Keynotes by Casago

Speaker: Welcome to Keynotes, a
podcast just for Costco homeowners.

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

Costco, 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, and
today we are with Greg and Stacy

Wesson from Sun River, Oregon.

Guys, welcome to the show.

Thank you.

Speaker 2: Thanks for having us, Steve.

Speaker: Yeah, glad to have you guys here.

We've known each other now for,
is it coming up on three years?

Speaker 2: Yes, just about three years,

Speaker: I think.

Isn't that great?

Speaker 2: Yeah.

Speaker: I remember meeting you
guys over there in the, at the mill.

Old Mill and Bend, yeah.

The Old Mill and Bend, and I'd
just gotten off my motorcycle.

I'd been riding a motorcycle from
Montana to Arizona, and I made a detour

to meet you guys, and I was like, well,
we'll get off the motorcycle and call

them, and literally I threw my leg
over the motorcycle to get off, turned

around, and, There you guys were.

It was right there on the spot.

We had a really great dinner.

It was like an immediate connection.

Really enjoyed that day.

Uh, getting to meet you
guys the first time.

Speaker 3: Yeah, we were, we were blown
away that you would come all that way

on a motorcycle and have dinner with us.

Speaker: That was really fun.

That was a fun day.

You guys are generational in
Sun River as property managers.

How'd you guys get into it?

Speaker 2: So, yeah, my mom was
cleaning houses for second homes.

40 years ago and my dad and
a real estate buddy thought,

Hey, we could rent those out.

And so they got some contacts from my
mom and that's how the business started.

And I've come and gone several times.

And the last time I came in and took
over as general manager and have been

working in the business for about 10
years, Greg got into it five years ago, 10

Speaker 3: years

Speaker: ago,

Speaker 3: 2012.

And you were a school
teacher before this, right?

Right.

Right.

Majority of my early years
were restaurant work.

My mother had been a school
teacher, and I had just come out

of a divorce, and so I was kind of
looking to change some things up.

So I went and I got my Master's of Arts in
Teaching, and by the time I got done with

that program, The jobs were not in Oregon,
the jobs were in China, the jobs were in

North Dakota, the jobs were in Alaska, and
I really didn't want to leave the area.

So, I stuck around, I reconnected with
Stacy, we'd gone to high school together.

Um, but didn't, we ran in different
circles, didn't really know each

other, but reconnected with her and
got involved in the business, so.

All that hospitality
background came to play.

Speaker: Good hospitality background.

I guess the thinking that you were a
school teacher was from your degree.

Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I had that.

And I did, I subbed a couple years and
just was not able to land a job there, so.

Well, we're glad you
didn't and you came to

Speaker: this field.

We love having you here.

Guys, as you've taken over the company and
ran with it, can you tell me a little bit

about your approach to hospitality when
it comes to both guests and homeowners?

Speaker 2: Yeah, we are very relational.

That's how we We work with our clients,
whether it's the owner or the renter.

Life is hard and vacationing is hard, even
though you're getting away and having fun.

You know, costs and things
not working right can really

make your vacation go south.

And having a vacation home and having
to trust somebody with an investment

you have that may be, in our case,
a couple hours away or overseas, as

we have owners that haven't probably
seen their home in six years.

And they know that when they do
come, everything looks as it should.

Communication is the number one thing to
have, because if you can't communicate

with owners or renters often, then they
start thinking that you don't care.

Speaker: It's a high trust relationship

and so that communication builds trust.

Speaker 3: I know for me and my
background, one of the restaurants I

worked at one of their core beliefs
was you take care of the guest and

the business will take care of itself.

And that's certainly right here, except
that we have Two guests in a sense.

We have the owners and we have the
actual guests coming in So we have

to take care of both of those and in
doing so the business takes care of

Speaker: itself.

Yeah Yeah, it's a dual agency, isn't it?

Speaker 3: Yeah.

Speaker: So speaking of both guests
and homeowners inside of Kasaga, we

have something called Owner centric.

It's a philosophy that
we all subscribe to.

Can you guys tell me what it means to you?

Speaker 2: I Think for me, it's the
easiest thing because Without the

owner, we don't have a business.

Because we don't own any personally.

We are renting and managing
other people's homes.

And so, they are our customer
first and foremost because they

provide us with the item, the house,
the tool, to be able to rent it.

And so, without them, we have nothing.

And I think that's making sure that they
feel that, that they know that, that hey,

we're so glad to have you as a family.

It's part of our brand that we're
sharing their home with, and I think

that's super important when, um, you're
talking to people, because I know a lot

of people are guest first, but at the
end of the day, you can be guest first

all day, but if you don't have anything
to rent, then you're, you're in trouble.

Speaker 3: Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's definitely different being
in a business where you don't have

something, you're selling a physical
item, and so you have to take care of

that home because it is your business.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Speaker: Yeah.

And

Speaker 3: it makes sense that
in the orange grade it comes

Speaker: first.

You know, I, I always think of guests,
you know, and making sure that we're

taking great care of guests is actually
serving that homeowner and make sure that

those properties are being protected.

We have the right guests in there.

They're getting a great
experience, so they're leaving

five star reviews, which help the
algorithms , and rebooking processes.

But while we have a huge
responsibility to those guests.

Our fiduciary is to those homeowners
because you know we're the stewards of

their properties and that's in many cases
like a lifelong relationship we have

with these homeowners and it transcends
just the transactional business.

We often have relationships
with these people that last for

generations, especially you know,
you know, Your cases, right?

You know, with a generational company,
I know that you guys have talked to me

about owners that have been there, signed
up with your dad and are still there.

, Making sure that we're owner centric
is what keeps those homeowners

around for a long, long time.

That generational thing.

You guys are really
involved in the community.

I know you do a lot there.

Can you tell me how that
plays into your thoughts in

hospitality and how you operate?

Speaker 2: For us, community is
important because, you know, we

have vacation rentals in places that
aren't always vacation rental areas.

Or, we still have some full time
owners that, you know, It's mostly

vacationerals, so you're going to
have vacationerals people around you.

But I think connecting with
them and that they know that we

actually care about the community.

We're not just putting heads in
beds, which is a term thrown around

by a lot of people that just think
that's what vacationerals is about.

We want people to experience the
community, enjoy the community while

they're there, and learn about the area.

And I've done a lot of work with boards.

We're actually run by an HOA.

And I've spent the last several
years really bringing that

relationship back to the forefront
of it being a healthy relationship.

I'd say over the 40
years it's come and gone.

And by connecting with them, working with
them, they now know me and they know,

Oh, I'm going to take care of something.

If a renter's causing problems, they
know I'm going to go take care of it.

We actually, I helped create a nuisance
property rule that they implemented.

If I hadn't been part of their communities
in the past, they probably would have

done it without a vacation rental manager.

And that's, that really hurts.

You need that voice from us to tell
you how to keep our guests in line.

Speaker: Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely.

You know, when I hear you say that and
speak about the community in that way, I

always think about loving the community.

And I hear you guys often speak very
lovingly about the communities and instead

of using the community, which I hear.

other people doing at times talking about,
you know, they're just heads in beds or

doesn't really matter what the neighbors
think is their property, whatever.

And that's really the wrong approach.

And, you know, speaking to you day to
day, having conversations with you, your,

your love of the community really comes
through and making sure that you guys

are not just stewards of the homeowners,
which is, you know, our, like I said,

our fiduciary, but also your stewards of
the community, which is really important.

Speaker 3: I think for us,
it's not somewhere we came

to and started renting homes.

Stacy grew up in Sun river.

She would ride her bike down to
the local pool and swim and then

go to the local ice cream shop.

And a lot of her foundational
memories are there.

For me, I moved there
while I was in high school.

My first job was at Sun River Resort.

I spent my high school years there
and that's where my parents lived.

So it's more than a place for us to have
homes and have other people experience.

It's having people experience
what we got to experience.

I started vacationing there in 1986.

And so I experienced that part first.

And then I got to experience
living there and now I get to

experience sharing that area.

So yeah, it's absolutely
part of who we are.

Speaker: What a great way of passing the
baton to the next generation of people

coming to experience something that
you guys have grown up with and loved.

Really cool.

We talked a little bit about the
owner centric model and what it means.

How do you guys put that into
practice on a day to day basis?

Speaker 2: I put it into
practice quite often.

I record videos for my
owners and send that to them.

And they're just usually
a couple of minutes.

So they get an idea of what's going on.

And the owner, you know, owner one time
go, you know, the emails are great, but

having video from you, just, I see you
and I can connect with you while we're

up in Canada and not near our home.

And I just think it's those
personal touches of reaching

out, being transparent.

What I loved about Costco is
that being transparent with

owners, That's all they want.

And yes, you have to have some
really tough conversations sometimes,

but by showing them that we're
not going to hide things from

them, we want their best interest.

And when we work with them, it just shows
and they always know what we're doing.

It's never a surprise.

. Speaker: Do you have a memorable story
that really demonstrates, , your values

and The way you think about homeowners,

Speaker 2: we think of our homeowners,
I'd say it's family because some of

them have been with us for a long time.

We have a particular homeowner who I think
he's been with us all 40 years, if not 38.

His son was at the one firm
that lost everybody in 9 11.

You know, and so we're
there for the losses.

He lost his wife two years ago.

And so we're there for these
big events, even though we're

just manager vacation home.

But he calls me all the time and he
asked for me and half the time he

just wants to make a reservation.

But I take that call every time.

It may not be my job anymore,
but I just love talking to our

owners and he's still traveling.

And it's great to see that.

I think he's 95 now, but it's just,
he's been with us for so long.

It's like a family member.

And.

We see that with a lot of our owners,
especially now since some of our

homeowners have been with us 20, 30 years.

We're now seeing the transition
of them being generational where

their kids are now taking over.

And now they have different
needs and wants for the house.

And in rental, adding things that they,
you know, being younger, they know some

more things like TVs are a big one.

You know, we see a lot of the kids come
in and go, okay, we need all new TVs.

It's like, yes, thank you.

But it's just a relational business.

And I love that.

And I love that we've known these
people for years in some way

that we're part of their family.

Speaker 3: Yeah.

I know we've had homes who, they've
been with us a long time, and then

they look out and they see this
shiny new object come into town.

They say, oh, we'll try that.

And then a year later, they're
coming back saying it's not the same.

They don't function the same way, they
don't treat us the same way, they don't

take care of our house the way you do.

And so they come back to us, and we've
had at least two that I can think

of in my time that have done that.

Speaker: You know, you can
undercut commissions, but

you can't commoditize trust.

And building those relationships that
transcend business with your homeowners,

it becomes a love letter often.

Like, you know, the fact that
you're taking care of somebody,

you're going out of the way in non
transactional ways just to love on them.

When there's problems, they
call you to fix them instead of,

you know, calling to fire you.

Or, when they decide maybe it's
time to try something else and they

come back, they start to understand
the value of that relationship

because, you know, it's human nature.

Those become letters back to us as
property managers, you know, through

our communities and I think that
you guys really exemplify that well.

If anyone wants to get a hold of y'all
to talk about property management in

Sun River, how would they find you?

Speaker 2: So yeah, we have obviously
our website@cascaravacations.com,

and then I am the one that
typically talks to the owner.

, 5 4 1 3 0 6 3 8 1 1.

It's the joy of us as we're boots on
the ground there all the time, have

staff seven days a week that can help.

Speaker: Yeah.

Guys, thanks so much for coming on.

Appreciate it.

Always such a pleasure
talking to you guys.

Thanks.

Talk to you soon.

All right.