Casa-Cast

Speaker: It's the CasaCast.

We've got Orange Credo.

The CasaCast.

Our company's neato.

The CasaCast.

Created by CasaGo.

It's time for the show.

Let's go!

Steve V2: Hey, welcome to CasaCast.

I'm your host, Steve Schwab.

Here today with Felipe Caldera . From
Port Boulevard, and we're gonna be talking

a little bit about flower fields a day.

Welcome to the show Felipe.

Thanks Steve It's a pleasure to be here
So I met you probably two months ago

now and you and I had this fantastic
conversation about elevated design and

how it was actually elevating revenue
And it was one of my big aspirations this

year of rethinking about maybe some of my
own blind spots inside of the industry.

And I wanted just to talk
to you about that today.

Maybe you can tell us a little
bit about your background.

How did you end up getting into Casago?

Speaker 4: Yeah, absolutely.

So I go a little bit farther back, even
in Casago, I bought my first short In

this market in Crystal Beach or Port
Bolivar market back in December 21.

So you can say it was at the
height of the Airbnb frenzy.

Everyone is getting in.

It's like the gold rush of, I want
to get into short term rentals.

And I remember the house that
I bought from my now partner.

It's kind of things come full
circle, but George was my

partner in the business today.

He sold me the house
and it was a house that.

It was a beautiful beach house, but there
was literally 10 other houses on the same

neighborhood that were identical to mine.

So everything looked exactly the same.

And I'm looking at it.

I'm like, why is somebody going to
book my house and not my neighbors?

They literally, one is green.

The other one is blue.

Sure.

But everything else is the same.

And I kind of looked, took a
step back and try to see what

was working in different markets.

Right?

So hot tubs.

I cannot tell you how many people
told me it was a dumb idea to

add a hot tub by the beach.

But I was like, you know what?

Let's give it a try.

We added a hot tub, we added a
game room, a fire pit, and we

significantly outperformed our
competition neighbors and so on.

So that was my first signal like,
hey, maybe there's something to this.

Uh, and again, that was my very
first short term rental and we

replicated that over and over again.

Not only in this market, but I also
own a few others in Pittsburgh.

And we added I mean some crazy man
is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,

which is not a vacation rental
market and did really well.

So I got really confident
approaching owners after that and

saying, Hey, here's a guidebook.

Like here's the, I'm going
to tell you how to succeed.

I'm going to, if you do this one,
two, three, four, five things, I

know very confidently that your house
is going to generate more revenue.

Uh, that's how we went
over the last few years.

Speaker 2: And that's
how you got started, huh?

Yeah, absolutely.

I find it interesting on two fronts.

One, I think with the
saturation of the inventory now.

A lot of investors and people look at the
industry like oh, there's oversaturation,

it's not going to be a good investment.

And on some level, there's truth to
that, especially if you're just a blend

vacation rental, that's just like,
quote, unquote, another one of those.

Right.

But I think when you get into a
property that differentiates itself,

the demand curve goes up pretty
dramatically for it, especially

when you're in a sea of sameness.

And I was telling you earlier
about a story about, you know, when

you drive through Kansas, Kansas.

And you're seeing, you know, wheat
field after wheat field or, you

know, cornfield after cornfield,
this field after field after field.

And then you come across these wild
fields of, you know, these beautiful

flowers and, and, and wild flowers.

And all of a sudden everybody pulls
over and starts taking pictures of

them and, you know, photo shoots.

And, and when you go through Airbnb
or VRBO or, you know, any listing

site to include, you know, casago.

com.

And if you're going through a search and
everything looks the same, Why book yours?

But when you come across that one property
that pops is that flowered field, right?

Exactly.

I think that's kind of what you're on to.

Speaker 4: What I like to say is you
could throw anything on Airbnb three, four

years ago, especially during the pandemic.

And it would make money.

Speaker: Yeah.

Speaker 4: Like it was, it was that easy.

And people don't like to,
I think it's an ego thing.

It's like, Oh, I was so good at this.

But in reality, honestly,
it was pretty easy.

Kind of easy to make money back then.

And now we're having people who are, have
lots of options, have lots of options.

And why are they going to stop that
scroll through Airbnb or through VRB

or even our own website, uh, our direct
booking or Costco website, something

has to catch their attention, right?

Something has to catch their attention.

So I think that's, that's point one and
then point two, just kind of just as

important because pictures, you know,
and pictures do make a difference.

Design makes a difference, but
it's also about experience.

Right.

Again, we're, we're in a beach market
and the majority of my competitors were

betting that the experience is the beach.

What if it rains?

What are you going to do?

Like, we have this, this huge family,
you know, we have big houses of

maybe have 10 kids in the house.

What are they going to do?

They're going to drive mom and dad crazy.

And, you know, but instead if you
have a, you know, uh, amenity or the

experience, you know, with a game room
or a hot tub, there's something to do.

Right.

So you're selling that experience as well.

Speaker 2: Everybody who's raised a
child knows that when you take them

to the beach, you only get maybe two
to three hours of beach time with them

before they're bored and they're done.

It just becomes a blue stuff
out in the backyard that the

kids don't want to do anymore.

They're like, come on, we're at the beach.

What are we going to do next?

And having a home that has amenities.

Keeps them busy to let the
parents have vacation also.

Speaker 4: Exactly.

And that's, I mean, I've had
three kids under the age of

eight, so I know how that is.

And we go, we go to our houses and
the first day they love the beach.

The second day it's like, can we go home?

Can we go play?

And they want to go and they
want to be in the hot tub.

They want to be playing games.

And it just makes the
whole thing more enjoyable.

Right?

So that's the experience
thing that we also need to.

Think for our guests as well.

Speaker 2: Right.

So Philippa, I'm wondering what the
needle movers are when it comes to

the properties and occupancy and ADR.

And as I think about it in four
different categories, I want to go

through each one of them with you.

So I think about it in style,
I think about it in story.

I think about it in
upgrades and then amenities.

And I want to break
down each one of those.

And I also want to find out
if I'm missing any categories

that you might have as well.

So what are the big needle
movers that you see in style?

Speaker 4: Yeah, that's
a really good question.

And it's interesting because
I'm here talking about design.

I'm the least designing client
person you can think of.

I just, it just not my talent.

I'm very lucky that my wife is a
professional interior designer.

Yeah.

And I've seen her take Properties
that were quite honestly, just ugly,

boring, but kind of the same and
turning into something beautiful.

And I've observed her process a lot.

And there's a couple of things
that that comes with the design.

One, of course, is making it look good.

Like it has to be
something that pops right.

And we have this conversation a lot,
especially because I'm sometimes working

with homeowners and, you know, if you
give up a designer, Unlimited budget.

She's going to redesign or
he or she's going to redesign

your entire house, right?

Speaker: Right.

Speaker 4: And some people think, Oh,
no, let's put a little bit in each

location, a little bit in the bedroom,
a little bit in the living room.

And, and Julie, my wife is always
like, I'd rather like choose two

and go all out and make those
spaces really, really special.

Because that's going to
be our hero photo, right?

It's going to be like, something's
going to be very eye catching and

people are going to look at him
and like, I can see myself there.

This is beautiful.

So that's, that's one.

But the other one, which is just as
important is at the end of the day,

we are a proper management company and
functionality has to be top of mind.

There was one house that we've worked,
that she worked with in the past.

The house could sleep 28, but they were
sitting for Like, what do people eat?

You know what I mean?

So there's a functionality, and
this is an example, but also the

type of material that's used.

Is that something that can be
used over and over again, right?

So, I think design serves the two, those
two points, which is making something look

really good that people want to be there,
but also having the functionality and

the quality that people want to be there.

People can keep using it and
you don't have to be replacing

Speaker 2: a

Speaker 4: piece of
furniture every three months.

Speaker 2: Yeah.

And also making sure that you can replace
it with like items if you need to.

Right.

Like I've had homeowners who
bought beautiful Mexican hand

painted plates for the property.

Like, man, one of those busts.

Speaker 4: Yeah,

Speaker 2: I've got a problem.

And of course they're going to.

And so there you are.

Speaker 4: We were just joking about
that actually internally that there's

a homeowner that said, It was a very
sentimental piece made out of glass and

she's like this means the world to me So,
please make sure nobody breaks and we're

like, you know what if it means so much
Let's make sure it's not left out that

it goes in your owner closet that want
to use it when you're in the house Let's

do it because again people will come to
the house if we're doing our job Well,

the house gonna be booked all the time.

Speaker 2: Yeah,

Speaker 4: and we do not want to be
in a situation where we're, you know

Speaker 2: And no matter how much
stewardship you put into that property

and guest selection and filtering,
accidents are going to happen.

Yes.

I had a homeowner, when I first got
started, they were an older couple,

maybe in their 70s, very sweet couple.

And she had her hand painted, hand
painted portrait of her as a young bride.

She's like, yeah, we just need
to make sure nobody touches this.

I'm like, you got to take that down.

Speaker 4: You got to
get that out of here.

Because

Speaker 2: if I can't replace it with
money, it can't be in this property.

Exactly.

Yeah.

Yes.

Oh my gosh.

So yeah.

Yeah.

So talk to me a little bit about story.

Tell them the story with the property and
what actually moves the needle when it

comes to creating demand for the property.

Speaker 4: Absolutely.

I think is being very mindful of, uh,
Who are you trying to rent to, right?

So for us in our market, we
want to rent to families, right?

So whenever you're thinking,
uh, where does the grill go?

And George, my partner
talks a lot about this.

He spent a lot of time thinking about
this is the beach houses are always on

stilts, they're pretty high up the ground.

And it's like, well, if the kids are
going to be playing inside or in the

hot tub, nobody's going to want to go
downstairs to grill and bring the food up.

So it's like, let's put the
grills up on the deck, right?

It's a simple change, but
like, now we're thinking of.

When mom is doing something,
when kids are doing something.

Somebody can go grill and still be
kind of part of that conversation

or that experience, I should say.

Right.

So I think it's just being very mindful
of who are you designing this house to?

Who are you putting the amenities to?

Because when you try to sell
something to everyone, it's

difficult to sell it to anyone.

Speaker 2: Right.

Speaker 4: You know,

Speaker 2: plant your flag, right?

Like this is for this property.

This property is for
these types of people.

Exactly.

And

Speaker 4: one thing that I've been
looking into doing, but I haven't been

able to successfully do it yet is,
uh, and I'm sure you've seen now the

new somewhat trend I would say is in
the photos you have actually actors

and people they're doing stuff, right?

So you kind of, okay, if I'm, if I'm
trying to sell this to a family, I'm

going to have a family here that is
acting throughout the photos and you're,

again, you're selling the experience
and not just selling the house.

Speaker 2: So I, I personally struggle
with having actors in the photos cause

I feel like it almost replaces in their
mind that these people are there and not

them, but I've come to a place where I've
started to stage properties and if you

go through some of our inventory, you
can see where we're staging it as if it

was you that had left a drink there or,
you know, it's telling the stories as if

you're there with, with, you know, a drink
or play to something, whatever it looks

like, trying to make it look like that.

But.

I don't know which one's better.

Statistically, it'd be
interesting to run the AB testing.

I would

Speaker 4: love to.

And that's one thing that I've, it's
been on my radar to test as well.

I've known people who have done the acting
at this age and have done extremely well.

You should report back on this one soon.

Speaker 2: I will say this.

Telling a story.

There is a gentleman, and it went viral.

He has some cabins in the woods and
he ended up buying a Sasquatch costume

and taking pictures as a Sasquatch,
like out, like hanging out by the fire

and doing s'mores, whatever it was.

And it really worked.

Yeah.

So being incredibly unique like
that absolutely will work, you

know, and that's telling the story.

So let's talk a little bit
about amenities and upgrades.

We'll just going to put them together.

Give me a few amenities that you've seen
in your experience that are absolute.

Needle movers when it comes to it.

Speaker 4: This one is
very unique to a market.

For example, if you're in the smoke
is every single cabin has a hot tub.

So like it's more of a
requirement than a needle mover.

Right.

But I tend to look at what's
working in other markets and

replicate validating to ours.

So let's stick with hot tub
is a good example, right?

We have a little over 2000 short term
rentals in our market in general.

That's the whole market.

We have less than 10 percent
of those that have hot tubs.

You know, once I saw that,
hey, it worked out for me, let

me look a little bit deeper.

If it worked out for others in the market.

And I have the numbers memorized from
AirDNA because I usually show this slide.

But if you look at the average
revenue for every single house

in the market, it's about 58.

9 thousand for every
single house in our market.

If you just look at the 10 percent
that have hot tubs, that goes up to 91.

3.

If you take hot tubs out,
it goes from 58 to 53.

So it actually goes down by 5,

Speaker: 000.

Speaker 4: Right?

So for us, as difficult as it is to
maintain a hot tub at the beach in a

brutal environment for anything that is,
you know, outside, it moves a needle.

Yeah.

It makes a big difference.

And, and I've noticed, especially,
and this is where I noticed the

most benefit, is in the winter.

In the down season, right?

So it goes from getting no bookings to
getting weekends booked every weekend.

Speaker 2: Hot tubs and ski
markets are amazing for rentals.

I mean, always a needle mover.

Okay.

I'm going to ask you a question.

Cold

Speaker 4: plunges.

I have not tried that.

And it is actually, I have two
that I've been considering.

It's, it's, It sounds crazy again,
but you know, it's not a crazy

investment that it's worth a try.

It's cold plunges and sauna.

Speaker 3: Yeah.

Speaker 4: Like one of those like
smaller saunas you can put on the deck.

And I've seen people doing
really well with that as well.

Speaker: Yeah.

Speaker 4: But I think at the end of
the day, it's like kind of back to

the same conversation about design.

A code plunge is not very expensive
and quite honestly neither a hot tub or

a sauna and you can usually make that
money back in one off season in bookings.

And the more boxes you can check on
Airbnb or on the OTAs or on your own

website saying I have this amenity, this
amenity, this amenity, the higher they're

going to push you on the algorithm.

Speaker 2: Absolutely.

And they talk about that.

You know, you talk to Jenny and Alex
and you know, those guys over at VRBO.

Speaker 4: Mm hmm.

Speaker 2: Making sure you can check
those boxes is one of the biggest

differentiators in their algorithm.

Speaker 4: And just to, I do have
proof that that is true actually.

Because what we do as well is,
have you heard about RankBreeze?

Basically link breeze will look at
your house and we'll say, here's where

you rank on Airbnb for the house.

You know, are you, your average
is first page, second page, you

know, third page, whatever it is.

When we do a major redesign slash upgrade,
we can see what date that is and we

can see when those boxes got checked

We can clearly see the jump in
ranking , it's pretty clear that

it does have an impact to me.

That's a leading indicator, right?

It's like, Hey, If you're ranking
well on the OTAs, unfortunately, only

does Airbnb, not others, but if you're
ranking well on OTAs, bookings will come.

It's a matter of time.

And I've actually used that with
homeowners that contact me and say,

Hey, I noticed that bookings kind
of took a little bit of a break.

You know, I'm like, well, first of
all, we have more bookings in the

calendar, so less availability.

But second of all, I can
see the ranking here.

We're doing really well.

We're getting views.

It's a matter of time
before the bookings come.

And more often than not, like, I say
that and next day we got a booking.

I'm like, . See, it's working.

. Speaker 2: Any other unusual amenities
before I go to one last question for you?

Speaker 4: Not amenities, but I would
add just a new category if that works.

And it is marketing in general.

Back to my comment earlier, A few
years back, you just put it on the

OTAs and you get booked, right?

Now, I think over the last few years,
people noticed that not only it's more

profitable to have direct bookings,
but you also have more control, but

I'm seeing another benefit now here
is, uh, you may get bookings that you

otherwise not get by being active with
your marketing, by being active with

the communication with your, with your
guests, by offering Labor Day sales.

It costs us 0 to send an email.

We've got five reservations
out of the, One email.

So I think if you can combine like
everything we talked about in the

experience, amenities, design, but
also good strategic marketing plan, I

think there's a, a lot should benefit,
you know, you and your homeowners.

Speaker 2: I agree with that.

You know, and I can tell you that also
from just us doing email marketing,

we've had a single email produce
50, 000 worth of the reservations

just for one email sent out.

If you're not doing email
marketing, , you're just missing out.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

So as we're winding down, , hero walls.

My theory is that there has to be one
place in a property that, whether it's

a hero wall or a hero angle, whatever
this is that you're like, this is where

I'm going to show this property off
to get into people's heads that they

want to come here and take pictures
for Instagram with their pals to show

that they are living a better life.

Then everybody else is looking at it.

And I think that's a big motivator
for some of these properties.

Do you agree or disagree with that?

Speaker 4: I agree a hundred percent.

It's the, we just talked about marketing.

It's the cheapest market you can get.

It's free.

Yeah.

You know, you put something there
that people want to take a picture of.

And I wouldn't only call it hero
walls, but hero features even.

Right.

So for example, we added
one of our beach houses.

We added a, a swing.

It's in cost us a couple
thousand bucks to put a swing,

but people love sitting on it.

Yeah.

Taking a picture with the beach in
the front and they're on the swing.

So anything that you can add that
people will share on Instagram,

will send to their friends.

It's free.

You get free marketing.

Yeah, I love

Speaker 2: that.

. Appreciate you coming on to Casa
Cast and sharing your knowledge

with all of our partners.

Appreciate becoming part of
the family and looking forward

to a lot more conversations.

Speaker 4: Absolutely.

This is really great to talk to
you and meet all the franchises

this week here in Casa Cone.

It's been an eye opening experience
of possibilities and the connections

that are being built here.

So again, thanks.

Thanks a lot.

It was my pleasure.

That's fantastic.

Thanks again.

Speaker: It's the CAA cast.

We're so luxury Casa Cast,
they wanna be a CAA cast.

Just don't call it in their B

CAA cast.

We've got Orange Credo, CAA

Cast.