Or Are They Allies?
“We are all in this together” is a phrase we got used to during Covid… and perhaps during the Airbnb purge in New Orleans over the past few years.
As property owners, we now find ourselves in competition across the city for the mid-term rental market as licenses are canceled and more owners pivot into a different style of hosting.
Mid-term rentals are not new. We’ve called them corporate housing, month-to-month rentals, all-inclusive rentals… so many terms, and my company, NOLASinc. has been working in this niche since 2008. Now we are meeting and teaching a mass exodus from STR properties to do the same.
NESTinNOLA is growing with new properties, and our search inquiries are growing every day, too. I’ve been pleased to see my inbox increasingly providing very real, very legitimate inquiries from those seeking furnished housing by the month, and coming to me from our efforts here on this platform.
This is very refreshing after months of sifting through Furnished Finder leads and leads that are more and more often “ghosting me” when I reply from other platforms.
Tenants are finding us on NEST via AI searches, word of mouth, and search engine recommendations – and the inquiries are sincere and ready to rent.
The next steps are to build the community I know exists in New Orleans. We are, of course, in competition with one another, but it brings to mind the no-call protest during the Super Bowl that year… the bad thing happened. We were robbed!
And in that moment, with all of our problems, our anxieties and our neighborly disagreements – we got petty TOGETHER, and the most fun Super Bowl day ever turned into an historic protest city wide.
No matter what the problems were before, we were unified in a single desire – to ignore that year’s Super Bowl, have fun together, and re-live the glory of our city’s beautiful victory in 2010. There was no preparation; it was heartfelt, spontaneous and full of friendship, and that moment shines like many others here. It is our true spirit to approach our problems in an “us-against-them” manner.
So here’s another huge problem we face, and if we do this right, it can be better because we are facing it as a community.
For me, as the creator of this hub, that means learning to share. Share ideas, share resources – and share leads, too.
The owner app, which you can access in the Owner Portal drop-down menu on the website, is where this all begins. This is part of your membership, and your participation will help it grow.
There are tons of tools for you there, but to me the most important feature is the “lead sharing” aspect.
We all spend so much money advertising; including your listing here on NESTinNOLA. And often it really is frustrating to get a fantastic outreach from a tenant who has a generous budget, a solid inquiry and plans to stay… but it’s just not a fit for your property.
So, you delete the email and regret that you can’t help them find a place, and that this great lead has been “wasted.”
Well, now it doesn’t have to be.
A simple screenshot of the email, text or whatever communication you received from that potential tenant (from NEST, or anywhere else), can be uploaded into the “lead share” area of the app.
Our AI Claude will scan it and filter the vital info into the “shared leads” section – and another NEST member can reach out and offer their property.
You, too, can access the shared leads, and maybe you’ll find your next tenant there – compliments of another owner in this community.
This transition into mid-term rental is going to take a lot of creativity, and my goal is to help the members of this site stand apart from the masses with unique resources to give you the upper hand in the market.
Members of this site will continue to build our own community and grow – as competitors, but also as fellow owners sharing a common problem, and some common solutions.
Check out the lead sharing part of the app today, and please participate and help that resource grow.
As always… I’m ready for a conversation any time if you have ideas and suggestions for a better website, a better community, and a better way to move together into this next phase of New Orleans unpredictability.
Looking forward to growing with you!
Anne Beck (504)812-4702