---
title: "Scaling to $5.3M a Year in Northern Michigan"
canonical_url: "https://freewyldfoundry.com/case-studies/troy-michigan/"
content_type: "case-study"
last_updated: "2026-06-09T00:00:00.000Z"
---

## From Hectic Host to High-Growth Operator

Troy's path from hectic host to high-growth operator is a masterclass in scaling the right way. When we first met him in 2021, he was managing 18 properties and doing most of the work himself: guest messages, maintenance, even the cleaning. That phase taught him every inch of the business, and it made one thing clear. Systems and team are everything.

## The Foundry Partnership

In March 2024, his company became our very first Foundry client. Northern Michigan is one of the most seasonal markets in the country, so the strategy was built around the calendar: occupancy-focused pricing in the off-season, rate-focused pricing in peak months, and separate snow and no-snow minimum-stay rules for the properties near the ski hill.

Short-booking-window discounts filled gaps without giving away peak inventory. Suspiciously low Booking.com rates tied to stacked discounts were caught and corrected in the first season.

## How We Measure This

Troy's is a growth story, so the numbers come in two layers. The whole-portfolio figures include every listing PriceLabs tracks today: 24 were earning in the year before onboarding, 160 are tracked now, most added during the engagement and priced by Foundry from day one. The same-listings figures isolate the 15 listings that earned revenue throughout both comparison years, which is the part pricing alone can claim.

## The Compounding Years

Whole-portfolio stay-date revenue was $1M in the twelve months before onboarding. Year one brought $1.85M, up 79%. The most recent twelve months, August 2025 through July 2026, reached $5.3M, more than five times the pre-Foundry baseline, every dollar of it actual stay-date revenue, not projection.

- **$1M to $5.3M whole-portfolio in the most recent twelve months**
- **Occupancy on the listings active in both periods up from 37% to 50%**
- **$885K to $915K on the 15 original listings, with rates holding through the scale-up**

On identical inventory the revenue gain is modest, and that is the honest shape of this story: the compounding came from Troy adding well-chosen homes at pace while the pricing system kept every one of them earning from its first week. Adding over a hundred listings in one regional market is how an operator floods their own calendar. Instead, the original homes held their revenue and gained 13 points of occupancy while the portfolio grew more than fivefold around them.

Along the way the team brought housekeeping in-house and launched a Guest Experience division. With pricing handled, Troy's team stayed focused on the two things that compound: quality and growth.

> "Taking pricing off my plate let me focus on what actually grows the business: quality and guest experience. The results speak for themselves."
>
> \- Troy

## Results

- Location: Michigan
- Revenue before Foundry: $885K
- Revenue after Foundry: $915K
- Growth: 3%
- Highlights:
  - $885K to $915K on the 15 listings earning throughout both years, with rates carrying the gain in a seasonal market
  - Occupancy on the listings active in both periods rose from 37% to 50%
  - Year one alone brought $1.85M, up 79% from the pre-Foundry baseline

---

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