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We are in the Catskills Mountains about An hour and a half north of New York City this is actually the road where the Car crash happens in the doctor strange Movie and we up here to check out a Property that is crushing it on Airbnb I've had weekends book at $1,000 a night And I've had some of the holidays book At like over $1,000 a night meet Ben Smith he is the owner of this lake house In Sullivan County New York he spent the Past year building the property and he Spared no expense almost the biggest Tiles I've ever seen like that's like 4 By pattern's lined up the pattern lines Up but he's also picked up some deals Along the way was also from Marketplace And it's like a $122,000 t I think I got It for 4,000 or say the guy hardly us it You can see it's like brand new he's Created an incredible guest experience That is seeing very high nightly rates And close to 100% occupancy even in off Peak season October was like booked Solid and now November's like completely Booked [Music] Out now I booked this house for three Nights and something you don't see on The Airbnb listing is just how amazing The lake looks in the morning I knew This property had a unique story behind It so I sat down with the owner who Shared with me the whole process

Starting with how he found the lot we Had a boat at the marina just down the Road so I used to drive past this piece Like all the time and it sat on the Market forever and it was actually a Mess there was a huge tree that was um Down in the middle of the site and one Point I thought hold on like this isn't Actually a bad piece and I came around The back on the boat and I saw the front Edge and the broker said that actually Had like a really nice Beach and that Picked my interest and I was like a Beach and so I drove down here and the Beach was covered in like 3T of Driftwood and trash and it was just like A total mess and I but I saw the beach Underneath I thought oh private beach Like and that is what sold it for me and Then I started negotiating and we closed On the land in early 2022 as Ben started To build on the lot the plan for the House expanded from a small property to Something much larger and more luxurious I had a partner in the early days as Well and he had ideas about different Things like putting a second master Downstairs and the plan like expanded And expanded and expanded we started to Think about you know who who are the Kind of people that are going to want to Stay here and they are willing to pay The premium dollars that you know we Would like to achieve and how are we

Going to make the space work for them And and ultimately just give them a Great time and and have them really Enjoy themselves that was really the Idea so this is your kitchen why don't You tell us this is the main where the Chef's Kitchen this is the Chef's Kitchen Ben so look you know you got a Nice big island which I always like Sizable yeah and the way I like to set This up is so no matter where you are You're looking over there and and the Sink the sink is the most used station In the kitchen this is where you spend Most of the time so look you just Looking straight out here every seat on The bar looks out to the view the cool Thing about this table is it comes with These two benches so you can actually be A dining table with the top it can be a Ping pong table and it can be a pool Table wow so people you it's got Flexibility um I want to ask you about These tiles because these are like the Biggest almost the biggest tiles I've Ever seen look that's like uh 4X two 4 By 4tx 2T that's really huge yeah and The pattern look you want to talk about Another challenge to the building the Pattern's lined up the pattern lines up It's supposed to line up they didn't Quite get it right as you can see but I Didn't mind on the floor but on the Walls they totally screwed it up you had

To rip it out and I I had to rip them All out and start again and I had to get All new tiles for the guys because you It's quite a strong patent and when it Lines up it looks kind of cool but when It doesn't line up it actually looks Like really like not so great like one Of those things you had one job one job How who paid for that did you have to Pay for it yourself I paid for the tile And the Tyler re did the labor you for The extra I PID for the material but you Know we kind of Go but as the build went on Ben's Partner pulled out in the end the money That he was expecting to come to invest In this didn't come so I and I restarted I wasn't waiting for the guy I was Spending all my money first and then he Was going to come in and and continue And finish the project off so I Basically had to liquidate and sell Almost everything I owned just to finish The house so that was a really stressful Time and challenging cuz I had the the Project underway you don't want to like Half build a house and then stop you Can't do that cuz of winterising exactly So in the end I had to scramble and Scramble to pull the funds together to Get the whole thing [Music] Finished but Ben did get it finished and The result was incredible guests have a

View across the lake from multiple rooms When you wake up with that steam coming Off the lake they have access to a Private hot tub this is another feature Of the house I really love I've never Had a hot tub myself and to sit in here And to like it's a full therapeutic tub So every seat has a different massage Massage your neck your lower back your Upper back you can kind of rotate around Yeah exactly but not only that but look You sit here and look what look what You're looking at you can literally be Sitting in the tub like looking out over The view so it's just like just epic Down here I love it they have indoor and Outdoor fireplaces a balcony to dine on And of course Lake access with a private Beach when the water level allows and All of this is proving a hit on Airbnb we launched in mid July we were Booked solidly like July and August and Uh that was really good so we got off to A really good start what what percentage Would you say I would say we're at like Probably 85 to 90% July and August but Don't forget this was my first 6 weeks On the market so like I've got no Reviews no reviews at all um but people Are still booking this demand meant that Ben could push the nightly rates higher And in his first couple of months he hit A very important income Milestone with The property the best month so far would

Have been um August cuz it was like Still in the summer there I think there Was at least one holiday weekend and it Was it was uh well over five figures Well over yeah yeah so that was a and That was my only that was my first full Month that was my first fulling her First month that's Crazy but then September hit and it Looked like Ben's worst fears were Materializing as soon as we hit Labor Day the bookings just like stopped they Actually stopped I had no bookings at One point and I was just like what's Going on but I just kind of let it play Out but it seems it was just a minor Hiccup October was like booked solid and now November's like completely booked out Right through into December there's like Two nights in all of November that Aren't booked so we're up at like 95% Occupancy or something in the winter the General rate people pay is a bit lower However Ben can still charge very high Rates at weekends and on holidays Recently got a booking uh that was um Right around the $4,000 mark for four Nights and that's one of my best Bookings actually to get I've had Weekends book at $1,000 a night and I've Had other um some of the holidays book At like over $1,000 a night but to get Four nights in a row at $11,000 a night

So that's a $4,000 booking and it it is Over Thanksgiving um but it also is like I said the offseason so that's just a Really strong booking and that's Indicative I think of things to come and Now we've got a few reviews we don't Have a bunch of reviews yet we're up to Like 11 reviews as that builds then into Next summer the rat's going to start Going up and up and that's when I think You know we'll see the real um the real Money come in and this has inspired me For my own Airbnb project that I'm Working on which is actually very close To launching I asked Ben what his most Important piece of advice for myself or Any other aspiring Airbnb host is try to Create a space and an experience that They're going to have an awesome time And if you think about that first then They're going to um become your raving Fans they're going to give you five star Reviews they're going to tell your Friends about it and then it's going to Like you you know your success is going To build from there and just don't be Cheap like I put all the best stuff in Here like the softest toilet paper the Um Hotel style toiletries like I don't Skimp out on little things because you Know you want your guest to just be like Oh this is like awesome you Know if you want to see the full 25 Minutes video with all of Ben's stories

And advice I'm going to put it on my Channel on ganging world it's a social Media site that specializes in education And familyfriendly content the link for That will be below in the description Section well thanks a lot Ben for like Sharing all this with us and uh we'll Put a link to Ben's Airbnb in the Description below so you can stay here If you live in New York City or live in Um you know Connecticut it's within Driving distance it's within like 2 Hours of New York City basically if you Live Tri St area um this is perfect for You so if you want to have a weekend Away Ben a BNB I mean it's the winter Now but it's still an awesome place to Stay you can go in the hot tub you'd be Looking out over the lake and the snow And it's close to U where is it Holiday Mountain ski mountain and the casino Resorts for Casino if you like that kind Of thing as well so yeah if you want to Stay we'll put the link to it below um But otherwise thank you so much for Coming on the show and uh we'll see you Guys next time my pleasure thank you