How to Make Your STR More Accessible (and More Profitable)

0:00First of all, when you're putting information in your description, so two things to do. Think about your description, the words that you're using to describe your property, and the photographs. So, we'll start with those two. Identify all those things that you have because they could be an element that equals access. Like I said, a concrete driveway, a paved driveway. That's important for me. Hey, my wheelchair loves grass and it will just feed those wheels and I can dig a great hole in grass.

0:35And so, I know I can't use grass, but I can easily access cobblestone I mean, a hard surface driveway. So, in your description, identify those things. Come visit our our website at becomingrentable.com and look through our filters and say, "Oh, I need to list my door width. I need to list the driveway, an elevator, three steps, because or you have a portable ramp." So, the first thing is to look at description, photographs.

1:08Time and time again, we see the beautiful birds, the dishes. People love to show their dishes. The ocean. What I want to see is floor-to-ceiling. I want to see what's on the floor. So, when you're taking a picture in the bathroom, open up that shower curtain. It may be a beautiful shower curtain and if you want to show it off, show it off, but then the next picture, open it up. You know, is it a shower? Is it a tub? Is it a step-in shower? A roll-in shower? What exactly is behind curtain number three?

1:39We want to see that. And so, think about in your bedroom, what's the space between the bed? You know, so many times we hear we need 5-ft radius. Sure, that would be lovely, but not all of our properties are big enough for a 5-ft radius. My rental properties don't have that in the bedroom, but what we do have is 48 in from the wall to the bed. That allows my wide wheelchair to move forward, my husband to hoist me up, toss me on the bed, and wheel the wheelchair back, and we're all good.

2:14So again, we want to see do you have a platform bed? We want to see do you have any inches underneath your bed that my Hoyer lift can go to? So, that the key is information. That's what we want to know is all the information, all the things For example, I don't know if you have a short-term rental. Do you have a dimmer switch? It's like, well, yeah, I have a dimmer switch. Well, dimmer switches are really important for people with cognitive disabilities and the sensory of light.

2:46So, that is an accessible feature. And so we want to know do you have fans in a bedroom or in the living room? Again, those are helpful for people with dementia, for aging, as well as cognitive disabilities. And so you may not know or think about what these things equal as far as accessibility. And and we we worry about that word. It's like, okay, we just want to know what you have. We can then determine that yes, it's accessible.

3:17Now, why how we came into business was actually through these large booking platforms saying we are accessible. So, we go, okay, you have this, you have that. We're not seeing, you know, an element, but they say they have it, so they have it. And you go, and dadgummit, there are five steps to the front door, and there's no other accessible entrance, or there's a one step to get into the bathroom, or the bathroom door is narrow. But if we knew that up front, then it wouldn't be a challenge or a problem.

3:51And so that's number one what we encourage people to do. Share that information. — That makes sense. Yeah, and I think from a Airbnb standpoint, you actually are doing your listing, a service, too, in terms of being bumped in search because that one of the biggest things you can do to to improve your listing is just be, fill out everything. You know, be as descriptive as possible. That's, you know, the Airbnb bots that analyze all the listings and decide what order they're going to show them to to guests and, are looking at that.

4:24And And the ones that are half filled out or, you know, not super descriptive or only have, you know, a few pictures, they're getting bumped to the bottom. So, it makes sense from a business standpoint, as well. So, I think that's that's a that's excellent advice. So, going back to, you know, maybe low lowest-hanging fruit, if somebody's going to buy a property, and maybe they're doing some work on it, what are the things to focus I know you mentioned some of them there, but where would you say the best place to to focus on first if they want to make it as accessible as possible?

4:56— So, if there are modifications that you're going to make, door widths, are key, you know, because again, when you have 36-in doors, 32 is the common average door. But do you know at Lowe's you can get a 32-in door, let's say, for $108, but a 36-in door is only $2 more, but yet more people can go through that door. So, again, if you can if you have that opportunity, go with the wider door. Look at where can you create what we call a zero threshold entry, which means there's no bump-diddy-bump or a step to get in.

5:38Sometimes those bump-diddy-bumps are really hard because I don't have a lot of room to get ready and and gun my chair to get over those bumps. And so, if you can do zero threshold as as best best that you can, that is another area. Think about having one entrance that is accessible without a ramp, without a device, a lift to get in. Again, this is in that beginning stages because once you hit some of these hurdles, the rest is smooth sailing.

6:14The bathroom is always, you know, you can buy a 17-in or a 19-in commode. Go ahead, the cost is minimal if any difference in a 19-in commode. Go ahead and put wallboard backing up for grab bars in the toilet, in the shower. Now, again, I we don't know what we don't know. And so, that's part of the challenge in what equals access. So, when I started becoming rentable because I could not take a bath, I said, "A bathtub is not accessible." Well, guess what?

6:49We had a a friend of our actually one of our ambassadors from Africa came over, spent 2 weeks at our rental, and I said, "Alwyn, we have a bath a room a bathtub and a roll-in shower, your choice." He's like, "I'll take the tub." I'm like, "Dude, you're paralyzed. What do you mean you're going to take a bath?" And he goes, "Lorraine," he called it a bum. He's like, "I I prefer a bath. I use my transfer board, I get in the bath, and I feel like my bum is clean. But if I go into a roll-in shower, I'm sitting on a bench, and I don't ever feel like my bum is clean." And so, I'm like, "Oh my gosh, a bathtub is accessible.

7:26Who would have known?" And that's the beauty of like education and awareness. So, you have a bathtub, that's a good thing. — So, he would bring a lift with him then to to be able to get in? — called a transfer board. It's about a $35 board, and it has it's thin and then it kind of goes thicker and then it goes thin. So, it's easy to slide up onto it. You put it on you between your wheelchair and then the the lip of the the tub. And again, a lot of people who are paraplegic have strong upper body strength.

8:00And he did. And so, he then would then lower himself in the tub, do the tub, everything's clean, get up, dry off, get in his wheelchair, and — Wow. — maybe off to brush his teeth. Yeah. So, and so that was really interesting. So, again, you know, put that tub in there. You know, moms with small children love it. My favorite advice on what to do, and this is one that costs minimal and it there in and there's not any renovation, and that is having a secondary lock on your exterior doors.

8:35And that's for the wanderers. You know, Lorraine, you can't go see the bunny right now. And so, because some people with autism are wanderers, people with dementia are wanderers. So, what's the safest thing you can do? Go about 5 ft up and put a secondary lock. Costs no more than $10 a lock, and then you've opened up your renters to millions of people who are not addressing that one safety component for people who are wanderers.

9:06And if you have small children, it's also pretty nice to have that that safety net there. So, there are, you know, for the construction piece, again, the bathroom, the doors, the exterior path from the the parking to the to your accessible door. And a front door isn't always it's like, "Oh, I love those large steps. We have a a place in South Carolina, and I want that look." Fine. You know, make your accessible entrance in the garage, on the side of the property.

9:38It doesn't have to be in the front. Secondly, I would say to investors, your property doesn't have to meet all 63 filters. You know, identify those that work for you. In my properties, it took me 4 years to get lift chairs. We have a lot of guests with ALS and it's very exhausting for the individual with ALS and for the caregivers to transfer from the wheelchair to a bed, from the bed to the wheelchair to another chair.

10:11So, a lift chair provides the comfort that they would like to go to sleep at night or take a nap and breathing, elevating their head and their chest just a little bit for them. But, it took me a while financially to make that addition to our property. So, you know, going in, identify what you can and for return on investment, it is a hospital bed. It is a lift chair. It is the doors and the entrances.

10:46— Yeah. Wow, that's great. That's super super helpful information. So, for your your platform then, Rentable, so rentable.com, I believe there's around 1,300 properties listed there. — We're we're about 1,200 now. You know, — 1,200, okay. — Sad but true and at the same time we're happy. So, we're actually becoming Rentable is the is the official name. — Oh, that's okay. We're all about the able part because that's what we what how we identified our name.

11:21And so, goodness gracious, you did it again. My brain's like — of Yeah, I And I I told — I the number Yeah, the number of properties. — So, it's my age, too. I'm now 64. And so, — Oh, I do the same thing at 44, so don't worry about it. — but in the United States this year, right now, between the booking platforms that we know and the numbers released, there's 1.5 million short-term rental properties. — Mhm.

11:52— But in our research and what we found, there are less than 1% that are accessible. That's 1,500. I mean, I hate to say it's pitiful. But it's pitiful. We had the privilege and have the privilege to be working on a campaign called Smashing My Limits. It is a campaign designed to create more accessible short-term rentals so that people with SMA muscular dystrophy can find a rental and experience new things.

12:26And we're working with Novartis on that on this project. And what we found out is there are treehouses. There's a treehouse that is accessible. There's cabins and yachts. There's an African tent saf- see, a saf- a safari African tent. Anyway, there's really cool places. And and and that's what we're you know, we're looking at, okay, we want more accessible short-term rentals. So, not only do we have a place to stay, but we have a place to create new experiences, you know.

13:00In in fact, by working on this project, we my husband and I were at the beach. I said, "Robert, I said, what do you think about going on a family vacation this year?" He's like, "What?" I said, "You know, a family vacation. A lot of people do it. We haven't had one since the boys were in middle school." And he goes, "What do you mean?" And I said, "You know, I said, this project's really making me think about when you have a place to stay, you know, what can you do? Like Like at Carolina Beach, we have Ocean Cure, and it's a group of volunteers that take people with disabilities out and go surfing.

13:37I mean, how cool is that? And so anyway, I came up with what I thought was a great idea. I came home and I told my family, excuse me, for those listeners, but I said, "Okay, I found a place that I want I I want us to take a family vacation." And they were like, "All right, Mom, where?" I said, "Kentucky." Yeah. If you could see Kirby's face right now, his face just went from smiles to Kentucky. And the boys did the same thing. He goes, — Well, I'm from Indiana, so, you know, not too far away.

14:08— Okay, well, you know, I'm an honorary Kentucky Colonel, so I don't know if that helps. But I did say Kentucky. And they were like, "Mom, why Kentucky?" I said, "Because you all like whiskey. And wouldn't it be fun to go to a distillery? I I don't drink it, but I would have fun looking at them making it, and the bottles, and just the giggles and grins I would have." And they're like, "No, Mom, we're not going to Kentucky." But I thought it was a great idea cuz it was all about the experience and making them happy. They said they would rather go to our beach house.

14:40And I'm like, "Okay, because it's safe." And And And that's another point from an investment standpoint is when you find a place that that works for you and your family, you go back to that place because you know it meets your needs. And so, in targeting and looking at places for people with disabilities, we know we usually travel at least with one other person, if not two. So, we have more people. We tend to stay one more day than the average without a disability because we don't go on as many vacations.

15:16When we do go, we tend to stay longer. We tend to spend more money, not just because I'm a woman and I love to shop, but because we're not out doing it. So, the economic return for a community commonly is much greater with guests who have disabilities. And, you know, that another hurdle that investors sometimes have about an accessible short-term rental is the fear of the ADA. And I will say, I just did a webinar with the East Eastern ADA Center on the STRs and ADA folks, and there are minimal requirements that the law says that you have, and there's never been a legal case for somebody that was sued in regard to an accessible short-term

16:05Rental. And so, but there's this fear. There's this great fear that they will get sued. We see more lawsuits with people who are drinking and falling down steps because they had too much alcohol, but yet we are not afraid of that. But, I will tell you, I have the world's greatest renters. Hands, yeah, I get gifts. I get notes. I get thank yous. They They're so much appreciation. And the way they leave my our rentals, it's like I don't even need cleaners.

16:40I mean, they are just so responsible. And And, you know, there's a lot of benefits and then how it's changed their lives. You know, it's like I never thought this could be us, and it is. So, it's quite rewarding. And it's good business. — Yeah, absolutely. You're doing good and doing well, as they say, right? So, I I love that. And you're giving me so many ideas. My wheels are turning as you're as you're talking through this about our properties. But, you brought up, you know, the that there's 1% of all short-term rentals that are accessible, 1,500 properties.

17:21What is the need? I mean, of your 500 stays at your North Carolina property, how many of those were people in need of accessible house? Or was it just, you know, typical travel? — I would say, yeah, I would say in the beginning it was 70/30. 70% needed it. We're at 100% now. We already have next summer booked. — — Wow. — Yeah. It it it really is amazing. We just finished up and this was really an interesting project.

17:52Rockaway Beach, Oregon. Their community, their their mayor, their city council hired Becoming Rental to come in and we evaluated their 430 rentals. Because they're a tourism community, they felt and and Oregon is an incredibly progressive state in bringing about accessible travel, doing remarkable work. But this particular county, felt like they were not reaching potential guest. And so they only had one accessible short-term rental.

18:25And they said, "All right, Lorraine, we need your crew to come in and let's look at our inventory. What does it look like?" So we evaluated their 430. And I I I wanted to find out kind of benchmarking, how many properties do you hope that you can find that meet our A minimal requirements? And they said, "We would be really happy if we could double it. So if we found two, that would make us happy." So we did there and the and the result of it was we found 20 that could be verified today.

18:57We found 37 that, needed one more access point, like a ramp to the door that could be verified. And then we found 61 properties that just needed more information. We couldn't see a photo of the front door. We couldn't see the access to a bedroom or a bathroom. So, over 100 properties that out of the 430 could be identified as accessible for them.

19:31We have the 20 and they were blown away. So, we'll be doing education for that community. And and bringing about their tourism. Recognizing that they want to be a part of this mix for their town.