7 Secrets to Airbnb Success

1st Jul 2017

7 Secrets to Airbnb Success   But first a bit of background…   My eldest brother and I started on the Airbnb journey several years ago. Our first property was a condominium in Arlington, Virginia, right outside Washington, D.C. It happened coincidentally as he was living there, I renovated the entire place into a modern thing of beauty with American made furnishings and beautiful hardwoods. His job took him away from the area and we wondered how to handle this gem. Selling was not a wise choice, as property values in the area are on the rise, so we looked into Airbnb. I loved the platform and concept but was a bit hesitant, we plunged in anyway. I managed everything from the turnover and cleaning, to listing, pricing and booking. I fell in love. Not only was I in love with the property, but I enjoyed bringing its beauty to […]

What Do You Do?

1st Jan 2017

HAPPY NEW YEAR!   So, you want to know what I do? What my job entails? I am not going to rant, per se, but perhaps give a little insight to those who constantly ask me what I do. Mind you, they usually know full well I have children, and they just automatically assume I have a full-time out of the house job. I understand that comes from the new (often unfortunate) norm of our culture with both parents working, often out of financial need. I always wonder when that question started to become an ice-breaker…was it when women started to get offended because men assumed they all stayed at home and raised children? **Disclaimer: I do not judge anyone who stays at home, works full-time, chooses daycare, lets wolves raise their children, etc. This is simply what I do in my life. There are a million ways to be an […]

The Luxury of Staying Home

27th Aug 2015

Since when did staying at home with our children become a luxury? In this day in age, we hear many acronyms for dual earners, most notably, D-I-N-K (double income no kids). These are the hip couples who made the choice to either abstain from having children or to wait until they are more set in their careers or have “lived” life enough as a couple. Alec certainly wanted to live the DINK lifestyle far longer than I ever imagined, but we made a decent compromise and ended it after about 3 years of marriage (together for 7 years). Oh, and here is a fun fact: children do not ruin your lives! Children can travel. Your life does not have to stop being adventurous and spontaneous once you decide to “settle down.” Yes, they make things a bit more expensive, but just learn to budget better J I started being a […]