We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Amanda McNally a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Amanda , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. It’s easy to look at a business or industry as an outsider and assume it’s super profitable – but we’ve seen over and over again in our conversation with folks that most industries have factors that make profitability a challenge. What’s biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?

Years ago, at the Jersey Shore, vacation rentals used to be simple. You’d call a realtor, possibly visit a few properties, and select your vacation rental. On the day of your vacation, you’d grab the keys at the real estate office and unlock the door to your vacation. You’d pack your own sheets, towels, toilet paper, paper towels, groceries, and all the gear your kids could possibly need. Oh, and let’s not forget a second car full of your beach gear. There was no Vrbo, Airbnb, and certainly no direct booking. It was you, and the realtor.

In the last three years, we’ve seen a dramatic change in the Jersey Shore rental market. Gone are the days of renting through a realtor (unless you prefer not to use the internet) and now–get this–YOU GET TOILET PAPER (at least enough to last the first few days!). In this new Jersey Shore market, standing out is critical. One shore town reported nearly 150 MORE rental listings than just the prior year. That is a lot of competition! If you do not have branding, a logo, staging, guest amenities like towels and sheets, beach gear, and a direct booking site, you are very likely one of the last listings considered. Gone are the days of buying a rental as passive income. Now…once you close on your rental property, you have entered the hospitality world.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My husband Brian and I rented vacation homes at the Jersey Shore for over 20 years. Slowly, the rental prices increased but the quality of the rental went down. On one particular vacation, we entered the property to find it absolutely filthy with black mold on the ceilings, pet hair covering the sofa and a floor so dirty that your socks immediately turned black. It was that trip we said ENOUGH. We were saving to purchase a rental property of our own. After years of saving and then searching, we finally found a small, yet perfect shore vacation home in Brigantine. We fell in love with the island and on a particular bike ride one day, I had an overwhelming sense that I wanted others to feel the same sense of relaxation and connection that our family felt when we crossed that bridge to ‘Brig’ each week. Just a year later, we purchased Coastal Haven; a small two-bedroom, two-bathroom condo. Through hard work, learning the hospitality industry, exceeding guest expectations, marketing and building a direct bookign website, we began hitting a 90% annual occupancy rate and 70% direct booking which allows both us and our guests to avoid thrid party fees. I began recieving questions from industry peers and requests for coaching. These conversations eventually led to me creating our company Vacations by Coastal Haven, LLC. Our mission is simple. We make sure you are ‘rental ready’ without the work. Our services include staging, direct booking websites, logo and brand standards, social media marketing, custom Welcome Guides and more. With our assistance, our clients typically start seeing reasults almost immediately.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

After 20 years of being a Senior Vice President in Financial Compliance, while also managing my own business, I came to a crossroads. Working nearly 20 hours a day on both jobs with no time for my family left me at a crossroads. Do I keep working or follow my passion? While it was the toughest decision in the world, the feeling of getting up each morning and doing something that is a true passion is worth more than any title or paycheck.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Although I have a strong sales and marketing background, I never really thought about competition. My business model is a new concept and therefore started out as one-of-a-kind in this region. Once word gets out, it’s natural that others realize the success of an idea and business model and begin to create their own. Human instinct is typically resentment and anger but it was important to remember that imitation is proof of a good business model and competition is healthy. It also taught me you can collaborate with competitors and be even more successful through collaboration.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://coastalhavencondo.com/owners/
• Instagram: @coastalhavencondo
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coastalhavencondo

Image Credits
Kelly and Craig Photography; Amanda McNally at Vacations by Coastal Haven, LLC