We were lucky to catch up with Darryl Costin Jr recently and have shared our conversation below.
Darryl, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear your thoughts about family businesses.
I started working for our family business right after college. It was one of the best decisions I ever made. Fast forward 24 years, I’m still here and loving every second. I’ve been able to work with my dad, sister and brother-in-law on a daily basis. I feel because of our family business, we work much harder and will do whatever it takes to be successful. We work together, have family dinners together and go on vacations together, all the while discussing business on a regular basis.
Not all family businesses work out. We are fortunate because all of us truly love being around each other and we understand our roles and responsibilities. We discuss and debate major issues, but once a decision is made, we move on together as a team.
We have ventured into other deals and businesses, but always doing it together. Our latest venture is real estate and focusing on short term rentals in Tremont, OH and Hocking Hills, OH. I’ve always had a passion for real estate, so I’m excited to see where this take us.
We want to be successful so our children have the opportunity to work in the family businesses. Even if they don’t, we want to show them the benefits of being an entrepreneur and having your own business.
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.
I’d like to focus on my real estate company – BeHome. As I noted before, I always had a passion for real estate. I was doing alot of research and listening to all the experts online. I was tired of sitting on the sidelines so we decided to jump in. Our focus was on short term rentals. We started buying properties in Tremont, OH and then focused our energy buying property and land in Hocking Hills, OH.
It’s crucial when launching your Airbnb, to always try and be unique and offer amenities that set yourself apart from the competition. Too many people are just buying homes, loading them up with average furniture and listing them on Airbnb hoping to be successful. Each one of our properties are in a great location and offer unique amenities that make them different and appealing to potential guests. Hospitality is another great way to separate yourself. We’re committed to offering first class service and unforgettable experiences.
I also want to pass on my knowledge to anyone else interested in getting into real estate and short term rentals. I can relate to alot of people out there that are sitting on the sidelines, afraid of jumping in. That was me almost 2 years ago. I leaped in, made several mistakes on the way, but always learning and always growing.
Have you ever had to pivot?
My original venture into real estate began with flipping houses several years ago. My neighbor and a few friends decided to start a real estate company and flip houses. The plan was to buy beat up houses in good locations, fix them up, then sell them. We had limited experience and relationships in the real estate industry, but as a group felt confident we would be successful. Our first property had a great return with limited issues. Everything pretty much went as planned without any big problems. Our second property had a poor return with tons of issues. We underestimated the budget and all the problems with the house. We quickly realized flipping houses was a bad idea and we closed down the company. I took a few years off but always wanted to get back into real estate. This time, I did a ton of research and studied all the different real estate strategies. I decided to pivot to buying properties for short term rentals (i.e. Airbnb). This was a great decision!
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
I’m in the beginning stages of building my audience on social media. But the best advice I can give is to simply be yourself. People want to see authenticity and transparency. Don’t pretend to be something you’re not, your audience will see right through it. Also, it’s important to bring value to your audience. If you have alot of experience at something, share it with your audience in the hopes they can apply it to there journey. Be consistent, this process is a marathon and not a sprint. It will not happen overnight. Posts should be short form content. Experiment on lengths of your videos, but 10-20 seconds is a good range to start with.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behome_cle/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086298405807&mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Other: Airbnb links of properties: https://linktr.ee/BeHome_Cle
Image Credits
Nicki Weaver Ashley Iris