Keynotes by Casago

Steve V2: Welcome to Keynotes, a
podcast just for Casago homeowners.

This is where we explore how to get
the most out of your relationship with

Casago, learn tips and tricks on how
to make more income with your property,

and learn a little bit about the short
term rental industry along the way.

I've been a vacation rental nerd since
my 20s, and the team has finally let

me have this podcast so I can share
everything I've learned with you.

I'm your host, Steve Schwab,
and this is Keynotes.

Hey, welcome to Keynotes.

I'm your host, Steve Schwab.

Today we're talking to Juan
Carlos and Flor from Costa Rica.

They've been with Casago now for a little
bit less than a year and have found some

great growth as they've gone forward.

And we'll be talking a little bit
about their approach to hospitality and

how they think about homeowners guys.

Welcome to the show.

Steve.

It's nice to be here.

Yeah, it's really great to

have you

.
So you came on with Casago a
little less than a year ago.

Can you tell me a little bit about
how you ended up getting interested

in , the short term rental industry.

Speaker 3: Sure.

So yeah, we have been in the hospitality
industry for, for a long time, right?

We own and run hotels,
restaurants in Costa Rica.

We saw that short term rentals was
an excellent opportunity to continue

growing basically in the market.

So we're operating from Haco beach.

And so there's a lot of development going
over there, uh, condos and everything.

And that was a great opportunity
to use our hospitality background

to, to continue growing.

Steve V2: How about you, Flor?

How did you get into it?

Speaker 2: This is my first
experience in vacation rental.

So I worked before for
hotels, Juan Carlos.

So we have like a previous experience in
hospitality, but not in vacation rentals.

So, um, it was my first job.

I started with the company in January.

Wow.

Speaker 3: Yeah, that was very
interesting in January when we started

because I remember Flor and me,
the first day that we started with

Casa, that's like what I was saying.

Okay.

So this is new to us, right?

Vacation rentals that we, we were sure
that we're going to learn a lot this year.

Right.

And it was going to be very fast.

Steve V2: Yeah.

You guys have come along really well.

And while there's a lot of technical
expertise to learn within it, I feel

like you have the hospitality mindset
coming from restaurants and hotels,

understanding that service industry,
just a really solid foundation in how

to take care of homeowners and guests
just innately has come from you guys.

Have you seen any similarities
between running restaurants

and short term rentals?

Speaker 3: Sure, definitely.

The hospitality part is really important.

And also the fact that we already
were running housekeeping,

maintenance, a guest service, right?

I mean, all the hospitality elements
were definitely very important.

But one thing that we realized from
the beginning, because this is a

different type of business, right?

Was the owner centricity right of the
short term rental, which is completely

different than how hotels are right so
basically understanding that our clients

the owner right and we're taking care of
his or her condo right and receiving his

renters or his guest and everything else.

And that was a very important part of it.

Steve V2: Yeah, yeah,
there's a big paradigm shift.

Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that the key
for both for owners and for the guest.

It's the anticipation of needs for both.

Yeah.

That's important for this business
and communication, of course.

Steve V2: Yeah, yeah, I mean,
man, you touched on a couple

of really great things there.

Balancing those needs between
homeowners and guests.

When you provide a really great stay
for a guest, you're really serving that

owner, ? Because that owner has better
guests, they have better reviews, they

have people coming back over and over.

So part of taking care of that
homeowner is taking care of that

guest, but The balance of making sure
that , you're taking care of both,

but, , our fiduciary always being to
that homeowner , is certainly , the

big shift there, right, in paradigm.

Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that
also is the key of your business.

So, if you have big guests,
uh, coming back, so you have

more business every time.

Steve V2: Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Tell me a little bit about your
philosophy and approach on hospitality.

, What are some of the key
tenets that you think about in

the short term middle space?

Speaker 2: Creating experience
for guests, that's very important.

And as we mentioned before,
anticipation of needs.

For us, , that's the key.

Communication.

.
Speaker 3: So you're
receiving these guests, right?

, you're the host to these guests and,
and creating that experience, uh, let's.

Basically those guests come
back because they want to come

back to your condos, right?

To your place, but also
them telling other friends,?

That they should come and have
the Casago experience, right?

Which is different.

Steve V2: With you guys being the local
owners of Casago, , , what makes Casago

unique compared to other services in
your markets for those homeowners?

Speaker 3: The first thing definitely
is that even though it's a franchise

and an international company, it's still
local and it feels local in the market,

?
We are over there.

We understand the market in Hakko.

Also, our, our office is there, right?

And so we have that contact with the,
with the guests, with the owners, right?

And everything else.

So I think that's, a international
company, but a local is very important.

But the other thing is
the customer experience.

What you get is.

standards, right?

Yeah.

Training.

So basically we know that for the owner
or for the guest, the level of service

they're going to get is different, ? It's
more consistent, more personalized.

, , and I think that's a big key, right?

So, so when we were talking to local
people in HACO, , and they have

maybe smaller companies over there,

?
They don't have that support, that
backup, that level of service, ? Or

very big ones, which are the same.

. So in that sense, I think there's a big
trust when we come with the Casago brand

and big expectation from people, right.

That we're coming to the market,
you know, they're excited, you know,

to have a, their homes with us.

. And I think that's very important.

Yeah.

Speaker 2: Yeah.

I think that it's a combination.

So in the market, you can find
like maybe technology, but you

don't have like customer service
or they are not like owner centric.

And I think that Casago, they have
everything, a combination of technology,

customer service, they're owner centric,
property care, everything in one company.

Steve V2: It really hits that sweet spot
where you have that international reach

and enterprise tools and technology,
but the owner is still there, on

the ground, being the expert in the
market, and, you know, Being able to

make decisions as a local business
for what's best for those owners,

for those guests, for the community.

Speaker 3: And that's interesting when
you, when you put it like that too,

because before vacation rentals, we were
in hospitality in the market, right?

So we have been there for many years.

And we understand not just The
guest destination, but we also

understand the people that we work
with and all those complexities,

?
So it definitely definitely
makes us same that expertise is

very important for everything

Steve V2: It's impossible to do
this without a local owner who truly

understands the community The culture
just the lay the land the economics and

the needs and wants of that community
and homeowners and guests So we have

something inside a Casago and Flor.

You've mentioned it earlier.

I want to explore it a little bit more.

We have this credo and the first
tenant of the credo is being owner

centric, the owner centric approach.

Can you tell me what that
means to you in your own words?

Speaker 2: I think that, , for us,
it's to put, , the owner needs is

the center of everything because
here's where you have their goals.

So we need to work
according with their goals.

So, , all the decisions that we make are
based on their needs and their goals.

Speaker 3: The fact that the
owner is trusting us, , to take

care of his home, , or his condo.

I think that's very important,
? And so we, we have to gain

that trust back too, right?

By, by definitely putting the
owner first, ? And their interests.

Steve V2: Yeah, absolutely., I
think it makes a big difference.

, you hear a lot of companies talking
about guests, guests, guests.

And when you go to Airbnb and the
other OTAs, it's very guest centric.

But at the end of the day,
these homeowners are the owners

of the product and the supply.

And we have a fiduciary to
them putting them at the

center of all of our decisions.

Like you said, for is really the big
difference maker that we put into

words as a primary principle of how we
all decide to operate as a community.

How do you implement some of the owner
centric mindset, , on a day to day basis?

What are some of the practices
you do to help facilitate that?

Speaker 2: I think the most important
is to be, like, responsive with

them and to keep the communication.

I used to speak, , with them,
like, all weeks, . If they have any

questions, uh, they know that if
they text me or they send me an email

they will get a response very soon.

So, I think that that's one of the keys
with them, uh, to be like very responsive

and to give like a clear communication.

Yeah.

Speaker 3: Definitely, and that
we're there for them, right?

Each owner is different, right, and they
have their own needs, , but listening

to them, , and us being there for
them too, I think is very important.

Yeah.

Yeah, be transparent like
Laura was saying too.

Steve V2: Do you have any stories that
demonstrate why Casago would be a good

choice for local homeowners to tell?

Speaker 2: Yes.

So, I remember one of the
owners that we have right now,

so it was a few months ago.

At the beginning, I had
like a few of the owners.

You know, the development is new.

And even if we don't have like a
lot of reservations, maybe because

it's our rainy season, we have
small things with the owners.

So I keep like getting like message
and emails and it was me at the moment.

So I remember that he sent me a message
during the weekend, I think, uh, over

during the night and at the next day it
was like off and I forgot to response.

So the next day of one day
I was sending a message.

And I think that he was like upset
because I didn't respond to his questions.

So I understood in that moment
that he needs attention.

So I think that from that moment, I
started , if he sent me a message or

email, I like respond immediately.

So the communication that we
have right now, it's nicer.

And I think that now
he's very happy with us.

And he keep mentioned that's
why he is with CASAGO because

we know what we're doing.

Every week he's asking And he's
confident that we are taking care of

the unit and that we are working for
them and that we know what we are doing.

Steve V2: that's great.

Speaker 3: Yeah.

Also, for instance, with this, the owner,
the same, many of them are maybe first

time owners, , of a short term rental.

So it's important, right?

Not to only understand their needs,
, but to be with them, , also let

them know what a owning a vacation
rental is, ? Because there's many,

many important parts of it, right?

So I think that's really, really nice.

And another thing that we have been
doing too, is that since maybe it's

their first home they buy in HACO, ? We
have a partnerships with different

restaurants, with different tours,
with different things in the community.

That basically , have allowed us to give
them, , the opportunity for a new owner

to go on and explore more their community
where they're put at home, right?

So that they can go maybe to a
restaurant, maybe they can go try

this, ? We have done it also with spas,
with yoga studios and different things.

So I think that's very nice because we
want them to also, You know, sometimes

it's an investment only, but we also want
them to, to enjoy their, their new place.

Steve V2: Yeah.

I , those experiences are so
important and a lot of these

investments are lifestyle investments.

, they're investing for the financials.

Yes.

But there's also a lifestyle element
that goes along with it, right?

The privilege of being able to
enjoy a beautiful place off seasons

or whenever it's , not booked.

Speaker 3: Sure.

And we can see that when we have,
we just started basically, right?

Our first homes went, went live, not
like very recently, and we already

have been getting owners recommending
to other owners, , to work with us,

, even from different places, right?

So, so I think that shows exactly that
experience that you're talking about.

Steve V2: Yeah.

Speaker 3: Yeah.

That

Steve V2: word of mouth is the
temperature check to see if your

homeowners are happy or not.

. So really cool.

So if a homeowner wants to get a hold
of you to find out more information

about property management services
by Casago, what email or phone number

should they be reaching out with

Speaker 2: Costa Rica?

P.

m.

at That's uh, my email so
they can contact me anytime.

And is

Steve V2: there an office phone
number that they can reach out to you?

Speaker 2: Yes, our contract code is
506 and the phone number is 40379096.

Perfect.

Steve V2: Guys, thanks
so much for coming on.

What a pleasure to be able
to talk to you and catch up.

And we'll be doing it soon.

And we're looking forward to hosting
Costa Rica too, I think, too.

Yeah, I can't wait for that.

So that'll be exciting.

Thank you again so much guys.