437. Why Your PMS is the Heartbeat of Your STR Business—A Conversation with Hostfully’s CEO
Thanks For Visiting
Airbnb Superhosts Annette Grant & Sarah Karakaian
4.9 • 590 Ratings
🗓️ 13 February 2025
⏱️ 67 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Why Your PMS is the Heartbeat of Your STR Business—A Conversation with Hostfully’s CEO
Your Property Management Software (PMS) is more than just a tool—it’s the heartbeat of your short-term rental business. But how do you know you’re using the right one? And are you truly optimizing it to save time, increase efficiency, and drive more revenue?
In this episode, we sit down with Margot Schmorak, CEO & Co-Founder of Hostfully, our preferred PMS partner, to talk about the must-have features of a PMS, the biggest mistakes hosts make when choosing or switching systems, and how to use a PMS to scale smarter—whether you have one property or 100+.
We also dive into:
- The number one mistake hosts make when selecting a PMS
- How a strong tech stack can make your hosting life easier
- Direct bookings: Is a PMS worth it if you only have one or two properties?
- The power of repeat guests and how a PMS can help you get more
- Why booking direct is one of the biggest opportunities for hosts in 2025
- How Hostfully’s AI-powered inbox is saving hosts three or more hours per day
- How midterm rentals are evolving—and what Hostfully is doing about it
Whether you’re shopping for a PMS, considering a switch, or just want to maximize the power of the one you have, this episode is packed with insights, strategy, and actionable tips to take your STR business to the next level.
More About Our Guest: Margot Schmorak
Margot is the CEO & Co-Founder of Hostfully, a leading PMS in the STR industry. Under her leadership, Hostfully has helped thousands of property managers streamline their operations, grow their portfolios, and embrace direct bookings as a key revenue driver.
Beyond Hostfully, Margot is also a mom, wife, and creative entrepreneur based in San Francisco. She’s passionate about supporting women, moms, and underrepresented groups in tech and hospitality, and she loves travel, design, and music.
Resources & Links from This Episode
- Listen to Margot’s first TFV Episode
- Exact Steps for Leaving a Negative Airbnb Guest Review | Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
- Want to get your property featured on #STRShareSunday? | Submit your listing here: strsharesunday.com
Mentioned in this episode:
Proper Insurance | Book Your Risk Assessment Today
Hostfully | Go to https://www.hostfully.com/tfv and use TFV100 to get $500 off your subscription.
Fido | Visit getfido.com/tfv & get your first month free!
Extenteam | Receive 20% off the first 2 months with Tailwind!
Quiz | Take our quiz to reveal your hosting personality style!
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hosts, let's get real. Is your short-term rental truly protected? And no, we're not talking about |
| 0:06.3 | air cover. That's not your insurance. It's Airbnb's. If you're relying on air cover or a standard |
| 0:13.2 | homeowners or landlord policy, you're leaving yourself exposed. Exactly. Air cover only applies |
| 0:19.4 | to Airbnb bookings and you have no control over how claims are |
| 0:23.2 | handled. You might be thinking, what about my homeowners or landlord policy? Well, they're not designed |
| 0:29.3 | for short-term rentals. That means guests cause damage, lost revenue, even liability claims could come out of |
| 0:36.0 | your pocket. But here's the solution, Proper Insurance. They offer one complete policy built specifically |
| 0:42.6 | for short-term rental owners. It replaces inadequate homeowners or landlord coverage and gives |
| 0:48.0 | you protection for property, liability, and even revenue loss if your rental is out of commission. |
| 0:55.3 | What we love about Proper is that they cover every booking, Airbnb, Verbo, direct bookings, and even protect you |
| 1:01.7 | during your personal use or vacancy period. Their expertise in short-term rentals mean they |
| 1:07.8 | understand the unique risks you face as a host. Don't wait until something happens |
| 1:12.3 | to realize that you're not covered. Visit www. Proper Insurance.com forward slash TFE to schedule your |
| 1:20.3 | free risk assessment today. Click the link in our show notes or visit www.com proper insurance.com |
| 1:27.0 | forward slash TFE to get started. |
| 1:29.3 | Proper insurance will review your current policy, point out any gaps, and help you build a plan |
| 1:34.0 | to protect your property and income. |
| 1:41.9 | You're listening to the Thanks for Visiting Podcast. |
| 1:44.4 | We believe hosting with Heart is at the core of every short-term rental. |
| 1:49.1 | With Annette's background in business operation and Sarah's extensive hospitality |
| 1:53.4 | management and interior design experience, we have welcomed thousands of guests from over 30 |
| 1:58.8 | countries earning us over a million dollars and garnering |
... |
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