Subscribe via:
Show Summary
In this episode, Micah Johnson interviews Heather Loduca and Erin Knight of Pink Wall Designs, experts in hospitality interior design for short-term rentals (STRs) and boutique hotels. They share insights on how thoughtful design directly impacts guest experience, increases revenue, and strengthens branding for rental properties.
Resources and Links from this show:
-
Listen to the Audio Version of this Episode
Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Heather Loduca (00:00)
They want to just appeal to the masses. But we always say to them, that is the fastest way to get lost in especially like kind of everywhere’s a little bit saturated now, right? Like you don’t really have your little markets anymore that have no Airbnb’s as you said, ⁓ but you can still, there’s still opportunity to make money in the industry and you just need to stand out.Micah Johnson (01:50)
Hello everyone, welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m your host, Micah Johnson. And today I’m joined by Heather and Erin, who’ve been making some serious moves in the hospitality real estate space now for the last four years. Heather, Erin, welcome in, glad to have you.Heather Loduca (02:03)
Thanks for having us.Erin Knight (02:03)
Thank you.Micah Johnson (02:05)
Absolutely. Absolutely. I’m pumped for our call today. I enjoyed our pre-recording session where we’re digging on what y’all do. And it’s something I really believe in. You really specialize in that STR space and boutique hotel space, but it’s on the part that actually makes it an investment, right? It’s not just the house. It’s what you do with it. It’s not just the hotel. So I’m really pumped to dig in. think this is a valuable message. for those out there who aren’t familiar with you yet though,Tell us a more about yourselves. What’s your main focus is right now in the markets you’re operating?
Heather Loduca (02:37)
So we are Erin and Heather of Pinkwell Designs. We operate ⁓ anywhere in North America really because we are a virtual hospitality interior design company. ⁓ We are focused on bringing that guest experience to your hospitality business. So ⁓ as you just mentioned, it’s not about the house. You can’t really just buy an STR and throw some furniture in it and expect that high revenue that you hear about people getting.you have to provide an experience for the guests that are gonna be staying there. And ultimately looking at it as a product is the most important. So that’s what we specialize in is creating that for our clients and also educating them on a little bit of the mindset shift of how they have to view that business. It’s not a long-term rental. It’s not a multifamily situation. It is ⁓ more hospitality. They don’t need to be more involved, but they need to bring in the players that will create that result for them.
Micah Johnson (03:35)
Love that. Erin, what about yourself?Erin Knight (03:39)
our background, sorry. Yeah. So we both actually came back from, ⁓ a background of real estate investing. Myself got involved in like flips, conversions, multifamily, and then rolled into the Airbnb industry. So that’s where I met Heather. We both were, ⁓ owners and operators for an Airbnb. ⁓ mine was in Scottsdale and hers was Niagara on the lake.Micah Johnson (03:41)
Yeah, yeah, just no more about you.Erin Knight (04:06)
And ⁓ together we just realized after doing your first one, it is very much not a passive strategy. It is very involved. ⁓ If you’re owning it on yourself, you want to discuss if you want to have a property management. But one thing that we went back to and said, how great would it be to have a service for these investors and hosts who may not know anything about design, ⁓ have that service provided for them.⁓ especially because it is such a need in the market and in the short-term rental success. So together we developed this strategy and so far we’ve been helping hosts all over North America and it’s so great to see the results and ⁓ just hear their success stories from the designs and the experiences that we bring for them.
Micah Johnson (04:57)
I love that. Heather, take us into some of the results. I mean, you mentioned some pretty staggering numbers in our pre-recording call. Before we dig in on some more nuts and bolts, what are some realities y’all brought to life for some of your customers?Heather Loduca (05:57)
So I have not had these numbers memorized. I will be fully upfront about that, but just some things off the top of my head. know one of our clients out in Michigan, ⁓ had, they did all their underwriting. They had their revenue goals. They exceeded their annual revenue goals by $30,000 after our design. A couple other people of ours, they launched in slow season, fully expecting to…barely break even because they just knew like people were not going to be booking that month. And to their surprise, they actually made a profit in the entire slow season because they launched just after our design and each of their reviews as well those couple of months mentioned something about the design. ⁓ It was just an average ⁓ like three bedroom, two bathroom in Texas. But the fact that we made it such an experience, everybody had commented on it.
⁓ We’ve also had, we have a service called a B &B boost. That’s where existing Airbnb operators can come to us and say, hey, know, revenue is feeling a little bit flat. What can I do on like a bit of a smaller budget? I don’t want to replace beds and couches and all my stuff, but like, is there some smaller changes I can do to kind of bump up my revenue? Those ones are great because the answer is yes. We transformed main living space and the backyard in this one property. And this host sought immediate bookings.
like immediate, sorry, new bookings immediately. And then we’ve also had a property go viral on social media as well. They’ve got a million views in the first 24 hours of launch, ⁓ garnered celebrity partnerships, ⁓ because that’s another thing we encourage, right? Like taking it beyond the property, like once you have the design and the experience inside.
how can you incorporate with the local businesses and what other things can you do to increase that experience? it got the property did a celebrity brand deal with a wine company ⁓ and ⁓ we’ve just seen a lot of like positive marketing results like that as well.
Micah Johnson (08:04)
I love that. love that. Congratulations on that success. Cause it’s, said it before, it’s something I, I’ve seen and understand completely that it works. is, it is how you change the game, especially in Airbnb. I live in St. Augustine. This is like Airbnb capital. Actually, they just required licenses now down here because so many were coming in. But the thing I’ve noticed just going to them, I like it. A lot of my friends will come book them down here and then I just get to go see like, what’s this one like? And what’s that one like? And the ones thatmake it a great, great experience. They make you feel something. It’s, like, I’m in my own town and I feel like I’m vacation there. Like that’s when I look for it. You can make me feel like I’m on vacation in my hometown. You pulled off something like that’s not a simple thing to do. And to hear the success that you’re having, I’m not surprised at all. And I want to go back now to the part where
the understanding that this is a business. You nailed on it a little bit, Erin, up front. Y’all were both owners, which I love the fact that you walked this firsthand. You know exactly what the person signing the purchase agreement is gonna go through from buying a house to getting it ready to be listed on Airbnb. Those lessons are invaluable because you just understand in a way that your customer understands. But what’s something like…
what do you see most often that someone’s missing upfront? If that makes sense. Like when they’re coming to you, what’s one of those first realizations where it hits like, my God, you’re right.
Erin Knight (09:34)
Yeah, a lot of people come into this with their personal ⁓ beliefs and preferences, right? Like, the end of the day, it’s the business, the people who are booking, they’re wanting to come for an experience. And they’re wanting to have certain ⁓ fields when they’re visiting your property in a specific area. So we often recommend and a lot of our clients don’t really have this mindset, but we have to convince them that we’re designing for your target guests or your target avatar.not for your personal preferences. So yes, you are the owner of the home, but who’s going to actually be visiting your home is going to be your guests. And then we kind of, you know, reverse backwards and determine like the strategy behind the design and all the elements that are gonna kind of curate how we design moving forward.
Micah Johnson (11:00)
It’s fascinating because I mean, Airbnb at heck it’s now it’s on like word now, like we STR is the right version for it, but it’s even inside of it. has it so many little niches, right? Cause you know, we have our beach houses here, but not everywhere is a vacation destination and everywhere does have Airbnb. What do you find in those for those customers where they’re trying to get that bump that they’re, they don’t have that, what people use an excuse. I don’t have a beach house. I don’t have this. I don’t have that like.It doesn’t just have to be that,
Heather Loduca (11:32)
No, there’s always something that you can do and it just comes down to the research. We have done properties in like Des Moines, Iowa and ⁓ like Indianapolis, for example. They’re not beach houses. They’re not near the lake. They’re not really near anything, right? They’re in a suburban, regular neighborhood with nothing, no big draw beside them. But like some people, you know, it’s either their old home that they’re converting or whatever. And all you need to do is justResearch there’s always gonna be a market in somewhere like that like so take Des Moines, Iowa For example, you have to look at what’s close right? Like what are people doing in the area? There’s always gonna be somebody that can’t fly to Florida for a vacation, but they can drive two hours So like what are those people doing right? Is it families? Is it bachelorette couples? What are the trends the data is out there? You just have to find it and then once you establish what that is
then you go all in on the design. And this is where people get really scared and we are constantly educating on this as well.
They want to just appeal to the masses. But we always say to them, that is the fastest way to get lost in especially like kind of everywhere’s a little bit saturated now, right? Like you don’t really have your little markets anymore that have no Airbnb’s as you said, ⁓ but you can still, there’s still opportunity to make money in the industry and you just need to stand out.
So.
just because like I said, you you don’t have these like amenities or these things that people want to lean on. You figure out what it is, why are people going there? And let’s say it is bachelorette trips, niche down on that. You’re gonna, there’s a lot out there that will start to now drive to come to their, to come to your property because of that reason. And you still will get other overflow from other markets just because you’re set up to accommodate a specific group doesn’t mean you’re not going to get other people. And we use this example all the time.
like Nike or think of any big brand, like Nike started off strictly for runners only, right? Now they’re in just athletic general. Like you have grandmas wearing Nike running shoes, they have hockey sticks, they have this, they have that. there’s, there’s, you’re going to get that overflow is what I’m trying to say. So if you can just get past the fear of niching, then you’re going to stand out in the best way and make more money than you would if you don’t.
Micah Johnson (13:48)
love that you say that because it feels counterintuitive. If you don’t know that answer, you feel like, everyone’s my customer. But the reality is if everyone is your customer, no one is your customer. It is the niching down that like you use Nike, I use Amazon for that example. Amazon only sold us books for nine years. That’s it. We forget that, but they only sold us a book for nine years and now they can sell us whatever they want. And it’s… ⁓Heather Loduca (14:08)
better example.Micah Johnson (14:14)
It’s when you should, when people can see that and identify, I get it. And then that other part, not put their own personality in it, right? That, cause it, it truly doesn’t have anything to do with you. That’s where the, the business mindset, if you don’t have one there and you’re watching or listening in, that’s where it has to be developed. It’s not about you. It’ll be about you. The couple trips you go to that house a year. It’s not that we don’t get to enjoy using our own STRs, but it ain’t about you. It’s about everybody else that’s going to be coming through that house.And what makes them feel amazing in there? What makes them have that experience? Cause I got into real estate as a retail agent first. And one of the things we look for and trained to look for is when somebody starts saying, they start describing a memory they could have in a place, right? I could see us having Christmas. I can see this. Like that is like a bang. Like something’s going off. They can see themselves in it. You have to have miniature versions of that for an STR. They got to be able to see themselves in it, whether it’s doesn’t have to be their house.
But while they’re there with their family, right? While they’re doing the things, it’s, when we go to hotel rooms, we don’t stay in the room. When you go to an Airbnb, a lot of it’s designed around staying at the house. So it’s just this mindset that you got to create of what will that person enjoy? And I love the fact that you’re talking about that niche down again, because that’s where the markets really separate. I couldn’t agree more. There’s a customer everywhere.
It may not be for the sexiest thing you enjoy, but it doesn’t mean that there’s not somebody there that will rent that property the way you want them to and create that revenue that you want, right? It’s the boring businesses that print cash that hands down.
Heather Loduca (16:32)
totally. ⁓ Yeah, and just to add on a little bit to that, like even Disney’s a great example. Like people aren’t going to Disney because of the plot of land that they have, like, and their, you borders. They’re going because what’s inside, it’s magic, it’s fireworks, it’s castles, it’s rides. Like that’s the experience. And to, you know, relate that over to STRs, that’s the design. It’s the same thing.Micah Johnson (16:55)
Right, right. It is. And that’s that hospitality mindset. That is that switch to, I keep saying it, but it’s back to that business. is a, it’s yes, it’s real estate. And if you’re listening, this is of reasons I love real estate. It’s a huge umbrella. You can find yourself in it. Y’all aren’t even doing what you got started doing. That’s what’s cool about it, right? You got, you’re fixing and flipping, you were doing some other things and you just slowly find your way into that thing you really enjoy doing. Once you’re there,As dedicated as y’all are about the markets that you got to go find is how deep you got to get into the actual business model itself, because that’s where your machine gets specific. I like to say no matter what in real estate, you’re building a machine that trades in the commodity you want, right? You’re using real estate to do it, but what are you trading? Right? Are you trying to fix and flip it, build this machine? You try and SDR, we got to build this machine.
Where do you see, like, what are you excited about this next year? Because one thing I know is when markets squeeze, it rises the best to the top. And now that there’s been so much flooding in Airbnb, how much value are you seeing people take from what y’all do? Is it starting to click for folks out there, like, this is how you take that next step?
Erin Knight (18:12)
Yeah, the investors who already have this mindset, I would say maybe the seasoned investors, they get it right, they’re coming to us with a bigger budget, ⁓ more open to doing these like fun amenities. And a lot of the new were kind of STR investors are a little more timid, right? Because it’s going to take a little more capital ⁓ upfront and to, you know, invest and have this mindset of investing in design.But they’ll often come back to us and they’ll say you guys were right, you know, I need to do redo it. So just
having this already like established as part of like a line item in your spreadsheet really translates in the long run because if you design wrong first, you’re just going to have to redo it and then you’re going to have to put more money in in the long run. So I feel like these are like common lessons in the real estate industry, right? Like, that’s why people have a coach or you know, like
listen from the pros. ⁓ And we have been there, we’ve done it, we totally understand it now. And this is what we preach to a lot of our clients. But I will say that I think more people are catching on to it. think, again, the seasoned investors, they understand what it takes to stand out. ⁓ But it just comes down to like preference if this is something that you want to take on in the like investment strategy, I think just understanding that it’s business.
It’s a constant business as well. You don’t just launch a property and then say, okay, great. See you later. Um, you have to be constantly still reinvesting in it, right? It’s an active business. Um, design will like constantly need to be updated or maybe you add amenities as you start getting those revenues. So I feel like having that thought as well is a big key. Um, you know, thing that we preach as well.
Micah Johnson (20:07)
I appreciate what you said about that last piece there where it’s an ongoing experience, right? And if you’re listening into this and watching, Erin, I’m so glad you also said, STR is a upfront cash environment. It required, unless you’re buying one turnkey and there’s not many of those that you’re gonna get, you have to go in putting money in. So knowing that upfront, just go and have your head mindset there. And then there’s a quote I love that I learned somewhere else in real estate of,You know how much money you’re saving, but you have no idea how much money you’re losing. That is the difference, right? You may realize, okay, I’m saving this money by not having them do this design. This is awesome. But you are leaving thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars on the table because that’s the difference. And that’s why the seasoned veterans do it. They know that. Now, is it easier for them to do it because they have the budget? Yes, but the right way is the right way.
Heather Loduca (20:41)
ThankMicah Johnson (21:02)
Right. There’s a process that generates success in real estate and y’all walked it yourselves. You’re walking others through it. Now I want to tap in before we finish to that virtual part, because this is what really sets y’all above folks. I’ve talked to in this space is you have created a system where you can assist all of North America anywhere. Take us into that. What could someone experience if they were going to reach out and start talking to you? What’s that like?Heather Loduca (21:29)
Yeah, so it’s great because for example, like you could be in St. Augustine and have purchased a property in Colorado and like have no plans to go to whatever like many of our clients have never seen their own properties. ⁓ So the process would be, you know, purchase it, put your, you know, get your, your property in escrow, book a consultation with us. We always say do it a little earlier too, because we want to use every day possible. We don’t want it sitting vacant and you just paying all the bills and nobody’s renting it. Socome to us while you’re in escrow, do a consultation, and then we’ll set up the whole thing. We can get a design turned around really fast. For an average three-bedroom, two-bathroom, we usually code about seven to 10 business days. Assuming we have all of the stuff up front, we need to get a Matterport done, but a lot of the times if it is a purchase,
there is one that already exists. For those who don’t know what a Matterport is, it’s a 3D scan, so it literally lets us walk through the entire property. We can get all of our measurements from there, we can get everything that we need.
⁓ And then we have our system like right away as soon as they become our client we get going with the research We send them a kickoff package so you could just get everybody on the same page. So it’s like, okay Here’s the research. Here’s your target market. This is the goal occupancy. We’re gonna go for here’s the design direction blah blah blah blah We have it all in like a nice quick easy to look at package ⁓ As soon as they sign off then we get working we get going on the design we draw plans for them They’re gonna have a space plan full design
And then they’re gonna have also a setup guide where they know exactly you could hand off the setup guide to literally anyone and that stranger who’s never talked to us before can look at this setup guide and know exactly where every single thing in the whole entire property needs to go down to the throw pillows on the bed. We cover everything like mirror is gonna be this amount of inches off the ground blah blah blah blah blah like they have everything that they need so it’s very very like turnkey in a sense ⁓ when it comes to getting the design. ⁓
During the installation process, there are some hiccups usually because when you’re shipping hundreds of items at one time, something comes broken. Like it’s just a part of the game. We have systems for that as well. So we will assist in ⁓ post project ⁓ support. have like our team set up to do that. And then we have our dedicated reps at like all of the vendors that we use that will assist in getting them what they need. So our client can be like, Hey, this came broken. No problem. We get it right on it. Get them shipped out a new one.
give them instructions on what to do with the old one, easy, done. So it can be a very quick process and we always say we move as quickly as our client will allow us to. So if you’re signing with us, becoming our client, getting us the Matterport all in the same hour, we’re off to the races as well. So yeah, it is a really great system, a great process and especially for people, it might even just be their second or they might not have 10, so they might be not as familiar with the process.
We do hold their hand the whole way, over communicate as we mentioned to you before, and ⁓ they don’t have to really lead the project. We will be the ones saying, okay, next step is this, next step is this. So it’s really nice. They can go back to their lives doing what they do, and then we’re just kind of there taking care of it for them.
Micah Johnson (24:40)
man, that’s powerful. You’re taking the guesswork away. People think buying the house is the hardest part. That’s the easiest part. That’s the easiest part, y’all. And it’s that step, that gray area, I call it the tweener zone, where your idea to it actually be in real life. The fact that y’all can step in there, again, with the experience of doing it yourself. That is what I really wanna hit home with folks is it’s not just someone who’s never done it before. The plans that you’re making, the designs you’re making, they’re based off the fact of,Heather Loduca (24:42)
Good luck.Micah Johnson (25:10)
you invest yourself. That does a shift to your mind. And that’s why I love promoting people and saying, if you’re going to learn from someone, learn from somebody doing it. You want them actively doing what they’re doing because real estate changes too fast. Like y’all were saying earlier, you may have to change that or that amenity in a few years. And that’s completely normal. So who are you going to work with that keeps that up? Even I was thinking about for the newer people, if you’re out there, I bet you all do aa plan that sets them up for the future too. Hey, okay, I can start here and then in two years after this much revenue here and then here and you can keep it growing. So thank you all so much for being on today. I really appreciate it. I love getting to meet people that again, do what they help others do. That is how you are successful in this industry. So for those listening in and watching that would be interested in learning more about you, possibly touching base with you, what’s the best way for them to find you?
Erin Knight (26:04)
Yeah, we’resuper active on our socials. So we are on ⁓ Instagram, TikTok at Pink Wall Designs. And then we also have a website where anyone can book a consultation if you have questions for us. That’s pinkwalldesignsinc.com. And we also have a YouTube launched as well. So we share lots of fun tips and tricks. We have videos of transformations and we’re newly starting to do live audits.
over there as well. So lots of fun things on youtube
Micah Johnson (26:39)
Excellent. Thanks for sharing. If you’re watching and listening in, check our show notes. You’re going to find all of and Heather’s links there. Like I say all the time, we don’t bring random professionals on here. We bring folks that can actually help you create that business that you want because they’ve created it themselves, right? They’ve built something real. So Heather and Erin, thanks again for being here. Thanks again for y’all listening in. If you got value out of today’s episode, please like this episode, share it with someone else you think you get value out of it. And if you want to subscribe or yet,click that button, follow along with us here at Real Estate Pros. We appreciate every single one of you that follows with us out there. We’ve got more conversations coming up with operators, just like Erin and Heather, folks out there building a real business in the industry. Thanks for being with us today. We’ll see you on the next episode.
