How do I turn around short-term rentals that aren’t making money?

Who is Emily?

Emily is a Streamlined Education mentorship client and Superhost with short-term rentals in the Smokies, Florida, and Nashville.

Before joining the mentorship, Emily and her family had invested quickly and scaled their portfolio fast. She owned three properties and had been managing her STR business herself for about a year.

At the same time, she had two young children and had left her corporate career—only to find that running her STRs had essentially become another full-time corporate job.

The goal had been to create time freedom and build financial wealth. Instead, she was spending more than 40 hours a week on the business without getting the financial results she wanted.

What does a “dumpster fire” STR business actually look like?

That is the phrase Emily uses to describe where her business was before mentorship.

She had already spent a year trying to figure things out herself—watching YouTube videos, joining other mentorships and attending group calls—but the time she was putting into the business wasn’t translating into the results she wanted.

Her properties were in the red. Across the portfolio, occupancy generally hovered around 35–40 percent. And Emily was spending 40+ hours a week trying to do everything herself. Something had to change.

What changed after joining the mentorship?

Emily says the biggest change in her business came from joining Elevate and then moving into Streamlined.

Instead of trying to determine what she should work on next, she had people in her corner and guidelines around what deserved her attention.

“That’s what got me out of the dumpster fire.”

With the right systems and processes in place, Emily went from spending more than 40 hours a week in the business to approximately two hours a week—even while managing more properties.

What did the numbers do?

Across Emily’s properties, occupancy increased from approximately 35–40 percent to 65–80 percent.

One of the biggest turnarounds happened at her Orlando property. Emily says they had been coming out of pocket almost every month, and she had reached the point where she was ready to let the property go.

After working with the coaches to navigate the property and its competitive market, the Orlando property became profitable.

Her seven-bedroom Pigeon Forge cabin was already her best-performing property—but there was still room to improve.

In 2025, Emily says she made an additional $30,000 from that property by tweaking her pricing and putting the right systems and operations in place.

She netted $90,000 from that property alone.

Can you actually grow while spending less time in the business?

For Emily, yes.

Before mentorship, she was putting more than 40 hours a week into her STR business.

Today, she estimates that she spends about two hours a week in the business, giving her time to focus on other things she enjoys.

And that reduction in time hasn't meant shrinking the portfolio.

Emily owns three properties, operates an arbitrage unit in Nashville, and co-hosts another property. At the time of her testimony, she was potentially adding two more co-hosting properties—which would bring the portfolio to nearly seven.

Co-hosting wasn't even on Emily's radar when she joined in 2024. Being surrounded by other STR operators introduced her to additional ways she could grow without continuing to use her own capital.

What made the difference?

Emily had already consumed plenty of information before joining.

What changed was having a clear direction for what to focus on next—and then actually implementing it.

She credits working with the coaches, consistently putting in the effort, and making time to implement what she was learning with helping turn the properties around.

“It has been the one thing—the one thing—that has really transformed my business.”

For Emily, the value also came from being surrounded by coaches and community members who were actually operating in the STR industry and wanted to see her succeed.

What is Emily’s advice to another host?

Implement. Emily’s advice isn't to simply consume more information. It is to actually take what you're learning and put it into action.

“Don’t just retain, but do it.”

And for someone considering investing in mentorship, she says:

“Take the leap, like make the jump. You’re not going to regret it. You don’t regret when you invest in yourself.”

Her advice applies to new hosts, too. If you have one property and are just preparing to launch, Emily recommends putting the right foundations in place from the beginning.

In her words:

“Set it up right from the beginning. Don’t get to the dumpster fire.”

Where can I see how this program works?

You can read more client stories on the Streamlined testimonials page, compare the different paths into short-term rentals in our short-term rental education hub, or explore the resources available through Streamlined Education.

Individual results vary. Emily’s markets, properties, revenue, occupancy, time commitment, portfolio growth, and outcomes are her own and are not a projection of what another host will experience.