Hello – I’m Ishani, and I’m new at PriceLabs (and the short-term rental industry!). My first 6 months have been spent getting to know the short-term rental industry through experts on YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, podcasts, newsletters, conversations…you name it – I’ve explored it.
Goes without saying that I’m a big fan of all the industry veterans who share gold mines of information, tips, secrets, and more – Daniel Rusteen (Airbnb expert & best-selling author of ‘Optimize Your BNB’), Kyle Stanley (host of The Fearless Investor podcast), Rob Abasolo (Robuilt on YouTube), Jasper Ribbers (author & co-host ‘Get paid for your Pad’), Wil Slickers (Hospitality.fm & Co-founder – Recreations Rentals), Michael Sjogren (STRsecrets on Youtube), Bill Faeth (STR Unfiltered podcast), Richard Fertig (Founder – Stomp Capital Short Term Rental Opportunities), Michael Elefante (Founder, BNB Investor Academy), Tony & Sara (The real estate Robinsons), Mark Simpson (Boostly), Taylor Jones (Techvestor) – to name a few.
However, my list below was curated (in no particular order!) with the intention of helping you discover new faces, and emerging names sprinkled across your favorite media platforms. This list is a testament to the explosion of the number of experts in the industry. While each of these names is popular in its own right, they may have missed your ‘must follow’ radar. I’ve been incredibly lucky to have had conversations with some of the names on this list who, beyond their expert status, also happen to be PriceLabs users.
Annette Grant and Sarah Karakaian
Getting the business side of hosting-with-heart down to a science
With a common passion for short-term rentals Annette Grant & Sarah Karakaian together run ‘Thanks for Visiting’ – a resource platform & podcast. The duo share resources and their secrets to success, helping short-stay hosts maximize their offerings and revenue. As consultants, they serve a worldwide community of paid members online, educating hosts on how to uplevel what it means to host.
From ‘Hosting Hot Tips, to ‘Airbnb pet-friendly amenities’ to ‘Inventory and tracking’ – these two cover it all in their fun, easy-to-digest Instagram reels!
Podcast: https://www.thanksforvisiting.me/podcast
Instagram: @thanksforvisiting_
Jonathan Farber
Helping anyone become financially free through real estate
In his early 20s, Jon started house hacking to cover living expenses, make money, and enjoy tax benefits and property appreciation without having to trade in time for money.
He achieved financial freedom by age 27, leaving his corporate job to focus on real estate investment and rentals with creative acquisition and financing strategies. What started as a side hustle for him, is today a full-time real estate investor and advisor role.
His podcast – helps young real estate investors achieve financial freedom through creative strategies. I enjoy his Instagram reels, and quick, juicy investment tips like this one where he talks about ‘Three favorite ways to buy properties with less than 10% down’.
Podcast: Millennial Millionaires Through Real Estate
Instagram: @jonjfarb
Thibault Masson
Founder, Rental Scale-up – one of the best industry news analysis
Currently heading product marketing at PriceLabs, (yes – he’s my boss!). Thibault is also the founder of Rental Scale-up (previously RentalPreneurs). Rental Scale-up is a blog where Thibault and other short-term rental industry leaders discuss industry trends and insights, share best practices, and more. Today, it is growing into a vibrant community of vacation rental owners and managers who come together and share actionable tips to improve booking, profitability, and overall business processes.
Two things I’d recommend!
- His weekly newsletter is one of the best industry analyses delivered weekly to your inbox.
- His monthly ‘Industry round up’ series where he invites different industry experts to join him to discuss and analyze the latest industry news and its impact on your short-term rental business.
Newsletter: https://www.rentalscaleup.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tmasson/
Kierra Castleberry
Short-term rental Coach-for-the-host
An accountant turned Airbnb host, Kierra is today an Airbnb Superhost and a keen real estate investor with a focus on buy-and-hold investment strategies. Given her vast experience in setting up short-term rental units and turning them into successful passive income streams, Kierra offers consulting services, coaching, and boot camps to short-term rental beginners, experienced hosts and future hosts aimed at increasing income and growing bookings.
I’ve had the pleasure of talking to Kierra on several occasions, and I can vouch for her personality as an STR coach and mentor. Kierra’s subjects and expertise vary right from setting up an Airbnb to tips for increasing profit to ‘nightmare’ guests.
Instagram: @coachforthehost
YouTube: @coachforthehost
Dolly Duran
Airbnb Ambassador & Community leader – Broward County Host Club
Dolly was first introduced to short-term rentals in 2016 while on a friends’ vacation. She immediately went home and listed her studio apartment on Airbnb. In 2020 at the height of the pandemic her husband and she purchased a house purely to run as a short-term rental business.
An Airbnb community leader in the Broward County district, Dolly has been helping other Airbnb hosts run their short-term rentals and also co-hosting for some. Last year she was promoted to being an Airbnb Superhost Ambassador, where she’s getting to guide more people who are getting started in the short-term rental space.
Have questions about hosting? Just ask Dolly
Justin Richardson
Short-term rental entrepreneur and coach – #TEAMBNBSIMPLE
Justin began his journey as a leasing agent and in 2018 was recognized by MultiHousingNews.com as one of the top leasing professionals in the country. After scaling his own turn-key cleaning company, in partnership with his wife Keshia, Justin eventually used his experience to start his own property management company.
By applying the rental arbitrage business model that he learned in the property management industry, he has been able to scale his BNB rental portfolio to six figures and grow.
Justin Richardson uses his passion for making a change and touching people’s lives. He is behind the BNB CLASS: SIMPLIFIED – a course and coaching platform that educates people and arms them with resources and information on how to make money in real estate with short-term rentals, without owning any property.
Register: Free BNB Workshop
Instagram: @ayooojus
Stacey St. John
Helping women turn their real estate dreams into reality
Popularly known as ‘The STR Wonder Woman’, Stacy’s superpower is turning “ugly duckling” beachfront properties into beautiful, relaxing vacation retreats.
An ‘accidental’ real estate investment has today turned into a 7-figure short-term rental investment portfolio. Today, Stacey’s mission is to help women from around the world turn their short-term rental goals into reality without having to sacrifice all the other responsibilities that they juggle.
Whether you are new to short-term rentals or have been in the business for a while, Stacey has something for you with four learning options including a ‘Free STR Masterclass’.
Facebook community: Female Short-Term Rental Investors
Learn with Stacy: https://staceystjohn.com/
Dr. Rachel D. Gainsbrugh
Author, Speaker, Coach, Consultant
“A health care professional by day, short-term rental investor by night and a mom 24/7” – that’s how Rachel describes herself. The owner and manager of 18 luxury short-term rentals and a lucrative cash-flowing rental portfolio, Rachel juggles family responsibilities, a full-time career, and a real estate coaching program.
She self-manages her rentals with the help of a team, tech tools, and systems that she has implemented over years of experience.
Founder of ‘Short Term Gems’, Rachel provides learning material through her ‘Luxury short-term rental academy’ offering signature courses, free training and more to help others build a lucrative short-term rental portfolio.
Twitter: @GratefulPharmD
Julian Sage
Teaching people how to start, automate, and scale a short-term rental business
Host of the ‘Short-term rental success stories’ podcast, Julian Sage has interviewed and documented the experiences of over a hundred other short-term rental hosts.
One of the hosts he met during this journey was Jon Bell, who scaled from 0 to 24 rental properties in just 18 months, bringing in around $45,000 cash flow every month without owning any of the properties. Here’s the ‘MUST WATCH’ episode!
Today Jon and Julian are business partners and the co-founders of ‘Short Term Sage’ through which they help numerous individuals begin their short-term rental journeys. Teaching from experience they offer practical advice that covers every aspect of short-term rental investing from analyzing deals, how to find and train cleaners, automating processes, tips and advice, and more.
Podcast: Short-term rental success stories
Youtube: @shorttermsage
Zeona Mcintyre
Co-author of ‘30 day stay’ and co-host of Invest2FI podcast
A licensed real estate agent in Colorado, with a nationwide referral network, Zeona believes that a proven research process helps eliminate risk. Zeona has been a real estate investor over the last 10 years and she personally owns 12 properties and is looking to add to that portfolio.
She is an Airbnb expert and is proficient in creative rental strategies such as house hacking, and she shares her experience, tips and wisdom via her Instagram profile. This reel where she asks ‘’Looking for a property that pays for itself?” is what first caught my attention!
Her achievements don’t stop there – her book, co-authored with Sarah Weaver – ‘30-Day Stay: A Real Estate Investor’s Guide to Mastering the Medium-Term Rental’ is available on Amazon in both paperback and kindle versions. She is also the co-host of the Invest2FI podcast along with Craig Curelop.
Instagram: @zeonamcintyre
Podcast: https://invest2fi.com/
Avery Carl
CEO and Founder of The Short Term Shop
Avery Carl is a true visionary in the world of real estate, bringing a unique combination of musical and marketing expertise to the industry. Her journey from a lead guitar player in a punk rock band to a successful real estate agent is nothing short of remarkable. In just her first full year as a real estate agent, she closed over $25 million in volume, establishing herself as one of the top agents in Tennessee.
As the CEO and founder of The Short-Term Shop, Avery Carl specializes in short-term and vacation rental properties and has a strong track record of success. She was recognized as one of the top 100 agents by the Wall Street Journal and one of the top 500 by Newsweek in 2020. Avery and her team at The Short Term Shop have achieved enormous success in their markets over the past five years. She has personally sold over $300 million in the short-term and vacation rental markets since 2017 and has a healthy portfolio of over 100 doors.
This video by her husband Luke Carl on their The Short Term Shop Youtube channel gives you some fun decorating tips as well as talks about pricing strategies.
Instagram: @theshorttermshop
Julie George
Airbnb mentor, speaker and best selling author of ‘Million Dollar Host’
In her book ‘Million Dollar Host’ Julie George documents her successful tenure building a real estate portfolio of over $8 million dollars in booking income on Airbnb. She has managed over 130 properties, an incredible feat by any standard, I’d say!
Julie sold her short-term rental business and now focuses on mentoring and consulting. She travels the world speaking at conferences and she was recently at the Australian Short-Term Rental Conference where she caught up with my teammates Alessandro and Medha, pictured here. #FOMO
Hospitality.fm recently announced Julie’s appointment as ‘Network Strategist’ to the platform.
Want to chat with Julie? Well, a little birdie told me she’s going to be at the upcoming STR Wealth Conference happening in Nashville this March!
Instagram: @milliondollarhost
LinkedIn: @julie-george-milliondollarhost
Facebook: milliondollarhost
Bart Sobies
Short-term rentals, Hotels, Motels, BnBs, AirBnbs, campsites
Bart Sobies wears many hats, and I’m just naming a few here! He’s currently the Co-Chair of The Board of Directors at ASTRA (Australian Short Accommodation Rental Association).
Apart from that he’s the Founder & CEO of iBooked.Online a direct bookings platform for accommodation owners and managers that helps with marketing and increasing direct bookings. He is also the founder and host of ‘The Accommodation Show’ a podcast focused on all areas of hospitality, from hotels and technology to short-term rentals and accommodation.
His LinkedIn feed is a treasure trove of information and there’s always something new to learn from him!
Website & Podcast: The Accommodation Show
LinkedIn: @bart-sobies
Tatianna Taylor Tait
Award-winning interior designer and short-term rental coach
A designer at heart, Tatianna offers white glove design services customized to the needs of her clients. She focuses on design and coaching to help her clients build generational wealth through short-term rentals
In late February this year, Tatianna will be hosting the Level up your listing’ Summit in partnership with Airbnb ambassador and short-term rental manager Natalie Palmer. A one-of-its-kind experiential STR Summit for women (men are welcome too!) participants will learn and experience the best of design, hospitality, and guest experience.
The carefully curated event at Scottsdale, Arizona is spread over 3 days, hosting some of the best women leaders in the industry (many of whom are on this list!), with lots of opportunities to explore, learn and network.
Psst…if you are going to be at the summit, don’t forget to say hello to David and Monique from the PriceLabs team!
Summit Registration: https://www.levelupyourlistingsummit.com/
Instagram: @tatiannatt
I can’t end this list without a shout-out to a few others I’ve been keeping an eye on – There’s Allen Meringolo (@Aldigity on Twitter), Levi Benkert (@Levijameshere on Twitter) JD Sustar (@financecowboy on Instagram), Kareem (@reemteamny on Twitter), Lauren Keen Aumond (adulting is easy podcast), Bryce Garcia (@BryceWGarcia on Twitter), Rohin Dhar (@rohindhar on Twitter), TheSTRguy (@TXStrGuy on Twitter), Mile High FIRE (@Fire5280 on Twitter), Matt Wetmore (@mattwetmoremaxim on LinkedIn), Ruben Kanya (@therealestateexperiment on Twitter), Ryan Luke (@ryanlukeuk on LinkedIn).
