Meet Susan Townsend, founder of Mountainside Treasures. Since 2005, she’s grown her business from a single condo at Jay Peak to nearly 30 properties across Vermont and Utah, giving her guests the opportunity to experience the joy of getting into the mountains.
Can you tell us a little bit about your history?
I started renting my own property in 2005 when I fell in love with Jay Peak in Vermont and had the opportunity to buy a slope side condo there. After a divorce in 2013, I realized that I could help other people by doing what was already easy for me. Starting small, everything was relatively manageable, however I quickly realized that I needed some help.
That’s when I started looking at PM systems and found OwnerRez. My business grew quickly, gaining 2-3 units per year, all by word of mouth. Service really is the key factor, and it’s often missing for homeowners and guests alike. Now I manage close to 30 properties in both Park City, UT, and Jay Peak, VT.
What is your background?
Although born in the USA, I am British and grew up in Scotland. Living in Scotland, my family traveled to ski most weekends, staying in a friend’s caravan, waking with ice on the insides of the windows! We skied in all weathers, and so coming to the USA and exploring the mountain resorts here has been a dream. I relish those early memories and the bonds developed on those weekends away and am happy to be creating opportunities for others to do the same, albeit in a more luxury setting!
Were you always in VR or property management, or is this a 2nd/3rd career?
I studied Molecular Biology and then ended up working for 20 years in marketing for Unilever. I came to the USA and spent 7 years as a stay at home Mum for four kids before getting a divorce and needing to re-evaluate!
Are you from the geographical area where your properties are located, or did you move there later?
I am not ‘from’ either of my locations. I was born in Boston, but grew up in Glasgow, Scotland, and then worked in London, England for many years. I did spend some time in NY, commuting to Jay Peak, VT every weekend to ski, so I know the area very well, even though I do not live there. I now live in Park City, UT, which is where the bulk of my inventory is located.
If later, what drew you to that area?
The mountains make me feel at peace, so yes, I’d say the mountains drew me to the West. Salt Lake is an amazing city, with some of the best mountains in the world and a truly accessible airport. Before we moved here, we spent a couple of vacations in the area.
My four kids were already accomplished skiers, and the oldest was chasing medals in VT. She was excited to experience a life closer to the mountains, but it is actually my son, the youngest who grew up with the mountains as his babysitter, and is now on the US Freeski Team chasing dreams of his own.
What do you love the most about the vacation rental business?
There are many things that I love, but first and foremost, I think you have to love the belief that you are creating something wonderful for other people to enjoy. I have many beautiful properties in my portfolio, and I also have some much smaller, more modest places; however, I work hard to ensure they all deliver a wonderful opportunity for people on different budgets to experience the joy of getting into the mountains. I thrive on delivering a flawless experience, knowing that my team and I went the extra mile to ensure that the guest's trip was everything they hoped for.
What do you dislike the most about it?
It is hard not to get demoralized when we get particularly unpleasant guests. Luckily that doesn’t happen very often. On occasion guests have reason to be upset, then I take full responsibility and use the experience to learn and be better in the future, but if they pick bones about something out of my control (the weather was bad, or flight was delayed) and then review their stay poorly, it feels unfair and as property managers we are pretty powerless.
Equally, in the rare occasion that they cause damage and unacceptable cleaning, it is remarkably hard to get fair reparations. I guess it’s the feeling that it’s an uphill battle against the giants of the industry. I feel frustrated that the platforms take almost as much commission as the property manager gets, and they control so much.
How do you use OwnerRez to manage your business?
OwnerRez is crucial to how I run my business. I know that I use a fraction of the capability, and sometimes I wish the guys at OwnerRez would focus on maintaining and improving what they have rather than adding more, but I understand that other users are going far and above what I do. OwnerRez is the central point for all my listings. I keep a simple channel portfolio, and the direct booking site that they provide, mainly because I want the two key platforms to perform well. I fear that if I dilute the bookings across more platforms, none will perform as well. I also use OwnerRez for all my owner statements etc.
What is the most useful feature OwnerRez offers?
I don't think I can name one. My four pillars that I couldn’t do without are:
- Property data (a central place to build a listing that knows and tracks all the rules, etc)
- Calendar (one central place, ability to block off and quote from there)
- Owner management (statement, expense creation, and tracking)
- Guest management (being able to send all the communications, etc to guests, with custom field definitions)
With a focus on going the extra mile for every guest, Susan has built a thriving business. We look forward to seeing her continued success as she helps more people enjoy the mountains.