This week’s guest tells the story of how he went from a handful of properties under management to 950 over a period of 10 years. At one point he was managing 125 single-handedly.

Like many people, Steve Milo started in the business with just his own vacation rental property in Florida. At that time the market was depressed and many VRMs were not accepting new homes into their management programme. Steve seized the opportunity to grow his portfolio and by operating a lean organization from the early days he was able to achieve rapid and successful growth while keeping a tight control on costs.

Tweet: 125 to 950 #VacationRental properties. Steve Milo fm @VRPros shares his story w @Cottageguru http://ctt.ec/ke2tc+ pic.twitter.com/nqJKfGCrcq

Today, Vacation Rental Pros is one of Florida’s largest rental management companies and employs 68 people in 6 locations. Steve is a strong proponent of outsourcing, an advocate for prudent people management, and is diligent in using technology and 100% online marketing to power the growth.

We discussed:

• What drove Steve to start growing the company
• The early days of lean management – 1 man and 125 properties
• How automation of processes ultimately creates more profitability
• Why mobile applications will drive the next level of VR transactions
• The importance of direct transactions with consumer
• The anatomy of a large property management company
• VRPs issues with Trip Advisor & why Steve signed the Open Letter
• Third Party Channel Management and who the VRMA seminar is not for…

Third Party Channels – presentation from European VRMA conference

VRS093 – What’s Going On With Trip Advisor

Vacation Rental Pros

A Look Under the Hood at Vacation Rental Pros

Behome247

Gladtohaveyou

Escapia

Real Voice

Where you can find Steve:

Website

Twitter

Facebook

Instagram

LinkedIN