Even when the real estate market is thriving, working on commission gets old fast. Not to mention scrambling for work when the market dips and those already irregular paychecks dry up altogether.
Like many realtors, Jonas Gordon knows first-hand how exhausting this feast-and-famine cycle can be.
Unlike many realtors, he also saw a golden opportunity to generate stable, passive revenue in the short-term rental market.
Ok, so Jonas wasn’t the first to spot this opportunity. But, unlike others, he came up with a way to capitalize on it and build a short-term rental empire—without any of the hard work.
By outsourcing property management to Jetstream, Jonas has been able to generate stable additional income for himself and his clients without becoming a full-time property manager. Backed by an expert team and leading tech, he’s on track to generate a 0six-figure income from the short-term rental management side of his business next year.
Here’s how he set up a process that allows him to scale while continuing to work as a realtor and enjoy his free time.
Table of contents
- An attractive market ripe for the taking
- But does he have what it takes to manage STRs?
- The search for a solution
- Jonas joins the Jetstream
- Scaling with a systemized bookings process
- “A no-brainer” step for a startup
- Looking to the future with a trusted partner at his side
An attractive market ripe for the taking
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit the small town of Canmore, Alberta, Canada, realtor Jonas Gordon spotted an opportunity in the growing short-term rental (STR) market. He saw a way to make consistent profit from and for existing clients and develop a more predictably profitable business—without neglecting his main business, Gordon Real Estate.
Canmore is located just outside of Banff National Park. It’s known for its breathtaking scenery, outdoor lifestyle, and wildlife. Just an hour’s drive from the international hub of Calgary, Canmore is the gateway to the Rocky Mountains. It’s extremely popular both in the winter ski season and in the summer for the incredible hiking trails and sweeping mountain vistas.
Canmore has a lot going for it when it comes to the short term rental market—if you know how to take advantage of it.
It’s a highly desirable place to be, which makes it an extremely attractive real estate market. Most realtors hesitate to add the option of short-term rentals to their business, however. But Jonas was different—he was determined to be better than most realtors.
Living in Canmore his entire life, Jonas had seen the growth of short-term rentals firsthand. He also knew that investors wanted to use their properties for personal use, but also to generate extra income. Jonas realized he could add extra value to his clients—and safeguard his own livelihood—if he understood the vacation rental market.
“Property management provides consistency in income throughout the times when you might not be able to find places to sell. There’s no guarantee that you can perform all the time if you’re in a market where you can’t move at the rate you want to.”
Jonas had identified a way to create a solid revenue stream that could provide as much value as possible to his clients. However, he also knew he didn’t have the time to dedicate to handling property management tasks effectively as a realtor.
But does he have what it takes to manage STRs?
The only problem with Jonas’ vision of managing short-term rentals? The need to become a property manager. “I didn’t want the headache and I didn’t want to be glued to my phone,” he says.
Property management is a full-time job and Jonas knew he wasn’t up for handling time-consuming guest communications or being called out at midnight by guests struggling to check in. And then there’s all the work around listing and promoting short term rentals on online travel agencies (OTAs), keeping track of market demand to constantly adjust nightly rates, and dealing with cleaners.
In short, Jonas knew he couldn’t dedicate the necessary time to ensuring guest satisfaction, looking after his owners, and delivering on the investment he sold to his clients. He also knew he was short on the skills and experience needed to create an excellent guest experience. And, as a new business owner, he didn’t have the time or money to train an entire team.
“I like to spend some time in the backcountry, not be on my phone 24 hours a day,” Jonas says. “If there’s a late check-in, or a guest issue, or anything like that, that was definitely a turnoff. I was content with not being a property manager.”
Would becoming a property manager mean that he had to be chained to his desk 24/?
Despite his reservations, Jonas’s clients kept asking him to advise on the revenue potential for resort properties. In real estate, reputation matters, however, so Jonas wanted to ensure that if he recommended the property to an investor, it would fulfill the projections he set out.
“The only way I was going to do this and feel good about it is if I was able to provide something to the owners that would maximize their opportunity to make money and to have the highest return possible on their investment,” he affirms, “Even with all of the technology and tools, it still comes back to having happy guests and happy owners – that’s what is going to make you successful.”
The search for a solution
Seeing that his clients were investing in short-term rentals anyway, Jonas “called the cleaner that we now work with… I said, ‘I’ve got these clients that are buying short-term rental units, but I haven’t found the perfect property manager. Do you know anybody that does this?’”
His cleaner put him on to Jetstream CEO Mike Liverton and Jonas saw a way to run STRs without any of the manual work. With Jetstream’s short-term rental management solutions for realtors, he could grow his business while maintaining client relationships and keeping profits high.
Next, “Me and Mike set up calls… and explored the opportunities. We realized quickly that their platform could be a pretty good tool to align with someone like me and we could tackle these units together to try to maximize the revenue.”
Jonas joins the Jetstream
With Jetstream, Jonas can outsource all day-to-day management of properties in his portfolio. From handling bookings to providing keyless entry so guests can check in at any time, Jetstream takes care of it all, which vastly reduces the need for Jonas to get hands-on with property management.
Jetstream also handles:
- Listing vacation rentals on different booking sites like Airbnb
- Management of Jonas’ own branded direct booking site
- 24/7 multilingual guest support
- Guest ID screening
- Dynamic pricing
- Cleaning and maintenance scheduling
And it all happens under Jonas’ own brand, so if they ever part ways Jonas won’t lose his listings and 5-star reviews.
Best of all, the shared success model and zero start-up costs have allowed Jonas to scale at his own pace without having to bear upfront fixed costs before he started generating income.
Scaling with a systemized process
Manually distributing properties and managing pricing just isn’t possible at scale without a dedicated team. For Jonas and other realtors, Jetstream is that dedicated team.
And listing on multiple booking channels is equally stress-free as Jetstream creates optimized listings across major booking sites like Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com. Plus, they automatically update his calendars to avoid double bookings.
In a competitive tourist spot like Canmore, having a branded direct booking website has also helped Jonas to stand out. It also helps him sidestep OTA fees and drive revenue by allowing Jetstream to collect guest data for remarketing and referrals.
Jetstream created an attractive website for Jonas to drive direct bookings.
Jonas also loves how Jetstream’s revenue management services and Stripe integration reduce fees, save time, offer him complete control over payments, and simplify tax and accounting. For example, “We send 25% of revenue to the government for one international client and that’s something that they would have to spend probably, you know, three, four hours a week doing if they had to do it on their own time.”
As a customer-facing realtor, Jonas also knows how important it is to provide the best possible service to his vacation rental guests. And he’s delighted with how Jetstream frees him up to do just that. And with our 24/7, multilingual, in-house team handling bookings and answering guest queries, he’s also able to take a step back whenever he wants.
“A no-brainer” step for a startup
“If you do the cost analysis on how much income you’d need to hire the right people to do a really thorough job… as far as risk and longevity go, using Jetstream is a no-brainer,” says Jonas.
As well as making it possible to get off the ground risk-free, Jetstream’s lack of upfront costs and shared success model allowed Jonas to approach investors who might not have considered him if he was only managing one property.
Having accelerated success in the early days, he can now scale at his own pace, always maintaining ownership of his STR brand.
A successful real estate career also requires mutually supportive relationships and, for Jonas, that includes Jetstream. Whether he’s working with our revenue managers to optimize prices or the operations team to implement the latest technology, the Jetstream team has always gone the extra mile to find the right solution.
“The mindset is that we’re going to get this done,” Jonas says. “We have to work hard and get it done. There’s no drama or emotion involved, we just have to work together to find the best solution.”
With the day-to-day property management handled by an expert team, Jonas can focus on what he knows best—generating passive income for himself and his clients and growing his short term rental empire.
“I’m very thankful for this opportunity because it allowed me to go into that space without sacrificing the things that I had and wanted to continue to have. I could become a property manager without the negative parts of being a property manager.”
Looking to the future with a trusted partner at his side
With Jetstream on Jonas’ team, the future looks very bright. “Everything is systemized and structured and I have nothing but confidence that we can grow and scale without anything holding us back,” he says.
“What’s unique about Jetstream working with realtors is that realtors provide the skill set of really understanding the market and the town we specialize in. And on that part, there’s no tech system that’s going to build that. In the past, the time-consuming nature of property management probably deterred realtors from adding short-term rentals to their business, but this no longer has to be the case. Realtors can extend their brand and their revenues by staying connected to their clients long after they purchase the property.”
With Jetstream on his side, Jonas can put his feet up and watch the passive income from STRs roll in.
Frequently asked questions about Jetstream’s realtor solutions
What does a realtor have to do when they get into property management?
Many realtors feel that by taking on short-term rental property management, they will have to take on the tasks of property managers. The reality is that with Jetstream, nothing about day-to-day operations will change. You’ll just need to manage owner relationships and hire cleaners and we’ll handle the rest.
Do I have to pay for Jetstream if a property doesn’t get any bookings?
No, our shared success model means that we don’t get paid until you do. With no upfront costs for our service, you’ll just pay a percentage of your revenue. This way you can minimize the risks of scaling your investment property business.
Do I have to pay anything upfront?
While you don’t need to pay for any of our software or services upfront, you will still need to invest in some hardware. These will all be assets that are worthwhile long-term, though. For example, you may need to install new locks for keyless access, but this will save you from replacing locks and keys in the future.
Will you take over guest messaging entirely?
Our team of multilingual guest-facing agents provides 24/7 communication with your guests. They’ll manage everything from check-in through to post-departure reviews and you’ll never need to worry about being available to manage complaints or answer questions.
How can you know the answer to all of my guests’ questions?
Most guest inquiries can be answered using the information already available on your listing description. However, when it comes to answering specific questions, like how to operate the TV, we’ll use the information we collected from you during our thorough onboarding process.
What is white labelling within property management?
Through white labelling, we can handle services for you, giving your guests and clients the illusion that you are doing it yourself. For example, we create branded sites and run the marketing on them and we handle booking admin behind the scenes. In short, we’re the expert support that no one knows you have.
