Most hosts put up a security camera and call it done. But the right setup does far more than watch the front door. In this episode, Tim breaks down the three features every STR camera needs, compares four popular options, and reveals how cameras can verify guest counts, catch unauthorized pets, and support your housekeeping team — all while keeping your listing fully compliant.
- Discover the three non-negotiable features any STR security camera needs before you spend a dollar — and the one common feature that actually does not matter
- Get a side-by-side comparison of Ring, Google Nest, Arlo, and Reolink, including the one Tim puts on every new property right now
- Learn how cameras go beyond security to help you charge for extra guests, unauthorized pets, and other policy violations through Airbnb’s resolution center
- Find out the exact disclosure requirements every host must follow to stay compliant on Airbnb and protect their listing from being taken down
- Understand how to use cameras operationally to confirm check-ins remotely, support your housekeeping team, and protect guests during their stay
Security cameras are one of the highest-ROI tools an STR host can add. Whether you have one property or fifty, the right setup protects your revenue, your guests, and your listing. Subscribe so you never miss an episode, and share this with a host who needs to hear it.
Download the camera checklist: https://corzly.com/camera-checklist/
Download the Housekeeping Questionnaire: https://corzly.com/housekeeping-questionnaire/
5-Star Guest Experience Guide with Charge Automation: https://corzly.com/5-star-guest-experience-blueprint/
DOWNLOAD OUR HOUSE RULES: https://strriches.com/airbnb-house-rules-template/
Download the Growth Handbook: https://strriches.com/growth-blueprint/
Check out our videos on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ShortTermRentalRiches
Grab your free management eBook: https://strriches.com/#tools-resources
Looking to earn more with your property (without the headaches)? Chat with our expert management team: https://strriches.com/management-services/
Cameras at your short-term rental property do a lot more than help you just prevent damage. They can also help you recoup costs or charge guests that are maybe trying to get around your rules. But there are a lot of camera options out there, and so today I’m gonna give you four that I think are worth taking a look at, the one that I actually use, the features that you must have, and all the things in between.
Stay tuned as we dive into all the details.
Welcome back to the show. I’m happy you’re here again.
There are a lot of camera options out on the market today, more than there have ever been, and there’s also a lot of features that come with those cameras.
But the reality is, most of those features don’t really do that much, and so let’s talk about the ones that actually matter, and then I’ll give you my camera recommendations. So the first one is you need some way to have cloud storage, right? We can’t rely on a security camera at our property that runs on an SD card that we need to manually download.
That’s just very old school, right? Fortunately, most options these days have that, but you also don’t want it to be recording twenty-four/seven because then you got a whole bunch of footage to go through. So you wanna make sure that your camera has a good motion activation feature in place where it only records when it needs to.
You also wanna double-check how far that motion activation goes. One of the cameras we installed recently at a new property was just too far away from the front door, so even though the guests were showing up, it wasn’t picking them up on the video.
You also want a camera that’s easy to connect to other cameras and has a nice online dashboard.
When it comes to installation, wireless is always going to be better, but I know a lot of you have some tricky installation spots. And so the camera that we recommend does have a wireless option. That can go a long way, but again, make sure that it’s not mounted too far away from where it’s going to be picking up motion.
Before we get into my top four camera picks, just a side note, if you have cameras at your property, which you 100% should, make sure that they don’t face on the interior of any of your property. This includes having one near your front door that looks in when the front door is actually open. That’s a big no-no.
We, of course, have to mark- or disclose this when we create a listing on Airbnb or the different platforms these days. But just double-check because that can get your property banned or delisted online.
Okay, top four cameras. You’ve probably heard about most of these, but the one that we like to use is actually a little less common. So we of course have the Ring camera. We of course have the Google Nest camera.
And these are great because they probably connect to your existing Google account if you have one already. Most people do, and so the actual setup is really easy.
And they do have various options these days, but I would say that their cloud storage online is quite expensive compared to some other options.
The Arlo camera is also a good option. This is one you can find at places like Costco. It’s one that can easily be expanded, so if you have a really large luxury property and you need five or six cameras to cover all the entry doors, which I highly recommend you have a camera covering every entry door at your property.
If that’s the case, well then the Arlo cameras can be a good option for you. What is the camera that my team and I refer to almost everyone? That is the Reolink camera.
What we like most about it is that it’s easy to install and it’s affordable, and we’ve had good results with it. And so we’ve got literally dozens of these things connected all in one nice little simple dashboard where we can see them. It’s got all the things we talked about, like the motion activation.
It has infrared at night. It also can pick up sound
And it has a really inexpensive online storage option, just a few dollars per camera. And so if you got a whole bunch of these, you’re not gonna be racking up a big bill. I also like that there’s the wireless option with the solar panel. That’s the Reolink Argus Pro model, and you can put it around a tree.
You can put it basically wherever you want, not have to worry about all the wiring. Now, one caveat, if you are in a cold place where it’s very seasonal and it’s very dark, then you’re gonna wanna find a wired option because it’s probably not gonna hold up that well.
Luckily, the Reolink cameras also have the wired options, so just grab the one that fits best for you.
So a lot of reasons for having the camera are obvious, right? We wanna try to prevent any sort of party or unwanted guests or unwanted pets, but what a lot of hosts are not doing is handling the backside of that. A lot of times guests show up with maybe one extra guest. Maybe they show up with their dog, and they weren’t supposed to.
This is when your camera can truly shine and help you earn some additional revenue with your property. It’s really quite simple. If your property accommodates six people and eight people show up, you can charge for those extra guests if, and this is an important if, you have it in your house rules or your rental agreement.
If you wanna just copy our house rules, which we have all of these things in place, well, you can grab a copy of that in the link down below.
We also have a quick STR camera checklist you can grab down below. It’s got links to the cameras that we’ve mentioned, but also those really important reminders on camera placement, how to set it up for your team, all that good stuff.
So with the camera in place, there are certain things that you want to check, right? You always want to verify your guest count. You always want to verify if guests are showing up with pets when they shouldn’t be.
There’s some other benefits, though. You get to know when your guests actually check in, and you get to know when they’re actually checking out. We always ask our guests what time they think they’ll be leaving, so we can help accommodate the cleaning schedules. Of course, they don’t always tell us, and a lot of times they tell us, but it doesn’t actually end up being the time that they’re checking out.
But when you see them walking out the front door with their luggage and getting in the car and driving away, well, it’s a pretty good sign that they’ve just left your property.
So make sure you have your house rules set up properly. Make sure it accounts for pets if you don’t allow pets. If you do allow pets, well, we highly encourage charging a pet fee, and not everyone always discloses that they have a pet. So again, use the cameras to verify that. Use them to verify the guest count, and then if you do have some sort of issue at the property, well, you can handle it as soon as possible. You can also use the footage to send to the OTAs like Airbnb or VRBO to help your case.
Let’s recap just a couple quick tips
the more properties you have, the more likely people are gonna be sneaking by, and the more potential revenue you can recoup from having these cameras, but you gotta make sure you have a good system on the back end.
If you’ve got a property up already and you’ve been letting some of these things just sort of slide by because you don’t want to do it yourself or you don’t have the time, well, our team at Corsi would love to help you with your property.
We work with hundreds of properties in dozens of different markets. You can reach out to us. Just go to scrriches.com. There’s a little partner with us button, or you can check out our company website at Corsi, C-O-R-Z-L-Y.com.
Okay, some last things to remember just to recap. Make sure that your cameras cover every entry point. Make sure if it is a wireless camera that it’s not too far from the entry points so that it still picks up the motion. Consider your region. If you’re in a place that’s very seasonal, dark, and cold, then you want to make sure you have a wired option.
Actually, that’s always the first option if you can is make sure that it’s wired.
Make sure that the recording starts when there’s motion detected and it’s not just recording 24-7. Make sure that your cameras are disclosed on all the rental platforms like Airbnb. That is a requirement.
And lastly, don’t put cameras in any place which invade privacy. Again, a big requirement and a reason that your listing can get taken down and deleted. I hope that gave you a couple tips. Remember, we’ve got our getting started checklist down below. We’ve also got a copy of our house rules where you can just duplicate them and adjust them the way that works best for your property.
Until next time, I hope that gave you some good insight and I hope you have a fabulous week.
