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Short-term rental properties (for stays of just a few days up to 3 or 4 months) create excellent opportunities for passive income and portfolio growth. If you own and operate these sought-after properties, they must be running at peak performance year-round, and in many cases perform with greater efficiency than most homes, to keep them profitable.
Short-term rentals are those listings usually made available through private, 3rd-party booking services. These include vacation homes and houses, as well as short-term rental of individual rooms or apartments via web services like Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com. Since 2020, an overlap has been created between established hospitality companies reaching into the short-term market, and short-term rental providers operating more like boutique hotels. AirDNA, a data company that researches trends in the booming rental industry, is forecasting an 8.6% increase in short-term rental properties available on the market in 2023, following a 20.6% increase in new properties during 2022 alone.
The demand for short-term renting appears here to stay, opening the door to property management growth and new solutions for efficiency. Across each of these rental categories, there is one underlying factor that drives owner profitability: Energy Efficiency.
Energy Efficiency is one constant factor of property management that keeps your costs and expenses under control, and considering the inherent impact of seasonality for many short-term rentals (i.e. vacation units), it can be among the top of your challenges to optimize both operational and energy efficiency for seasonal and vacant properties.
Additionally, replacing your worn-out equipment with newer or more advanced appliances doesn't necessarily mean more energy consumption - if you know how to manage it all. The experienced property manager can dial-in the ideal balance of home comfort and energy conservation to keep renters comfortable and happy … within budget.
We've put together our recommendations for short-term rental property managers to help increase energy efficiency and reduce unnecessary costs in managing your properties.
Upgrade to the energy-efficient benefits of smart appliances, and you not only achieve cost reductions of Energy Star-rated efficiency, but you also enable the automation, diagnostics and remote-control functions that optimize guest comfort as well as energy costs and appliance performance.
Likewise, smart thermostats, smart-home panels and mobile apps allow you and guests to keep energy consumption under control - even during peak usage. Self-learning software and hardware will convert your units into informative, comfortable, cost-effective investments.
GE SmartHQ Management is the industry leader in taking the guesswork out of scheduling maintenance and diagnostic routines for appliances across all of your units. System-wide diagnostics, automations, remote controls, monitoring and testing is the difference maker in cost control, especially when facing the challenge of seasonality.
Remote and mobile monitoring and control of all appliances will not only reduce energy costs, but also the costs of labor and damages by diagnosing appliance failures before they create collateral damage, leaks, mold, etc.
You still have to manage the physical components and materials that protect the interior spaces of your properties - with up-to-code insulation and weather stripping for doors and windows. Up-front costs to repair or replace these components can be a bit pricey at first, but could save your energy costs down the road by 50% or more.
These aren’t software components, but appliance diagnostics can definitely alert you to historical changes in energy efficiency, which can alert you to possible needs of upgrades in insulation and weather stripping.
Reducing your costs can also affect the rates you charge per night, especially when renters are looking for a few extra dollars in their pockets. By reducing your overall energy consumption, you can retain more revenue per night, allowing you to maintain competitive rates that attract more renters.
Visit GE Appliances' SmartHQ Management, request a demo, and look at your appliance management options using SmartHQ Management. With appliance diagnostic software running within your business, your properties and renters get the proactive benefits of real-time tracking for the health of your residential appliance inventory.
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