Systems for short-term rental managers

We run 32 properties. We publish what actually works.

Owner acquisition, AI, automation and direct bookings — written from a live portfolio, not from a course.

Everything here is something we run at Rather Be Properties. When it didn't work, we say so.

Photo slotAl & Elissa — swap in img/photo-hero.jpg
Al and Elissa Sedighravesh
32Properties under management right now
3States — California, Arizona, North Carolina
2021First property live in November
26Automated messages, free to take

Who we are

Al and Elissa Sedighravesh. Operators, not gurus.

We own and run Rather Be Properties, a five-star vacation rental management company. We launched our first property in November 2021 and now manage 32 across California, Arizona and North Carolina.

Elissa spent a decade in five-star hospitality at premier resorts in Australia and Dubai — including training spa teams at Atlantis. She writes the systems and standards. Al came from twelve years in residential real estate and mortgage lending, retired from that in 2023, and handles owners, numbers and the camera.

We met in Dubai in 2014. We've since travelled the world as digital nomads with two small children, moved across the country, and extended the business into North Carolina — all while running other people's properties. That's where the systems came from. Not from theory.

Doors & Data is where the rest goes. The templates, the numbers, the automations, and the mistakes that cost us money before they taught us anything.

Operating sinceNovember 2021
Portfolio32 properties
MarketsCA · AZ · NC
FocusOwner acquisition · AI · direct bookings
Software allegianceNone
PhotoHostchella Austin, Nov 2025
Al and Elissa at Hostchella Austin, November 2025
PhotoA managed property
A Rather Be Properties managed home
PhotoThe family / travelling
The Sedighravesh family
PhotoTeam or turnover day
Rather Be Properties team

Drop JPGs named photo-2.jpg to photo-4.jpg into the img folder and these fill in automatically. Until then the labelled panels show instead — nothing breaks.

Downloads

The templates and systems we actually run

One is free and finished. The rest are being written from the same portfolio, in the order managers keep asking for them. No pre-orders — you'll be able to buy each one the day it's ready.

The Guest & Owner Message System

Free

26 automated guest and owner messages, mapped end to end — every trigger, every conditional branch, and what each one prevents. 26 pages.

$0 · 26 pages

The Owner Statement Pack

In build

The monthly statement and the narrative that goes with it. Owners rarely leave over occupancy — they leave because they can't tell what happened to their money.

$— · price TBC

The Owner Acquisition Kit

In build

Pitch deck, pricing page, proposal and the six objections every homeowner raises — with the answers that have actually won us properties.

$— · price TBC

The Onboarding Checklist

In build

Signed agreement to first booking. Every task, who owns it, and the order that stops a launch slipping three weeks.

$— · price TBC

The Clause Library

In build

The clauses in a management agreement that earn or cost you money — starting with the pre-approved maintenance threshold. Reference material, not legal advice.

$— · price TBC

The Manager's Operating System — everything, one price

Bundle · in build

All five together: messages, owner statements, owner acquisition, onboarding and the clause library. Buy the bundle once and every future update is included.

$— · cheaper than buying four separately

On the record

Under two minutes of us getting it wrong in public

Recorded for the Boostly Podcast in October 2022, back when we ran four properties instead of thirty-two. We've left the mistakes in, because the mistakes are the useful part.

0:29

Why we built it

Two daughters, a phone that never stopped, and building for leverage instead of income.

0:27

The year we left 10–15% on the table

Twelve months without a pricing engine. Al puts a number on what it cost.

0:54

The cleaner charging 30% over market

Nice guy, complained constantly, priced well above market. What replacing him returned.

Start with the free one.

26 messages, every trigger, and the reason each exists. If it's useful you'll hear from us when the next thing lands. If it isn't, unsubscribe in one click.

Get the 26 messages

26 pages · no card required