Podcast interview (Boostly) with Nicole Goodecker of Homely Stay about managing short-term rentals (mainly around Munich, Germany, and additional properties in Paraguay). Nicole runs 16 diverse units (from studios without kitchens to houses with pools), emphasizes digitalization and automation while keeping a personal touch, and works with a revenue-management partner to assess location viability and pricing. She describes operational differences between Germany (mostly self-check-in, local guests, easy access) and Paraguay (personal handovers via an on-site manager), recounts her personal journey into short-term rentals and goals (profitability with charitable giving and being a good employer), and offers advice on finding properties and using market data to forecast revenue.
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Welcome to the new episode of the Boostly podcast. This is the podcast that gives you the tools, the tactics, the training and of course the confidence so you can go out there and get more direct bookings. My name is Liam Carolan and today we're going to dive behind the host with a another successful host in the short term rental industry. Today we're going to be joined by Nicole Goodecker. She's from Homely Stay and you can find them by going to homely-stay.com. she's got an awesome apartment so go and check them out on the website site. Beautiful background behind the bedding and behind the beds and just general great decor in general. So welcome along Nicole. Looking forward to speaking about your business today.
Hi, I'm happy to be here.
Awesome. So let's get started in the way that we usually do, which is can you just tell us where in the world your hospitality business is, what kind of model you use and how many units and what kind of guests tend to stay there.
So my accommodations are located mainly around Munich, so in Germany. But I also manage accommodations in Paraguay. So you can see there's no limit. At the moment there are 16 units and they are very different. So I have small studios without kitchens or on the other side also houses with pools, sauna and gym. So yeah, most of them are self checked in, self check in accommodation so the guests can come anytime they want. And in Paraguay we have a personal handover. Yeah. And because there are so many different kind of accommodations and different locations also the guests are very different and the reason for the trip. So I don't have this special guest or this avatar. Yeah. And in general my focus is on digitalization and automation but without losing the personal touch because that's, that's a guest value. They don't want to feel like they are one of 100. So. Or like when you call somewhere and you're in the line and they, they let you wait for 20 minutes or something like this. So that's my focus. Be personal but also have digitalization, automatization.
What, what is the market like at the moment in, in sort of Germany? How, how are things across there at the moment? Is it busy? And what is the difference between managing in Germany compared to Paraguay?
In Germany the business is very easy at the moment, I would say, or especially for me because we are very, very. So we get a lot of guests, we have no notes, stuff with coronavirus or something like this. So guests can book, they can come, they don't need to show us Any vaccination or something like this. And after the crisis, everyone want to travel. So we have 80% guests from Germany, but also a lot of guests from USA and many other directions. So it's, it's very easy. And of course it's my mother language. So everything I have to do, it's. It's easy for me. And all the apartments are close to my home. So the farthest way is I guess one hour. So in case something happens, I can go there and fix it. So Paraguay is a little different. Especially because people who go there have other needs. And the, the lucky thing is that we have someone there. He's from Germany, he lives there since 14 years and he speaks fluently Spanish, fluently German. So I prepare everything before the guests are coming. I make the conversations, do the check in formula, etc, but then he is there and pick them up from the airport, bring them to the apartment, explain everything. And he also do all stuff that the cleaning. So yeah, here I'm responsible for everything and there I have someone I can, yeah, I can give some part.
Yeah, but what, what does success look like and what does it mean to you?
For me, success is when I can really make or create something. Like create great moments or trips. Before in the company where the companies I was working in purchasing, I made rich companies richer. So now I make people rich and great memories. I guess that's much nicer. And as soon as my company is profitable, I want to donate a part of the income to woman shelters, for example. That's very important for me. And I also hope to be a great employer someday because I have seen so many times how not to do it.
I like that. I like that very much. Because at the end of the day, memories is what people really look back on. And you know, that's really what we're creating. We're really creating experiences for people. Amazing to hear. What would you say? So you've scaled from, from 0 to 16 units and you're now international. What would you say looking back is some of the wow moments, Some of the moments that you could look back and go, do you know what that was? That's something that I'd done which helped me be successful.
Yes, as mentioned, I was not very happy with the philosophy of the company I was working before. And yeah, there was a time where the problem was I didn't want to leave because I really loved what I did. And then there was a moment where I found out that the love that I have for this and the passion is mine, not the Company's so it's, it's me and I can take it. So yeah, that was the moment when I decided to create my own business.
Has there been any challenges so far along the way and if so, how did you overcome them?
You mean the way to open my business and finding guests and my first customers or in general?
Yeah, just in general. Has there been any challenges along the, along the way, any, any sort of things you've had to overcome?
Yeah, in general. My biggest challenge was to find my. To, to find my passion. I mean I just gave you a little, very small overview, but I changed my jobs very often. I also sold cars and I went to the purchasing stuff and it was nice but it didn't fulfill me. That was always my problem and actually I always has been wished to start my own business but I didn't know what to do. And yeah, then in 2019 I quit my job, gave up my flat, sold my motorbike, my car, everything, because I was on a point. I felt like I'm in a golden cage. So. And I wanted to go, went to South America and wanted to find myself in my vocation. And yeah, I started to travel and unfortunately after three months it was over because Corona came. So I came back. I had no work, no, no apartment, nothing. But during the traveling in South America, it was three months, I was still working for the startup and I found out okay, I love the work I do there, I love traveling, so I know what to do. So yeah, I went to the company full time and yeah, now I have my company organize everything so that I can be on site and can travel. So that's for me the biggest, that was for me the biggest competition to, to go this way, to find out what I want to do, how I want to do, and now have the possibility to do what I love but still be able to travel.
What would you say is the best way to find a property that works for short term rental?
In general, I think it's not important where you are, it works everywhere. So it's just, it's important to find out what the demand is there. So are there tourists or is there for example, an apartment clinic nearby where people come to stay there? Or is it more a location for installers? That's what you have to find out first. And the other possibility is to make it so special that the people don't care where it is. For example, a tree house is always a hit and nobody cares where it is and nobody wanted to have it in the center of a city. So There. So that's why I think it's not important where it is. And I have a really nice partner. They are called Revenue. They do my revenue management and the pricing and they have very, very good insights into the market. And when I have a new apartment, because on the one side I do the management for my customers. So if they have an apartment and they need someone who manage everything like communication with the guests, cleaning, etc. I do it. But I also rent apartments by myself, furnish them and re rent them. So, so when I look for a location then I definitely have to check what's, what's the best to do. So like I said, are there tourists are there in stellars and what revenue is doing. They make a calculation for me. So they have a deep insight into the market on the one side and they have very good sources where they can get other information and they can calculate very precisely the occupancy rate, the price, etc. So I can see, okay, in this month I have this amount. The next month I have this. And in January I have a high occupancy. And in, I said in, in summer it's more or less, it depends. And yeah, I can see very precisely how much will be the amount in the, in the month. And they make it like more slow. So you can say, okay, if they say I, I earned €1,000amonth, I know if I do a lot of work and I do it very well, it can be also 2 or 3,000. So that's how I do it.
Thank you so much, Nicole. I've really enjoyed today and hopefully the people listening to this picked up some awesome tips and yeah, thank you so much for coming on. So that's it from us here at Boostly. I thank you for listening to this podcast. I know there's a lot of places that you can put your attention and today you've decided to spend that time with us. So thank you so much. Hopefully you've got some good value and we'll see you on the next one. Thank you and bye for now.
Having a blast. Gonna get it on the Bruce Lee podcast. Bruce Lee, like Bruce Lee? Cause it's so hard and the T is loose leaf Making up those rhymes don't write it, just do it loosely.
