Christina & John McNaught: Short-Term Rental Experts

06/14/2026

Want to know how a great short term rental deal dies before closing?

The wrong lender.

We’ve always been more focused on one question: can this lender actually get the deal done?

This duplex wasn’t our first short term rental. But it was the first property we bought with the sole intention of turning it into one. 🌴

And it taught us something most investors learn the hard way.

The best lender isn’t always the one with the lowest rate. It’s the one who can actually get the deal done. I see this so much as a realtor!

When we bought this duplex, we knew exactly what we were trying to do. The plan was BRRRR before BRRRR was the cool thing everyone talked about online.

We used an FHA loan, put very little down, lived in one side, renovated both units, increased the value, then refinanced into a DSCR loan and pulled our capital back out to buy the next property.

The plan worked.

But here’s what we’ve learned after years of buying short term rentals. A quarter point on the interest rate rarely makes or breaks a deal. Specially if you’re going to refinance it. The wrong lender absolutely can.

We’ve seen investors spend weeks shopping rates only to find out their lender doesn’t really understand short term rentals.

Then suddenly the income isn’t being viewed correctly. The guidelines change. The deal gets delayed. Or worse, it dies altogether.

Meanwhile, a lender who finances short term rentals every day can often navigate challenges that other lenders can’t.

Don’t get us wrong. Rates matter. But for us, they don’t matter much if you never make it to the closing table.

These days we choose lenders based on experience, communication, creativity, and their ability to get the deal done. The rate is part of the conversation. For us, it’s just not the whole conversation.

So we’re curious how everyone else shops for financing. Are you chasing the lowest rate, or are you looking for the lender most likely to get you to closing?

06/12/2026

Y'all really don't believe me when I say build the backyard out. Cool. Meet two houses. 🤷‍♀️

Same area. Both 4 bed. Both sleep 14. On paper they are basically twins.
Home A is pacing at $147,558 right now and finished 2025 at $216,000.
Home B is pacing at $95,072 right now and finished 2025 at $125,000.

That is a $91,000 gap last year on two houses that look almost identical in a spreadsheet.

So what's the difference? Look at the backyards.

Home A (the higher earner) has a more normal design. Still good, just not flashy. What it has is a killer game room and a backyard that got built OUT. Sport court. Open pool. Room to actually play.

Home B (the lower earner) honestly has the cuter STR design inside. Awesome bunk beds. Really well done. But it kept the pool cage and there is no designated game room or outdoor amenties.

You tell me which one you are booking with 14 people and a long weekend.
This is exactly why on our homes the first thing we do is put up a fence. The second thing? We pull out the pool cage. (More on that soon 😂) I have about 10 examples of this with numbers to share, so this isn't just a one off.

Pretty design gets the like. A built out backyard gets the booking.
Keep the cage or lose it? Tell me below. 👇

06/11/2026

STR Stuff Nobody Talks About: Part 5.

Ceiling fans. Specifically, ceiling fan remotes.
This is the hill I will die on.

Picture it.

A family pulls up after traveling all day. Mom has a sleeping three year old on her hip. Dad is carrying half the house in luggage. They finally get the front door open, walk into a dark room, and Mom does what every human being on earth does.

She reaches for the light switch.
Except there isn't one.
There is a fan. With a remote. Somewhere.

Maybe it's on the nightstand. Maybe it's in a drawer. Maybe the batteries are dead. Maybe the last guest left it in a completely different room.

Now everyone is standing in the dark using phone flashlights before they've even set down a bag.

(And before anyone comes at me, yes, in our homes we make sure those remotes are there and working before every check in. But not everyone does.)

Here's the thing.
That first moment tells your guest everything.

It tells them whether this stay is going to feel easy or whether they're going to be solving little problems all week.

You either greet them with a deep breath or with one more thing to figure out.

And tired people remember which one they walked into.

Listen, I get it. The remote fans look sleek. They photograph beautifully.

But pretty doesn't help a mom carrying a sleeping toddler find the light.

As both an owner and a property manager, we are obsessed with lighting. Every room should light up exactly where guests expect it to. We even label switches because nobody should have to stand there flipping five of them trying to find the porch light.

The best guest experience is the one they never have to think about.

Every tiny point of friction chips away at how a guest feels. And how they feel is the entire game.

One confusing fan doesn't bother you because you know where the remote is.

To an exhausted family after a long travel day, it's one more thing that doesn't work the way they expected.

Hardwire the light. Label the switch. Make it boringly obvious.

Run your home like the people walking through the front door are tired, carrying a sleeping kid, and reaching for a light switch that needs to be there.

Because they are.

Okay. I feel better now. Please tell me I'm not alone.

What's your completely irrational STR pet peeve that drives you crazy every single time?

06/09/2026

This one may make some of ya'll twitch!
We allow pets in every single property we own.

STR Stuff No One Talks About. Part 4.
Pet friendly or not?

This one starts a fight every single time.
There are owners who act like allowing a dog is the fastest way to destroy a property.

Then there are owners like us.

We own 5 short term rentals and have welcomed pets in every one of them. And honestly? We've never really had an issue.

We charge a one time pet fee, per dog and every dollar goes straight to our cleaners for the extra work after checkout. We're not trying to make money on pets. We're trying to remove a barrier to booking.
Because here's what we've found.

Especially in larger homes, somebody in the group almost always has a dog. And if the dog can't come, sometimes the whole booking goes somewhere else.

That's a pretty expensive stand to take over a yellow lab. 🙂

Are there properties where a no pet policy makes total sense?

Absolutely.

But for us, being pet friendly has meant more bookings, more repeat guests, and more families making memories together.

So now let's do this.

🐾 Pet friendly
or
🚫 No pets allowed

06/09/2026

Oh no.. not another realtor posting their listing... ;) Stick with me, because I'm not just another realtor, and this is not just another listing.

New friends, meet Shangri-La.

When the owners were ready to sell, they came to John and me, the expert STR agents here in Bradenton, because they wanted a team that understands the ins and outs of short term rentals, not just lists them. We were so honored they trusted us with something this special.

And this isn't a pretty house hoping to cash flow someday. It's a 9 bedroom private resort on 3.6 acres of the Manatee River, fully furnished and turnkey, already a thriving Airbnb that booked over $407,000 in the last 12 months with more on the books.

Oh, and it has a Lucas Lagoon pool. If you know, you know. Plus an illuminated dance floor, an actual, light up, best party of your life dance floor. I'll give you a second.

That's before we even get to the private pickleball court. The outdoor kitchen. The waterfront gazebo. Home theater. Sauna. Fitness room. Boat house and fishing pier. Kayaks and paddleboards. Heated spa. The kind of place you walk into and immediately start scheming about how to never check out.

Listed at $2.9M, and one of the most special properties we've ever had the keys to. Now go check out this dance floor! and let me know if you want a private tour!

This 7102 square feet Single Family home has 9 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms. It is located at 1030 Mill Creek Rd, Bradenton, FL.

06/08/2026

Are we the only people in Bradenton Florida who get genuinely FIRED UP about buying a failing short term rental?? 😂

At the end of 2025 we bought this 5 bedroom, 3.5 bath home in NW Bradenton knowing it was nowhere near its potential.

Most people saw an underperforming Airbnb. We saw opportunity.

Since then we've added:

✔️ Pickleball
✔️ Turf
✔️ Putting green
✔️ Game room
✔️ Playhouse and swings
✔️ NOW The largest private splash pad at any vacation rental in Bradenton 💦

Here are the numbers, because we don't do vague around here.

Last year this property generated $140,085 with an ADR of $633.

Today, it's now "Splash of Paradise" and it already has $151,482 booked for 2026, and the ADR has climbed to $755.

And here's the fun part. We're only sitting at 57.61% occupancy.

A lot of those bookings were already on the books when we bought it, which means those guests are getting every single one of the upgrades while still paying the old rates. 😂

The splash pad wrapped at the end of May. New splash pad photos went live yesterday. The surface still gets its final coat later this month.

So that $755 ADR? That's before the splash pad has even had a chance to do its thing. We fully expect it to climb from here. Our other splash pad house is on the same street, is already sitting at over $300k for 2026. Yep, that's right....

So now we get to sit back and watch what happens. 👀

This right here is why we love what we do.

We own.
We manage.
We sell.
And most importantly, we educate.

So tell us, are you team buy the underperformer and fix it, or team buy it already dialed in and turnkey? 👇 or team start from scratch?! No Wrong Answer.

Stay tuned, y'all. This one is going to be fun to watch. 🙌

06/08/2026

Okay so today's talk isn't a super fun topic. No pretty pool reveal, no cute amenity. Today we're talking about nails. Stay with me, because this boring little thing might be costing you thousands a year.
Let's talk about your third nail. Yep. I went there.

Here's the deal y'all. There's basically one spot on your whole house where you can spend almost nothing and get a massive return, and it's adding a third nail to the metal clips or straps that tie your roof down to your walls.

When Florida tightened up the wind mitigation rules, homes with fewer than three nails in those connectors stopped qualifying for the discount. Add that third nail and two things happen. Your roof handles hurricane force winds way better, AND your insurance company actually rewards you for it. Quick note, this one is a Florida thing, and we're talking Bradenton and Sarasota since that's our backyard.

Out of all the houses we've sold, I can only think of a couple where adding the third nail didn't make sense. Every other time, it was a no brainer. And it's usually around a $1,000 one time fee.
Let me say that part again real slow. Around a grand, one time, to save a few thousand every single year.

You might already qualify and have no idea, especially in older homes, or if your wind mit report shows your roof to wall attachment as toe nails.

Not sure where you stand? Send me a copy of your wind mit and I'll take a look. And if you're local, I'll point you to the guy we use to get it done. The cool thing is this is for every house, not just investment real estate.

So go dig out your report. Two nails or three? Drop it in the comments and I'll tell you if you're sitting on free money 👇
Photo of little John, checking out a roof LOL

06/06/2026

Ok. Wow. I did NOT expect this much passion in the comments, but I am here for it :)

So for those who don't know us, we're in the Bradenton/Sarasota market, a husband and wife realtor team, and we own 5 successful short term rentals! We've been doing this since 2017. But that's all for another post!

These have been such fun threads to watch. Turns out a LOT of you really know your STR stuff, and that makes me so happy.

Everybody's had a different experience, and honestly that's the whole point. What works like a charm in one spot might be totally different somewhere else.

So far we've talked about being a good neighbor, the washers and dryers we swear by (and the black streak thing nobody warns you about), pool heat and when it's actually worth it, and the outdoor furniture that actually survives our brutal Florida sun. And y'all had OPINIONS, lol.

So let's keep it going. If you're newer to all this and have a question, drop it below. No such thing as a dumb one, and chances are somebody here has already been exactly where you are.

And do me a favor when you chime in, tell us where your rental is! Climate changes everything. What's true for a beach place in Florida might be the complete opposite for a cabin in the mountains, so knowing your spot helps us all give better answers.

Now I'm curious about the stuff nobody actually talks about. Is anyone else labeling EVERYTHING in their house like we do? Does anyone still keep an old school manual lockbox with a real key somewhere on property as a backup? And does anybody still put a physical binder in the house with things to do and how stuff works, on top of all the new digital guidebooks? Throw it at me. 👇

P.S. Dropping this photo here because it's Florida and we're all thinking about water. 😎👇 This is our newest splash pad we just finished and we have to wait a couple more weeks before we can paint it!

06/05/2026

STR Stuff Nobody Talks About: Pool Heaters.

One of the most common questions we get from investors after closing is:

"Do I really need a pool heater in Florida?"

Ummmm... yes. 😂

And one of the most common questions we get from guests is:

"Will the pool be heated when we get there?"

Also yes.

So here's exactly what we buy and why.

We use a 135k BTU Built Right pool heater. With pool heaters, bigger is better.

Here's why we chose Built Right:

✔️ Manufactured in Punta Gorda, Florida

✔️ Designed for Florida's climate

✔️ 5-year parts and labor warranty

✔️ Factory-direct service

That last one is a big deal, because if a compressor goes out, or something goes wrong... we're not waiting weeks for a third-party company to get authorization from a manufacturer, order parts, and then schedule service.

Built Right can often address issues much faster.

Don't ask us how we know this. 😂

We also recommend some type of automation or remote monitoring system.

Honestly, whether you live next door or across the country, I think this is a must.

We can literally pull out our phones and tell you the temperature of every pool we own. That alone is worth the investment.

We keep our pools set to 87 degrees from September through May.

Now here's where we do things a little differently...

(Don't come at me like y'all did on the washer and dryer post. 😆)

We don't charge a separate fee for pool heat.

Before anyone starts typing, I know there are plenty of successful hosts who do.

We've just personally found it creates more headaches than it's worth.

Think about it.
Guest #1 doesn't want pool heat.
Guest #2 checks in tomorrow and does.

Now somebody has to remember to turn it on and make sure the pool is up to temperature before check-in. And if you don't have automation? Now somebody has to physically go to the property to do it. That's just one more thing that can fall through the cracks.

The problem?

Pools don't magically heat up overnight. Depending on conditions, it can take a day or two to get the pool where you want it.

Then there's the expectation game.

The second someone pays extra for pool heat, they suddenly have VERY strong opinions about exactly what temperature the pool should be. 😂 (think hot tub)

And if the heater stops working during their stay?

Now you've got a guest who paid extra for something they aren't receiving.

We've found it creates a much better guest experience to simply keep the pool heated and factor it into our nightly rates.

Guests don't want to feel nickel-and-dimed.

They just want to show up and enjoy their vacation.

That's what's worked for us after years of owning and managing short-term rentals.

Now let's hear it...

How are you handling pool heat?

Do you charge separately or include it?

And do you live near your properties or manage them remotely?