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Hey, welcome to VRTips. I'm your host, Joel Rasmussen. This week, I want to tell you about
probably what has been probably the most transformative set of tools and components that we have added
to our vacation rentals that have made our life easier and have improved the experience
for our guests. And it is a home automation system. So, we use the system that is called
Nexia.
Actually, I talk about it quite a bit in my book, Vacation Rental Success. You can read
about the details there. But in short it is an online service and it connects with a bunch
of different components and it just makes everything so much easier. So, starting with
the keyless entry system, we can give a different code to every guest. So, each guest can just
punch in their code. There are no keys to lose and the codes stop working as soon as
their reservation is over. So, we do not need to worry about codes being shared. We do not
need to worry about keys being lost. It just makes it very easy for guests when they arrive.
It goes much beyond the keyless entry. The system will also interface with anything that
has Z-wave technology, which is just a protocol for these things to talk to one another.
As an example, light switches in a house. If a guest is arriving late at night, we can
set a schedule and so that light is going to turn on before they get there. It also
allows you to control climate, for example. We have a trained thermostat that has Z-wave
and connects to the Nexia system. So, in a summer time when it is hot we can turn the
AC on before the guest gets there. In the winter time, we can turn the heater on before
they get there. Anytime we don't have guests in the property we can turn the heating and
air conditioning off so we are not wasting money. We also have an exterior video camera.
We don't have interior cameras for privacy but for the exterior we can see, for example,
whether the trash has been taken out and we can also verify that there are no parties
going on because we have a very strict no party policy. So, with all these different
things tied together, it creates a really great experience for the guests. It makes
it so much easier for us to manage our properties whether we are few blocks away or seating
on a beach in Mexico. And I would highly encourage you to look into a home automation system.
It really has made the biggest difference for us of anything we have added to managing
our properties.
So, we listed on the resources page of joelrasmussen.com. You can buy most of these components on Amazon.
You can also get them at your local hardware store. And then you need a subscription for
this particular service from Nexia. I think it is like nine dollars per month per property.
So, it is very reasonable especially for the level of control it can give you for your
properties. So, there is your tip this week, home automation. I use and recommend the Nexia
system and that's it. We hope you will come back and visit us again next week. Share your
ideas for tips with me on Twitter, @joelcrasmussen and use the hash tag #VRTips and you can always
send me an email, tips@joelrasmussen.com. Thanks a lot. We will see you next week.
Don't forget to visit my blog, joelrasmussen.com. You'll find more information about my book,
Vacation Rental Success, Volume I, which recently shot to number one on the Amazon "hot new
releases" list, as well as regular updates and interviews from some of the smartest people
in our industry. Thanks for watching.