It occurred to me that you might welcome a little life-affirming news and, honestly, we feel that we have plenty to spare here in the High Desert right now.
Since the County of San Bernardino lifted its shut-down order for short-term vacation rentals just before the Memorial Day weekend, we have seen a truly remarkable surge in bookings in our managed properties portfolio — our vacancy rate is averaging less than 1 percent and nightly rental rates are more than 50 percent higher than last June.
Some of this increased activity was clearly fueled by Southern Californians eager to jump in their cars for the short drive to our beautiful corner of the desert as stay-at-home orders were lifted. But we have yet to see any fall off in this high demand — even as we enter our normally slower summer season.
We are also seeing a pronounced jump in interest in both our new-home construction and existing home remodeling activities. And for the first time we are talking to people who want a home not as a vacation rental investment property (though there are still plenty of those folks too) but as a principal residence.
Here’s the common refrain: “I have discovered that I can really work from home and why not do that in a lower-cost, far less crowded and naturally beautiful place.” One person I spoke with last week just accepted a very good job in the Los Angeles area and his new boss said, “I expect you to be in the office one week a month.” This person then purchased a house here and plans to take a motel room near his work four nights a month.
PAUSE HOUSES LAUNCH
In a previous note I told you that we were building two 560-square-foot single family residences in north Joshua Tree that would be offered as essentially luxurious hotel suites in the short-term vacation rental market. Today I am pleased to announce the completion (and first rentals) of Pause House. This exciting project was prompted by the growing interest in smaller homes — something we have championed for a long time. We had a soft opening two weekends ago and are already fully-booked through mid-July.
NEW PROPERTIES JOIN OUR PORTFOLIO!
We continue to add exciting new properties to our portfolio of managed short-term vacation rentals. Just one example is called On the Rocks!
On the Rocks! is a sleek modern home tucked inconspicuously against spectacular boulders in the desirable Monument Manor neighborhood in south Joshua Tree a stone’s throw from the entrance to the national park.
The property where the house was built had been owned by a family for several generations and the current generation decided that the time had come to build thoughtfully on the property.
See our listing for On the Rocks! here. You can click through to Airbnb or Vrbo to book the property once you get hooked by the compelling photography!
ADDING TO OUR TEAM
Homestead Modern is growing rapidly. And I am pleased to announce that we have made a significant addition to our team to allow that growth to continue. Mollie B. Casey was recently named our Chief Operating Officer. Mollie, who moved recently to the High Desert, has a deep background in the hospitality industry, with particular focus in the boutique hotel segment. She is also a certified sommelier and a wine & spirits educator with over 15 years’ experience in the food and beverage industry, so well-poised to lead our initiative into enhanced guest experiences.
