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5 Ways We Keep Our Airbnb Running Smoothly From Afar

Today we’re talking through 5 ways we’ve learned to manage our ‘Tree House’ Airbnb while living 90 miles away.

The kitchen of our cute little Tree House, located in SW Michigan |  via Yellow Brick Home
stools | faucet | kitchen before + after

Just over a week ago, we opened up the 2022 calendar of dates for our ‘Tree House’ in Southwest Michigan. You guys have blown us away with your support and dates are filling up insanely fast. If you’re considering a stay of your own, we’d encourage quick action! We’ll likely be booked for the entire year shortly. We love the fact that folks will be visiting for the second or third(!) summer in a row! We’ve poured our guts into this home and we absolutely love sharing it with all of you.

Since we live full-time about 90 minutes away in Chicago, we’ve integrated some clever monitoring devices to allow us to keep tabs on the place while we’re away, or to assist quickly if any issues should arrive while Airbnb guests are visiting.

1| Smart Thermostat

We absolutely love nest thermostats. We use them in our own home, in a couple of our rental properties and at Tree House. As in the rest of the upper Midwest, temperatures fluctuate wildly between seasons in Michigan. Swings of well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit over the course of the year are a given. Given these variations, the nest thermostat offers a few features that we couldn’t live without!

A nest smart thermostat keeps us (and our daughter Lucy) comfortable regardless of the weather outside.
ceiling pendant
  • ECO mode allows us to set a high and low temperature limit inside the house. We generally set the low temperature around 60 and the high temperature around 80 when we’re not around. This keeps things relatively consistent in the home and keeps our houseplants happy. We’ll also be alerted if temps drop below the low limit in the case of a power failure. Handy!
  • The secondary temperature sensor allows us to select one of two points of control for the thermostat. For example, if the main thermostat is in direct sunlight, we can shift to the secondary sensor for a more accurate representation of how the house actually feels.
  • Wifi control allows us to disable ECO mode and warm or cool the house to our desired temperature when we leave Chicago. The house is then at the perfect temperature when we arrive.

Smart thermostats are also able to learn behavior and sense occupancy. This allows for a higher level energy efficiency than a standard thermostat. We’ve written about this extensively in the past if you’d like more info!

2| Smart Water Shutoff in a Sealed Crawlspace

The Flo by Moen smart water monitor/shutoff and the related improvements have been an absolute game changer for us. We’ve had issues with frozen pipes in the past, so we finally invested in a crawlspace sealing program and some plumbing upgrades last year. The crawlspace project included the installation of a small inline fan that draws conditioned air from the home down into the crawlspace to keep things warm and dry. We’ve linked this fan up to a smart plug located in the crawlspace so we can control it via our smart lighting as well!

The Flo by Moen app is easy to use and allows for easy one-touch water shutoff.

In addition to ambient temperature improvements, we also had the main plumbing supply line professionally wrapped in insulation and thermostatic heat tape (similar). On top of all of those improvements, the Flo by Moen device monitors water usage and acts as a smart water shutoff. We use it to monitor usage and stay ahead of leaks. We can also shut the water on at our arrival and off at our departure with a quick tap on our phones. The device can also be set to call or text us in the case of abnormal water usage, which has saved us on a couple of occasions!

We’re now the majority of the way through our first winter with these improvements in place and are happy to report that the pipes have stayed warm and have performed flawlessly even on the coldest days. The peace of mind that comes with arriving to properly functioning systems simply can’t be measured! Using the home year round is now seamless and enjoyable with minimal surprises.

3| Wifi Camera

The nest camera that keeps an eye on the homes’ front door and porch provides us with a few benefits that offer peace of mind.

  • Package deliveries can be tracked from afar. We often have deliveries sent directly to the house a day or two before our arrival and we can ensure that everything arrives on time.
  • We can check in on real-time weather conditions to see if snow shoveling will be in order when we arrive. Better pack those boots!
  • We can keep an eye out for uninvited guests of the human and non-human variety. Tree house is surrounded by woods, so the occasional critter visits the property. Our friendly neighborhood groundhog(s) make frequent appearances!
The nest wifi camera allows us to monitor our property from afar.
outdoor sconce | outdoor camera

If you’re considering a wifi camera for your own home, we wrote a thorough post about the process awhile back! It includes some handy installation tips and tricks.

4| Mesh Wifi Network

The installation of the eero mesh wifi system in the home has also been hugely helpful! Our Michigan system is based around one ‘cupcake’ that acts as the main router and one beacon that’s a simple cordless plug-in unit. The benefits of the eero system are huge:

  • Working from home is now a part of the new ‘normal’ (whatever that means) for a lot of folks. A strong wifi system has been a major selling point for folks looking for a ‘working vacation’ in a home away from home. We’re confident that the investment in the system has more than paid for itself in rental income!
  • The system can be monitored and restarted from afar. Storms in the spring and summer are relatively common around here and the abundance of trees means power and internet lines are occasionally knocked out. If a guest lets us know the system is down, I can restart it remotely or check the status of the connection from the cable company and provide updates. While the situation is often out of our control, answers and expectation management are key!
  • The strong signal allows for streaming of music and movies outside on the front porch or by the fire pit! We can promise that live music streamed from halfway across the country in real time next to a roaring bonfire is the next best thing to being there in person!
The eero mesh wifi system gives us a strong signal throughout the whole house. Even outside! via Yellow Brick Home

We’ve previously written an entire post about our experience installing and using the eero system and are huge fans! You can find that post here.

5| Wifi Deadbolt Lock

Potentially the simplest and most impactful investment we made was the addition of a smart keypad deadbolt to the main entry door. We no longer need to worry about bringing keys with us when we arrive and our airbnb guests no longer need to keep track of keys while they stay in the home!

Entry codes are easily added and removed using the Schlage app and they can be assigned on a temporary basis. When a stay is booked, we assign each guest a unique code that goes live the day they arrive and expires the day they check out. The lockset can also be set to send us a text if forced entry is detected. Bonus!

The exterior view of our cute little Tree House, located in SW Michigan |  via Yellow Brick Home
outdoor sconce | planter

We can also give temporary or permanent codes to our cleaning team, friends, family members and tradespeople that need access to the home when we’re not around. Its a true game changer and we’ve been inspired to slowly change the locks on our rental properties to eliminate keys for ourselves and our tenants all together!

We hope these tips are helpful for either a primary or secondary home and would love to know what we’re missing. Have you integrated any smart home items that we could consider? We’re always searching for ways to make our lives easier and our guests’ stays more pleasant!

PS: Here’s a fun before and after of Tree House, if you’d like to see! (The bathroom and outdoor spaces are some of my all-time favorite reveals.)

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  • Jackie2.7.22 - 11:53 AM

    We really need a picture of the neighborhood groundhog :)ReplyCancel

    • Kim2.7.22 - 12:46 PM

      A nature lesson with every visit, haha!ReplyCancel

  • Shauna B2.7.22 - 12:42 PM

    Oooo, I’ve never heard of the additional sensor for the Nest thermostat before. That would be a game changer for my home! Thanks for sharing.ReplyCancel

    • Kim2.7.22 - 12:46 PM

      It makes a massive difference in our heating and cooling!ReplyCancel

  • Melissa2.13.22 - 5:15 PM

    We have done almost all of these in our rental property except the water shut off which has been sitting in my Amazon cart for months. Just haven’t pulled the trigger. Now thinking we should. Great tips! The lock is a lifesaver!!ReplyCancel

    • Scott2.14.22 - 9:38 AM

      The Flo device isn’t cheap, but we find a ton of value in it! Highly recommended.ReplyCancel

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We’re Kim + Scott, Chicago based content creators behind the Home + Lifestyle brand Yellow Brick Home.

Join us as we renovate and nurture vintage homes across Chicago + SW Michigan!

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