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Newsletter #6

7/9/2020

The state of Baja Sur.

Baja has generally reopened! Tourists are starting to fly back in, and all is coming back to life… we think.

Baja was set for reopening, but COVID-19 continues to inundate the world as we all know. Beaches were open for a brief period, but then they shut back down last Friday. We heard La Paz beaches were jammed packed, and Cerritos was similar but everyone was respecting social distancing here. Cabo beaches stayed open for a short time after we shut, but that was also short lived. There is no word as to when all will reopen at this point. The airport continues to allow tourists. Hotels and larger restaurants are strictly following guidelines to wear masks, use hand sanitizer, and step on clorox mats (we are not totally sure how effective the mats are). Smaller restaurants in Pescadero are not following such strict orders. Todos Santos in general is starting to buzz again, which is a great sign. Hopefully everyone stays healthy!

We have not seen much in rental activity unfortunately. We had a small surge, but then it fell off again as cases began to rise in the states. We are hoping people see the benefit of beautiful rural Mexico as their first post COVID destination. Overall, construction is still happening, the area continues to grow, prices have not yet dropped, and there still seems to be a positive outlook. This is the perfect area to escape from the city, and social distance. Let’s think positively about the return of tourism and the end of COVID!
Good News: We have seen a reduction in theft since business have started to reopen. There was also a slight surge as people became desperate, but once construction began again, all seemed to drop off. That being said, we are still vigilant of your homes and have continued to make extra visits.

Tu Casa’s next steps.

As we grow, we are working diligently to create better systems for our business efficiency. Much of this happens in real time as we don’t know we need a change until we are pulling our hair out from stress. We then have to step back and reassess our needs.

Cleaning:   We will no longer be billing for each home’s individual cleaning supplies. This was a monotonous and time consuming task of sifting through receipts for who received the extra large Cloro or the new mop. Instead, we will now ensure our cleaners have all supplies for the homes they clean. We will add an extra $10 per cleaning onto your bill from the cushion money provided from the renters. Luckily you will no longer see the cleaning supplies on your materials charges with the 20% increase. We will still individually buy toilet paper and paper towels for homes, as this is not included. We will not change this amount until we have run through the cleaning supplies that are currently in your home. At this point we will update your rental log to show the difference. I assure you, you will barely see a change, except for Alex’s happy face when he is no longer studying Walmart receipts!

Staff: We officially hired Nancy as a FULL time Tu Casa staff member!!!!! She has now worked part time for many months, but she agreed to 100% be a part of the Tu Casa team. This is a very big deal as she has many talents. We have 100% trust in her ability and feel very lucky to have her.

Meghan and Kevin are doing a great job with our Todos Santos branch! We all make a great team!

Home servicing:

With the hot season comes bugs and aircon use. We highly recommend any home that has an AC to get serviced. We are also seeing an uptick in scorpions and roaches due to the humidity and heat. We are scheduling full days with Gio (bug mitigation) and Azia (Aircon servicing company) next week. Please let us know if you would like to be on this schedule to get your AC serviced or your home sprayed.
Note: Getting your air conditioner serviced is very important. If a gecko is in the compressor, the unit will short when someone turns it on. We also find freon runs low, the hoses need to be blown out, or the units need cleaning. These are all simple fixes with a service, but can be detrimental if not taken care of regularly.

New chef and bartender team.

We have a new team serving locally sourced food and drinks in your home, for both owners and guests. Chef Martha and Charlie will make food to order, create and serve drinks, and even clean after! This duo is incredible and comes highly recommended. A client tonight is getting a chicken mole meal accompanied by watermelon mint margs and spicy cucumber margs. Is your mouth watering? The food is beyond delicious and very reasonable. Full menu coming soon. Please spread the word!!

Taxes:

Remember, Airbnb and VRBO have officially started taking taxes out of any account that does not have a legal Mexican tax ID. Once we start seeing bookings again, we may need to adjust pricing to reflect these additional charges.

A few personal notes.
Please stay safe and healthy. We are all in this together, even if we are in different places in the world. Stay positive and reach out if you need anything at all. We will keep you updated on your homes. We are here for you!

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