Identifying The Right Market For Your Business
4 Sept 2023 · 34 min
Drew Pearce runs 9 short-term rentals across Florida and Tennessee. He filters markets by scanning 900 candidates, then narrows to those with 1,000+ rentals and an AirDNA demand score of 80+, comparing average rental revenue against home price to find ROI. He uses Hostaway, Wheelhouse, and Turno to manage properties remotely while focusing on guest experience through themed properties and on-site activities.
Questions this episode answers
About nine properties.
Seven owned jointly with investors; two are managed (recently started).
Started mid-2019; hit $100,000 in revenue in 2020.
Scan ~900 markets → keep markets with ~1,000+ vacation rentals → AirDNA rental demand score ≥ ~80 → compare average rental revenue to average home price to compute simple ROI → pick top markets.
HostAway (PMS), Turno/TurnoverBnB (housekeeping automation/marketplace), Wheelhouse (dynamic pricing), Operto (door codes/locks), ChargeAutomation (security deposit & guest onboarding).
Chapters
Welcome back to the Boostly Podcast. This is the podcast that gives hosts the tools, the tactics, the trainings, and most importantly, the confidence on how you can go out there and get more direct bookings. Today we are going to be talking about how you can identify the right market to be in. And to help us do that, we're going to talk to a successful short term rental host and ask the questions which you can listen to the answers and take that information and perhaps implement that into your business as a host. So my name is Liam Carolan, I'm Mark Simpson's co host and we're going behind the host with Drew Pearce from Sage Vacations. And if you want to go check them out, you can go to ww.sagevacations.net and see his beautiful website and check out his business. But let's dive in, let's find out all the information that we want to find out and, and go behind the host with him. So welcome along Drew. Thank you for joining me.
Thank you for having me, Liam. It's an honor to be here.
So I know we've, we've talked before, we've obviously spoke about websites before and I've kind of unfamiliar with your business. But for people who have just tuned in and don't know who Drew Pearce is or Sage Vacations, can you kind of give us the background? What kind of business model do you use, how many units, where in the world, all that cool stuff?
Sure, absolutely. So the business is currently located in the United States in the Florida market, Orlando, Florida, the Florida market, as well as the Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forest, Tennessee markets as well. We currently have about nine properties. And you know, we're, we're growing, you know, every year fortunately. And, and so that's what we do though, that's, that's different than everyone else is that we, we try to focus more on the experience, I think with everything else and we, we, we make it so we, that's part of a kind of our business models. We're not catering to people who are just looking for a place to sleep, but they're also looking for, you know, that experience whenever they go and stay someplace, an extension of whatever it is that they're doing in that particular location.
Experience is so important. And more and more people are booking for not just you know, like say a bed to sleep in, but actually because they're booking with emotions. They're thinking, hey, what emotions am I going to have? What kind of experience am I going to have? Which is cool. So we'll Definitely dive into that. Those nine units that you've got at the moment, what kind of setup are they? Arbitrage, Are they owned, are they managed?
Seven of them are owned by, by me and investors jointly and then two of them I just barely started. So those are actually managed.
Nice, nice. So starting to diversify the model, which is, which is cool. So we're going to be talking obviously about identifying the market. So it'd be a great way to get started. How did you identify these locations and what tips would you be able to share around that?
Yeah, I think honestly the easiest way to do that is just to take you step by step, like what my process is, which is actually pretty proprietary. I don't tell many people this. So you guys are getting an exclusive access to this, if you will. The first thing that I do is identify anywhere here in the United States that's kind of where I'm currently just focusing on, is here in this country. And identify where all the top locations are for vacation destinations in each country. And so. Right. Or excuse me, in each state. And right now that list of markets I'm looking at is over 900 different markets that I'm looking at. So I go through and then I, you know, that's obviously easy. Just there's a Google process with that. And the next thing I do is I look at the travel demand using air DNA, you know, the air DNA score for those of you who don't know what that is, that's. It gives you a score and basically says is the market growing and is the demand keeping up with it? So it's a good sustainable market. And I go there and I look at what the rental demand score is in that market. The other thing that I do is because what's, I'm not just looking for a place to make a quick buck. I'm looking for, I'm looking to build a brand. So I'm only looking in markets that have already about a thousand plus vacation rentals in that market as well. So I narrowed down from about 900 plus markets to about say 200 markets where they have about a thousand plus. And then anything that has a rental Demand score about 80 or higher, that will narrow it down again to say 30 or 40. And then from there I narrow it down again to see which markets then are going to have the highest roi. And so I just look at what the average rental revenue rental is in that market. And then I also look at the average home price and from there you can just calculate a very simple ROI and Then that's how I get it narrowed down to, like, say, my top three markets that I'm going to be looking at. And if you follow this model, it's pretty much a 90% chance you're going to be successful because you've already narrowed it down to where the markets are going to be the best. And don't be afraid to look outside your own backyard. You know, I live thousands of miles away from my nearest rental, and it's very doable. And that's how I started. I didn't start my own backyard. I even started. The reason why I did that is because when you're first getting started, you're going to make mistakes. It's inevitable. Everybody's going to do it. You know, the path to success is through failure. And so when you do make mistakes, it's nice to be in a market where that is. Has higher margins and you can kind of. It's forgivable. You know, you can, you can stumble a little bit. And then from there, I go ahead and I take a look at each market individually and make sure that those markets, those numbers I'm looking at are accurate. You know, for example, one of the markets I look at is a Riverville, Tennessee. It'll say average home price is $250,000. But then when you look closer, the places that people are staying at, they're more like $600,000 and more. So you got to go and adjust the numbers as you go along. But as soon as you do that, you know, it's, it's, it's. Then you just narrow it down to the neighborhood. And most of the stuff you can actually do for free as well. You don't even need to purchase, you know, air DNA. I, I didn't purchase air DNA anything with them, for example, until I was on my, my fourth or fifth property is when I actually started doing it. And that was with me, you know, really outperforming the market that I was in and what everyone else that I knew in the industry was doing nice.
I mean, there's a couple of things to break down there. First of all, Air DNA, fantastic tool for everybody who's listening to this. Some of the people listening to this may be listening to the Bruce Lee podcast for the first time. If you haven't checked out Air DNA, go and do so there is free trials and things like that. And also a rentalizer which you can put in any address, and it'll bring up rough figures of what the performance of that particular area is. There's A couple of cool things that you mentioned there. First of all, what you've said is taking me back to a podcast that we did with Avery Karl recently where I asked her, would you rather have the best property in a slightly mediocre market or would you rather have a mediocre property in the best market? And she said, definitely the mediocre property in the best market. Because ultimately, if you're pinpointing these places using tools like air DNA, you just said that it's 90% of the task is finding the right market to be in, which is just so important. The other thing, I like what you mentioned because instantly my brain just goes, but how am I going to manage from far away? And you've just said, don't be scared of that. You know, at the end of the day, go with the figures, which is cool. And we'll dive more into that. Who helps you with your team? And then you also mentioned that the path to success is through failure. And that's just so true. You know, I don't know anybody in the short term rental business who doesn't have failures, doesn't have problems, challenges, but then overcomes them. And, you know, that's, that's how we all grow, which is cool. So really a lot of information for the people listening to this, which is cool. So let's dive into the next part, which is how do you manage the teams from afar? So you're in a number of different markets, you've got some obviously closer by, some thousands of miles away. What is the secret source? Who helps you and how do you effectively manage from that far?
Yeah, that's actually the number one question I get from people, you know, because they're all very nervous about, you know, they want to be able to see the property themselves, go be within 20 minutes or something like that, and go check on any time that they want. And it just comes down to picking people that you trust to do it. And that's the most important thing, is just making sure you have people there on the ground that you can trust. So the first thing you gotta do is find a really good housekeeper, housekeeping company, or just somebody that you hire individually. It's difficult to hire an individual until you have at least four or five properties that are constantly booked, you know, so I'd recommend probably starting off with a cleaning company first and then transitioning to hiring your own housekeeping crew just to save on that cost and you have more quality control, things like that. And then the rest is just making sure that you have really good systems in place from a technology perspective. So I use Hostaway to manage everything that I do and you know, whenever a guest books a place, I send them the information that says, hey, you know, thanks, thanks for booking. These are your dates, these are how many nights you're staying. You know, this is how you access the digital guidebook and so on and so forth. And then I just keep in contact with them throughout, say like, hey, by the way, you know, we, we offer this hey, by the way, you know, first day after the check in, how's everything going? I want to find out right away if there's any problems with it. And that's really about all you need for your first property you're going is just having, you know, a good housekeeper and most good, good housekeepers know good handymen to help you out and fix things. And then there's Google for everything else. You know, you can find a good plumber just by using Google and from getting started aspect, that's really all you need. Oh, and I would also recommend you get a dynamic pricing tool like Wheelhouse or Beyond. I personally prefer Wheelhouse above everything else and, but if you do that, it's no different than if they're sitting in your backyard or a thousand miles away. The work is still going to be the same.
That's cool, that's cool. And thank you for sharing those tips. It feels like a great time to segue into the tech stack. So you mentioned some great tools there. I'd love to know, you know what your tech stack is and obviously the people listening can. I'd love to know what they are and why you use them. You know, why particular those ones.
Sure. So I have several that I use. The first one I'll dive into I guess is HostAway. And I use HostAway just because they are fairly cost effective relative to the market and what they do provide. But I also really like Hostaway just because they have the most integrations, you know, they integrated with Boostly. You guys built my website, you know, the Boostly website. And it makes it really effective and it just makes it automates, you know, 95% of the guest communication, you know, and as long as you're communicating clearly in your messages, you know you're not going to get a lot of inquiries or questions throughout the stay. Another one that I use is operative. I use Operuto because they automate the guest community or not the communication, excuse me, the door codes for, for the guests. So it makes it so that guests can't check in prior to check in and they, and their code stops working too shortly after they check out as well. So it's good for security purposes in that way. Another piece of software I use is Turno. I use turno.com why I love that one's probably one of my favorite ones. And the reason why I love that one so much because it automates the housekeeping process. You know the, I pay my, my keeper, my housekeepers by the hour. So all they do is they clock in, they do the place and they clock out and they have to upload all the pictures and everything like that. And then the payment to them is automated. So they're getting paid daily, which is what everybody loves. You know, they're not waiting for me to do payroll every two weeks. So it's just nice that they, they do the work every day and they get paid every day for it and they, they seem to really enjoy that. It makes my life easy too because I don't have to keep track of anything.
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Turno I think was turnover bnb, am I right?
They were Turnover bnb, yes. Yeah, they just barely rebranded. You're right. Yeah, they did. And then as I mentioned before, I use wheelhouse for the dynamic pricing. It's great to get you started just to know, okay, what, especially when you're entering into a new market, okay, what is like the standard price? So I just always start with the recommended pricing and then as the bookings start coming in then I start raising that base price and making adjustments through it. It's really customizable in that regard. Like if you want to do gap nights, you know, filling gap nights, meeting there's orphan nights. Or in other words you can have like a three night minimum. But what happens if there's a gap between two different listings or two different bookings? Excuse me, that are two nights, do you allow that or not? And that allows you to customize that, figure things out, any kind of discounts you want to offer on a long term, things of that nature. So it's just really good in that regard. The last one that I use is fairly new to it, but it's been working out fairly well so far as Charge Automation. And what I like about Charge Automation is that because Airbnb and these others don't allow you to secure a security deposit from your guests. And we all know it's a nightmare trying to work with Airbnb to get your money back when a guest damages the place. And so I kind of bypassed all that and say, hey, you know, you can't get the door code and things like that until you put in your secure deposit in this through Charge Automation. And that's how they get all the checking information, that's how they can see all relevant information really for their booking. And so anytime someone says, you know, hey, can I get the door code? You know, I usually know they haven't paid that secured deposit yet.
That's a really cool one. And Charge Automation is one of these softwares which has come on so far in the last sort of 12 months because originally Charge Automation was just a security deposit hold. But as you say now it's even got kind of guides and guest books on there, which is, which is so cool because it means that as soon as that person's paid, they unlock that stuff. So they've got a reason to pay it nice and quick. And obviously they can't get access before they've done what you need them to do, which is just so, so important. And of course you're not having to wait by the phone. That's all done automatically as soon as they pay it, which the, the way I've, I've got short term rental business myself and at the moment we still have to, we get a notification when they've paid and then we send it out because we don't use Charge Automation. So it's one of the ones which, you know, even I'm considering. So it's a cool one. So host away Wheelhouse Aperto, which was the door locks and Charge Automation. Yep.
And Turno.
And Turno, yeah, Turno. So important. I mean, having a checklist for your cleaner. I know a lot of people when they start doing short term rental, they just go, hey, let's send my clean around. And they've cleaned it great. But especially for people listening to this who are in the early days, you just need some sort of. What does that clean involve? What is checked off, you know, especially if it's a cleaner who might not be familiar with doing short term rentals. You know, they slightly different, isn't it compared to standard home cleans because at the end of the day need to check all drawers that are empty, you need to check the cutlery drawer, you know, check everything is, is, is in good condition and it's just great having those kind of apps which you can then view the clean and all the information from thousand miles away. So that makes sense.
And something to add to that as well is that Turno has a marketplace so you can find housekeepers on there as well. Cleaning companies in particular. Yeah, so it's, that's how I found my first cleaners as well. Is just through there like I said, because not everyone, it doesn't make sense for most people to hire a full time housekeeper with one property or two properties. There's not enough work for them to do. But a cleaning company makes sense because you know, they supposedly will have something like, you know, 20 plus properties that they're cleaning. So adding on one just yours makes a lot of sense for them. The nice thing is that they know what they're signing up for, they know that industry and kind of what's expected of them because they're already working with lots of other homeowners in the area. And so it's a great head start. And then that way you can kind of still tweak and refine, you know, the things that they're doing for you. But it gives you a huge boost when you're first getting started. I feel like it just makes your life a lot easier when you're working with a professional who's already familiar with the industry.
And one of the hardest things to do is to find good people. So anybody listening to this, looking for a cleaner turnover, turnover, BNB or Turno now, you know, it's a great, great way to find your first, first cleaner and first people who will really help push your business forward. So you mentioned at the start that Sage Vacations is about experiences. So talk me through what a guest can expect when they book one of your properties and what the experiences that you kind of offer. What are the reasons they come and stay with you?
Yeah, great question. So it depends on the market. So if they're going into the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, right, they're going to be going to sing in a cabin. One of our properties that's more successful has its own private fishing pond, for example, you know, so we provide the fishing gear for them. They get to go and we provide everything they need to, to actually do the fishing. And then we recommend just a local business if they want to go buy some worms or something like that to, to be more, you know, if they actually are more concerned about catching lots of fish type of a thing. And so what we, we try to do is just add to the experience they're already there for. So they go to the Smoky Mountains for the natural beauty of the area and there's lots of stuff that they can do nearby as well. But the, the primary thing, like I said, is we're, we're adding to the reasons why they're already there. So that way their vacation never really ends when they get back to the, to the place to sleep. It's not just a place to sleep. The other thing that we do is for example like in Florida is we often do themes. So for example, one of our properties is a Harry Potter theme. The whole place is Harry Potter and it's just totally decked out. We spent gobs of money, probably way too much on the property and getting it up and going. But it gets you know, three to four times x what everyone else in the area is doing in that, in that same community. And, and we get, you know, primarily five star reviews. And I've just noticed if they have a really great place to stay at, like they go in and they're just enamored by how beautiful it is or you know, it's really nostalgic for them, whatever. They tend to also overlook some of the other things too, like if they ran out of toilet paper. You know, when I have some properties that maybe aren't as themed out, they tend to complain more than the people who are sitting at this place. They're like, it's not, it's not that big of a deal. We still love it but you know, we just need a little bit of toilet paper or whatever the case is. And it just creates a really great experience for them that way. And we try to do everything as well that's as self serve as possible because that's just the way I like to vacation as well. Like I don't like going to a hotel and I have to talk to like 20 people before I can get into my room. You know, I like to be able to just know like okay, I got the door code, now I'm going to just go, this is the place. Google, you know, they sent me a check in instructions already. As long as I just follow what they told me to do, I can get into the unit. And it's great. Like it's, you know, someone is always available if they need to get a hold of someone. But we try to make it so they don't have to reach out to us if they don't, if they don't need to, they really have all the information they need. Just go in and get out and enjoy their stay.
That sounds really cool. I love the idea of the Harry Potter themed place. And you're so right. What you're saying is that if people are checking in somewhere which is a bit special and a bit different, well, their minds on that isn't on, you know, the number of toilet rolls or if there is, you know, a floor hasn't been vacuumed quite as well as it could be. And it is, they'll be more forgiven, ultimately. And we've had exactly the same thing recently where somebody stayed in one of our better sort of interior design sort of places. And on the private feedback, they've done a five star public review. Absolutely glowing. On the private feedback, they just said, hey, we'd love it if, you know, the pillows are starting to get a bit sort of past their best. You know, it'd probably be worth replacing. Well, that's fantastic because publicly they've given a great review as your place is getting five stars as well. And then anything, which is a small kind of thing which took their attention, then they can feed it back privately, which is. Which is fair enough, at least we know is the key thing, isn't it? So.
Right.
I love the idea as well of that fission, you know, the fact that you're providing everything they need, so you're kind of tailoring your. Your places and the experience around what the. What the market is, which is just so important and obviously shows with the good reviews. I've been on your website, obviously, and you've got your reviews on there. So, yeah, it's just. Just awesome to see. So, Drew, how did you get into hospitality? What was the thing that. That started this and what did you do before your life in hospitality?
So I had always just wanted. I always thought it'd just be fun to be a homeowner, essentially. Like, you know, one day what I want to do is just buy a house wherever I want it to be in this vacation destination and design it how I want and just get a management company to manage it for me. That was initially my goal. And then I went with my family and another. Another family. We went together on a vacation down to a place called St. George. It's Zion national park here in Utah. And we just had a great time there. And we, and a lot of it had little to do with the area that we're in because we really didn't go out and explore much. It was really just an excuse to leave our houses and hang out just together for a few days. And we just kind of just. I just noticed a lot of things that they did that were just little things that just made the stay really enjoyable. You know, they, they, everything was marked about how to do this, how to do that, you know, with the TV remotes and like I said, the check instructions were just super simple to follow. And you know, we went into, they even said, hey, if you, if you kids want to ride a bike, we provide these bikes in this little garage area. And I think here's the code to get into the garage and you know, we even use those. And it was just a great experience. And I remember just turning to my wife at the time and saying, you know, I think, I think I could do this. You know, I think we could do this. No point in waiting. Why don't we just go ahead and do it? And that's kind of how I decided to get into it. So I wasn't like what most people are, accidental hosts, things like that. It was definitely a conscious decision, I'm going to get into this and I'm going to do it to make money. And I guess leading up to that I didn't have a lot of experience in hospitality prior to this. My experience was in business management. Fortunately. Both of my parents are entrepreneurs. My dad's a chiropractor and a martial arts school owner and I did very little with his clinic, but I did a lot with his, with martial arts school. I started teaching there. I mean, not like a full time, but you know, I remember teaching my first class when I was just 8 years old teaching 4 year olds some stuff. And then I, you know, was involved with it pretty much my entire life leading up to it. And as I got older, I became more and more involved in the business. So I understood kind of how to make a business tick, how to make it run, how to market it and things like that. So I was learning all those great skills just along the way. But unfortunately I was working for my parents so I wasn't making much money. So then I had to get into sales and that's kind of where I was at at that time. I had about eight, nine years of sales experience at that point is when I actually got started into the hospitality business. So that's what I was doing prior to doing Airbnb full time, you know, vacation rentals.
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Nice. So I like the fact that you're one of our few hosts who said, hey, I want to get into this. Most people, like you said just accidental hosts is kind of the classic line. So that's really cool. So obviously you've got your nine places, you've kind of got the experience of the guests locked down. You've kind of got the managing from afar lockdown. What would you say are some of either the challenges or some of the kind of areas that you want to focus on that are still work in progress and stuff that you'd really like to get locked down?
There are just some things that make it difficult that are more not necessarily with the distance, but just with the scale of things. You know, we, you obviously want to keep a lean operation as you grow your business. It's very easy to drown yourself in expenses in this business. And so, you know, you want to keep things as lean as possible, but then you also need to accommodate guests when they need things as well. So, you know, and so that's, that's the biggest challenge is trying to figure out how do we keep the standards high as the company grows. And so one of the things I'm looking at doing right now is, you know, the housekeepers do a great job, generally speaking. But you know, I'm, I'm the CEO of the company, which means I'm doing a lot more than just managing the property on a property level. You know, I'm trying to get more investors involved. I'm doing, you know, all the marketing for the company as a whole. And just like I said, there's just a number of things. Anybody who's in industry knows what I'm talking about is not just keeping track of the housekeepers that you have to keep managing. So I'm, what I'm having to do is to get some Reliable help with it. So actually just this morning I was interviewing some people for housekeeping manager position. Somebody who has those, that high end luxury experience and has experience setting those processes in place and, and making it so that we, we, we hold, I hold my housekeepers to a high standard but I really want to elevate that to the next level because at the end of the day I want to compete and be the same quality or standards as, you know, what the hotels are like. The Marriott and Hilton, they have a certain standard and that's why people pick them is because they have that brand and they're willing to forgive them because they know what the consistent experience is like. And, and that's kind of what I'm working towards right now is I'm not just trying to be a mom pop type of a boutique, you know, vacation rental owner. Like I want to be a name brand. And so that's kind of like the next step for me is, is creating, is bringing on the right people to create that guest experience and standardize a lot of things that you know, the other industries are already light years ahead of me on.
So important. You mentioned Marriott there and you're absolutely right. That consistent. One of the things I got from the, the book, I can't remember what it's called. It's the guy who, I GUESS it is Mr. Marriott, the main guy, basically his book, he talks in his book so much about how it's important to have the same experience for your guest every single time they book with you. And this is one of the things which we see a lot with short term rental hosts is that to get your first five star isn't difficult. To get your next five star isn't, you know, too difficult. But by the time that's your hundredth guest and by the time that's your ninth property, you know, it starts to, it starts to get harder to manage all of these, spin all these plates at the same time. And just having that consistent experience is so important. So a great thing to be focused on. And you know, it's exciting for the future to, to hear that. What would you say has been the biggest wow moment since you started your business?
You know, the biggest wild moment, like the thing that really, really got me was when I hit a certain landmark. So I, I'd always watched shows like Shark Tank, you know, and I see this, these guys are going there like we, you know, oh yeah, we did a hundred thousand dollars this year in revenue or this much last year. And I would just think to myself, wow, I, I would love it if I had a company like that did a hundred and for whatever reason that was, that was like my number for some reason. It's like I'm really more of a wantrepreneur until I have a company that does at least a hundred thousand dollars in revenue a year. And so in our first full year of business, we hit that a hundred thousand dollar mark. And that was kind of when I was like, wow, like this is a legit company now. This isn't just like a side hustle or something I'm doing on the side. This is like something that is meaningful and there's no, I've hit several other milestones since that point, but that for me is, is the most important thing. It's like when I, when I hit that first hundred thousand dollar mark in, in the, in a single year, that was big for me.
Nice, nice. And you know what, it's so important because often when people start these businesses, you know, friends, family might look at it and just go, hey, is this, you know, think that you're doing it as like a side hustle type thing and things like that. But when you're hitting that hundred K, you know, like it's, it is a proper business like you say. And as a lot of people don't necessarily understand, you know, that is a big thing at the end of the day because going from a standing start to get that 100k is just so important. And of course it just grows and grows from there, which is cool. So which, what year of the business are you on now? Is this your sort of how many years in?
So I'm about four years in at this point. So that was. Yeah, so I started in a mid-2019 and so it was the year 2020 when we had 100K.
Nice, nice. And at the end of the day, I know obviously, you know, it's still growing at the moment and there's some amazing things to come. So you'll hit the next, the seven figures, it'll be the next thing, which is going to be cool. So yeah, when it comes down to obviously this journey that we've kind of gone on, we've kind of seen where your business is, some of the tips that you've shared around how you can identify the target market. What I'd love to know is what advice would you go back and give yourself if you could go back to 2019, 2020 and actually say, hey, do this to achieve this faster, what would that be?
Honestly? Just, just calm down, slow down everything's going to be okay. Because when I first got started, you know, it's like I was investing with other people's money, you know, and everyone says, you know, treat it like it's your own money. That's. That's terrible advice for me. I'm way more reckless with my own money than I am with other people's money, you know, so it's like, okay, this is, this is like a really big deal. You know, investors are relying on me to get them a return on their investment. And so we have to really make sure this is perfect, 100% perfect. And realizing if I just go back in time to say, you know, some of these things that you're freaking out about are really not that big of a deal as you think they are. It's okay, just calm down. Everything can be resolved. There is nothing that you can't figure out. And. And so that's just one of the things I think I'd give to myself is just, just relax. Just, you're capable of figuring it out. And that's true for everybody. It's not just for me. Everybody knows if you just calm down, you realize, I can solve this problem. Nothing is impossible.
Nice, Nice. I really like that because it's so true. Everyone panics at the start and there's so much to think about, so much overwhelm as well. So, you know, sometimes you've got to slow down, speed up, haven't you, at the end of the day. So. Yeah, that's very nice. So, Drew, as we reach towards the end of these, we love to just do a couple of fun quick fire sort of questions as hospitality based. I'd love to know where in the world is the kind of dream destination where's on the kind of like the bucket list to go to for me.
You know, I've always wanted to go to like Bora Bora and get to sleep in one of those overwater huts and stuff like that and have that experience that that's something that's kind of on my bucket list is a place that I want to go.
Nice, Nice. You mentioned your, your parents, obviously, in this podcast. How would they describe what you do now?
They just say, I do Airbnb. You know, if I say vacation rentals, nobody knows what I'm talking about. So they just say like, oh, yeah, they, you know, Drew will invest your money for you. You know, that's kind of what they, what they tell people, you know, because they've actually invested in the business as well, and they tell everybody how much they make, which is a mistake sometimes because they got an early and the returns that they're getting is nothing compared to what people are getting now. Not significantly more.
If it's your parents, they're going to get a good deal. They. So yeah, yeah. But at the end of the day, it's good. It's good marketing, isn't it? And. Yeah, it is. It's exactly what my parents turn around and go, yeah, he just does Airbnb. It's like, don't call it Airbnb. It's short term rental. But yeah, that's one of Mark Simpson's pet hates. But what would be the karaoke song of choice if you were in a bar?
Ooh, I would probably say Other side by Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Nice. Yeah. Big fan of the chili. So, yeah, very good. Yeah. Nice. And if you had to choose one of the superpowers between being invisible or flying, which one would you choose?
I'd probably pick flying.
Yeah. Nice. Why?
Well, it's a lot more fun. I think there'd be, I mean, think about the views you could experience and just like, I love going for walks and things like that, you know, to clear my head, it'd be a lot better if I could go for a fly, you know.
Yeah, it'd be cool, wouldn't it? It's. Everyone's had the dreams where you can fly and stuff like that. And lastly, Drew, what mantra or saying really resonates with you?
Gosh, there are several, actually. But if I think if I had to pick one, it's to throw away the box. And if I can, I know this is quick fire, but give you a little bit of background in the book how to be like Walt. And I forget who writes it. It's like art something and. But it's, it's how to be like Walt talking about Walt Disney. And they just mentioned in passing about Walt Disney. And Walt Disney is someone that I really admire as a person and as an entrepreneur as well. But he, someone mentioned, oh yeah, we got a thing outside the box. And he said, no, don't think, don't, don't say that. Once you say that, you've already established that there is a box. And so I just really like that idea, is that, you know, there's no such thing as inside the box. It doesn't matter what's considered normal or standard. You do what is, what is the best period, even if nobody else is doing it. And so that's, that's one of my favorite things is just is Just throw away the box.
Nice. Nice. And I'm going to go and check out that book. So be. Be like Walt.
Is it how to be like Walt?
How to be like Walt? That is going on the audible list straight after this. And what an amazing, you know, amazing sort of pioneer Walt Disney was. So it's a. It's a great, a great way to bring it to a close at the end of the day. So was there anything I miss along the way before we share how people can. Can get in touch with you, Any questions which you wanted to cover, which wasn't covered?
No, I don't think so. I think you did a great job.
Thank you very much. So I throw open to you now. The mic is open for you, Drew. How can everybody come and find out more about Sage Vacations or about yourself?
So go to the website www.sagevacations.net there you can click on the investor tab and you kind of get an overview of how to work with me. Another way is just to send me a direct email. Drewagevacations.net it's-r e w@sage s h e-e vacations with an s.net Nice.
Thank you so much for spending your time with us today, Drew. And thank you to. If you listen to this on the Boostly podcast, we know there's a lot of places you can put your attention and we really appreciate you spending your time with us. I hope you've picked up some really cool stuff. Like I say, I mean the which markets to pick the tools to use your inspirational story, Drew, and actually just get into that 100k figure. Everybody listening to this. If you're not already at the figure that you want to get at, set a figure and just go for it and get rid of the box. So thank you very much. Thanks, Drew, and bye for now.
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