How to Get Your MTR Listing Up and Running + Marketing Tips!

Hey everyone, this is Shauna from She's Got Assets. I'm just getting logged in here. Hopefully you guys can see me and hear me. I'm going to give everyone a few minutes and go live on all the platforms. So yeah, I think you guys know the drill. And just, yeah, I hope you guys are having a great summer. I think a lot of people are on vacation, but I just wanted to do a quick little live training. We have a really fun topic. It's all about how to get your first midterm rental up and running as well as some like marketing tips and direct outreach tip. So if you're there, just let me know. Say hey, let me know where you're calling in from. I'm just going to give everyone a few minutes. I just want to make sure everything's working. I haven't done a live stream from my desk for a little bit. I've been doing it in person. I see a few people on. Awesome, thanks for joining. Let me know where you're calling in from, how your day is going, maybe share a win. My win is that my camera is working and I'm at my desk. All the tech seems to be working so far, so That's always a win if anyone can relate to that. Um, had some internet issues too, so, but it's all good. It's part of the process. All right, I think I see a few people here. Again, thanks for joining. Let me know where you're calling in from. Super appreciate it. Hey, Helen from Seattle. Awesome, just up the way. Hey, Patty from Arkansas. Wow, awesome, that's a ways away. I appreciate you guys calling in. Hey, Gina from Jacksonville. It's great to see you guys. I'll give everyone like a couple minutes or two. But yeah, maybe go ahead and share a win for the day if you feel like it. Yeah, I was just saying that I'm at my desk and I have internet connection, so that's a good thing. So today we're gonna be going over how to get your midterm listing up and running and plus kind of some social marketing tips and like the top places to be. Those are some really common questions I get, so I figured that might be a good, little live training. So again, you know, feel free to ask questions as we go, and I will check for the Q&A as we go along. But okay, so I'm going to see— hopefully I can share my screen here. Can everyone hear me okay too? Just like let me know because sometimes people don't say anything and I can't tell. So just let me know if you can hear me okay. I super appreciate it. Okay, so we're gonna do a little screen sharing. So let me go into presenter mode. Um, one second. Present, share screen. Okay, okay, entire screen. Okay, let's see if this works. We're gonna try and minimize a few things here, tidy up a little bit. Okay, if anyone is just joining us, this is Shona from She's Got Assets and we have a really fun topic tonight. So thanks everyone for tuning in. Again, feel free to like post questions as I'm going along. I'll try and keep an eye on the Q&A. But tonight we are going to be going over how to get your midterm listing up and running and some like other just kind of general marketing tips. So we have a lot of new people in the group. That's really awesome. Again, if you don't know me, I'm Shona. I'm the founder of She's Got Assets. I have a lot of hats. I'm a real estate investor. I'm a mom. I've got kids. I'm a coach. I have a couple courses. So a little bit about me, just real nutshell here. I was raised by capitalist hippies. Growing up, I helped my family run the vacation rental business. Originally from California, never thought I'd be in real estate. It seemed very expensive, but here I am. I house hacked my way into real estate way back in 2005. Been a landlord since 2006. It makes me sound really old when I say that, but that's what it is. I've learned a lot. I used to hide that I was a landlord. I thought I'd be judged. So far no one has judged me, which is awesome. I'm really trying to do my best. Before becoming a real estate investor and all this other stuff, I co-founded a creative agency. This is a little rockstar picture of us. This is me back in the day. As someone once put it, I'm forever an outside cat. I think I'm kind of a serial entrepreneur and the founder of She's Got Assets. I'm a podcast host. Check out the podcast, give it a follow. It's called She's Got Assets. It's on all major platforms and YouTube and all that good stuff. I'm a course author of the REI Playbook and the MTR Playbook. And then we have a rental business, uh, She's Got Assets— Cedar and Porch Properties. Just mix that one up. Um, I live with my family in Portland, Oregon. I'm seeing a typo here, that's embarrassing. Anyway, um, we own a mix of long-term and midterm rentals. I love coffee, baking, design, treasure hunting, and of course I am totally obsessed with real estate, which is I do this. All right, so we're gonna get into it here. So just if someone's new to midterm rentals, I always like to level set just kind of the basics. I think a lot of people are familiar with it, but if not, what I love about midterm rentals, like hands down, is cash flow, right? We're all in this for passive income, leaving a legacy, all that good stuff. It's really hard to make things cash flow in like an expensive market like I'm in, the West Coast and Portland, Oregon. So you can 2x or more your cash flow over long-term rentals, which is awesome. What's not to love? Um, you know, again, comparing it to short-term where you have like constant turnover, which is just kind of, you know, there's a lot of software and stuff, but you're still dealing with constant turnover, high maintenance guests. You only have about 3 or 4 turnovers a year. You know, when you think about a short-term rental on Airbnb, right, every couple days you're having a turnover and that's exhausting. I really believe it's providing a needed service. People are traveling or they're displaced from like having a disaster in their home. So I really believe we're in the hospitality business having furnished rentals. Um, and I think there's just more, more freedom from your investment, right? You're avoiding all the short-term rental laws that can change on a dime. You can build a whole business on that and the city can just shut you down. So that's high level kind of the benefits of midterm. So I think there's some common mistakes that I see with midterm. So I'm going to break it down a couple. There's a lot of, you know, things to go over, but these are some really high-level tips that I see a lot. Hopefully help you guys avoid these mistakes. Um, so I think the mistake number one, you know, people will come no matter how you market your property. It's really— marketing is so, so important. We really cover this in depth in the MTR Playbook course, but you really have to be very intentional and really strategic in how you market, you know. And I think that really starts with the product, right, and how it looks and how it's showing, right? So, you know, in photography, I think one of you have heard me say this, I hear other people say it all the time, like you have got to hire a professional photographer, right? This is just an example, you know, of some, I hope not to pick on anyone, just examples of not very appealing listings, right? Like clearly the bathroom does not look very nice. This photo is like facing the wrong way. You know, these don't look appealing. It's not gonna stop the scroll, right? There's just a lot of issues, right? Awkward angles. Going the wrong way, even if it's nicely designed. If you just don't take your own pictures unless you're really good at it, you know, you really feel confident. So this is an example of like what not to do, right? These are actual photos. I hope no one's on the call that these came from. So, you know, when you think about would you want to stay here, right? Would this appeal to you if you're like scrolling through Furnished Finder, Airbnb? I don't think most of us would like really stop at these properties. They might be nice properties, but the way they're presented, the way they're marketed, is really not doing him any justice versus like, oh, this, how about this? It's, you know, would you stay here, right? It's nice and bright, it's open, it's not cluttered, it looks really inviting, right? There's some personality, but there's not stuff all over the counters and they're just, they're really bright and airy. So another tip I always like to make is, you know, photos are one of the top 3 reasons guests choose to book a midterm or any, even an Airbnb, that's according to Airbnb. But so it's really important and it is like a one-time cost. You're not gonna have to reshoot your rental unless you drastically change the decor. I even make like subtle changes and I don't change the pictures. I never get any feedback on that. So again, use high-quality, you know, photos to showcase your midterm rental and its unique features. Just so, so important. You know, definitely be there on the day the photographer comes, have a shot list. I go over this in detail in the course, but just really high level, that's super important. Here's some more statistics on it. Listings with professional photography get 20% higher earnings, right? I mean, that really speaks for itself, right? I mean, that's so worth it. Professional photos, it depends on your space and your market, but they're about $250, right? And so that's a really important piece of your marketing budget. Don't skimp on it. Another pro tip, if you are gonna sign up with Airbnb, they will hook you up with a photographer, and it's free, and they just take it out of your first listing, which is awesome. They have a really great style guide and their photos have like a similar style. The only, the only downside is that you have to kind of, they don't really let you download the photos. You have to kind of do it on the down low. So, but if you're on a super budget, you can do it through Airbnb and will come out of your first listing. All right. Let's see if there's any questions so far. I don't see any questions. Hey Richard, thanks for tuning in. Richard just joined the course. Thanks for tuning in. I appreciate it. He's working on furnishing right now. So the other mistake I see is, you know, waiting till everything is just like super perfect. I hope my connection's okay. It looks a little hazy. Um, geez. Um, you know, like waiting till everything is dialed in until you have like maybe all your towels, but just get things listed right away. You can always, you know, do the final touches if you got a booking, right? It's very motivating. So don't wait till everything's perfect because you really could be losing a lot of rental income. Um, yeah, so just definitely, I can't stress that enough. Like, I've— my last property I furnished in like 3 days. Um, I hope quality is not as bad as it looks on my screen, you guys. Um, but yeah, so just, I really, you know, you can definitely— don't kill yourself, but you can get things done quickly if you have a timeline. So it's just an example of like, you know, if you wait to list, like what a month or two of no, you know, not listing could do. Like the first month you're not getting any rent, then you collect $6K, you know, versus if you get, if you get yourself online with one month, you get $6K and then you can collect $12K in rent. That's just an example, right? So it really makes a big difference in getting getting yourself listed. Don't miss those opportunities, especially with, um, insurance claims that come in really fast and very last minute. So just, you just don't want to miss that opportunity. You'd be surprised. I just had a, like, yesterday I had a showing and I leased a midterm, like, same day, right? I did a really quick kind of background check. I covered that in the course. But, um, they can come in very last minute. And if you're waiting for, like, a pillowcase or you don't have, like, a can opener in your kitchen, you don't have your listing up, like don't let, you know, get, get good pictures, but get it up really quickly. Um, the other big mistake, you know, I'm guilty of it sometimes too, is, you know, keeping your calendar up to date. Um, especially like on Furnished Finder and Airbnb, right? You really— the, the platforms, they are looking to show active listings. They want to be a resource. If they're showing listings that are out of date, not available, you will not come up in the algorithms. So it's super, super simple, but just make sure that your calendar is always up to date. And there is software for that. I don't use it so much in the midterm but just make sure that, you know, you're keeping your calendar up to date. Because you might say like, oh, you know, it's July 30th and maybe you're saying it was available July 15th and then you're not gonna show up in the search results so you could miss bookings. So that's really, really important just to keep track of that. All right, so you got this, right? We're gonna go over some high-level steps to get listed. This is really high-level. I go over it really in depth in the course, right? And this is kind of the marketing piece of it. So, you know, prep your space. Again, I mentioned like have a shot list, be really intentional about what you want, like what your amenities are. Hire a professional photographer. If you're on a pinch, like you can do it yourself, but just make sure you're using a filter. But I really can't stress this enough. I also like to do, I cover this in the tour, in the course, video tour, a virtual tour that can oftentimes, you don't have to do an in-person showing. It depends on who you're renting to, but I really like to do that so I don't have to bother guests when they're occupying a property. You know, do a draft outline of your listing. A great idea is to go look at other listings, see how they're positioning it, but just start it. Don't overthink it, right? Don't make it too flowery, but really make sure you're highlighting the right things. And draft your listing description, you know, make a list of where to list. I have all this in the course, like a very extensive places to list, right? And then post your listing, right? That's kind of very high level what you need to do. Um, just some key tips, you know, make sure your listing is really optimized. Focus on the property amenities, right? We're not in the short-term space, like we You don't need hot tubs and fire pits, but what are the amenities, right? Does it have off-street parking? Does it have a fenced backyard? Like hands down parking and a fenced backyard are really important. Being pet-friendly is super important. Pretty much any insurance slate I've gotten always has at least a dog, if not like a couple dogs and a cat, sometimes a duck or something like that. Oh yeah. So just being pet-friendly, dedicated workspace, right? Um, just make sure you're like really emphasizing the amenities of the property, not necessarily like the vacation amenities, more like someone's gonna live there, what are they gonna want? I'm a big fan of ChatGPT, right? We have a whole kind of section in the course that you can download prompts. But here's a couple just to kind of get you thinking about it. You know, you wanna give it a, you wanna give it a prompt, which is basically what hat should it wear, right? You wanna really give it specific directions. So here's an example. You know, you're a world-class copywriter who specializes in real estate. And again, you can, you know, just Google this too, but I have a pretty extensive list in the course. So craft a compelling rental listing description for a fully furnished midterm rental property with flexible lease terms located. Then you put in your neighborhood and city, right? So this is just to get you noodling on something, right? Um, I think the biggest thing with ChatGPT— again, we cover this in the course— is you can give it feedback, right? Keep kind of banging on it. Don't accept, because sometimes it comes back with this extremely like flowery language that you can just tell it was done by ChatGPT. Uh, ChatGPT, sorry. Like sometimes you'll look at listings and you can tell the agent just used ChatGPT because it just, it doesn't sound kind of human or friendly, or it doesn't, it just, it kind of sounds like it was done. You can kind of tell. So, you know, here's a couple prompts, you know, give me 10 alternatives, change the tone and the style, make it feel like you, right, but professional. So you can really kind of give it lots of feedback. I think that's really important. Just don't take it at face value. So I've definitely seen listings that feel very flowery and overly optimized, but it's an amazing tool, hands down. It's kind of magic. Um, so there's ChatGPT. And then, you know, we, we cover this in the course extensively, but make sure you're really optimizing this listing. Like, feel free to get a screenshot of this, right? We're really saying we cater for flexible stays for those encountering home repairs or relocation. We work directly with insurance companies. We're putting all these like really rich keywords in here, like temporary housing, extended stay, pet friendly, fenced yard, dedicated office. Those are all kind of words that let people know, okay, we're— a lot of landlords don't understand this model and they just want to do like a 12-month lease. It's unfurnished. Furnished, really not that accommodating. So you really want to emphasize that. Again, we have all that in the course, um, and we have a really huge list in the course. Like, if you're watching this, you're a student, like, this— these are just the tip of the iceberg. We have a really extensive list, but these are like the top 3 places in my experience that I've got the most leads from: Zillow Rental Manager, Airbnb, and Furnished Finder. Um, Zillow, I'd recommend doing like the premium listing, it's not that expensive. Airbnb, there's no cost. There is a cost to Furnished Finder, I think it's like $150 50, but that might depend. But it's my experience, I get a lot of leads from these places as well as a lot of other places that I have listed in the course. I have a really full list of just tons of places, but these are like the top 3. And then the other thing is I've done some trainings on it, but like the midterm— sorry, lost my train of thought. So there's different avatars for midterm rentals and I've covered that in other trainings. But one of the One of the avatars is families who've been displaced, like due to a pipe bursting or a fire in their home. And so they file a claim and their insurance company partners with temporary housing companies. So if you're not familiar with that, check out the training or I can tag you in it if you comment. But these are really the top ones, like ALE Solutions, THG, Cedric, CRS. And I have a huge list in the course. And they will look on these other sites, right? But it's really important to also list directly with them. But they will go hunting on these sites. But I have like a full list in the So definitely take the time to do that. The other thing that I highly recommend, if I'm not getting bookings, I will do direct outreach. So you can email the housing contacts directly. You know, I have a full list in the course. It's about 50 contacts that you can reach out to directly. And I have a template for that. But if you're looking on your own, you know, they usually have titles like relocation specialist or insurance housing specialist or search specialist. Those are some common titles. You can look on LinkedIn. Also, as you're getting leads, make sure to save their contact info. Just start like I have, you know, in the course I have a template, but just break out like a Google Sheet or an Excel sheet and start saving those contacts. So when you, when you get a lead, you know, when you, if you're empty, you need to get a booking, you can reach out. And I also, when they do call, I really like to be a resource. If I don't have a property, I will reach out to my network. Some of you probably see me posting, but I really want them to think of me as a resource in this area, right? So like I would call Shona if she has, you know, she'll find something. So that's But this is how you kind of can look for it yourself. So search on LinkedIn. You can also go on Furnish Finder and the unmatched leads. But definitely just, you know, start building that list. Or if you're a student, you can get it in the course. But that's what I'll do, like an email blast of like, hey, I have these properties available. And sometimes I'll, you know, I definitely get a lot of response. So I think if you're looking to be more proactive, like direct outreach is really good. And it's not cold calling, it's just an email. And so I have a, yeah, I have a template in the course for that. And then if anyone's interested, I do have a course, kind of covers all the stuff we covered really in depth. And you get live coaching and all that. But that's kind of the really big overview of, there's a lot of steps, but just take it step by step. So I hope that was helpful. If anyone has any comments or questions, I'm like more than happy to answer anything. But I think, you know, once you do it, once you get set up, you kind of know the routine. But I think it's helpful to kind of have a step-by-step guide, which is what I have, and have support. But, um, again, if you're watching the replay and have any questions, or I mentioned a couple things like insurance claims, I have a whole training on that if you're not familiar with that. Um, certainly feel free to reach out, or you're interested in the course, feel free to reach out. Um, but yeah, definitely, um, lots of things that go into a midterm, but it's a great strategy and it's well worth the effort. So, um, yeah, I see Sandra joined us. Awesome. Yeah, again, let me know if you have any questions or if you're watching the replay. I'm like more than happy to answer questions. Um, um, also, yeah, just you can post in the group. It's a great resource. How much is my course for insurance claims? You know, that's part of the main course. Um, that's funny that you mentioned that. I It's really part of the whole course. I thought about doing a bootcamp just for insurance claims because it's kind of a niche part of this. So, um, yeah, just if anyone else is interested in that, I thought about doing kind of an intensive for that because it's part of the whole course right now. And I think it's really helpful to have support through it to how to negotiate and all that stuff. Cause it's a, it's a lot, it's just more, a little more complicated than the straight up like traveling medical professional. There's more parties involved, there's more approvals. Things like that. So good question. Um, but yeah, I have, I have been mulling over a boot camp because I think there's just a lot to dive into, and I think it might be helpful for certain people that maybe already have a midterm rental and just need that kind of extra boost and how to reach out to insurance or get in front of them. There's some tips that definitely work. I get like a couple leads a week for insurance claims. I wish I had more properties to put them in. But yeah, any other questions before I sign off? Again, if you're watching this, have questions. Let's see, have I tried Ziply? No, I haven't, Richard, but I will put that on my list to check out. There's a lot— I mean, there's— I feel like a lot of places, um, come. Oh, for— no, I haven't. You know, for internet service I'm in Portland, Oregon, so is Richard. He's a student. I, you know, I generally, I used to hate them. I just use Comcast Xfinity and they've been pretty good. They're pretty easy to get ahold of. So all my properties are on Xfinity at this point, but I'm always open. But that is a really good point. Like having decent high-speed internet is super important. I think it's just expected, right, for guests. And it's also expected that that's kind of included. With your utilities, that's kind of become a utility. But yeah, I will, I'll certainly check them out. Sandra's asking, do I have— that's interesting. Yeah, lots of internet. You think it's just to just work all the time, right? It doesn't always work all the time. But I think my latest takeaway is like hardwiring is really the best way to get the strongest internet. So I think I might just have to hardwire again, which seems so dated, but I might have to go that route. Um, but yeah, internet is important for the most part in the MTRs. I've never really had an issue with internet. I mean, I think I just kind of set it up and get your password ready. Um, I think I might start doing a QR code to log in, but other than that, I haven't really had any complaints from a midterm guest about speed or anything like that. One property— and the other thing is, if you are in a duplex like Richard, I recently just did one connection and it's worked for both properties. So you're not paying for two connections, which is a little bit of a cost savings, like if you're on a duplex, something like that. So it's worth looking into, um, save bottom line. Any other questions about marketing or anything like that, um, feel free to ask. Otherwise, I think I will sign off. But thank you guys so much for tuning in. Again, if you're watching this after Feel free to comment if you're interested in the course or reach out. And yeah, I think I'll sign off. I don't see any other questions. You guys have a great evening. Thank you so much for tuning in. I really, really appreciate it, especially people when it's a later time zone. Thanks, Richard. Appreciate you tuning in. Definitely Richard's a student. So yeah, I'm so excited to work with him. He's in my area. It's always fun to have students that are local action takers. I love it. Awesome, you guys. I will talk to you soon. I'm gonna sign off.