Sam founded BVR in 2019 with the vision of building a portfolio that will allow her and other investors to benefit from the high ROI a well-managed short-term rental can bring. Having sold software to large corporations in the Bay Area for a decade, she is now focused on helping private investors build wealth by means of passive real estate income.
Sam is a licensed realtor at Amherst Madison in Boise. Whether someone already owns a house ready to be transformed into an income-producing asset or is relying on her to find the perfect property – she is ready to help.
We started out with two houses back in 2019. For that year and 2020, we managed the houses ourselves. It was all a manual process, fraught with lots of pain, frustration, and loss of income. We had no way to recoup the full cost of damaged items, we didn’t know how to maximize our profits with dynamic pricing, and we were probably out of compliance in terms of tax reporting.
Since we didn’t have a property management system in place, we weren’t able to get a security deposit or a rental agreement for each booking, and we answered, ‘what is the Wi-Fi-password?‘ hundreds of times, along with ‘can we check in early?’ during those two years. Yep, been there, done that.
In 2021, we hired a local property management company to streamline operations. At first, it seemed promising, but the experience quickly highlighted the challenges of outsourcing. Guest ratings fell to 4.4 and 4.6, and bookings dropped. It was a tough period, but it taught us invaluable lessons about what works and what does not in managing Airbnb, VRBO, and other vacation rentals.
In 2022, we took full control, becoming full-time hosts focused on automating processes, minimizing risk, and maximizing both guest satisfaction and profitability. Today, our Boise vacation rentals consistently rank at the top: 5.0 on VRBO, 10 on Expedia, and 4.9 on Airbnb.
We outperform the average local host by 2.6 times in yearly income and maintain strong occupancy rates. In the first quarter of 2025, our average was 68 percent. While we do not make promises about individual property performance, our approach focuses on professional short-term rental management, top-tier guest experiences, and smart systems that deliver reliable results across the Treasure Valley.
