Keeping your property secure and consistently maintained are some of the most important things you can do to safeguard your STR business. Luckily, there are solutions to proactively prevent issues from happening, even if you’re managing from afar. 

We recently partnered with Google Nest to provide their smart home devices for STRs (and at a discounted rate for our members, of course). Not only do they help keep your home safe, they also attract guests by allowing you to add “smart home” to your listing.

Here are some of their key products for vacation properties:

Nest Thermostat 

A Nest Thermostat has become almost synonymous with having a smart home. And for good reason–it looks great and enables you to schedule and control everything completely remotely from your phone.

And being smart about your heating and cooling also has great benefits for the bottom line of your STR business. According to Nest, their customers save an average of 10-12% on heating and 15% on air conditioning or about $131 – $145 annually. This means you can potentially recoup the cost of the device in just over a year.

Here’s how a Nest Thermostat can save you $$$:

• Create schedules. You can easily customize a cooling/heat schedule for different times of day and adjust as needed.
• Secure the temperature control. Guests have a tendency to fiddle with the thermostat. By adjusting the temperature to a more energy-efficient minimum and maximum, you can reduce the amount of energy needed to heat or cool your home. This can help to reduce your heating and cooling bills and can add up to a significant savings over time.
• Know when people are there. The Nest system uses motion sensors to detect when the home is empty and will turn off the HVAC system to save energy. No more paying for heat/ac when no one is there!

Nest Protect 

Nest Protect is a smart smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detector that integrates smoothly with all Nest products and allows for you to be on top of your home safety.

In addition to sensing fire and poisonous gas, it also has these features that make it great for STRs: 

• Remote management. The Nest Protect will notify you if smoke or Carbon Monoxide are detected, so you know what’s going on in your home even if you’re not there.
• Preventive action. When the Nest Protect senses smoke it will automatically alert your Google Nest Thermostat to turn off your AC. If carbon monoxide is detected, it will turn off the boiler.
• A complete safety system. Once the alarm is triggered, it will automatically turn your Nest cameras on and record emergency clips for you to review. 
• Interconnected: If you are in an older home with smoke alarms that are not interconnected, replacing these smoke alarms is an easy and inexpensive way to interconnect to meet local building codes and short term rental permit requirements. Google Nest Protects to talk to one another and let you know what’s happening in other parts of the house during an alert or emergency alarm
• Amenities. Boost your listing by checking off another Airbnb and VRBO amenity!

Outdoor Cameras

Sometimes guests will bring extra people, pets, or (gasp!) throw parties. Ease your mind while also keeping your guests safe from any outside intruders with Nest Cameras.

Here is how they help you monitor your property:

• Be in the know. The Nest doorbell can detect and alert you when people are coming and going from your property. This is great to know when people check in or out as well as monitor any suspicious comings and goings.
• Special Alerts. Set “Activity Zones” to receive notifications from the camera when something is happening in a specific area. This is great to do if you have a specific off-limits area, like a shed.
• Amenities. Boost your listing by checking off another Airbnb and VRBO amenity; surveillance!

Google Nest products are great for short term rental hosts because they offer a whole system that provides a safe and secure environment for your guests. The more you prepare on the front end and stay engaged, the easier it is to navigate situations that arise. 

Reminder! HostGPO members receive a discount on some Google Nest products, including but not limited to the ones mentioned above. Not a HostGPO member? Sign up today for a 3 month free trial. 

Looking for more? Check out our blogs on management.