As a vacation rental cleaner, you never know what you are going to walk into once the guests have checked out. Your first impression of the guest can go one of two ways. The first way you are going to walk into the house and the guests have completed the checkout list that the owner has provided. If this is the way that you walk in, your clean is going to go great and you normally won’t have problems. The second way is that you are going to walk in, the rental is going to be completely used, and nothing is done on the checkout list. If you walk into a super used rental, your clean is going to be tougher, and you are usually going to be there longer than intended.
Having Checkout Suggestions
When guests check out of a vacation rental, Moxie Girl leaves a complimentary checklist for the guest to follow to make our clean and arrival so much easier. Some of our suggestions include stripping the beds or starting towels in the washer, starting the dishwasher, and taking out the trash. Just by doing one of these simple tasks can make a Moxie Girl’s cleaning go so much smoother. When we walk into a vacation rental, and the guests have left the place without doing any of the checklists, then the cleaner stresses once they get there debating on how the cleaning is going to take them.
Not using Checkout Suggestions
When guests check out of a vacation rental and don’t use any of the checklist suggestions, it can make our job so much more stressful. I’ll give an example, here at Moxie Girl, when cleaning a vacation rental we sometimes encounter a same day turn, which means the cleanings need to take place in between a guest checking out that day and new guests arriving the same day. When cleaning a home that is same day flip you’re on a time crunch. So, when guests leave a bunch of towels, and bedding used then we are responsible to clean all of the laundries, but with guests starting a load of laundry it makes our cleaning go a little smoother and can cut an hour or so off the cleaning time. Another suggestion for guests is picking up and taking all their trash out, by doing this it doesn’t take up our cleaning time, and we have more time to focus on the resetting of the home and getting the vacation rental ready for their next guest. So next time you stay at a vacation rental, keep your cleaners in mind and partake in the check out suggestions.
Looking for a cleaning company to service your vacation rental needs? Contact us today for a FREE Consultation!!
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.
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!
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!
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!
If you’re a fan of the Netflix series, “Stay Here,” you’ve definitely heard the term “heads in beds” before. That’s where your income as a vacation rental homeowner comes from, so putting “heads in beds” is definitely your goal!
It stands to reason that the more “beds” your vacation rental home has, the more “heads” you can put in them. Even though your vacation rental may have only one or two traditional bedrooms, there are creative ways to increase the “sleeps” number, making it easy to increase your nightly rental rates!
Be reasonable, of course – you don’t want 10 people jamming themselves into your 2/2 condo. Many cities also have occupancy limits on residential dwellings, so always be sure to check out the specifics on your vacation rental location.
Depending on the layout and square footage, a 2 bedroom/2 bathroom vacation rental home that normally “sleeps 4 adults” could easily sleep 6 with the addition of a convertible sofa or murphy bed – and easily increase your rental rate by 15-20%.
The living room areas in vacation rental homes tend to be the least used room by most guests, so they are often a great place for “extra sleeps” by way of a sofa bed that folds out when it’s time for bed. Decorative portable privacy screens are a great option if the room feels a little too “open” for sleeping.
While you certainly may need a den/library/business office in your personal residence, unless you are specifically marketing your vacation rental home as a corporate short-term rental, these rooms are largely unnecessary by most people booking a vacation rental. Sure, that room can still function as an office – and be marketed as such – but add a set of bunk beds and you’ve just increased your heads-in-beds potential by 2!
While you’re busy figuring out how to maximize the heads-in-beds potential of your vacation rental home, you’ll also need to make sure the rest of your rental home is adequately stocked for your new “sleeps” number. An increase in heads-in-beds in your vacation rental home means you will need an additional bed and bath linens, dishes, glasses and silverware – even pool towels and personal amenities, if applicable.
Moxie Girl has extensive experience in the care of vacation rental homes throughout the greater Phoenix area – from set-up/stocking of new vacation rentals, to full, between-guest turns! Find out how Moxie Girl can help you reach your goals and secure the success of your vacation rental home – click here for a FREE CONSULTATION!
Many Phoenix-area school districts start the school year as early as the beginning of August, but in other places across the country, classes don’t start until the day after Labor Day! This leaves August open for impromptu family vacations, and many of those families find it less expensive – and more convenient – to find a suitable vacation rental home for their family travels.
If you own a vacation rental in the Valley and have read up on the subject, you already know the benefits of keeping your property operating through our brutal summer – even though it might seem “easier” and “cheaper” to cease operations during these months.
If you AREN’T in-the-know, here are a couple of blogs full of good information on the topic!
It’s true, staying in the summer vacation rental game not only helps offset the year-round expenses associated with your vacation rental property, but keeping your vacation rental home active during the “off” months – with good reviews – will also help boost your rental to the top of your vacation rental platform’s listings. And THAT can only increase your bookings during peak season!
Need some help avoiding complaints and bad reviews? Check out these Moxie blogs!
Late summer is famous for last-minute vacation rental home bookings, so stay in close communication with your vacation rental cleaning team. You’d never want to give your guests the feeling they’re receiving last-minute treatment!
Need Help With Your Vacation Rental Home?
Moxie Girl is the Valley’s vacation rental specialist, providing excellent service to 100+ vacation rental homes in the Phoenix Metro area. Find out if Moxie Girl is right for you – CLICK here for a free consultation!
Is Moxie Life for You?
Our Moxie Girl Vacation Rental Assistants enjoy flexible schedules, a supportive team environment, and opportunities for advancement. Tell us about yourself and we’ll be in touch soon!
With the immense popularity of Marie Kondo’s Netflix series, “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo,” more people than ever are choosing a neater, more minimal lifestyle within their homes. It turns out many of us have a lot of unused (and useless) stuff just taking up space. What does this have to do with vacation rental homes, you ask?
Well…smart vacation rental homeowners have been doing this type of “tidying” on their rental properties for years! Vacation rental homeowners newer to the industry are using this tidy approach right from the get-go, setting up and stocking their vacation rentals in the least cluttered and most efficient way possible.
What Does Your Vacation Rental Home Really NEED?
There is much to be said for minimalism in a vacation rental home. Let’s face it, more stuff = more stuff to clean. More stuff also = a greater potential for damage (or theft) of that stuff. Two areas in many vacation rental homes which tend to be outstanding in the “too much stuff” field are the kitchen and the linen closet.
Moxie Girl has posted two blogs you may find helpful! Whether you are actually just setting up your vacation rental home or determined to make an improvement to an existing situation in your vacation rental, check out “How to Set Up A Vacation Rental Home Kitchen” and “Laundry 101 for Vacation Rental Homes” for some excellent tips!
The Benefits of “Kondo-ing” Your Vacation Rental
Vacation rental home guests have a tendency to use whatever is made available to them, so if your vacation rental home offers an abundance (especially an over-abundance) of usable items such as towels and dishes, chances are there will be much more to clean (and organize) once the guests depart. While you always want your vacation rental guests to have everything they need, don’t over-do! Having fewer stock items (such as sheets, towels and kitchenware) available to your guests will also help you – or your vacation rental cleaning crew – keep an eye on the inventory and condition of your items.
Don’t forget to extend your tidying to the decorative items in your vacation rental home, too. With cleaning in mind, how “rental-friendly” are your decorations? Moxie Girl recommends durable decorative items with smooth surfaces for your vacation rental. You know, things that don’t break easily, but can be easily dusted or wiped clean. (That awesome Native dream-catcher isn’t going to look awesome at all once it starts collecting desert dust and cobwebs – which are nearly impossible to remove. A PAINTING of a dream-catcher would make a vacation-rental-friendly alternative!)
Choosing the right items for your vacation rental home helps avoid the overuse of resources as well as dramatically cutting down the time needed for between-guests turns!
Folding Fun
Well before her Netflix series, Marie Kondo became famous for her folding techniques (Google her YouTube videos!) With all of the bath, bed and kitchen linens in your vacation rental home, consistent folding and storage will keep your vacation rental beautifully organized.
Moxie Girl loves creative folding, too! It’s not a Kondo thing, but several of our Moxies really know how to put the fun into it. Creative folding, especially with bath linens can give your vacation rental a look that’s a step above standard staging. Our Moxie, Rebecca, is known for her bath towel elephant displays. Now THAT sparks joy!
Moxie Girl Can Help!
Moxie Girl, your vacation rental specialist services successful vacation rental properties throughout the Phoenix area – even offering same-day turns to our valued clients! CLICK HERE to take the first step in putting your vacation rental home in the care of our local team.
Interested in becoming a vacation rental specialist? We are always looking for thoughtful, caring individuals to join the Moxie Girl team! Please TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF!
Even if you’ve never considered operating a vacation rental home, if you plan on selling your existing home this year, it may interest you now – at least temporarily. Phoenix is currently enjoying a robust housing market, but even “robust” can have its highs and lows. Historically, more homes in the Phoenix area are sold in the spring and summer months than in the fall or winter. Moxie Girl founder, Amanda Thomas, believes that if your home has been on the market for a while, but hasn’t sold by October, temporarily converting it to a vacation rental home while it remains on the market may make a lot of sense.
The idea of temporarily operating the home as a vacation rental makes even more sense if the home you have on the market is considered “luxury.” Instead of sitting vacant while still requiring regular maintenance to keep the home tour-ready, your home could be bringing you income instead of just expense allowing you a bump in cash flow!
“Fall and winter months here in Phoenix are booming in terms of vacation rental home bookings, but sales of luxury homes are less during those months than the rest of the year,” says Amanda, “so it may be much more profitable to put off your sales listing for a few months and let the income from temporarily operating the home as a vacation rental cover the expenses you’d be incurring anyway, even if the home sat empty.” Bonus: Having regular guest activity on your property can also help deter break-ins, as well as help you keep an eye on home systems that could malfunction and go unnoticed on a vacant property.
Moxie Girl has previously explained the benefits of continuing to operate your vacation rental home through our brutal summer months, vs. “shutting it down.” You can easily apply some of this information to the subject of temporarily operating your for-sale home as a vacation rental vs. leaving it vacant while it sits on a slower market. Pay special attention to Myth #3 in our blog “Summer Vacation Rental- Moxie Girl Debunks the Myths.”
We’ve also got some useful information about setting up a vacation rental home in the best and most efficient way! Check out these blogs:
In an attempt to crack down on short term rental properties acting as “party houses” Governor Doug Ducey recently signed HB2672 into law which affects the licensing and reporting requirements necessary to operate a vacation rental anywhere in the State of Arizona. Get the details HERE!
Need Help?
From vacation rental home conversions to regular, between-guest care of established vacation rental, Moxie Girl has vast experience in the Phoenix area vacation rental home industry! CLICK HERE to see how Moxie Girl can become your vacation rental specialist!
We are always looking to add the newest member to our Moxie Girl team, too! Moxie Girls (and Boys!) enjoy flexible scheduling and physically active work in a fun, supportive environment, with plenty of opportunity for growth! CLICK HERE to introduce yourself and learn more about becoming a Moxie!
Summer is upon us here in The Valley and if you own a vacation rental home in the Phoenix area, you may think business is a goner until September or so. Some vacation rental home owners even go as far as to “close” their rental properties until the end of summer. Big mistake! For more on those particular subjects, check out these informative Moxie blogs: “Summer Vacation Rentals – Moxie Girl Debunks the Myths” and “Boosting Summer Vacation Rental Bookings”!
While it may not seem as popular during the summer months, there are still plenty of bookings to be had by making your vacation rental home more available to road-trippers! Phoenix is a frequent stop for those traveling to the Grand Canyon and other National parks, San Diego and lots of summer music festivals and other events in the Southwestern U.S. – even Puerto Penasco (Rocky Point) Mexico.
Competitive Pricing
As we highlighted in our ‘Boosting Summer Vacation Rental Bookings,” you will most likely need to make some adjustments to your pricing during the hot, humid months. Most of the best resorts in the Phoenix area offer their rooms at rock-bottom prices in the summer, because, well, they figured out long ago that’s the way to drive your business in the “off” season – and something is definitely better than nothing.
Look at the competition around the location of your vacation rental home and aim to keep your prices in check, keeping in mind these fancy resorts are also probably sweetening their deals with “packages” that you just may not be able to offer. Yes, we know it seems heart-breaking to list your stunning vacation rental at less than half of it’s winter value, but again, something is definitely better than nothing – and you have expenses pertaining to your rental property all year long.
Increased Accessibility
Moxie Girl works with many vacation rental homes that have a 2-night minimum stay required and don’t usually offer last minute bookings. During the busy season, when throngs of visitors are making Phoenix their vacation destination, those policies are pretty standard and certainly don’t tend to deter bookings. But summer is a different animal – especially if you want to attract those road-trippers!
When an overnight in Phoenix is just a stop on the way to Disneyland, most folks are ready to roll first thing in the morning – having no intention of being here any longer than necessary, so a 2-night minimum may indeed have your potential guest scrolling on to the next AirBnb listing. It’s a good idea to, at the very least, lift your 2-night minimum Monday-Thursday nights since this is what the road-trippers will probably be most interested in anyway.
Since one-night-only road-trippers most likely want to get on their way in the early morning, you’ll generally have a few more hours to turn your vacation rental home than you normally would, which makes taking those last-minute bookings even easier!
Need Help with Your Vacation Rental Home?
Moxie Girl is the Valley’s vacation rental specialist! Our main focus is vacation rental properties of all sizes, throughout the Phoenix area. Our clients enjoy more stress-free living with Moxie Girl handling their between-guest turns – even same-day! Find out what we can do for you – just click for a FREE CONSULTATION.
As a vacation rental home owner, you know there are a lot of things that need attention in order to make your vacation rental business a success. One of most important things on your list is being certain your vacation rental home is made guest-ready between bookings. Many vacation rental home owners depend on an outside service to attend to those “turns” on their behalf, and guests definitely pay attention to cleanliness – as well as presentation ( or “staging” as we like to call it.)
Now, if you’re working with an established team of vacation rental specialists (such as Moxie Girl) chances are you are completely satisfied with your service and feel you’re getting the most bang for your buck. But what if the team or individual you’ve hired to take care of this crucial task just isn’t performing to your standards?
It’s easy to fall into the trap of continuing to use a service we’re not completely satisfied with, for many reasons. We tend to be discomforted by “being the boss” – or we haven’t gotten around to finding a replacement. Lots of people don’t even like the thought of confrontation, much less having to fire someone. So we “live with it” – and grow resentful.
Moxie Girl is here to tell you that you shouldn’t “settle” when it comes to the care of your vacation rental home. Business is business and your rental home IS your business, so that makes you the boss, whether you like it or not. Rather than let your resentment build, here’s a cut-and-dried method to rectifying the situation in a professional manner.
Step 1 – Communicate
We assume you did, at the beginning of your relationship with your vacation rental cleaner, agree on the services that the cleaner would provide and how things should look and feel in your vacation rental when they’ve done their job. Perhaps your needs changed somewhere along the way and the info didn’t reach the cleaner? Or maybe your vacation rental cleaner is just “missing” some things that are turning up via bad reviews on your AirBnB or other vacation rental platform.
You must clearly communicate your requirements and be sure to highlight those things that are particular “sticking points” to you. If you’re one of the many people who would prefer to avoid a face-to-face confrontation, email works! (And you’ll have documentation for future reference – either in letting your current vacation rental home cleaner go and/or in hiring a new one – BONUS!)
With all of your needs clearly communicated, asks your vacation rental home cleaner the big question: Going forward, will you meet these requirements? If the answer is “yes” – great! But do make it clear that these things are “musts” and that you’ll be keeping an eye on the situation and if the agreement isn’t kept, you’ll be forced to hire a different vacation rental home cleaner.
Now, it IS possible that your vacation rental cleaner can’t or won’t agree they can come through for you, so you really should have a back-up plan ready. We won’t lie, Moxie Girl has turned away a few clients with VERY detailed and specifically-detailed needs. (Hey, we’re a team currently responsible for well over 150 vacation rental homes Valley-wide AND we offer same-day turns. We just can’t GUARANTEE that the throw pillows on your sofa are going to be exactly 1.5” apart, with the smaller points of the triangle print facing north, dude.)
So, if your vacation rental cleaner says “no,” they’ve basically just fired themselves and now you don’t have to. You do, however, need to get your back-up plan into action. If you have a vacation rental in the Phoenix metro area, Moxie Girl would love to talk to you! Just click for a FREE CONSULTATION.)
Step 2 – Set an Agreement (They Said Yes)
So the answer was “yes, we will do that.” Great! Now you’ve both got a renewed understanding as to how things will be done at your vacation rental home and everything should be smooth sailing from here on out.
As part of this agreement, you might require that pics of the vacation rental home be sent to you, showing that everything has been completed according to your requirements. This is not uncommon, especially in cases where the vacation rental home owner resides out of state.
If going forward you find that vacation rental cleaner isn’t keeping their end of the agreement, all you need is present them with the documentation and again, they’ve just fired themselves. Next!
Well THAT Was Easy!
Easier, anyway. We repeat: It’s crucial to have a Plan B when it comes to firing your vacation rental cleaner – you definitely don’t want to interrupt your booking calendar simply because there’s no one to turn it for you in between guests. Chances are that if you were unhappy, you probably did at least a little bit of searching for alternatives.
When interviewing a new vacation rental cleaner, you can pull out that list of requirements from Step 1 and let it be Step 1 in your interviewing process as well. It may also be helpful to think back to when you hired that last vacation rental cleaner – the one that just fired themselves. In retrospect, was there anything you feel you should’ve asked (or handled differently) during that process? Here’s your chance to improve your communication and make sure your NEW vacation rental cleaning company is on the same page.
Moxie Girl leads the way in the care of vacation rental homes throughout the Phoenix area. Not only have we made vacation rental home care our priority, we guarantee our work and we guarantee same-day turns for our valued clients! CLICK here to see how we can help you achieve the goals you’ve set for your vacation rental home.
P.S. We are always looking for the next Moxie Girl (or boy!) to join our team. If making money while staying active and fit on a flexible schedule sounds good to you, we’d love to meet you – CLICK HERE to apply!
Moxie Girl is always thrilled that you love our services and recommend us to your family, friends, and associates!
We received a call recently from a friend telling us she had recommended Moxie to a friend of hers who was converting his Paradise Valley home to a vacation rental and may need our help stocking the home for guests. As it turned out, he REALLY needed help!
We got a call at 11 am from the property owner and found out that the “cart” was actually well ahead of the “horses.” The owner had already booked the home for the holiday weekend and there were five guys on their way – TODAY!
Moxie to the Rescue!
Moxie Girl founder, Amanda Thomas, rose to the challenge and went to the home immediately for a walk-through. Although the homeowner had pillaged a few scant items from his other properties, the house still needed, oh…just about EVERYTHING!
Making her long list of “must-haves” based on her vast experience in the vacation rental industry, Amanda told the owner she’d be back in a few hours with everything he’d need. Have you ever really thought about the things you might need to use in the course of even a weekend? Here’s a partial list of what was purchased that day:
Basic Necessities – Hand soap, paper towels, tissues, trash bags, CORKSCREW (Gasp! Imagine settling in and not being able to open the wine!)
Done and Done!
Like a pink tornado, Amanda was off, scooping up all the items on her list and was back to the home, unpacked and made the vacation rental guest-ready by 4 pm! Just in time for the guys to start enjoying the holiday weekend!
While we don’t encourage waiting until the very last minute to stock your vacation rental home, you can be confident that with our extensive vacation rental know-how, Moxie Girl is always the best choice, no matter when you call! Click for a FREE CONSULTATION!
Sometimes vacation rental guests will break the rules…Thankfully, it’s been Moxie Girl’s experience that rule-breakers tend to be the exception, rather than the standard. And many times, the rules that are broken tend to be the ones that don’t seem like “that big of a deal” – to the guest anyway! Guests not adhering to check-in/check-out times is without a doubt the most frequent issue we see.
Unless you take a firm position on arrival and departure times at your vacation rental home, it’s easy for guests to think, “I know we’re supposed to be out of here no later than 11am, but another hour should be okay…” or “Check in isn’t until 4p, but I’m sure it won’t be a problem if we get there at 2.” Not a big deal, right?
Actually, it IS a very big deal when there are a limited number of hours before the next guests arrive! Moxie Girl, your vacation rental specialist, is well aware of how late check-outs and early check-ins can affect the “turn” at your vacation rental home.
Awkward…
Most of us Moxies have had a least one weird experience with either late check-outs or early check-ins. I was turning a smaller condo in Old Town Scottsdale once and the owner called to inform me that the guests arriving that day (scheduled for 4p) had her permission to “drop their bags” a few hours early since they had traveled from Canada and had lots of luggage, since they were staying for two weeks. Sure, no problem!
The bedrooms and bathrooms (upstairs) were done and I was just finishing up the kitchen when the guests showed up. I pointed them in the direction of the stairs, expecting them to drop their bags and head out. I busied myself checking on the progress of the laundry, which was in another building. Well, the laundry wasn’t done, and the guests were still upstairs. Started in on dusting the living room…surely they’ll be out of here in just a…Wait. What? Did I just hear the shower turn on? Yup. That was the shower, alright…and here comes the “missus” to explain that her husband was just going to take a quick shower before they head out, so she’s just going to make a little snack while she waits. Oh…turns out they had groceries already, too.
Thankfully there wasn’t much more to be done that day, and I just worked my way through the rest of the living room and finished the laundry. Under the circumstances, I really didn’t have the heart to turn them out…I mean they were soooo nice – Canadians, you know.
An Invitation for “Cleaning Misses”
Sure, that little encounter turned out just fine and no harm done (although I did report the early check-in vs. the “bag drop” I’d been told to expect, just to be safe) but late check-outs and early check-ins can both affect the quality of service between guests, often leading to cleaning “misses,” the likes of which we brought to your attention in our blog, “Review Killers.” Moxie Girl believes EVERY guest should walk into a sparkling clean, as-perfect-as-we-can-make-it vacation rental home, and we schedule accordingly, to make that happen.
Not that we can’t handle a little pressure, but it can certainly be an issue when we lose any of the time we’d planned to spend due to guests not checking out on time, or arriving hours early. Unlike hotel room turns, vacation rental property turns are a lot more involved – we’re talking full laundry, multiple bathrooms (and beds) plus a full kitchen! And more often than not, guests have dug in for at least a few days with no housekeeping.
For Example…
We recently had a team of two Moxies doing a same-day turn on a rather large (4 bedroom, 3 bath) vacation rental home with about 2 hours of work left to be done when guests arrived! The push was on to get the home up to Moxie standards in a lot less time than we thought we had, while the way-too-early guests “hung out at the pool.”
Thankfully, a third Moxie was able to get to the location and help with finishing up and do a final walk-through…otherwise the guests would have found we’d missed cleaning the inside of the microwave (yuck!) and trash left in one of the bedrooms (double yuck!) We’d NEVER want a guest to find either or those things – and we know you wouldn’t either!
What You Can Do
Be sure your check-in and check-out times are clearly posted – both on your rental platform listing as well as inside the home. Some vacation rental homeowners send a text reminding guests of check-out time the evening before they’re due to leave. Yes, it may feel like you’re “playing mom” with your guests, but they may also appreciate the head-up more if you start with “Hope you’ve been having a fabulous stay! Just a reminder…”
Guests wishing to extend their stay are not unusual. If your booking schedule allows another night or two, don’t forget to keep your cleaners in the loop! Also be sure to tell us if you’ve “approved” a late check-out or early check-in so we may adjust our schedule accordingly.
Need Help with Your Vacation Rental Home?
Moxie Girl is The Valley’s Vacation Rental Specialist! From conversion and set-up to in-between guest cleaning – including same day turns – you can count on Moxie Girl for professional, reliable service! Contact us for a FREE CONSULTATION!
Planning a summer vacation in the Phoenix area? No doubt you’ve heard about the heat, but if you’ve never experienced summer in the desert, there are some things you should be aware of – especially if your doggos are along for the trip! Moxie Girl has some important tips to help you and your “best friend” have a safe and enjoyable summer vacation in Arizona.
The Perfect Place to Stay
Phoenix, Scottsdale and Paradise Valley all have some great “dogs-welcome” vacation rental homes and these cities, in particular, have many restaurants and cafes with pet-friendly patios, too! Before booking your vacation rental, make sure you’re clear on the property’s pet policy.Some good questions to ask:
Is there a pet deposit required, and how much is it?
How many pets are allowed, and is the required deposit “per pet” or just a general pet deposit?
Is the pet deposit refundable (or not charged) if no pet damage occurs?
Does the property have any weight or breed restrictions?
Wow – They Weren’t Kidding About This Heat…
Nope, not at all! Moxie Girl cannot stress enough the importance of protecting your pet (and yourself) from extreme desert heat.First and foremost, NEVER, EVER leave your pet in the car! Even if the outside temperature is only 80 degrees, the temperature inside your vehicle can rise to 120 degrees within a matter of minutes, so just DON’T.
Staying hydrated is a must!Always have plenty of cool, fresh water available for you and your pet, especially when you’re out and about.Remember, if you’re feeling thirsty, you’re already on your way to dehydration…and that’s just a hop and a skip from heat stroke – or worse.
Walk your pet in the early morning hours. Not only is the desert gorgeous at sunrise, but it’s usually also the coolest part of the day. Still, even during the coolest hours asphalt or concrete may be uncomfortably hot for your pet to walk on. Take your shoes off and walk outside.If your feet are burning, so will your dog’s. Either stay on the grass during your walks or invest in some protective footwear for your pet.
Photo by Robson Hatsukami Morgan on Unsplash
Creature Features and Weird Plants
Even though your summer vacation rental home may feel as though it’s “in the city” – and it may well be – doesn’t mean you won’t find any critters. Sure, there may neighbors, restaurants, and shopping nearby, but please be advised that our desert wildlife pays no mind. Coyotes, javelina(wild desert boars) and various birds of prey are regularly spotted in well-populated areas around the valley, so NEVER leave your pet unattended outside.
Early mornings sightings are common, so pay special attention to your surroundings when walking your pet.If you should happen upon a coyote or javelin, don’t panic. They’re generally not aggressive unless they feel threatened, but then again they’re not called “wildlife” for nothing.It’s always best to stay quiet and calmly but firmly guide your pet in the other direction. If you feel threatened by these creatures, know that they can usually be dispersed by a loud noise, such as banging a heavy stick on a metal sign or fence if necessary.
Oh, and we also have scorpions and snakes.Don’t freak out, but definitely steer clear of either of those.Scorpion stings can be dangerous and are always painful.While many desert snakes are harmless, unless you’re versed in herpetology, take no chances. One of the most dangerous snakes in the Southwest is the rattlesnake and they blend in quite well with the desert landscape, so keep a close eye on and around your path.
Pets can be curious, and cactus is unique! Keep plenty of space between you and your pet and anything that looks spiny or full of thorns.
Stormy Weather
Summer monsoon storms can quickly come out of nowhere, bringing blowing dust, heavy rain, booming thunder and spectacular lightning strikes.You and your pet are safest indoors during these events and your pet may appreciate some extra TLC – these storms can be loud and scary!
If a monsoon storm is predicted, making a few simple preparations in case of a power outage is a great idea.A fully charged cell phone is a good place to start.Think about what you and your pet might want to have close at hand should you find yourselves in the dark for a few hours and gather those items in a comfy spot you’ve chosen to wait out the storm.
Moxie Girl hopes our tips for summer travel with pets have you feeling excited and well-prepared for a fantastically fun getaway with your whole family. Check out other blogs for more helpful hints for enjoying your Phoenix summer vacation rental!
Phoenix vacation rental home owners often think it’s a good idea to just shutter their property and wait out the summer season – who wants to come to Phoenix in the summer, anyway? Actually lots of people DO come to Phoenix in the summer, even if they are just passing through on their way to cooler temps than we have to offer.
With our vast experience in the Phoenix area vacation rental home market, Moxie Girl can always be counted on for excellent tips for vacation rental home owners. We recently received an email from one of our valued clients, asking for tips to help her boost the summer bookings for her Valley vacation rental home – and we are happy to share our advice with you, too!
Here are a few things we’ve heard from our clients (vacation rental homeowners and professional property managers) whose properties in the Valley stay busy during the summer:
Use Multiple Rental Platforms
List your vacation rental home on multiple sites! Summer tends to have more road tripping guests and they use AirBNB a bit more than VRBO, so using at least both of these platforms to list your property “widens your net” for potential bookings.
Implement Active Tweaking
Rental platform sites all have algorithms that keep a secret eye on your listing activity and will boost more active properties to the top of relevant search results. Simply tweaking your prices on a weekly basis will help show the sites that you want your vacation rental to be listed higher than those of your competition!
Competitive Pricing
Speaking of competition, keep an eye on prices of your competitors – both vacation rental homes AND hotels/resorts in your area. One of the biggest mistakes we see vacation rental home owners make is to refuse to drop their prices in the summer.
Yes, offering your $199-a-night-during-peak-season vacation rental home for $89/night during the summer sounds painful, but if the nearby five-star resort with an amazing water park is offering $99/night, and a competitor’s vacation rental home down the street is listed at $89/night, then your home, listed at $199/night will most likely sit vacant.
It’s also important to think about what a potential guest sees when they look at a vacation rental home listing with a WIDE OPEN calendar – they may second guess if they should book with you based on that empty calendar alone (trust us, it’s a whole social validity/psychology thing.) Consider taking a couple reservations each month at deep discounts to get SOMETHING on your calendar. Having at least a couple bookings a bit in advance should help you attract more bookings, at regular summer prices.
Another thing you may consider doing is to take “last minute” reservations – anything is better than nothing! If your vacation rental home calendar for an upcoming week is empty, drop the price and you may snag the budget road trippers!
Guests Are Guests
In our experience, lower prices do NOT equal lesser quality guests. The interactions that vacation rental homeowners or managers have with guests prior to arrival have far more impact than the nightly amount the guest will pay. Moxie Girl actually sees the most damage to homes when guests stay over 30 days because they really start to LIVE in the home.
Something is Definitely Better than Nothing!
To illustrate what busy vacation rental homes in the Phoenix area CAN do in the summer, let’s look at the 2018 summer season stats for three properties belonging to Moxie Girl clients. Please note that all three properties are professionally managed by local property managers – it really helps to specifically “tuned-in” to Phoenix summer vacation rental market.
Remember, NO bookings equals ZERO income for your vacation rental property. So, even if your rental home is only booked for close to half of the days in each summer month – and even at summer rental rates – that income will go a long way in covering the regular, monthly expenses that come with rental ownership. (Mortgage payments, HOA fees and utilities don’t go away, even if you do “close” your rental for the summer!)
Check out the number of nights BOOKED for each of these vacation rentals:
Property
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
4Bed/4Bath
North Scottsdale
14
21
16
15
26
4Bed/2.5Bath
Scottsdale
12
11
18
12
10
4Bed/3Bath
North Scottsdale
16
17
26
18
22
Need More?
Be sure to check out our other blogs filled with even more helpful tips for a successful summer rental season!
Did you know many vacation rental home owners periodically book stays in their own vacation rental homes? Whether it’s just to “check on things” or take advantage of their Phoenix “investment” during perfect weather, these visits are never bad idea.
And regardless of your the reason, it’s always a good idea to mentally prepare yourself for an “in-between-guests” visit to your operating vacation rental home. In other words…various and multiple virtual strangers have been almost continually occupying your home since your last visit, so it may not look exactly as you left it last time you staged it yourself.
Loved, But Also Lived In
Moxie Girl, your vacation rental specialist, makes a point of alerting our clients immediately to theft, es or anything in obvious need of repair when we turn a home, but everyday wear-and-tear in a busy rental home is quite different than that of the home you live in full time.
Paint may seem a little dull compared to last season, and throw rugs and sofa pillows might look less than brand new – bed and bath linens could feel slightly less than luxurious to you this time around. Wow, it’s a good thing you dropped in! Now could be the perfect time to replace your soft goods and maybe even consider planning some more extensive updates such as paint, flooring or window coverings (during “off season” of course!)
A “Turn” Clean is Not a Deep Clean
Moxie Girl services many vacation rental homes that offer back-to-back availability, limiting the time we can spend making the home guest-ready. Our “window” to completely turn a home, including laundry, is often a matter of a few hours. So, while we certainly don’t skimp on the cleaning – we want your home looking top-notch, too! – there simply isn’t time to get to “deep cleaning.”
Things such as hard water build-up, stained grouting and other issues that slowly become an issue over time really SHOULD be addressed, whether it be during your visit or by scheduling a deep clean with Moxie Girl as your property’s schedule allows. But the point here is, yes, you might see some things that need attention, but they will generally be the type of things that would fall under the deep cleaning category.
Why is This HERE???
Are you sitting down? And is your chair exactly where you left it last? If so, great! But if you’re walking into your vacation rental home for the first time in a while, this may not be the case. We’re not sure why, and the reasons may be many, but brace yourself for this bit of news: GUESTS MOVE THINGS!
Weird, right? And yet, it’s absolutely not uncommon. Moxie Girl, being who we are, takes care to beautifully stage your vacation rental home as soon as we’re done cleaning, but even WE sometimes just don’t know where a chair (or a nightstand, or a this or a that) actually belongs according to your original plan. So, we do our best.
And you know if guests are relocating furniture, chances are the items in your kitchen cupboards and drawers have definitely been moved! Again, Moxie Girl does take care to make sure these areas are clean, neat and organized, but maybe not exactly as YOU would have them arranged.
P.S. You’re absolutely welcome to arrange them as you wish during your stay!
What Can You Do?
As a vacation rental home owner there are steps you can take during your visits that will help you (and us) keep your investment looking its best for your guests. Remember, proper maintenance of your vacation rental home and its contents help keep your ratings high…which helps keep your calendar full…which gives you higher return on your investment!
Meredith Willis of Arizona Getaways, a Phoenix vacation rental management service, understands that between-guest attention, even by professionals, is on a strict time limit and advises vacation rental home owners to visit their properties regularly to check out the wear-and-tear and make needed repairs and provide routine maintenance to household systems.
As we mentioned in our blog “Minimizing Your Liabilities as a Vacation Rental Homeowner” keeping your home in good repair not only LOOKS better but greatly reduces the chance of accident or injury to guests, and ta-da! – minimizes your liability. Brilliant!
Meredith says this is also a great time to check all the linens! Even if your property rotates multiple sets of sheets and towels, these items are heavily used and laundered much more so that in regular residential use, and everything from kitchen towels to duvet covers are bound to take some mild abuse.
In short, nobody sees things in quite the same way you do, so it’s best you make it a point to do regular inspections of your vacation rental yourself. If we’re not doing things quite the way you’d like, let us know and Moxie Girl will make an effort to accommodate all reasonable requests.
Contact Us!
Looking for reliable, professional vacation rental service? Moxie Girl is here to help with everything from converting an existing home to a vacation rental to in-between-guest turns, including same day services! Contact us today for a FREE CONSULTATION!
With the vacation rental business booming in the Phoenix metro area, Moxie Girl has made vacation rental home care our specialty! Moxie Girl and its founder Amanda Thomas were featured in the December 8 2018 Arizona Republic, in which one of our clients is quoted as saying, “They are very good at understanding the short term rental market and being able to accommodate a weird cleaning schedule.” No lies there! Moxie Girl even handle same day turns.
But we’re not known as your vacation rental home specialist based only on our understanding of the business and our accommodating nature. Being a vacation rental home owner herself, Amanda Thomas knows from her own experience how to best set up and stock your vacation rental home, too. And that’s not all… Amanda and the Moxie team can go even further than that in helping you achieve your goal of a owning a beautiful – and beautifully operating – vacation rental home.
One Such Project…
Moxie Girl recently helped one of our existing clients, who lives out of state, take a newly purchased a condo from “as- is” to “guest ready.” The two bedroom two bath condo had formally been a long-term rental and there was much to be done to bring it to the desired condition.
Amanda advised the client on just about every aspect of the transformation. She also became the owner’s eyes and ears through all of the painting, flooring, lighting and mirror installation by contractors. Amanda regularly reported on and provided photos of the remodeling progress to the owner and alerted him to any potential issues.
Once the interior was ready, the owner furnished the home to sleep five adults, maximizing potential rental income on the two bedroom condo. Moxie Girl ordered all of the “essentials,” bath and bed linens, dishes etc. from Amazon.com and filled in the “soft touches.”
And Just Like That…
As always Moxie Girl took care of the cleaning and staging, making the home look its absolute best. And just like that, this vacation rental home was ready for its photo shoot and listing on AirBnB!
We can help you, too! Whether you’re looking for a reliable vacation rental home cleaning team, or need help in converting a property to a vacation rental home, let Moxie Girl be YOUR vacation rental specialist. Get a FREE CONSULTATION!
