Tips On Reaching Financial Independence From A Successful Host

Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the Boosely Podcast. This is the podcast that gives post the tools, the tactics, and the trainings, but most importantly, the confidence so you can go out there and get more direct bookends. Today, we're going to be talking about personal finance, reaching financial independence, and to help us do that, we've got a successful short-term rental host, and we're going to be asking questions of his business, finding out what's worked for him in his business, but also he's very passionate about that personal finance. He's also now a best-selling co-author in Hospitalable Hosts 2, which is an amazing project, which we're going to talk more about as well. And we're going to dive into that. So if you didn't know already, my name's Liam Caroline. I'm Mark Simpson's co-host, and this is the mini series where we go behind the host with a successful host. So today, we're welcoming Vinci, Vinci Savilla, and he's from Getaway House, and yeah, I'm really excited to dive into his story. So welcome along, Vinci. Hey, Liam. Thanks for having me. You're really excited to be here. Yeah, looking forward to it, man. Well, me too. Let's get started. Can you introduce yourself? Tell us a bit about where your business is based, and I guess who is that you host and why? Oh, absolutely. So I'm over here. I currently live out here in Southern California. You know, father of a one-year-old are our first and husband, and I actually am currently still working a full-time job. While my wife and I build this short-term rental technology-driven company that we have, Getaway House is the name of our company, and we currently specialize in luxury short-term rentals around the nation here in the U.S. We're currently in four states, and we currently have eight properties closing on three more over the next two months. So we're really excited about it. Typically, our markets are in vacation markets. So we're talking about out in California, we're in Joshua Tree and Big Bear California, and in Arizona, we're in Scottsdale, and in Tennessee, we're in the Great Smoky Mountains, and we are also in a new market in West Virginia, called the New River Gorge National Park, which is the U.S. latest and greatest national park. Nice. Nice. I mean, that is a solid introduction to your business. So across four states, national, which is amazing, and also to be in these places which has got some of the biggest demand is just so important, and I know we'll dive more into that. Before we dive more into your business, how you host, I really want to touch on the hospital hosts project, which is, it's just been released, it's quite exciting to be part of for you as a host, but also for people like myself and the people listening to read through. If people are listening to this, not knowing what hospital hosts to is, just Google hospitable hosts to, and you'll be able to see the book. This is where there's 40 or so awesome short-term rental hosts who are sharing their stories, but also some of really great tips on how to get started, how to be successful, and Jodie's basically collated them into this book, which, which is amazing. I mean, I was lucky enough to be in book number one, and you know, Vinci, you're in book number two, and the amount of value that these books are sharing is just incredible, because we've only got a short amount to be able to share, obviously, key details, and one of the things that we were talking about just before we went live or with the recording is there's a really nice poem in the start of the book, which I thought was Jodie or somebody doing like AI technology or something like that, because it's a really well-written poem about short-term rental, but you've shared with me that you're the author of that poem. That's right, William. Can we be really she can ask you to recite the poem just for the people on the podcast? It's cool to have a live reading from the author. Absolutely. I can't do a live reading. Let me... Okay, so you can find this poem, and one other thing, I write poetry. I've been writing poems since I was a kid, but most of them I've written for, let's say, school projects, or kind of privately, and you know, the last big poem that I've written was actually something for my wife. On our first year anniversary, re-wedding anniversary, I gifted her a small booklet of little scribbles that I write every single day of our first year marriage, and I gave that to her in a form of a small little private book for her, and it had like, you know, little poems in there, little things that talk about how grateful I am to her. But anyway, beyond all that, I was talking to Jodie, and you know, she asked me to write this poem for this book, and I'm extremely honored, and yeah, it definitely has been something different, but I'm here to... I think this will be my first live reading, Liam, so you're here to go. A boostly exclusive, and you've got a lot of the people going, oh, this is, you know, this sweet what you've done is the poems for your wife there as well, so you're already building up the personal brand there of the engineering. Yeah, our first poet for short-term mental, right? Okay. All right, so the title of this poem, which you can find on the on the first page of a hospitable host too, the title is, what's it like then being a hospitable host? What's it like then you ask being a hospitable host? Turning my home into something to boast, a gentle touch, a hammer swung, no detail left undone, a painting here, a mural there, little figurines to fill the air. I open my home and invite them in to enjoy the comfort and beauty within. I strive to make their stay a delight with a clean and cozy space that feels just right. I offer them treats, amenities, and books to read, and make sure they have everything they need. A place to eat, maybe a nice view to sit an idol? Don't fear, our guidebook will be your Bible. I am a host with a passion for sharing, the joys of home, and the pleasures of caring. I love to see my guests happy and content, and leave with memories of a place well spent. I am a host, provider of rest, a friend to travelers on their journey's quest. I offer them a home away from home, a haven of peace, and a place to roam. This is what it means to be a hospitable host, bringing joy and comfort to those who need it most. I'm going to have to give it a clap just on the basis of yeah I think that's beautiful and hey you now made a name for yourself as the first part of STR I think that is something which can stick. So let's talk about the book in general. How does it feel first of all to be best-selling co-author, and what do you want people to take away from your chapter within the book? I would say my specific chapter in my book, I actually dive deep into some of the nets or glamorous side of being a hospitable host. I talk about how my wife and I, my wife was five months pregnant when we went to our first short-term mental and set it up. And going live on our first listing and then our second and then our third while we were raising our first born, our child, and this was 2021 and this was really recent and so all of this was a lot and one of the chapters, one of the sections I tied all in my chapter is called Newborn Business. It talks about the struggles of a new father and caring for a newborn and at the same time running a business that you know we had no idea how it would impact us, running a business that we've never done before and really didn't really have a lot of people within our circle or community who've done something like this. And so the chapter really dives into being grateful, being present also with your family and prioritizing and figuring out a balance between business and your personal life and everything else that goes in between because as you know running a short-term mental, it's not passive you know you're doing kind of just set it and forget it throwing a smart door lock and just let it go you know there's a lot that gets involved in it and it's a business and first and foremost that's that's what it is you have to understand that and learn that you're running a business. And so yeah I mean like that's really what my chapter kind of dives into you and making sure that you try to figure out and prioritize your driver or your why and remember that you're doing all this personally for myself I do all this for my family and so understanding that every choice that you make has to align with your driver and your why will help you when there are bad times that goes down when you're running a short-term mental business and that's a good reminder that I have. And so important is a couple of questions sort of segue and off that is that first of all I can definitely relate to I started my business just shortly after my my little boy was born my first born and was that one of the driving factors of getting the business off the ground was that the reason what what did you do before this what is your history before hospitality and was the newborn family the drive to make the change into short-term mental? It definitely was the fire let's let's say that right so a lot of it really involved really before getting to short-term mental we did invest in real estate already we were house hacking so that's where you know we had bought a property reliving in one side of the house and we were renting out other rooms and then we also had long-term mental so we had properties in out of state and you know was which was given us a very modest amount of cash flow but having serenity the name of my daughter having her and kind of going through this realizing my wife is pregnant we it kind of just like it was something that just fueled the fire to everything that's how we're able to scale from one to eight within 12 months and and now we know we're we're continuing to grow and continuing to you know specialize in short-term mental across the country quick break from the podcast to let you know that the two boosley books that we brought out the book there at playbook and the book there at blueprint are two of the top rated and the best selling in a hospitality category on amazon for just two pounds you can grab both of those books right now the foundations and the structures that you need to put in place is in the blueprint and then for a 101 mark in tactics that is in the playbook so go and grab a copy on amazon now just type in book direct playbook or the book direct blueprint and we'll see you on your side I love the drive and certainly for this you know this introduction and I know we've gone off to hospital hosts but I certainly feel a warmness as a host from you and the passion and also like you say the speed to do it within 12 months is amazing so let's dive into the nuts and bolts of the business of how you've done that and I know we're talking about personal independence for for your finance and and that side of things looking back what was the key drivers to moving you from where you were to to where you are now what would you say as some of the lessons that you've brought along the way well you know I think it kind of goes back to you know the the culture and the environment that I was raised in one I was you know wasn't born here in the States I was born in the Philippines I came here I swam here when I was a kid and so let's see here you know English was in my first language and kind of going through my entire life you know as an immigrant here in the US there were a lot of challenges and I didn't really really you don't really think about it as a kid you kind of just like going along with mom and dad and your brothers and sisters and kind of like you know in this new country and trying to figure things out you think that everyone else around you is also in the same position as you struggling to make ends meet hustling working day and night working alongside with my parents also pretty much my entire life working on really odd businesses you know doing doing different things and all of that kind of like gave me the drive for I guess my work ethic and the the awareness to really see that hey you know what you don't really need a lot in life to enjoy life and to be with their family and be present and be grateful and be content but what you can do is you can you can you can set up something that your future family and something that is what we turn out here you know generational wealth you know provide that type of generational wealth and knowledge to the rest of our family members is that that's something that I never had when I was a kid and so going through this and learning all that and discovering all this you know as an adult was mind-blowing and that that kind of you know blood into you know this business into the short-term mental industry being a hospitable host caring for our guests and you know figuring out what we needed to do in order to get where we wanted to go yeah that makes sense that makes sense and looking at it to go from one to eight are these co-hosted are these arbitrage or are these and if they're owned how does I guess what tips could you share around for somebody else who would want to do that as well you know what kind of financial sort of things that they need to know about and have in place to do so so the majority of these properties are owned or partially owned by myself and my wife we do have a few that we do co-host for others we do believe in the you know less units the better so we do focus more on luxury type short-term mentors however getting to to be in a financial position to purchase properties like this or partner with other people to purchase properties goes back to personal finance and I think this is a good segue Liam for for me to also talk about how educating ourselves in personal finance was key for us to start this business first and foremost my wife and I when we first got married you know we believe in conjoining all of our money together and you know it's you know man and wife becomes one so you know everything we we everything that we have and that we own and everything that we every debt that we have is also you know shared with between the both of us and when we got married you know we had a total of 147,000 of student loans and we made a intentional decision to go ahead and pay off those student loans and not wait for the government to bail you out or not wait for anyone else to forgive our loans or anything like that we decided to go ahead and attack it so we actually paid off $147,000 student loans in 14 months and yeah we did that through through a number of strategies but first from us again understanding that you know you you have an issue and we need to attack it student loans even if someone I think in the US goes bankrupt student loans is one of the only debt that isn't even forgiven so that was a big driver definitely and I think having a financial awareness is so important and definitely I mean I'm one of those people who read rich dad poor dad back in the day and only I mean I was probably about 30 before I read the book and that was only like oh yeah this makes sense and at the time I was I was in a full-time employment I was in debt and and you know it wasn't until you start educating yourself on how to get out of it but then also one thing you mentioned there is you both pulled the debt and it had the intention you both agreed and have the intention to achieve a goal together and having the power of intention is so important because you know a lot of people don't keep track of the you know the numbers or they don't keep track of the the review scores of the and and having these things a mentor of mine says you can't master what you don't measure and just sit in there and go and hey this is the actual number this is what we need to get down to now all I need to figure out is the how in the middle and I'm going to get there and that's that's exactly what you've done there and it sounds to me as though short term rental has played a big part and obviously other investments has played a part as well what I'd love to know is when you you're talking about the luxury market which I think is so important especially as we record this we're mid April 2023 as we record this and there's certainly a lot of units on the market which are that kind of middle of the road kind of stock having that luxury market seems to be a really great way to go because you can keep the in higher average daily rates and also they're a bit wow you know you're serving an avatar which aren't going to be as affected by inflation and and some of the things which happen in the market was that intentional that you set out to go for that market and if so why and how have you implemented this this luxury these luxury brands because because my opinion and I'm sure people listening is like hey I don't know if I can afford some of the very nice places I don't know if I can do this what would you say to people with that kind of mindset okay there was like I think two two questions there no but first of all I mean to answer your first question you know this wasn't it wasn't in our radar when we first started we were just like we want to get our first short-term rental our first short -term rental happened to be just a po-dunk you know cabin in the smokey mountains but it was near a creek it was adjacent to a creek it's actually sits on a creek uhum and it's got a private staircase to it and it's got a private game room and then it was really nice but what we found was you know one of the biggest reasons why we pivoted to short-term rentals was you know the cash flow right you get significantly amount a significantly amount more cash flow than a long-term rental and even in the short-term rental space I realized well you can actually if you invest in the type and the right type of short-term rentals that could be the same thing instead of getting multiple short-term rentals that are in the let's say 50% mid-space you know you could be getting properties in the 90 95% percentile in terms of you know occupancy and ADR and so we tried to target those type of properties shortly after discovering this whether it's co-hosting client properties for other clients or purchasing them ourselves and so yeah no it wasn't immediate but it was something that we decided you know what we don't want to handle too many properties we want to really target the luxury ones that you know have high occupancy and high average daily rate especially if we want to stand out in this market so that was the hopefully that answered your first question and as for your second you know trying to for someone out there who wants to get into that type of type of asset class unless they may not have the financing for it you know there are creative ways to purchase those pop kind of properties nowadays but there are also creative ways for you to list them example through co-hosting you know if you already have the processes and tools and automation for your short-term rentals it's literally using the same tools same processes same systems for the high end luxury type of properties and you can really apply those and partner with other people to purchase those type of properties showing them that hey with your processes your systems and your automation you can provide great returns for your investors and for your partners and for yourself so I would suggest folks to you know tell everybody and anyone you know what you're looking for and what you're doing and I think you know you can begin utilizing you know your social media utilizing what you already know to connect with others to be able to purchase those type of asset classes you know the cool thing is about you know what you're describing there is that this actionable stuff that people can can go off and do and that is like you could go on air DNA and have a look at the properties which are performing in that 90 percentile and above and then actually shows you what they look like and you can actually then click on those see what features they've got what amenities and and really you're looking at mirroring that in that location if if that's your desired location and the great thing that displays obviously if you pay for it the data of of everything on there which can give you average daily rates overall revenue and just going out there and even if it's a the thing is a lot of people do exactly that where they go I can't fault it I won't even look at that I'll look at the you know the middle level or the lower level this is you know I've got this budget but you're absolutely right by either co-hosting, partnering with investors who you're bringing them know how the systems the the day-to-day you know they're getting a great return if all they've got to do is put in the money and can get an asset that they wouldn't have known about if it wasn't for you then then that's amazing so I really like that you mentioned this feels like a good time to segue into the the systems and that side of things and the processes how are you able to manage these in four different four different states from afar what systems and processes do you use or tech to help you to do so um so you know we we use the PMS we have a channel manager that we like to use the one that we currently use is Gessie for hosts um you know I think that's one of my top you know three recommended tools for any short-term mental host or anyone you know learning to wanting to get started in this business to ensure that they check out some of the PMS options that they may have out there and these are channel managers so what they essentially do for those who are listening don't know these channel managers allow you to manage your listings all in one platform whether they are on Airbnb vrbo booking.com or even your direct booking site and this PMS channel manager can allow you to manage your guest messaging um some of your automation rules and you know pop sometimes even your cleaners sending out messages to them and also you know and we like Gessie for hosts because we like utilizing all the different features that they have there another technology stack that we include or we that we think is necessary is a dynamic pricing tool we like to use price lamps for hours and dynamic pricing tools literally helps you increase your revenue by probably 30% or more just by utilizing that tool and so that's extremely important for any short-term mental hosts and uh let's see here you know we have again we have properties across four states you know we're doing all this remotely so working with your team is extremely important and we actually utilize a cleaning app so I know there's uh things out that are like turnover formerly turnover bnb as well as I think resort cleaning that I think they use that for hotels mainly as well for boutique hotels and so we like to use turno for all of our properties that helps manage our cleaners and it automatically pays them it's got a checklist on there that allows us to ensure quality control for each of our properties and each turnover you know cleaners have to send pictures of each cleaning in order to get paid and complete the the project and that this is extremely important because you know we like to use those pictures and ensure the quality as well as help defend any claims that may be coming around if you're using Airbnb or VRBO or anything else other than a direct book inside which we are going to be working on with Bruce Lee uh surely after this call hey thank you for the mention that is uh appreciated and we're looking forward to um to to see in the direct book and website come about but there's some awesome advice i mean turno the another one is breezeway which which i've used and there's there's these awesome ways to be able to see what is happening in your units without physically you don't physically always need to be there i mean don't you wrong it doesn't hurt to to visit them from time to time but ultimately the day to day can be managed from afar which is which is really cool if you're struggling on how to get direct bookings and overwhelmed on where to start then i recommend you go and book in a call with Bruce Lee and our team right now we can walk you through exactly what we're offering how we can help you and give you a portfolio of websites that we have worked with that are matching not only on niche but could be in your location as well Bruce Lee has helped over 2,000 hospitality businesses all over the world increase their direct bookings and if you are interested then all you need to do is go to b o o s t l i dot co dot uk by slash call and booking an appointment with one of our sales team coming on to the last few questions really which is you mentioned your units are kind of luxury what kind of stay can your guests expect what kind of amenities do you like to put in what gives your guests kind of the wow factor in those five star reviews so you know for example our latest listing we close on this property a few weeks ago we should be going live in the next week or so this will be number nine on our portfolio this is a a tree house type build and so it's it's very unique it's got a 360 deck like wraps around the entire property where you have these amazing views of the national park and of the entire area and you know we also have you know a really nice hot tub there and the design is probably one of the key things that makes it I guess quote unquote luxury you know on top of the you know the the coffee bar or the coffee cart that we have there we have we we meticulously designed it so that you know we can this is after doing market research because like if you're looking at that specific market you have to understand that a design for that market is going to very much differ from the design of another market to hit you know to to hit that luxury design and so luxury in this market maybe may look totally different for luxury in this in a separate market and so this is after doing some research and figuring out like those are type of the amenities that a lot of people will pay a lot of money for I think the 360 wrap around deck is something that is very unique in the area having that tree house build going and we have a little deck in the very bottom that opens up and it's got you know a outdoor fire grilled you know it's got you know fireplace dedicated TV with the hot tub and it's got these again the the most amazing views that you can have you can find in the area and I think that really sets us apart from a lot of the other you know short fermentals in the area yeah sounds really cool I mean I'd love to see it I mean hopefully I'll get to see on the website and other things but the you reminded me of a conversation that I've listened to a podcast I don't know where to pick up but you can either you can either make a product that somebody needs or you can make a product that somebody wants both for great markets but you tend to need to choose one of those don't you so we talked to a lot of hosts who are serving corporate or traveling doctors and you know builders and outside of things and that's something that people need you know they're working in the area they need something usually longer stays or if they're workmen they need two car parking spaces for big vans or whatever it is there is when you're in the market to serve what people want it's really fun first of all because you're creating something unique but also just by what you've described hey I want to see it you know I it's something which I'd like to go and stare and this is the cool thing about what hosts are doing at the moment with some of these unique places and of course the added benefit to this at the moment is that OTA is like Airbnb I've actually got individual character categories now which you can you can see your listing of your category so you know that'll appear in treehouse you know hopefully then the AI of the Airbnb gods will will hopefully catch drive right and you'll go into the into the right one but yeah this sounds really cool what does the future hold for your business let's see you know we we are going to continue to expand and then tap into other type of markets and other asset classes so you know we would we are actually looking into a campground at the moment I can't say too much about it but we are looking into a campground as well currently and looking to see what that would look like for us and I won't say which market before I get a flood of questions and others on it but you know it's it's a good market and this campground will provide a lot of different amenities and a lot of different type of unique stays that we hope to attract you know not just those who are looking for a luxury stay but even the luxury type of glamping I guess glamping is a ready luxury in itself with the world glamping but yeah we are looking to you know curate a glamping experience for our guests and yeah we're really excited about it but it's going to be something I mean I've never done that before and so it's going to be a lot of lessons learned a lot of hard work but that would be you know at least the next big project that we have for our portfolio yeah nice I really like it I'm excited for you I mean it sounds like you're doing some marvelous work and that speed as well you know implementing this stuff is so so important as we reach towards the end before we share there's going to be people who want to get in touch with your vinci and find out what you know where exactly that we're to invest some of the knowledge that you've shared but before we share how they can get in touch with you I'd just like to sort of close these with a couple of just fun quick fire questions so you answers can be as short as long as you like but it's just to like it so where would you go these are the ones you don't get sent before the podcast so these are the ones you never know what they're going to be even I don't know what they are I've got a list of just one question where would you go if you could go anywhere on earth where would you go where would you say is the place which you'd recommend you for others to go if you've already been there or where would you like to go man that's a load of questions so I would love to go back to the islands and the Philippines because I do believe it's literally the most beautiful place in the world there's a island in the Philippines called Palawan and you know it's made up of multiple islands and there's like you know Corone, the whole in Palawan and so my wife and I went there a few years back we spent about two weeks out in the area and it's not enough and it's absolutely beautiful like the water is pristine and the food is amazing and maybe I say this because I'm Filipino and it's great being you know back you know in my my home country but I can I can definitely say this literally it just it transforms you out of this world man it's like you know being in a time you know absolutely no electronics nothing around and just enjoying being present enjoying the nature and everything that God has put together for us I love the passion for it and it sounds beautiful man it sounds beautiful yeah which celebrity would you most like to host in your short-term rentals oh man that's a really good one it's got to be a mixed bitch I love the office okay I know there's a there's a there's a British version and there's also you know the here in the states version and and I've watched the the US version the office like countless times and so having Steve Carell you know Michael Scott right the one who played Michael Scott in the in the show I would love for him to stay and kind of like just get his like peace and like you know narration on the whole thing I think that would be hilarious that would be great he's actually Steve Carell not for the office but because of Ancomand he played brick in Ancomand but and for you all but he's such a class actor isn't he and he's so funny so yeah that would be great fun that would be great fun yeah so as we reach the end of these Vinci we always ask is there a mantra or a saying that really resonates with you yes I do have something that I do like to tell all of my you know everyone anyone and everyone I speak to as well as the students that I coach I you know I have a short-term I coach students and short-term mentors so if you ever anybody's ever interested in I feel free to DM you that's a little little job in here but I always tell those you know because those are misconception that people say knowledge is power and I don't believe knowledge is power I believe that application of knowledge is power and so you know you can read all the books on the podcasts and um watch all the YouTube videos on everything and anything about that topic but until you go ahead and apply that knowledge you won't really get anywhere so apply application of knowledge is power so true so very true and this is one of the things we we say at the end of every coaching call we do just just go and do something whatever the action is just go and do something because to know and not to do is not to know basically you know that you can like say you could read all the books and and not know it which is which is cool so I'm going to throw the mic open for yourself and see how can we follow you how can we find out more about you and is it anything you'd like to promote yeah see so you can follow me I'm pretty active on Instagram mainly and on Facebook so you can find me my handle is at Vinci Vi NCI underscore Sevilla S-E-V-I-L-L-A underscore junior J-R so you can find me there and again you know we I do provide coaching for short-term mentors or those interested in getting into real estate investing and you know maybe starting up their first short-term rental or even for those who already have their first and want to learn how to scale from one to three five seven ten and so forth you know a lot of hosts are or can be at that stage where they are trying to they got their first one maybe their second one but they want to really learn how to scale and how to really you know grow this business and so that's something that we do and Phil Fried to also join a Facebook group that my brother and I have it's called fire with kids fire is you know financial independence retire early with kids it's a Facebook group we got over a little over three three and a half thousand members in there right now the talks about how to educate your young ones in financial independence in personal finance and how you know everyone kind of just shares their own journey with reaching financial independence with a family and having a family which you know can be a struggle sometimes you know and so any of it if you don't have kids feel free to join us so you know we're not as close to we're as close as to any and all so yeah is that some of the lessons that is it serenity the name if you daughter did I capture right serenity yes so she's gonna be well educated in their personal finance and thank you eventually for for sharing all of the gems that you shared with us today on the podcast we said we were gonna dive into you know how to reach financial independence and talking about personal finance I think that's been at the heart of what we've talked about and I've certainly agree with so many of the points and also I feel I've learned from you especially around the luxury side of things so thank you so much for sharing with us is there any last shares before we close out the show now and not at all I'll be looking forward to working with you guys on creating our own direct booking site because you know that is definitely that is definitely key in this industry everyone you know your direct booking site is going to be key for the survival of your business so I'm looking forward to that I'm excited too buddy and yeah thanks again so if you're watching this or listening to this on the Bruce Lee podcast we know there's a lot of places you can put your attention and I really thank you for spending it with us here at Bruce Lee that's it from us for today we'll see you on the next one bye for now thank you bye bye