The Lookout

Tuesday Just Became Your Midweek STR Pulse Check

Real-time STR news and updates, current affairs, this week's real host talk, and free tools to boost your game.

NEWSBITES

🏛️ Cayce, SC, Wants to Bar Guests Under 21 From Booking

A revised ordinance goes before the city's Planning Commission today. Beyond the age restriction, it would cap occupancy at 2 guests per bedroom plus 2, require an annual business license and liability insurance, and force hosts to keep each guest's name and phone number on file for 2 years.

FOLLOW THE HEARING →

💰 Guadalupe, CA, Wants to Double Your Guest's Lodging Tax
Voters decide in November whether to raise the city's transient occupancy tax from 6% to 12% on stays under 30 days. Only 5-10 short-term rentals currently exist in the city, so the direct impact is small, but it's a real preview of how easily these votes can double a tax overnight.

SEE THE FULL MEASURE →

📱 Hosts Are Publicly Shaming Guests on TikTok, and It Might Break Airbnb's Own Rules
A trend of "damage walk-through" videos has hosts publicly naming and filming guests after checkout. 2 US hosts, Cassie and Jon, went viral in July for exactly this, except their video wasn't about real damage. Their complaints were a moved ottoman, a misplaced remote, and a lightbulb that didn't work, and the internet mocked them for it instead of siding with them.

READ THE FULL STORY →

🏛️ Federal Judges Push Back on Clark County's Short-Term Rental Crackdown

A 9th Circuit appeals panel appeared skeptical of Clark County, Nevada's short-term rental licensing program during oral arguments on September 14. The county's attorney argued renting out property isn't an inherent right, only to get this from 1 of the 3 judges: "I don't think even California has had the guts to say that."

The panel made no decision. A lower court injunction from last December stays in effect, meaning short-term rental owners in unincorporated Clark County, including most of the Las Vegas Strip, currently need no license to operate while the case continues.

VIEW THE HEARING DETAILS→

In Case You Missed The Friday Roundup

• A beach town found a legal workaround to bring its rental cap back from the dead.
• Airbnb changed what it charges every host.
• Ann Arbor's search volume spiked 160% for 1 football game.
• The EU approved legal cover for banning short-term rentals.
• Tokyo wards started banning new Airbnbs in residential neighborhoods.
• A Vrbo booking can now stack 3 separate costs without you noticing.

READ FRIDAY'S ROUNDUP →

TECH WATCH

Platform status, bugs, and product updates across the tools you use every week.

• Airbnb killed Super Strict 30 and Super Strict 60 cancellation policies on September 15. If you were using either one, Airbnb already auto-migrated you, non-Luxe listings moved to Firm, Luxe listings moved to Strict. Check your cancellation policy now if you haven't already, since the replacement may not be the one you'd have picked yourself.
• Conduit, formerly known as HostAI, isn't the small-host tool it used to be.It's repositioned entirely around hotels and large property managers, with pricing now starting at $649/month. If you're a solo host who signed up for the old HostAI, worth checking whether you're still getting value at this new tier.

HOST CAMP NEWS 📰

• We want to see your project updates. No matter where you're at in the process, just starting, mid-build, or finally wrapping up, post it in the community. These threads are some of the most useful ones on the platform, seeing someone else's real progress, wins and setbacks included, is worth more than another polished case study.
  
  SHOW US WHAT YOU'RE WORKING ON →
  
• Don't have any updates at the minute? Come see what your fellow hosts are up to. Let’s celebrate their wins and learn from their mistakes!
  
  SEE WHAT THEY’RE BUILDING→
  
• Scout Members, don’t forget to book your monthly 1-on-1 call here→

Have You Joined Scout?

Here’s what you get as a Scout Member:

• Monthly 1:1 Call. A real strategy session with one of our coaches.
• Market Reports & Vetted Properties. Fresh deal analysis, every month.
• General Host Forum. Real questions, answered by real hosts.
• Monthly Roundup Calls. Live trends with Rob Abasolo, and what's actually working right now.
• Courses. Arbitrage, glamping, and land hacking, from start to scale.
• Resources. Templates, guides, and spreadsheets, ready to use.
• Discounts & Promo Codes. Real deals on the tools hosts actually use.
• Heart My Listing. Drop your link, get real feedback.
• STR Concierge. Stuck and don't know where to go in the community? Someone's there to point you in the right direction.
• It’s $1 to start your trial, and  $127/month after that.

TAKE THE NEXT STEP IN YOUR STR JOURNEY TODAY→

FREE RESOURCES

Download these free resources to boost your STR game

The Comp Set Worksheet
Find out who you're really competing against before you set your rate, and win against your competition.

BUILD YOUR COMP SET & BEAT ‘EM →

Property Launch Checklist
Everything from utilities to your legal setup to assembling your "Airbnb Avengers," cleaner, handyman, pest control, and more, so nothing slips through before your first guest checks in.

RUN YOUR PRE-LAUNCH CHECK →

Manual Pricing Override Checklist
Override Airbnb's native Smart Pricing before it discounts your highest-value nights around any high-demand event.

KNOW WHEN TO OVERRIDE →

LIVE FROM OUR HOST FORUMS 📣

From Scout:

From The Free Forum

HEART MY LISTING ❤️

Urban Smith Stays, Houston, TX

Escape to Houston's Group downtown retreat, a designer home inspired by Space City itself. Relax in a luxe hot tub, watch movies under the stars, challenge friends to games, and create unforgettable memories in our private backyard oasis.

A private hot tub retreat, an outdoor projector lounge, ping pong and cornhole, a Ms. Pac-Man arcade machine, and a dining table that converts into a pool table. Just minutes from Shell Energy Stadium, Toyota Center, and Daikin Park.

Go heart this listing and support a fellow host. Next time, it could be yours featured here.

GO ♥ THIS LISTING →

YOUR WEEKLY BOOST OF SEROTONIN

Nothing STR-related here. Just good news and good vibes before you go.

Dollywood and the American Eagle Foundation just marked 35 years of protecting America's national bird together. When a storm damaged Dollywood's Eagle Mountain Sanctuary earlier this year, the non-releasable bald eagles who called it home moved to the Foundation's 50-acre conservation campus in Kodak, Tennessee, where they'll now live permanently.

Since the partnership began in 1991, with Dolly Parton herself at the ribbon-cutting, the Foundation has released more than 400 bald eagles back into the wild. Guests can still meet bald eagles up close at Dollywood's Birds of Prey program; the eagles just have a bigger, better home now.

Somewhere, a bald eagle just screeched in approval.

Viva la baldie!

You Made It, Thank You!

Did You Enjoy Our First Ever Edition of The Lookout?

‍

- Team Host Camp

‍