Realizing Challenges Through Networking
[00:00:00] Tanya: Some of the challenges I had, I didn't even know they were challenges until I had a conversation with somebody. So, um, I feel like if you build your network and then you talk about your business enough, you will like learn things like crazy. Like my biggest mistake, I feel like in the beginning was pricing.
[00:00:13] Tanya: And it's just cause I didn't know what I was doing enough. Like I thought I had wheelhouse, like it was fine. Like we were getting bookings. I was super excited, but we were booked out like six to eight months in advance. And then I found out, Oh, it's probably because you're priced way too low. So then my mind gets.
[00:00:28] Tanya: Blown and like stretched and I talked to somebody else Who taught me a couple of tactics and we like doubled our prices
[00:00:35] Liam: hi, and welcome back to the Boostly podcast, the podcast that gives you the tools, the tactics, the training, and most importantly, the confidence. So you can go out there and get yourselves direct bookends. We have a mini series on this podcast where we dive behind a host. We find out what they're doing in their business, uh, Whether it's the tactics, whether or not it's the marketing, whether or not it's something which they're doing to get great reviews.
[00:00:57] Liam: And they share that with you on this podcast so you can take those tips and you can put it into your business. And we're going to be diving in with Tanya. Tanya is full of energy. She's an amazing host. She's an awesome Author, bestselling author with hospitable hosts. She's a coach and, uh, her property is from, uh, Yeah, Yay You're Here Properties.
[00:01:19] Liam: Um, did I say that right? Tanya, is that correct?
[00:01:22] Tanya: Yeah. Yay You're here. Properties is amazing.
[00:01:26] Liam: I love the name. I love the name. First question for you is, can you just give, yourself the introduction.
[00:01:31] Tanya: Yeah. So my name is Tanya Rooney. I've got five properties in the Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota market. Um, and I am really good at a couple of things I feel like, and it's like the reason I know I'm good is because of our.
[00:01:46] Tanya: Ratings, like, I guess, our five star ratings. Um, so I'm going to talk a little bit about those things. And then a couple of systems that have made things really, really awesome in our business. Like, it doesn't have to be this big, hectic business. It can be something that some parts are on autopilot. So it gives you time to, to dig in when you have the crazy stuff that happens.
[00:02:07] Tanya: So, yeah.
[00:02:08] Liam: In terms of your property journey, take me back. How did you get into hospitality? What, what gave you the hospitality bug?
Transition from Corporate Real Estate to Flipping Houses
[00:02:15] Tanya: Yeah. So I was flipping houses. Like I have a background in corporate real estate. Um, I did that for like 10 years and then I wanted to get out of it. Uh, cause I was just sick of clients.
[00:02:24] Tanya: Honestly, corporate clients are kind of high test. There's a lot of stuff going on. Uh, so one day, like, I got into flipping because of a friend. They told me I should start flipping houses. So I bought a house a couple of months later. And then we flipped, you know, I think we've probably flipped and wholesale, like, about 20 houses in the last, like, 4 or 5 years.
[00:02:44] Tanya: And then, um, one of our flips just kind of wasn't selling. It was in a spot that, uh, I don't know. It was a really weird summer. Honestly, there's a lot going on in Minneapolis and St. Paul because of George Floyd and like just a lot of things like that really affected the market. Uh, so we opted to keep one of ours when one of my friends said, why aren't you looking at AirDNA, Tanya?
[00:03:03] Tanya: I was like, because I have no idea what short term rentals look like. I don't, I don't know, you know. What to do with that? So he, um, he had a conversation with me. He's like, if you hit at least half of this number, he's like, you'll probably be really happy. But if you're, he's like, you're pretty good at things like you put in the effort.
[00:03:19] Tanya: So you might be able to, you know, beat this number and we kind of haven't looked back since. So it was just by an accident actually. And it's fit really, really well. Like, I love hospitality. Like, I really love customer service and this just kind of goes really well with my personality. So. It works for me.
[00:03:36] Liam: Why do people come and stay in the homes? Who, what is the avatar of the kind of guests that you tend to host?
[00:03:42] Tanya: Yeah. So we have on like my preferred, uh, guests are like large girls weekends. Like, honestly, that's truly why it's like one of the, like the last house that we bought is a six bedroom, four bath.
[00:03:55] Tanya: And it's specifically because I was sick of not being able to find a big enough house for all of my friends to come over and hang out for a weekend. The 2 real estate retreat. So we get a lot of large families and like groups just coming to town for that or coming into town for concerts and things.
[00:04:11] Tanya: And then we have 1 of our other houses is very, very close to college. So we get a ton of parents. Like, that one's really, really cool. So we kind of have 2 avatars. I'd say groups of humans that are adults. Like, I prefer adults. Families can totally say, but I know that once we get more than 6 kids in our houses, things go a little crazy.
[00:04:30] Tanya: So, yeah.
[00:04:31] Liam: You've, you've flipped 20 houses, which is amazing, uh, you know, just, just to do that. And then obviously a couple of years ago, you've, you've kind of stumbled into the short term rental, fell in love with, with hospitality and, and grown the portfolio since then. Do you want to take all the homes are purchased at the moment?
Property Management Approach
[00:04:47] Liam: Is there any kind of management or are they purchased as opposed to all the other kinds of, um, models out there?
[00:04:52] Tanya: Yeah, we don't we don't do any arbitrage. We don't do any co hosting or managing of other people's things. We just do ours. And it's nice because I feel like I'm in control of the levers. And so if I don't have bookings, it's my own fault.
[00:05:07] Tanya: I don't have to blame anybody and I don't want to blame anybody. So, yeah, all of them are owned and they they're all really different sizes. We have a 1 bedroom, a 2 bedroom, a 3 bedroom. A five bedroom and a six bedroom, but our six, five and three are like our biggest, like that's, that's where we make the most money.
[00:05:25] Liam: What would you say has been some of the, um, biggest successes along the journey so far?
[00:05:30] Tanya: My favorite of any journey I've been through, um, is like the network and the tribe that I build around it. So the community, so that's probably one of the most successful things because it, it actually adds to my own.
[00:05:41] Tanya: Life. And then, I mean, like I had already quit my corporate job. So at that point, like, I mean, it makes us good money. So I don't have to, like, it's crazy. Like I get up at a late time every morning. I go to bed really late. Like I get to like style my own life and granted, I could be out for dinner with friends, you know, at seven o'clock on a Friday night, and I might have to be on my phone because of something that comes up, like, it's really rare that stuff like that happens, but it's true.
[00:06:09] Tanya: But I. personally am okay with the trade off. So I have, I have a pretty cool lifestyle because of short term rentals and that's a, it's a pretty big win. Like it's pretty amazing.
[00:06:19] Liam: When it comes down to some of the challenges that you've faced, um, you know, we can go not just the hospitality, but even, you know, the The growth of the flip into the 20 houses and that sort of thing.
Overcoming Business Challenges Through Learning
[00:06:29] Liam: What have been some of the challenges along the way and how have you overcome them?
[00:06:32] Tanya: Um, there are so many challenges that I feel like, because this is just like, you want to own your own business, whether you're calling it a side hustle or not, it is a business and there is a lot of things that you need to learn.
[00:06:43] Tanya: And, uh, you can't stick your head in the mud anymore. Like in, in a corporate job, you can just be like, well, it's not my problem. And it literally isn't your problem. Well, you can't, um, you. Can't like ignorance isn't actually an answer in your business. You are like, you can, you can just put stuff on the back burner, but you have to learn the heck out of things.
[00:07:01] Tanya: So I feel like there's challenges all the time of the things that we need to learn. But I think just being willing to learn them, like, uh, I didn't some of the challenges I had. I didn't even know they were challenges until I had a conversation with somebody. So, um, I feel like if you build your network and then you talk about your business enough, you will like learn things like crazy.
[00:07:20] Tanya: Like my biggest mistake, I feel like in the beginning was pricing. And it's just, cause I didn't know. What I was doing enough. Like I thought I had wheelhouse, like it was fine. Like we were getting bookings. I was super excited, but we were booked out like six to eight months in advance. And then I found out, Oh, it's probably because you're priced way too low.
[00:07:37] Tanya: So then my mind gets blown and like stretched. And I talked to somebody else who taught me a couple of tactics and we like doubled our prices and we're still doing just fine. Um, we have lower occupancies, like over 12 months. But I personally don't care about low occupancy. I just want, you know, I want to make sure I make a certain amount of money.
[00:07:57] Tanya: Um, so because of her tactics, like I was making more money with less effort, basically because I figured out how to price and how to like, How to actually play with the numbers and things like that. Um, so, and this all comes back to my community. Like, I'm such a tribe builder. Like, I find it to be the most important thing, because those kinds of conversations, if you're not having them, then you're never going to never going to experience.
[00:08:24] Tanya: I actually talked to a host yesterday who got my phone number from a friend and he asked me like a couple of questions and I heard him talk and I was like, wait a minute. You're not using a pricing tool. So he was talking about how his prices in the winter and the same summer and the folks that don't know about Minnesota.
[00:08:39] Tanya: Minnesota is very cold in the winter. Like, we're not talking about this year in normal circumstances. You know, it could be like negative 10 degrees Fahrenheit here, like all of January or even colder. And then some, Sometimes it's like 90s and 100s. It's gorgeous. We do not charge the same amount of money for those two days because they're not like, I mean, shoulder season, off season and on season are very different.
[00:09:01] Tanya: And this guy, if he wouldn't have made the random offhanded comment he made, I wouldn't have told him like, Oh, you need a pricing tool. Like you shouldn't be charging the same thing for this, this month and this month. And it's cause he doesn't use smart pricing or any of that. So he's just always priced at 150 a night when in the summer he should be getting 350 a night.
[00:09:22] Tanya: And on the winter time he should be getting 130. Um, so it's things like that. It's like when you build your community and you. Like start listening, like you need to kind of find friends and be involved. You just start listening and you pick up on these things and then you make changes in your business and you make more money or you don't have to work as hard or you get a really good referral.
[00:09:38] Tanya: Like, Oh, I find that to be like the most important part of our businesses. Like, how do we overcome those challenges? Like I use other people's information. That's like, why wouldn't just hack it away?
[00:09:49] Liam: Is there a motto or mantra which has helped you along your journey or one that really resonates with you?
Importance of Resonance in Decision Making
[00:09:54] Tanya: Yes, I read a lot of books, like a really lot every single day, um, and my thing is if it's not a hell yeah, it's a no, and it's by Derek Sivers, and I think that guy is like, I think he's so cool. I don't, I would love to meet him someday, but I don't know that he's actually pretty introverted, so maybe it wouldn't be as fun, but I love writing, reading what he writes, and I feel like that's a super important thing, is like, if it doesn't exist, Sorry.
[00:10:20] Tanya: If it does not resonate, then don't do that thing. Like, for real, if you, if you're already dreading something and you haven't even started, it's probably not the right spot for you to be. Um, and, and it's okay to go and learn something new and find something that does make you really excited, because Man, we are only on this planet for like a certain amount of years.
[00:10:39] Tanya: And if you're doing things that suck, then stop doing them. Cause you're in charge of what you do.
[00:10:45] Liam: I love that. What a great way to, uh, what great sentiment. And this has been really fun. I've really enjoyed the energy from it. And. I know everybody listening to this is going to want to come and find out more from, from Instagram and, and some of those tips.
[00:10:57] Liam: I know there's so much more we could dive into. Uh, thank you for listening to this on the Boostly podcast. If there's somebody who will get value from this, please let them know about this podcast, share it with them. And if you want to continue the, uh, the journey into direct bookings, talking about hospitality, come and do so in the hospitality community.
[00:11:16] Liam: On Facebook, it's a free community that you can come and join and we'd love to have you in there. So thank you very much Tanya for, for joining us and uh, uh, yeah, wish you all the best for the future.
