Purpose-Built Short-Term Rentals: How Property Managers Can Drive More Revenue for Their Owners

Source: Purpose-Built Short-Term Rentals: How Property Managers Can Drive More Revenue for Their Owners, VRMA Arrival, Mark Lumpkin.

What It Says

The short-term rental (STR) market has moved past the "accidental" era of 2020–2021. Mark Lumpkin of STR Cribs argues that today’s market is defined by an "amenities arms race" where success requires intentional, purpose-built property design. He outlines three pillars for property managers to maximize owner revenue:

1. Market Awareness: Identifying specific local demands, such as barrel saunas in mountain regions or pickleball courts in group-heavy markets like Scottsdale.
2. Property Maximization: Prioritizing revenue-driving physical changes, such as converting underutilized space into bunk rooms to increase occupancy.
3. Guest Avatars: Moving away from generic design to target specific groups—families, bachelorette parties, or couples—with tailored amenities and aesthetics.

Why It Matters

For property managers, this shift represents a transition from being simple caretakers to acting as "trusted advisors." By guiding owners to reinvest in high-ROI amenities and strategic redesigns, managers can drive higher nightly rates and occupancy. This directly impacts the manager's bottom line through increased commission fees and improved owner retention in an increasingly competitive supply environment.

Useful Signals

• Amenity Trends: High-performing "purpose-built" features now include pickleball courts, resort-style outdoor spaces, and specialized wellness equipment like barrel saunas.
• Occupancy Engineering: Increasing a property’s sleeping capacity (e.g., from 8 to 12 guests) is identified as a primary driver for significant revenue jumps.
• Data over Taste: Successful PMs are coaching owners to ignore personal design preferences in favor of data-driven market demands.
• Portfolio Strategy: A focus on "better homes" over "more homes" leads to higher sustainability for management brands.

STR Tech Report Take

Lumpkin’s perspective highlights the professionalization of the STR asset class. For technology vendors, this creates an opportunity to provide better visualization and ROI-projection tools that help property managers present these "purpose-built" cases to owners. As the industry moves toward this "intentional" model, the ability to prove the value of a specific amenity through data will become as essential as the management of the property itself. As Lumpkin notes, "The properties that win are not accidental. They are intentional. They are strategic. They are purpose-built."

Original Source

Purpose-Built Short-Term Rentals: How Property Managers Can Drive More Revenue for Their Owners