---
title: "$1.3M to $2.1M in Michigan"
canonical_url: "https://freewyldfoundry.com/case-studies/dandan-michigan/"
content_type: "case-study"
last_updated: "2026-06-10T00:00:00.000Z"
---

## A Hands-On Operator in a Boom-and-Bust Market

Dandan built her portfolio the slow way. No ads, no postcards. Every property came through referrals and organic growth.

Her northern Michigan portfolio runs from high-end four and five bedroom homes downtown and on the water, sleeping eight to fifteen guests, down to studio units inside multi-unit buildings. It is one of the most seasonal markets in the country, close to fully booked in midsummer and quiet through the long winter. That makes every pricing decision count twice.

Dandan signed with Freewyld in December 2024, and Foundry went live in January 2025.

## The Foundry Partnership

At go-live, the portfolio was divided into quality tiers with minimum prices set by tier and bedroom count. Minimum-stay rules kept the largest homes from selling risky one-night stays. Base prices were managed off booking pace for the next 30, 60, and 90 days rather than set-and-forget.

From there, revenue manager Maanaswini ran weekly calls with Dandan. Every comparable unit was paced against the same calendar months the year before, and new units were tracked separately, so growth was never inflated by additions. Dandan stayed deep in the details, and the trust built fast.

> "We know you were doing a great job so we're happily paid for it."
>
> \- Dandan

## The Results: 63% More Revenue

In calendar year 2024, the twelve months before onboarding, the portfolio did $1.3M in stay-date revenue at 51.7% occupancy. The most recent twelve months, June 2025 through May 2026, brought $2.1M at 56.6% occupancy. That is nearly $800K more per year, up 63%.

The peak months did heavy lifting. The first July ran more than one and a half times the prior July, and August reached roughly 1.7 times the year before. The shoulder seasons moved even more, with September and November each nearly doubling, and the most recent May coming in almost 1.7 times the May before.

One note on portfolio size. PriceLabs tracks 53 units behind these totals, several of them studios inside multi-unit buildings. The mix changed in both directions over this period: at least one managed home left when its owner sold, and newly built studios came online as recently as spring 2026. These are whole-portfolio figures, not a same listings comparison.

## Where Things Stand Now

The portfolio onboarded a set of brand new studio units in spring 2026 and is building out the team ahead of next year's growth, with pricing handled. On a June 2026 check-in, Dandan summed up the season taking shape.

> "I was just looking at June numbers and I was like super happy with June numbers."
>
> \- Dandan

## Results

- Location: Michigan
- Revenue before Foundry: $1.3M
- Revenue after Foundry: $2.1M
- Growth: 63%
- Highlights:
  - Peak July ran more than 1.5x the prior July, with August at roughly 1.7x
  - September and November each nearly doubled, and the most recent May came in almost 1.7x the May before
  - Built entirely on referrals and organic growth, tracked at 53 units

---

## About this file

This is the agent-readable version of a page on freewyldfoundry.com. The canonical page for people is https://freewyldfoundry.com/case-studies/dandan-michigan/

Freewyld Foundry runs revenue management for short-term rental operators: pricing strategy, distribution, and the systems around them. We manage 3,500+ listings representing $170M+ in annual bookings for 70+ clients. Pricing is custom and scales with portfolio size.

Related machine-readable resources:

- Every page in this format: https://freewyldfoundry.com/agent/pages/index.json
- Site overview: https://freewyldfoundry.com/llms.txt
- Request a free revenue report: https://freewyldfoundry.com/get-started/