Tips On Reaching Financial Independence From A Successful Host

Hey everyone, welcome back to the booster podcast. This is the podcast that gives hosts the tools, the tactics and the trainings but most importantly the confidence so you can go out there and get more direct bookings. Today we're going to be talking about personal finance reaching in reaching financial independence. And to help us do that we've got a successful short term rental host and we're going to be asking questions of his business, finding out what's worked for him and his business but also he's very passionate about that personal finance. He's also now a best selling co author in Hospitable Hosts too which is an amazing project which we're going to talk more about as well. So today we're welcoming Vinci, Vinci Sevilla and he's from Getaway House and yeah, I'm really excited to dive into his story. So welcome along Vinci.

Hey Liam, thanks for having me. Really excited to be here. Yeah, looking forward to it man.

Well me too. Let's, let's get started. Can you introduce yourself, tell us a bit about where your business is based and I guess who it is that you host and why.

Oh absolutely. So I'm over here, I currently live out here in Southern California, you know, father of a one year old, our first and husband and I actually am currently still working a full time job while my wife and I build this short term rental technology driven company that we have. Getaway House is the name of our company and we currently specialize in luxury short term rentals around the nation. Here in the US we're currently in four states and we currently have eight properties closing on three more over the next two months. So we're really excited about it. Typically our markets are in vacation markets so we're talking about in California we're in Joshua Tree and Big Bear, California and in Arizona we're in Scottsdale and in Tennessee we're in the Great Smoky Mountains and we are also in a new market in West Virginia called the New River Gorge national park which is the US latest and greatest national park. The title of this poem which you can find on the on the first page of Hospitable Host 2 is title is what's it like then being a hospitable host? What's it like then you ask, being a hospitable host. Turning my home into something to boast A gentle touch, a hammer swung, no detail left undone. A painting here, a mural there, Little figurines to fill the air. I open my home and invite them in to enjoy the comfort and beauty within. I Strive to make their stay a delight with a clean and cozy space that feels just right. I offer them treats, amenities and books to read and make sure they have everything they need. A place to eat, maybe a nice view to sit in idle. Don't fear, our guidebook will be your bible. I am a host with a passion for sharing the joys of home and the pleasures of caring. I love to see my guests happy and content and leave with memories of a place well spent. I am a host, provider of rest, a friend to travelers on their journey's quest. I offer them a home away from home, a haven of peace and a place to roam. This is what it means to be a hospitable host, bringing joy and comfort to those who need it most.

I started my business just shortly after my little boy was born, my firstborn. And was that one of the driving factors of getting the business off the ground? Was that the reason? What did you do before this? What is your history before hospitality? And was the newborn family the drive to make the change into short term rental?

It definitely was the fire, let's say that. Right. So a lot of it really involved really. Before getting to short term rentals, we, we did invest in real estate. Already we were house hacking. So that's where you know, we had bought a property. We were living in one side of the house and we were renting out other rooms and then we also had long term rentals. So we had properties in, out of state and you know, was which was given us a very modest amount of cash flow. But having serenity, the name of my daughter, having her and kind of going through this realizing my wife is pregnant, we, it kind of just like it was something that just fueled the fire to everything and that's how we're able to scale from 1 to 8 within 12 months. And and now we're continuing to grow and continuing to specialize in short term rentals across the country.

Looking back, what was the key drivers to moving you from where you were to where you are now? What would you say are some of the lessons that you've brought along the way?

Well, I think it kind of goes back to the culture and the environment that I was raised in. One I was, you know, wasn't born here in the States. I was born in the Philippines. I came here, I swam here when I was a kid. And so let's see here. You know, English was in my first language and kind of going through my entire life. You know, as an immigrant here in the US There were a lot of challenges. And I didn't really. You don't really think about it as a kid. You're kind of just like going along with mom and dad and your brothers and sisters and kind of like, you know, in this new country and trying to figure things out. You think that everyone else around you is also in the same position as you. Struggling to make ends meet, hustling, working day and night, working alongside with my parents. Also pretty much my entire life working on really odd businesses, you know, doing, doing different things. And all of that kind of like gave me the drive for, I guess, my work ethic and the, the awareness to really see that, hey, you know what, you don't really need a lot in life to enjoy life and to be with your family and be present and be grateful and be content. But what you can do is you can, you can, you can set up something that your future family and something that is what we term out here, you know, generational wealth, you know, provide that type of generational wealth and knowledge to the rest of our family members. And that, that's something that I never had when I was a kid. And so going through this and learning all that and discovering all this, you know, as an adult was mind blowing. And that, that kind of, you know, bled into, you know, this business, into the short term rental industry. Being a hospitable host, caring for our guests and you know, figuring out what we needed to do in order to get where we wanted to go.

Having that luxury market seems to be a really great way to, to go because you can keep the, in higher average daily rates and also they're a bit, wow, you know, you're serving a, an avatar which aren't going to be as affected by inflation and, and some of the things which happen in the market. Was that intentional that you set out to go for that market and if so, why and how have you implemented this, this luxury, these luxury brands? Because my opinion, and I'm sure people listening is like, hey, I don't know if I can afford some of the very nice places. I don't know if I can do this. What would you say to people with that kind of mindset?

It wasn't in our radar when we first started. We were just like, we want to get our first short term rental. Our first short term rental happened to be just a podunk cabin in the Smoky Mountains, but it was near a creek. It was adjacent to a creek. It actually sits on a creek and it's got a private staircase to it and it's got A private game room. And it was really nice. But what we found was, you know, one of the biggest reasons why we pivoted to short term rentals was, you know, the cash flow, right? You get significantly amount, a significantly amount more cash flow than a long term rental. And even in the short term rental space I realized, well, you can actually, if you invest in the type and the right type of short term rentals, that could be the same thing. Instead of getting multiple short term rentals that are in the, let's say 50% mid space, you could be getting properties in the 90, 95% percentile in terms of, you know, occupancy and ADR. And so we try to target those type of properties shortly after discovering this, whether it's co hosting client properties for other clients or purchasing them ourselves. And so yeah, no, it wasn't immediate, but it was something that we decided, you know what, we don't want to handle too many properties. We want to really target the luxury ones that have high occupancy and, and high average daily rate, especially if we want to stand out in this market. So that was the, hopefully that answered your first question. And as for your second, you know, trying to, for someone out there who wants to get into that type of, type of asset class and let's say may not have the financing for it, you know, there are creative ways to purchase those kind of properties nowadays, but there are also creative ways for you to list them. Example, through co hosting, you know, if you already have the processes and tools and automation for your short term rentals, it's literally using the same tools, same processes, same systems for the high end luxury type of properties and you can really apply those and partner with other people to purchase those type of properties, showing them that, hey, with your processes, your systems and your automation, you can provide great returns for your investors and for your partners and for yourself. So I would suggest folks to, you know, tell everybody and anyone, you know, what you're looking for and what you're doing and I think, you know, you can begin utilizing, you know, your social media, utilizing what you already know to connect with others to be able to purchase those type of asset classes.

Having a blast, going to get it on the Bruce Lee podcast. Bruce Lee, like Bruce Lee because it's so hard and the T is loose leaf making up those rhymes. Don't write it, just do it loosely.