Valley Vacation Rental Care
Find out how putting Moxie Girl in charge at your vacation rental home can help you reclaim your time! Moxie Girl services over 100 vacation rental properties throughout the Phoenix area. CLICK HERE for a free consultation.
Moxie Girl is growing! If becoming a Vacation Rental Assistant and caring for some of the most beautiful vacation rental properties in the Valley sounds like your type of gig, we’d love to hear from you. TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF!
One of the biggest “selling-points” of a Phoenix-area vacation rental home is our weather! Now, obviously, we’re not talking about summer – although there are those who claim to enjoy our extreme heat. The rest of the year though is pretty gosh-darn perfect most of the time – at least in comparison to much of the rest of the country.
That perfect – and very popular – the weather is a mere couple of months away, so now is a great time to assess the outdoor living space at your vacation rental home(s). Even if your vacation rental home’s outdoor space “looked great!” last fall, things can sure take a beating in the space of summer here. Take an honest look and ask yourself: Is it appealing to guests? Is it clean? Is everything in good repair? Is the seating comfortable? Is there anything at all that could make it better?
Visitors to the Phoenix area during our beautiful fall through spring seasons are likely to want to spend as much time as possible enjoying themselves outside. A beautiful outdoor living space can be a huge highlight on your property’s rental listing, increasing your potential for bookings and higher rental rates!
Especially if your vacation rental property boasts a pool, it’s outdoor living space is likely to become THE living area for guests much of the year. Your guests should feel as though you put just as much thought in the outdoor space as you did in the rest of your vacation rental, and upgrades will definitely be appreciated.
Comfortable, durable patio furniture with enough seating for the number of potential guests is crucial. Other amenities your guests are bound to use
and enjoy include fire pits, barbecue grills, beverage tubs – even outdoor-appropriate throws or stadium blankets in case of a chill.
Outdoor mood-lighting never hurts, either. There are probably hundreds of options for string lights, lanterns, post lights and solar-powered light features you could add to the outdoor living area of your vacation rental.
Regular cleaning and maintenance of the outdoor area of your vacation rental home are just as important as the inside! Routinely scheduled lawn care and professional pool maintenance are half the battle, but be sure your vacation rental home cleaning crew is making sure everything is guest-ready!
Need help with your vacation rental property? Moxie Girl is the Valley’s vacation rental specialist, providing care to over 100 rental homes throughout the Phoenix area! Click here to find out how Moxie Girl can help make your vacation rental as successful as it should be!
The vast majority of internet users in the United States check online reviews before making decisions on just about anything. In the vacation rental home game, the volume and quality of your property’s reviews can boost it closer to the “top of the list” on your rental platform, too, increasing your rental potential!
So That Happened…Don’t Panic!
The bad review…No matter how hard you try if you’re operating a vacation rental home, it’s bound to happen at some point. Bad reviews can seem like personal attacks, even if that wasn’t the intent of the reviewer. And feeling personally attacked can cause all sorts of things to come out of our mouths – or our fingertips to our keyboards – that we wouldn’t say under normal circumstances.
DO NOT IGNORE IT, but don’t panic, either. Take a breath…or six dozen. It may take a bit before you’re able to objectively look at the situation from all angles. It is important that you address the review online, but only after you’ve had a chance to compose yourself enough to compose an appropriate response.
Acknowledge and Apologize
When crafting a reply to the bad review, do your best to sound professional, but keep it real. No one likes a “canned” response to a complaint – they want a person, not a spokesperson. Simply apologize for the bad experience they had and express your desire, as the owner of the vacation rental home, to “make it right,” and offer your contact info for follow up.
Once you’ve done this, you’ve very effectively put the ball in their court – and that should be the end of any online interaction on the matter. Any further communication on the matter should be done person-to-person, not in a public forum. NO ONE wins in a cyber-fight.
What Will Make It Right?
Put yourself in the role of the disgruntled guest writing the bad review. If whatever happened to them happened to you, what would YOU be comfortable asking for, to “make it right”? If and when the guest contacts you for follow up, ask them directly what THEY feel would make it right?
Hopefully, the two of you aren’t terribly far apart in what you think is a fair resolution. By the way, it’s quite possible that your guest was a little bit hotter under the collar when they wrote the review than they will be after a little sincere and positive interaction with you. If it turns out the guest is actually demanding less than what you had in mind to “fix this,” offering a little bit more may even cause your guest to remove or edit their review in your favor – especially if they had a very valid complaint.
What Did We Learn?
Always let the experience of dealing with a bad review be a learning experience. What exactly went wrong at your vacation rental home that led to the bad review? Whatever it was, if the complaint was valid, it’s now your job to figure out how to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
Sure, there will always be the occasional guest who’s nit-picking or looking for way more of a settlement than seems fair. Some guests even make a habit of it, unfortunately. It’s okay to wave them off once you’ve done your part in trying to make things right by offering a reasonable solution.
Moxie Girl Can Help!
Operating a successful vacation rental home can be stressful! Putting the Moxie Girl team in charge of your between-guest turns is a great way to reclaim some of your time as a vacation rental homeowner. Click here for a FREE CONSULTATION!
Many of us are conditioned to know we get the day off, but what IS Labor Day, anyway? According to the official U.S. Department of Labor website, Labor Day has been celebrated as a National holiday each first Monday in September, since 1894! Labor Day is the creation of the labor movement and is intended to be an annual tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.
Labor unions, which first appeared in the late 18th century, grew prominent and vocal, organizing strikes and rallies to protest the horrific working conditions which existed for both adults and children at the height of the Industrial Revolution. Unfortunately, many of these events turned violent, but the protests DID lead to change and for that, we can all be thankful to those who fought.
Labor Day, aka The End of Summer
Living in Phoenix the thermometer clearly tells us that summer’s end is NOT Labor Day, but we’ll still celebrate of course! Labor Day has become synonymous with swim parties and barbeques with family and friends – even long-weekend road-trips!
And those road-trippers will need places to stay…we’re looking at you, vacation rental homeowners! Increase your chances of picking up those end-of-summer bookings – check out our Moxie blog, “Road Trips and Your Vacation Rental Home”!
If you happen to be on the planning end of a Labor Day party, Moxie Girl is here to help with our “Fun and Functional Summer Party Tips” blog, too!
Join Our “Labor Party”
Life as a Vacation Rental Assistant with Moxie Girl offers flexible hours, a supportive team environment and plenty of opportunity for growth, both as a Moxie AND as a person! Interested in joining us? Click here to tell us a bit about yourself and we’ll be in touch very soon!
Need a Moxie?
Moxie Girl has become a leader in the vacation rental home care industry in Phoenix, servicing well over 100 vacation rental properties of all sizes, Valley-wide. With our vast experience, Moxie Girl knows what it takes to make your vacation rental home the very best it can be and we are just as interested in the success of your property as you are! Click here for a FREE CONSULTATION!
Caring for over 100 vacation rental homes Valley-wide is a big job! Moxie Girl is continually striving to be the best in the industry, and our efforts start with understanding our client’s needs – and THAT starts with communication!
We know communication can be a struggle for some clients…many people just assume that their needs “go without saying” while others may be just plain uncomfortable stating their needs. Some clients may not even be sure WHAT they want. We wish we were mind-readers, but in lieu of being psychics, we work hard to be great communicators!
Ideally, our vacation rental clients will just express their “end game” right at the beginning of our relationship, but as we’ve learned over time, this doesn’t always happen. It’s Moxie Girl’s job to know exactly what our clients expect, and more often than not, that requires us to ask some questions.
Our Moxie Girls know that spending a few minutes asking the right questions (and follow-up questions if needed) can save hours of confusion – and ultimately frustration. Moxie Girl truly desires to get the job done efficiently and most importantly, to the vacation rental homeowners satisfaction (and beyond)! But we DO need to know what it takes to make that happen.
With Moxie Girl’s extensive experience in caring for vacation rental homes all over the Phoenix Metro area, we can help vacation rental homeowners new to the game as well as long-time vacation rental property operators – and it all starts with our communication skills!
It is Moxie Girl’s mission to give our clients peace of mind, knowing their guests will arrive at a property that’s looking – and smelling – its freshest and best! CLICK HERE to find out if Moxie Girl is a good fit for your vacation rental!
Are you a GSD (Get Stuff Done) type? Moxie Girl is always looking for those who share our work ethic and GSD personality to join our growing team of Vacation Rental Assistants! Moxie Girls (and boys) enjoy flexible scheduling, learn new skills and have plenty of opportunity for professional and personal growth. CLICK HERE to tell us about yourself – we look forward to hearing from you!
As we’ve noted in previous blogs, most recently “Vacation Rental Homes Only!” vacation rental home guests tend to get super-comfy after about day 3 of their stay – and this usually results in the need for a much deeper between-guest cleaning than a 2-3 day booking would require.
What We Know
With our vast experience caring for vacation rental homes throughout the Phoenix area, Moxie Girl also sees more damage done to rental properties by longer-term guests than shorter-term vacation rental guests.
These are two of the big reasons many vacation rental homeowners are reluctant to allow long-term stays on their properties. However, summer does tend to be the season where guests are seeking more lengthy stays. Especially here in Phoenix, a multi-week or even longer occupancy is tempting to the vacation rental owner, since summer tends to be brutal and rental activity takes a hit.
The Benefits of Mid-Stay Vacation Rental Cleaning
One thing vacation rental homeowners allowing longer-term bookings this summer are doing to alleviate their concerns is scheduling “mid-stay” cleanings. Long-term guests really settle in and begin treating the vacation rental home as they would their own home…and since you probably don’t know what THEIR home looks like, it’s best just to expect that they may not clean the vacation rental at all during their stay.
A mid-stay cleaning will not only make the cleaning after the guests departure (hopefully) much easier and quicker, but it also allows the vacation rental homeowner to become aware of any suspicious activity, theft of or damage to the vacation rental or its contents while the guests are still there.
Many long-term vacation rental guests see mid-stay cleanings as a perk! Just because a guest is messy doesn’t mean they don’t appreciate a clean space. Also knowing that professional cleaning is scheduled during their stay may prompt guests to live a little neater than they normally might.
Need a Moxie (or Want to BE One)?
If you’re a vacation rental homeowner in the Phoenix area CLICK HERE to find out how Moxie Girl’s team of vacation rental specialists can make your life easier. Moxie Girl currently cares for over 100 vacation rental homes throughout the Valley and we pride ourselves on our reputation for client satisfaction!
Moxie Girl’s vacation rental assistants enjoy flexible schedules, a supportive team environment and plenty of opportunities to grow! Interested in becoming a Moxie?CLICK HERE to tell us about yourself – we’ll be in touch soon!
