40% direct and MTR bookings fuel 2x growth
How direct booking expansion and Hostfully’s PMS helped a manager scale during a midterm rental boom.
Lisa Cochran, founder of MTM Premier Property Management, oversees 45+ properties across Indiana, Michigan, and Colorado.
- Portfolio size: 45+ properties
- Markets: USA (Indiana, Michigan, and Colorado)
- Favorite features: Direct booking website, templates & triggers, mobile app
- Booking channels: Airbnb, Vrbo, direct bookings
- Goal: Expansion to 100 properties by 2027
Overview
Before
- Managing calendars manually across Airbnb, Vrbo, and other OTAs
- Communication handled one message at a time
- No system for converting midterm rental leads from phone or referral sources
- Team coordination was reactive and laptop-dependent
After
- Unified calendar across platforms with no more double bookings
- 100% of guest messaging streamlined with templates and triggers
- Direct booking site converts leads and previous customers
- Mobile app used daily for on-the-go guest support and team coverage
Impact
- Grew from 1 to 45+ properties in under 4 years
- 40% of bookings are now direct, cutting OTA fees significantly
- Saves hours per week on guest messaging and owner communication
- Positioned to scale to 100 properties, with midterm rentals as a primary revenue stream
“Between the booking site, the automations, the mobile tools, and the support, Hostfully just works for how we do business.”
Lisa Cochran, MTM Premier Property Management
Before
When Lisa Cochran set out on her short-term rental journey, she wasn’t prepared for a mid-term rental pivot. MTM Premier Property Management began with just one property, but Lisa’s team quickly added more listings. Managing calendars, guest messaging, and team coordination across platforms became overwhelming.
At the same time, short-term rental market regulations increased, but fortunately, so did mid-term rental demand. Insurance adjusters, remote workers, and construction contractors were flooding into MTM Premier Property Management’s Indiana markets for 3 to 12-month stays. Managing properties at scale was one thing, but running a mid-term rental business across short-term booking channels wasn’t going to work. Lisa needed a strategy to handle this shift without sacrificing margins or team bandwidth.
After
With Hostfully, Lisa and her team worked with Hudson Creative to launch a professional, easy-to-use direct booking website. Though direct bookings were slow at first, they soon became a powerful tool for converting high-value leads into bookings. Lisa shares that, “Most of our midterm guests come through the phone or Furnished Finder, and we just send them straight to the website to book.”
As Lisa expands into Michigan and Colorado markets, direct bookings are more impactful than ever. With an influx of insurance housing stays, corporate and relocation clients, and remote workers hunkering down for long-term assignments, Lisa has cut down on OTA fees, middlemen, and turnovers, while giving her guests an easy, direct exchange through her company’s branded site. “About 40% of our bookings are direct now,” Lisa reflects, “That’s a huge shift, and it’s what makes the mid-term model sustainable for us.”
Bonus
To handle longer stays without extra manual effort, Lisa’s team also relies on Hostfully’s templates and triggers across all properties. Such custom triggers help automate: payment reminders (like monthly billing), review follow-ups, and local property instructions (trash dates, directions, amenity use). “It’s amazing. We just add a new condition or message once, and it goes across all properties. It saves our team hours every week.”
MTM Premier Property Management’s six managers rely on the Hostfully mobile app, making it possible to manage everything in real time. “We use the app constantly. It’s how we run the business,” Lisa says. Team members step in for one another, respond to guests on the go, and stay ahead of issues without needing a laptop or office.
Lisa’s team is now aiming to double its portfolio, with a specific focus on mid-term rentals—a market they believe will thrive in their area for years to come. Hostfully will continue to power that growth, especially as the platform rolls out more features dedicated to midterm stay workflows.
