Gabriel runs a Pennsylvania short-term rental portfolio with a small in-house team handling guest communication and daily operations. The properties were not the problem. The calendar was. He signed in late October 2025, and pricing went live in early November.
How we measure this
The portfolio is nearly the same set of properties before and after, 26 listings at signing and 25 today, so this comparison is clean by nature. The numbers below cover the 11 listings that earned revenue through most of the baseline period, on the same calendar months one year apart.
Occupancy first, then rates
In the first weeks, the revenue manager:
- Lowered most minimum-stay requirements to open up the weekday bookings this market produces
- Set a clear benchmark: a market penetration index above 100, so the portfolio books at least as well as comparable listings nearby
- Moved several properties to more flexible cancellation policies and used last-minute promotions to fill gaps in a short-booking-window market
- Sequenced the work on purpose: get occupancy healthy first, then fine-tune prices to maximize revenue
By spring, the conversation on check-in calls had flipped. Instead of asking how to fill nights, Gabriel was asking when to push rates. That is exactly the sequence the plan called for in week one.
Results, same listings only
Comparing the same nine calendar months a year apart, November through July, the same 11 listings went from $321K to $465K. That is up 45%, with $144K added. Average occupancy on that set climbed from 45% to 66%, and the portfolio’s market penetration crossed from 20% below comparable listings to 5% above them.
- $321K to $465K, up 45%, on identical listings
- Occupancy up from 45% to 66% on the same listings
- Market penetration crossed above 100: the portfolio now books better than its comp set
The whole portfolio
The same listings comparison above only counts the 11 listings that were earning consistently before Foundry. The portfolio’s other listings were the empty-calendar problem, and filling them is most of this story. Including all 25, revenue went from $424K to $1M across the same nine-month windows.
What’s next
The World Cup summer the team had been pricing for delivered. On the same listings, June nearly doubled the prior June and July more than doubled the prior July, with game and event weekends booked at roughly double the usual nightly rates. The revenue manager is now raising base prices incrementally while watching booking pickup and the penetration index.
“Just seems like our occupancy has been pretty solid. And I just didn’t know at what point do we then start raising prices up a bit?”
- Gabriel