No matter what kind of income property you own, success is all about occupancy.\u00a0 But if you think it’s hard work to turn over a tenancy every six months, try doing it every night!\u00a0 That’s the challenge every hotel operator faces.<\/p>\n

Now even if you aren’t in the hotel business and never plan to be, there are great lessons to be learned from those who are.\u00a0 Because at the end of the day, when you pretty up a property, you do it to please another person: the home buyer or the tenant.\u00a0 No one knows more about the importance of pleasing the customer than people in hospitality.<\/p>\n

So lesson #1 is to be sure you prep the property properly to optimize it’s appeal to your target customer.\u00a0 Of course, this pre-supposes that you are clear on who your target customer is, what they want and what they’re willing to pay for it.<\/p>\n

If you’ve ever watched an episode of Hotel Impossible, you know that Anthony Melchiorri helps owners see their properties through the eyes of the customers.\u00a0 What a powerful, but sadly overlooked concept!\u00a0 Property owners often create a property that pleases them. Oops. They aren’t the customer!<\/p>\n

You’ve probably also noticed that Anthony often discovers what the customer wants by talking to the staff.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because when the customer expresses their need or dissatisfaction, the staff are the first ones to know.\u00a0 So a wise owner listens carefully to the feedback from the staff to respond quickly and accurately to the needs and wants of the customer.<\/p>\n

Do these concepts apply to other kinds of real estate investing?\u00a0 Of course they do.<\/p>\n

If you’re a fix and flipper, your real estate broker is a great source of information about what the market wants and what they’re willing to pay.\u00a0 Doesn’t it make sense to listen to your broker?\u00a0 Say yes because that’s the answer.\u00a0 Yet, so many flippers go to the market with their own need, instead of focusing on the needs of the market.<\/p>\n

News flash:\u00a0 the market couldn’t care less about your need.\u00a0 If you want to make money, you need to give the market what it wants.<\/p>\n

Whether you rent our single family homes, apartments or office space, your property manager and leasing agents will tell you what the market wants.\u00a0 Once again, it pays to listen.<\/p>\n

“Well, that’s just common sense,” you might say.\u00a0 Yes it is.\u00a0 But have you ever known someone to buy a property in an area they don’t know and then go find a property manager to manage it?\u00a0 It happens all the time.\u00a0 Wouldn’t it be smarter to have the property manager tell you what kind of property, location, amenities, etc. is most in demand, and then go buy that?<\/p>\n

You get the idea.\u00a0 There’s a lot of real estate wisdom to be gleaned from the hospitality business.<\/p>\n

And while our second guest isn’t as famous as Anthony, his story is every bit as enlightening.\u00a0 Craig Greenberg takes old, dilapidated “historic” properties and adds a unique attraction to bring people and their money into the property.\u00a0 It’s a fascinating study in creativity and one you can learn from.<\/p>\n

So listen in as we talk to Anthony Melchiorri and Craig Greenberg and glean valuable lessons from their experiences in finding ways to extract more profit from problem properties.<\/p>\n

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