Most people stumble into short-term rental investing. At some point, they realize a long-term rental, mother-in-law suite, or family cabin could become a revenue-generating, passive income machine. So what do they do? They go online to all the big travel sites, upload their listing, and start hosting. After a few months or years, they buy another short-term rental, and now, they’ve got multiple properties across a few different sites. The reviews are flowing, and the revenue with it. But one day, it stops.This happened to Rob when his listing got locked—halting his revenue. Without much of a way to repair this, Rob started thinking of how he could host with autonomy and reduce the risk as his portfolio grew. Sooner or later, Rob and today’s guest, Mark Simpson, started talking. Mark, an expert in hospitality, knew that something like this would happen. It’s why Mark has been helping hosts build their own booking sites over at Boostly. As a short-term rental expert, Mark helps hosts build an income stream that can’t be paused, limited, or removed. Instead, he and his team give hosts everything they need to get more bookings, pay fewer fees, and keep guests coming back for more. And, as the short-term rental space grows at lightspeed, Mark argues that hosts should start building out these direct booking sites now before it’s too late. In This Episode We Cover:The danger of solely hosting your short-term rentals on online travel agencies How so many hosts find themselves “held hostage” by guests and travel sitesBuilding your “guest avatar” and modifying your vacation rental to fit your ideal guestGuest screening tips and how to safely rent your property on your own website Underrated upgrades to make to your short-term rental that massively boost bookings Effortlessly converting guests online travel stays and into direct bookings And So Much More!Links from the ShowFind an Investor-Friendly Real Estate AgentBiggerPockets Youtube ChannelBiggerPockets ForumsBiggerPockets Pro MembershipBiggerPockets BookstoreBiggerPockets BootcampsBiggerPockets PodcastBiggerPockets MerchListen to All Your Favorite BiggerPockets Podcasts in One PlaceLearn About Real Estate, The Housing Market, and Money Management with The BiggerPockets PodcastsGet More Deals Done with The BiggerPockets Investing ToolsFind a BiggerPockets Real Estate Meetup in Your AreaDavid's BiggerPockets ProfileDavid's InstagramRob's BiggerPockets ProfileRob's YoutubeRob's InstagramRob's TikTokRob's TwitterStop Relying On Airbnb and VRBO and Build A Business You Control4 Things You Need to Know Before Buying A Short-Term RentalBoostly’s Property Management Software ListBooks Mentioned in the Show:Short-Term Rental, Long-Term Wealth by Avery CarlThe Book Direct Playbook by Mark SimpsonConnect with Mark:Mark's WebsiteClick here to check the full show notes: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/real-estate-680Interested in learning more about today’s sponsors or becoming a BiggerPockets partner yourself? Check out our sponsor page!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.