ABODEbucks saves hundreds of hours on reporting & thousands of dollars on headcount
From World Travelers to Professional Property Managers
Josh Sedivy and his wife Krissy first entered the short-term rental space in 2014 when they listed their apartments on Airbnb to supplement income while traveling abroad. However, they quickly realized the challenges of managing properties from afar – if an issue arose, there wasn’t anyone local to handle the problem immediately.
Upon returning to St. Louis, Missouri, the pair decided they could use their skills, experience and knowledge of the industry to help other homeowners in the area while also seeking out a tech solution to help them better manage their business. In November 2015, Josh and Krissy launched ABODEbucks, a full-service vacation rental management company, offering marketing and pricing strategies, housekeeping and maintenance management, guest services and more.
Today, Josh, Krissy and their team manage 70 properties in St. Louis, most of which are urban rentals, family-friendly condos and apartments or standalone vacation homes.
The Challenge
ABODEbucks had experienced organic growth since 2015 with the team successfully managing all properties themselves, and then COVID-19 hit.
With many homeowners transitioning back to long-term rentals or selling properties to recuperate losses, Josh knew he needed to add value to the business, without increasing fees.
“We needed to build our brand. If we could amp up our value to clients, without actually increasing the price, then we figured they would stick with us even during such challenging times. We had to provide them with a service they couldn’t get elsewhere,” said Josh.
The Solution
Josh and Krissy decided to research some possible tech solutions that would help them achieve their goals.
“The most important feature we were looking for was the ability to create a direct booking website,” said Josh. Giving guests the opportunity to book with ABODEbucks directly would elevate the brand, further diversify distribution and offer more profit to owners.
During their search for a solution for direct bookings, Josh and Krissy came across Guesty, and were immediately impressed. “Not only did Guesty deliver the direct booking capabilities we were looking for, but it also offered 24/7 Guest Communication Services. This sealed the deal for us in the end. There is no doubt that the 24/7 guest services are helping us get more bookings than we were able to get before, simply because we can respond to more guests.”
“With Guesty, we feel like we have added a valuable new partner to our team,” added Krissy.
The Results
In addition to the direct booking website, ABODEbucks is integrated via Guesty with Airbnb and Vrbo, but Josh plans to expand to new channels in the coming months. And in order to elevate its offering to customers, the company has integrated with a variety of tech partners from Guesty’s Marketplace, including insurance and guest screening platform Safely, privacy-safe noise monitoring solution NoiseAware and dynamic pricing software Nightpricer.
In the six months since Josh began working with Guesty, he has already seen the significant impact the software has had on saving him time and money. Previously, the team needed two bookkeepers to keep track of the company’s finances. Now with Guesty’s Reporting and Analytics Tools, Josh can do it all himself, saving him $7500/year on bookkeeping.
“I was paying for about 50 hours of work a month. Now, not only do I save that expense, but the time spent on accounting has dropped to 20 or 30 hours a month,” said Josh. “A great example – last year, one of my biggest clients asked me to build a performance report. I had to do it all by hand and it took me a week. This year they asked me to update the same report, and with Guesty the whole thing took me only twenty minutes.”
Despite the cancellation of many tourist attractions, events and conferences in St. Louis, ABODEbucks has been performing strongly. In fact, throughout the second half of 2020, occupancy rates were higher than they were the same time in 2019.
“Despite all the challenges of COVID-19, we’ve still been able to stay profitable. We’re waiting to see what will be in the new normal before we make any concrete plans for the future. But, thanks to Guesty, we are much better prepared to scale and have many more options for when that time comes. For anyone looking for a PMS, I’d definitely recommend Guesty.”
