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Cullowhee, North Carolina, is a unique Airbnb market, primarily driven by its status as a college town, home to Western Carolina University. The demand for short-term rentals fluctuates with the academic calendar, peaking during graduation, homecoming, and other major university events. The area's natural beauty, including the nearby Blue Ridge Mountains and Tuckasegee River, also attracts outdoor enthusiasts year-round, contributing to a secondary market for vacation rentals. The market is diverse, ranging from budget-friendly rooms to luxury mountain cabins, catering to a wide array of guests including students' families, alumni, faculty, and tourists. The local regulations are generally favorable towards short-term rentals, but hosts must be aware of occasional updates and changes.
In Cullowhee, North Carolina, the Airbnb market experiences a unique seasonality largely influenced by the academic calendar of Western Carolina University. During the fall and spring semesters, demand for short-term rentals increases significantly as parents, visiting scholars, and other university-related guests seek accommodation. This surge in demand often leads to higher rental rates and lower vacancy levels. Conversely, during the summer and winter breaks, demand tends to decrease, leading to more competitive pricing and increased availability. Additionally, the beautiful fall foliage in October and the nearby ski resorts in winter can also attract tourists, slightly offsetting the off-peak periods. Understanding these seasonal trends is crucial for maximizing occupancy and revenue.
In Cullowhee, North Carolina, Airbnb hosts must be aware of and comply with a variety of local regulations. One of the most significant is the requirement for a Short-Term Rental (STR) permit, which must be obtained from the county before listing a property on Airbnb. Additionally, hosts are responsible for collecting and remitting a 7% occupancy tax on all bookings, which is in addition to the state sales tax. It's also important to note that Cullowhee has zoning laws that may affect the ability to host on Airbnb, particularly in residential areas. Therefore, it's crucial to check with the Jackson County Planning Department to ensure your property is zoned appropriately for short-term rentals.
Managing Airbnb properties in Cullowhee, North Carolina, requires a keen understanding of the local market dynamics. The presence of Western Carolina University significantly influences the demand patterns, with peak periods during university events and seasonal lulls during breaks. Challenges include maintaining consistent occupancy rates during off-peak seasons and ensuring properties meet the diverse needs of both short-term vacationers and visiting academics. To navigate these challenges, hosts should consider flexible pricing strategies to attract off-season bookings and ensure their properties offer amenities that cater to both leisure and business travelers. Regular maintenance and quick response to guest inquiries are also crucial for positive reviews and repeat bookings.
In Cullowhee, North Carolina, the Airbnb market thrives on the appeal of the surrounding natural beauty and the proximity to Western Carolina University. Properties that offer amenities such as outdoor spaces for guests to enjoy the mountain views, fire pits for cool evenings, and easy access to local hiking trails tend to be highly sought after. Additionally, accommodations that cater to visiting families or faculty of the university, such as offering multiple bedrooms, workspaces, and high-speed internet, often see higher occupancy rates. The inclusion of local touches, like guides to nearby attractions or locally sourced goods in a welcome basket, can also enhance the guest experience and increase positive reviews.
Cullowhee, North Carolina, is a unique Airbnb market, primarily driven by its status as a college town, home to Western Carolina University. The demand for short-term rentals fluctuates with the academic calendar, peaking during graduation, homecoming, and other major university events. The area's natural beauty, including the nearby Blue Ridge Mountains and Tuckasegee River, also attracts outdoor enthusiasts year-round, contributing to a secondary market for vacation rentals. The market is diverse, ranging from budget-friendly rooms to luxury mountain cabins, catering to a wide array of guests including students' families, alumni, faculty, and tourists. The local regulations are generally favorable towards short-term rentals, but hosts must be aware of occasional updates and changes.
In Cullowhee, North Carolina, the Airbnb market experiences a unique seasonality largely influenced by the academic calendar of Western Carolina University. During the fall and spring semesters, demand for short-term rentals increases significantly as parents, visiting scholars, and other university-related guests seek accommodation. This surge in demand often leads to higher rental rates and lower vacancy levels. Conversely, during the summer and winter breaks, demand tends to decrease, leading to more competitive pricing and increased availability. Additionally, the beautiful fall foliage in October and the nearby ski resorts in winter can also attract tourists, slightly offsetting the off-peak periods. Understanding these seasonal trends is crucial for maximizing occupancy and revenue.
In Cullowhee, North Carolina, Airbnb hosts must be aware of and comply with a variety of local regulations. One of the most significant is the requirement for a Short-Term Rental (STR) permit, which must be obtained from the county before listing a property on Airbnb. Additionally, hosts are responsible for collecting and remitting a 7% occupancy tax on all bookings, which is in addition to the state sales tax. It's also important to note that Cullowhee has zoning laws that may affect the ability to host on Airbnb, particularly in residential areas. Therefore, it's crucial to check with the Jackson County Planning Department to ensure your property is zoned appropriately for short-term rentals.
Managing Airbnb properties in Cullowhee, North Carolina, requires a keen understanding of the local market dynamics. The presence of Western Carolina University significantly influences the demand patterns, with peak periods during university events and seasonal lulls during breaks. Challenges include maintaining consistent occupancy rates during off-peak seasons and ensuring properties meet the diverse needs of both short-term vacationers and visiting academics. To navigate these challenges, hosts should consider flexible pricing strategies to attract off-season bookings and ensure their properties offer amenities that cater to both leisure and business travelers. Regular maintenance and quick response to guest inquiries are also crucial for positive reviews and repeat bookings.
In Cullowhee, North Carolina, the Airbnb market thrives on the appeal of the surrounding natural beauty and the proximity to Western Carolina University. Properties that offer amenities such as outdoor spaces for guests to enjoy the mountain views, fire pits for cool evenings, and easy access to local hiking trails tend to be highly sought after. Additionally, accommodations that cater to visiting families or faculty of the university, such as offering multiple bedrooms, workspaces, and high-speed internet, often see higher occupancy rates. The inclusion of local touches, like guides to nearby attractions or locally sourced goods in a welcome basket, can also enhance the guest experience and increase positive reviews.
Why Choose Summer Short-Term Rental Management
How it works
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Meet With Membership
Summer does not onboard every property, we work with hosts that are interested in getting the most value out of their homes.
Get Onboarded
Get integrated into our tools, professional photography and smart lock installation.
Collect Revenue
Once a property is listed it gets bookings. Summer handles everything on your behalf and provides clear financial statements every month.
Get your short-term rental managed by the best
Unlock your rental home’s hidden worth with Summer, all without you lifting a finger
The Summer Difference
See what makes us stand out from other property managers
Access to the Summer Network
Adding your home to the network gives you access to stay at other Summer homes throughout the country.
Best-in-class revenue optimization
Demonstrated 20% average performance over market averages.
Accuracy with our technology
Our proprietary technology allows us to give you an honest revenue projection from the start.
Trusted brand reputation
With our Superhost status and 4.96 guest rating, guests know what to expect when they book with Summer.
Who’s a good fit for Managed by Summer?
You think your short-term rental can make more money
Your property is not beating market averages, getting enough bookings, or does not have visibility across the major rental platforms.
You want a partner where you are valued
We build personal relationships with all of our owners and care about each property like it's our own.
You don’t want to deal with home management
Whether down the street or a flight away, dealing with home management, guest inquiries, cleaning, and everything in between is too time consuming and challenging.
Ready to get started?
Please email hey@gosummer.com to get in touch with us directly.
FAQ
Care to learn more?
General Questions
What is vacation rental property management?
Vacation rental property management is a service that maintains and improves the vacation rental on behalf of owners. It includes the ongoing operation, marketing, maintenance, and promotion of a vacation rental, short-term rental or Airbnb property.
Where is Summer property management available?
Summer management is available nationwide, however, Summer does not offer membership in certain locations where operational quality would be below our standard. The best way to find out is by submitting a property.
What services does Summer vacation rental management offer?
Summer vacation rental management offers complete end-to-end management of vacation rental properties. This includes all aspects of home maintenance, cleaning, guest and host communications, and marketing, pricing and promotion of your property.
In addition to these services, Summer offers separate design services for members that want professional design and furnishing of their vacation rental.
Can Summer help me convert an existing home into a vacation rental?
Absolutely! While many of our customers come from other vacation rental managers we do onboard homes that were recently purchased or are being converted into vacation rentals. Here our team can provide advice, guidance and services to help your home prepare for its short-term rental launch.
Membership Questions
What is Summer membership?
Summer refers to its owners and hosts as members. Simply put, we refer to hosts as members because we are an invitation-only vacation rental management company. This means that many of the owners and their properties don’t qualify to join our management solution.
Do all properties qualify for Summer membership?
Not all properties qualify for Summer membership and property management. This is driven primarily by home condition, market, revenue and most importantly - our ability to maintain operational excellence for the home.
Is there a minimum revenue to be considered for Summer membership?
We only consider properties that earn over $50,000 in annual revenue. We verify annual revenue in two ways. Owners can provide financial statements of past vacation rental performance or our in-house underwriting team can complete an analysis of the property.
Are there locations that do not qualify for Summer membership?
Summer operates homes across the entire United States. There are no clear cut markets that we do not service. Instead as part of our membership evaluation process our operations team reviews the location to understand if we can build a local team and maintain operational excellence. We’d rather help you find a different property management company than manage a property that we won’t be able to operate to our standards.
Onboarding Questions
How long does the onboarding process take with Summer?
The onboarding process takes 2-4 weeks with Summer to be completed. This gives us and the owner ample time to inspect the property, get it ready for guests, and get the listing live. In the event that owners need additional time to furnish or otherwise improve the property, the onboarding process can be extended.
Does Summer provide a smart lock?
Summer does provide a smart lock. This helps us operate the home and seamlessly let guests in. While there is some upfront expense associated with the lock and some additional time to set it up, we’ve found that there’s nothing worse than a guest not being able to access the property when they arrive.
Will Summer take updated photos of the property?
In most cases, Summer will hire a professional photographer to do a shoot at the home. This happens after the home is both cleaned and stages for photography. This helps the home stand out on vacation rental booking sites and results in better bookings overall. If the owner has really high-quality photos already for an operating short-term rental we can skip this step in the onboarding process.
Does Summer offer design services?
Summer does offer professional design and furnishing services with our in-house design team. This is not required for homes that are already furnished and designed and is a separate service from property management. You can find more information (and before and after photos) on our page dedicated to Summer Furnishing and Design.
Can I keep my listing and have Summer co-host the property?
Unfortunately, we don’t offer co-hosting services. There are a number of reasons, but the primary reason is that we haven’t seen properties that are co-hosted significantly outperform the market on reviews and revenue like the properties we fully host do.
I’d like to place a minimum rate restriction on my property, is that allowed?
Simply put, yes you can. However, we don’t recommend doing so, operationally we want to avoid underpricing your property because no one wins in that scenario. Our internal revenue and pricing team manages the pricing of properties and reviews it daily.
Do I maintain utilities under my name for managed homes?
Yes, the property mortgage, taxes, and utilities are still your responsibility. This is because the home is still owned by you while we manage your property.
Operational Questions
How does Summer manage vacation rentals?
Summer manages vacation rentals with extreme care and attention to details. This means fast response times, consistent cleaning, and regular maintenance and inspections of the property. With rare exceptions in brand new markets, Summer has a team of both maintenance staff and dedicated employees that oversee local portfolios.
Does Summer have staff in my local area?
Absolutely. Summer builds strong relationships in markets that we are entering and operating in with maintenance teams, cleaners and of course dedicated local managers. Each property gets dedicated resources and attention to ensure that it’s always guest ready and well taken care of.
Can Summer use my existing cleaners?
Summer can onboard your existing cleaners, especially if you have a good ongoing relationship with them. In many cases, we’ve found that existing cleaners charge much more than local competition which could result in lower overall revenue. During the onboarding process hosts are presented with local options for cleaners.
How do I know my property will be safe with guests?
Summer puts a number of security measures in place at the home to monitor noise, wifi connections and during the booking process to avoid unwanted guests in the property. We also have a built in procedure for resolving any immediate guest issues involving parties, extra guests and anything else in violation of the booking and local laws and requirements.
How does Summer handle emergency situations?
Summer has a number of protocols in place that we’ve tested over our combined decades of management experience. These protocols are meant to de-escalate any emergencies, resolve any immediate issues for guests and hosts and take care of the home. If you’re concerned with anything in particular it’s best to discuss it with the membership team.
Does Summer cover properties with hot tubs and pools?
Absolutely! In many cases we’ll even advise owners to invest in a pool or hot tub if we think there is a significant return on investment for the property.
How does Summer price its vacation rental properties?
Summer uses a combination of dynamic pricing and individual pricing reviews. All properties are reviewed daily and aligned with any events or demand driving activities. In the event that local demand is falling pricing will be adjusted and promotions provided to have the property booked at a reasonable rate.
Do you have Summer team members in the markets?
In most markets Summer has team members present that can be out to the property within an hour. The exception is in new markets where we are still building a presence. Summer does not onboard homes if there is no clear action plan for getting local staff during the onboarding process to oversee the home.
Can I control how much you charge guests for cleaning?
This is explained in more detail below, however, we charge guests the cleaning fee that we pay. Since Summer does not earn any fees from the cleaning we are incentivized to keep the cleaning fee low.
Who is my main point of contact?
During the initial membership application, your primary point of contact will be the membership coordinator. After a contract is signed you will be assigned a dedicated onboarding coordinator that will help onboard your property. When your property is onboarded, the operations team provides ongoing support for any additional questions, requests or concerns that you have. Note, there are no hold times or automated messages, you can text or call our membership support team at any time.
How often is the home checked outside of housekeeping?
The home is regularly checked by our staff for housekeeping, routine maintenance, and amenity maintenance. We also inspect the home prior to onboarding to complete a full inventory and continue to complete inspections in order to ensure that the home is guest ready for the next booking.
I want to access my house when I want, can I do that?
Unfortunately, there are numerous rules and laws safeguarding the privacy of our guests in the home. You are welcome to book time on the calendar which we can block off for personal use. Spontaneous visits to the home are not allowed.
What does the consumables fee cover?
The consumables fee we charge is $25 per reservations. This gives us the ability to replace linens, coffee, toilet paper, shampoo, conditioner, soap and a number of other consumable items in the home so that each guest gets a fresh experience.
Do I have to pay for lightbulbs/batteries?
Your light bulbs and batteries are all covered in the consumables fee that we charge with each reservation. It also includes all other consumable items at the property to ensure the home is guest ready for every reservation.
Financial Questions
How much does Summer Airbnb management cost?
Summer Airbnb management fees start at 20% for hosts around the country. The final pricing you are offered is based on the location and performance of the property amongst other factors. This is based on the booking revenue without including the cleaning fees, whereas other property managers include the cleaning fee as well making it comparably lower.
How often do I get invoices and reporting from Summer?
Invoices are provided monthly to Summer hosts which detail all of the earning and charges that took place throughout the month.
How does Summer calculate its fee and member revenue?
Summer calculates its fee after removing the cleaning fee. This means that if you currently earn $100,000 in revenue with $10,000 in cleaning fees annually, the fee would only come out of the $90,000 in earnings. By comparison, other property managers charge a fee on the cleaning fee as well, passing on more of the cost to you.
Thank you for your interest!
Find, buy, design, furnish and manage your short-term rental.
