Case Studies · Port Aransas · Hemingway House
How Buddy Williams, a repeat owner managing from a distance, turned an underperforming Pirate's Bay townhome around with Starkey Properties by Portoro and now rates the partnership a perfect 10 across the board.
Buddy Williams is a repeat vacation rental owner who manages Hemingway House, a three bedroom, three bath townhome in Port Aransas's Pirate's Bay community, from a distance. He had owned a short-term rental before this one, and the property itself came to Portoro from another property manager rather than launching fresh. Under that previous company, the home was generating approximately $10,000 in annual gross revenue.
His top priorities going in were maximizing revenue and getting real visibility into how the property was actually performing, something he says he was not getting before. Since moving to Starkey Properties by Portoro, Buddy has given the team a perfect 10 out of 10 in every category surveyed and reports an estimated 20 hours saved per month, the most of any owner in this case study series so far.
Professional management. Caitlin treats my property as if it were her own.Buddy Williams · Owner
For an experienced but remote owner, the issue was not inexperience, it was trust and transparency:
They were the same pain points he named from his previous management experience: pricing and occupancy uncertainty, a lack of reporting and visibility, and the challenge of overseeing it all from a distance.
Starkey Properties by Portoro, the same local Port Aransas team supporting other Portoro homeowners in the community, took over management of Hemingway House and rebuilt Buddy's experience from the ground up.
Buddy pointed to seven services as drivers of his results, more than any owner in this case study series so far: a local team with 24/7 support, inspection standards and the TRIP Guarantee, cleaning and turnover quality, maintenance and proactive fixes, pricing and revenue management, listing optimization and marketing, and the owner portal with reporting.
Buddy rated every category a perfect 10 out of 10. Asked what Portoro does better than expected, he pointed to the team's attentiveness with guests and its professionalism in setting, and keeping, expectations with him as the owner.
Buddy estimates Hemingway House now takes 20 hours less of his time each month, the largest time savings reported in this case study series so far, freeing him from the pricing guesswork and reporting gaps that defined his experience with the previous management company.
Resort pools and pirate playground at Pirate's Bay · Port Aransas, Texas
Asked about a time Portoro saved the day, Buddy pointed to guest loyalty: a repeat guest who had booked the property for several years and, at one point, had been turned away and asked to stay elsewhere. Under Portoro's care, that longtime guest was welcomed back. It is a fitting example of the same attentiveness Buddy named as what Portoro does better than expected, staying close to guests and following through on what is promised.
Under the previous management company, the home brought in approximately $10,000 in annual gross revenue. Buddy now reports higher revenue, higher occupancy, and a higher average daily rate.
Hemingway House now takes an estimated 20 hours less of Buddy's time each month, the largest time savings reported in this case study series so far.
Improvement in every category tracked: higher revenue, higher occupancy, higher ADR, better reviews, better home condition with fewer issues, and more peace of mind.
Buddy rated Portoro a perfect 10 out of 10 for communication, cleanliness standards, reporting and visibility, guest experience support, and overall partnership.
For an owner who had already been through one underperforming management relationship, Buddy's experience with Starkey Properties by Portoro shows what changes when a local team takes real ownership of pricing, reporting, and day to day care. A Port Aransas townhome with resort pools and a pirate ship playground for guests, a team building the same kind of trust across Portoro's Port Aransas homeowners, and an owner who rates the partnership a perfect 10 across the board: that is the turnaround at Hemingway House.
Questions? Email owners@portoro.com