08 Oct A Malibu Blunder: Stay Here Netflix Series Continues To Impress

Since the Stay Here Netflix exclusive series hit the home screens, the short-term rental industry has been on fire. Now is the best time to consider investing in Airbnb Arbitrage while the iron’s still hot.

Episode two focuses on taking a Malibu beach house disaster and turning it into a dream getaway. If you haven’t seen my previous “Stay Here” episode review, check it out here. There’s more to come if you guys like these reviews, so let me know by leaving a message in the comments below!

WARNING: There will be spoilers for Stay Here Netflix Exclusive Season One: Episode Two.

Surf’s Up, Profit’s Up

Malibu, California is a year-round famous beach town up the coast from Los Angles. It’s known for its celebrity homes, surfing, and beautiful beach view. Currently, there are around 300 single-family residencies available on the market, bringing in about $40 million a year. This averages about $1,000 a night!

Guests will pay big money for a luxury experience, especially if it involves a hot location where celebrities can be seen at the beach spot next door.

The place that Gen and Peter singled out this time around is a home that they described as “Crooked Teeth on a perfect smile.” This poor beach house is in the perfect neighborhood with a great ocean view. However, the outside looks incredibly beat up, the front fence is crooked, and the inside advertisement pictures were dark and overly cluttered.

All in all, the location is mind-blowing. Even if the rental currently lacks, that’s something that can always be fixed up later. The location around your listing is out of your control. Scouting out the site to your potential property will make or break your listing.

The Big No’s

My favorite part of the Stay Here Netflix episode isn’t the end product, but seeing everywhere the listing does wrong initially. This is because there’s so much to learn from in these episodes.

The Malibu beach house is currently owned by a widow, and since her husband’s passing has unintentionally let the place go. She wants to live in the beach house for six months out of the year while renting during the rest. However, in its current state– it hasn’t had a single guest.

Here are all of the opportunities to learn from:

• Problem: The front gate of the house doesn’t close. This is a HUGE security issue.
  • Solution: Personally, I enjoy using Keyless Locks. They’re great for safety, and remove the risk of your guests losing their keys.
• Problem: The Deck Size isn’t being utilized.
  • Solution: Determine what areas of your listing are the main cornerstone. When you have a beach view as your backyard– use it.
• Problem: The rental space is too personalized. While the widow wants to live in the listing for half the year, guests may feel uncomfortable being around personal clutter or family photos.
  • Solution: Have personal areas of the house that you block off from your guests. Or, create a list of items to store away when you’re not currently living in the listing.

What Is Luxury?

Guests searching for a luxury experience are willing to dish the cash but have a certain level of expectations. The difference between spending $200 and $1,000 a night, is that at the higher price point the guest is expecting all of the work to be done for them. This means you can’t cut corners. I have a Superhost checklist that is affordable and has been a vital part of my success as an Airbnb Host.

In the kitchen, this means having proper appliances, large countertop space, and leaving some water, white wine, or champaign for your guests in the fridge. In the bedroom, this means soft sheets, comfortable robes, and fresh premium towels.

With the profits in a short-term rental situation being directly related from heads to beds, the more places you can convert into a bedroom the better. This also allows for multiple guests to share and split the cost of a luxury experience.

For example, Peter estimated that this Malibu beach rental could make it at $1,500 a night, 22 nights a month, and gaining a profit of around $33,000 a month! But, with two bedrooms in the listing, a couple can split the price in half! Short-term rental pricing is all about making a living location both luxurious and affordable. It’s a balance!

The Design of Stay Here Netflix Extrodinare

Gen truly outdid herself this time around. From moving the locations of doors to giving the entire outside of the beach house a new look– it blows my mind how much the design of a listing can truly impact your profits.

The main problem list with the Malibu beach house included:

• Clearing out the clutter in the kitchen.
• Moving doors to better suit the flow of the room.
• Expanding the countertops and expanding the kitchen.
• The need to create the optimal ‘Social Media Moment.’

In order to get some true Malibu flair, Gen and Peter head to the Malibu design center. The expert at the store describes the Malibu lifestyle as casual, contemporary, and beachy. No animal products are used for furniture and the main color is white. The natural color pallet of Malibu furniture is drawn from the natural setting of the ocean.

While it’s easy to that that more expensive = more stuff, this is far from the truth. It’s better to spend money on fewer items that are of a higher quality.

Slipcovers are definitely your friend when it comes to furniture. Not only can they easily match the color of the room, but they’re incredibly easy to wash and take care of between guest visits. While white may be an intimidating color for stains, it’s also incredibly easy to clean. Just keep a bottle of bleach handy and you’re golden.

Another great design choice made by Gen was to paint the outside a darker color. This was a technique also used in the first episode of the Seattle houseboat. While the darker color helps to hide imperfections, can everything be solved by painting it black?

Peter’s Social Media Moment

On the marketing side of the Stay Here Netflix episode, Peter’s focus was to create the perfect social media moment through the pictures of the listing. He chose two hanging chairs to place on the outside deck and knew they would be a golden opportunity.

Hosting is learning how to nurture and deliver first impressions. You’re trying to anticipate the guest’s psyche through staging and smells. Offering a questionnaire before they book allows you to get to know them and their experiences.

Peter explained further that is he saw the chairs while in London, trying to find the perfect Malibu experience with the ocean out in front– the first thing he would want to do when arriving in California is to sit in one of the chairs.

Would You Stay Here?

Every business has a story, operations, design, and planned experiences. The more that you learn how to anticipate and meet the needs of your guests, the easier the job becomes. Not to mention, creating experiences that help to invoke memories only encourage great reviews and positive word-of-mouth feedback.

Do you think you have what it takes to have a Malibu beach house rental of your own? What did you think of this episode?