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5 Mistakes That Hurt Your Short-Term Rental Investment in Mexico

When short-term rentals first started to gain popularity, the idea was that you could make money by renting out your home to people passing through. But now, with over 2 million Airbnb listings worldwide—and more on HomeAway and VRBO—there’s a lot more competition for potential guests.

Here are 5 mistakes to avoid that can hurt your short-term investment in Mexico:

1. Not understanding that you need a team to help you operate your short-term rental

With the exception of a few instances, you will need to hire a team. It is not possible for one person to do everything. Even if it were, the costs would be prohibitive and you would have a hard time keeping up with all of the administrative duties involved in managing your short-term rental property.

In addition to hiring people for cleaning and maintenance, you may also want to outsource accounting/bookkeeping or marketing services on a monthly basis instead of doing it yourself or hiring someone full-time.

2. Not using automation when managing

Automation is a must for short-term rental management. Why? Because automation saves time and money, and helps you grow your business. Automation enables you to manage your short-term rental property from anywhere in the world, and it can also help automate communication between your guests and team members.

Automation can be a huge benefit to your short-term rental business. But what exactly is automation and how does it work? Automation is when you use templates and other software to help you perform tasks faster and easier than ever before, allowing you to spend more time on things that matter most.

3. Automating too soon

Once you have learned to communicate effectively and have built up a trust factor with your guests, it is time to automate some aspects of your business.

Automating too soon can be harmful because you need these first few months for training purposes and because once automated processes are put in place, they should be known to be effective and effortless.

4. Not asking for 5-star reviews

As a host, it’s important to ask for reviews from your guests. The sooner you get your first 5-star review, the better! You can ask for a review by email or text message after your guest has checked out. We recommend asking for reviews no more than 3-day after their stay and best to ask after they’ve first checked out.

If possible, try to communicate with them directly through WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger as opposed to emailing them because this gives you more opportunity to chat with them about their experience with your rental property and get their feedback on any issues they might have had while staying at your home.

Don’t be afraid to ask for a 5-star review and tell your guest that this will help you out as you are starting out as a vacation rental owner.

5. Giving out discounts tends to lead to bad reviews

Bad reviews are the worst. They can cost you money, time, and energy in a number of ways. You might need to refund guests that have had bad experiences, or even worse—they might not book again at all!

It’s important to keep your vacation rental business as close to a 5-star status as possible so that you don’t lose potential guests who may want to stay with you again.

Giving out discounts is a good way to get more reservations than usual, but it also tends to lead to bad reviews because some guests will leave negative comments on websites like TripAdvisor or Airbnb.

Summary: Make sure you avoid these mistakes.

The first mistake is not understanding the business. If you are going to invest in short-term rentals, make sure you know what it’s all about. You need to understand how it works and how you can make money from it.

Second, don’t underestimate the importance of having a team that helps you with running your business. Even though many people think that they can do everything on their own, this isn’t always true. Your team will be able to support and guide you through anything that comes up, so make sure they’re there whenever needed!

Thirdly: automate as much of your processes as possible; this means automating things like guest communication, inventory management software (which allows guests to book through Airbnb), or cleaning services (so guests don’t feel obligated). This will both save time and money for everyone involved!

Fourth: ask for 5-star reviews from past customers so potential clients see how great their stay was before committing themselves financially or emotionally to staying at one of our properties here in Cabo San Lucas! It also helps other potential clients see what kind of experience others had here too so hopefully those reviewers come back soon 🙂

Finally: Don’t give out discounts only when necessary. Giving out discounts tends to lead to bad reviews as it attracts the wrong guests.

Looking for a short-term rental to purchase in Mexico?

Are you looking for a short-term rental in Riviera Maya Mexico? We can help you find the perfect short-term rental to purchase in Riviera Maya Mexico. Click here to contact our real estate agents and advisors today.

Related articles:

5 Steps To Create Short-Term Rental Wealth In Mexico

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