From Banker to STR Pro: How Alex DeCamp Built Great Stays

Get Paid For Your Pad
Published: July 11, 2025
Pricing & Profitability

Summary

This article is a compilation of insights from the "Get Paid For Your Pad" podcast episodes. It covers topics like revenue management, CEO focus in STR businesses, how STR pricing differs from hotel pricing, and the "hectic host" stage. Hosts can learn how to optimize pricing routines, identify business bottlenecks, and improve operational efficiency.

Key Insights

  • STR pricing is dramatically harder than hotel pricing due to product uniqueness, booking windows, operational constraints, and cancellation risks.
  • The article highlights that most STR operators underperform not because of tools, but because they don’t know what to look at, when to look at it, or how to interpret booking behavior.
  • CEOs of STR businesses waste 30-50% of their time on low-value activities, which becomes more dangerous as the business scales.

Action Items

  • Schedule revenue management routines instead of being reactive.
    Effort: low
    Impact: medium
  • Review bookings daily to identify pricing and demand signals.
    Effort: low
    Impact: medium
  • Identify the biggest bottleneck in your STR business.
    Effort: low
    Impact: high

Tools & Resources

  • Market Penetration Index (MPI): The article recommends using Market Penetration Index (MPI) for weekly pacing analysis.
  • Freewyld Foundry: The article mentions Freewyld Foundry's RPM service.(https://www.freewyldfoundry.com/)

Common Mistakes

  • Many STR operators make mistakes not in their pricing tools but the lack of daily and weekly pricing routine.
  • STR operators stay stuck in the hectic host stage when they are not identifying and fixing the root issues.

Related Videos

More from Pricing & Profitability

KC has ‘highest occupancy’ of World Cup cities. Is effort to add rentals working? - Kansas City Star

This article discusses Kansas City's high occupancy rates compared to other World Cup host cities, raising questions about the effectiveness of efforts to increase short-term rental availability. It implicitly touches on market trends and the impact of major events on the STR market. The article likely explores whether increased rental supply can meet demand while analyzing the city's approach to STRs.

1 day agoKansas City, MO75
Best Mountain Towns Where Homes Deliver the Strongest Airbnb Returns - Realtor.com

Realtor.com's report on best mountain towns for Airbnb returns reveals key locations for STR investment. The analysis likely includes data on occupancy rates, ADR, and RevPAR to identify profitable markets. Understanding these trends helps hosts optimize pricing strategies and choose lucrative destinations.

1 day ago85
Airbnb offers $750 incentive for some Ga. hosts during FIFA World Cup - WRDW

Airbnb is offering a $750 incentive for some hosts in Georgia during the FIFA World Cup, potentially boosting occupancy and profitability. This program seeks to capitalize on increased demand from the international event, offering financial benefits to participating hosts. Learn how to qualify and leverage this incentive for your STR.

3 days agoGeorgia85

Curated by Learn STR by GoStudioM