Christina & John McNaught: Short-Term Rental Experts

Christina & John McNaught: Short-Term Rental Experts Bradenton & AMI STR experts. We own 5 short-term rentals here. We live here. We sell here. Numbers don't work — unless you know what you're doing.

Buy • Sell • Optimize • Scale. Let us help you do it right. @ The Short Term Shop at eXp

Ok so a few of you messaged me asking more about the email we send to guests the night of check in which helps us be a g...
06/02/2026

Ok so a few of you messaged me asking more about the email we send to guests the night of check in which helps us be a good neighbor.

This is the message that goes out, and we also have a sign at every property too (I took a picture for you here!) we send just one email around 7:00 PM, the day of check in.

We hope you’ve settled in and are enjoying your stay!

As a courtesy to our neighbors, please observe our quiet hours from 9 PM to 8 AM. We just ask that you keep noise levels down during this time so everyone nearby can enjoy a peaceful, relaxing environment too.

Thank you so much for your understanding. If you need anything at all, we’re just a message away.

But real talk? That message is the easy part.

Anybody can copy paste a quiet hours notice. That’s not the job. The job is sending it at the right time. Actually picking up the phone when the noise monitor goes off instead of crossing your fingers and hoping it works itself out. Knowing which guest just needs a friendly heads up and which one needs you to be a little firmer. Being local enough to actually show up if it comes to that (or if you’re not local, you could have your team go)

THAT is what keeps neighbors happy. That’s what keeps your reviews glowing. And honestly? I hated it at first, but it sets the expectation that they can respect… well usually LOL

The sign sets the tone. The system is what protects your investment.

We live here. We own here. And we manage like the neighbors are watching. Because they are. 😉

With the sign on the door, we went a little more in your face! Haha!

Let me know what you’re doing to be a good neighbor!!!

One thing I don't think gets talked about enough in the short-term rental world.Being a good neighbor.We own short-term...
06/01/2026

One thing I don't think gets talked about enough in the short-term rental world.

Being a good neighbor.

We own short-term rentals in residential neighborhoods, and to us, that part isn't optional. That means introducing ourselves to neighbors and giving them our direct contact information.

That means noise monitors.
That means quiet hours.
That means sending guests a reminder message when quiet hours begin.

That means putting the majority of our outdoor lighting on timers so when quiet hours start, most of the backyard lights automatically turn off.

And sometimes it simply means listening.

Not every neighbor is going to be excited when they hear there's an Airbnb on their street. Some have heard horror stories. Some have had bad experiences. Some are worried about what it means for their neighborhood.

Many times they don't need a sales pitch. They just want to know there's a real person behind the property who cares and will answer the phone if there's ever a problem.

The goal isn't just happy guests.

The goal is happy guests and happy neighbors.

Because the truth is, a successful short-term rental should be a good business, a great guest experience, and a positive part of the community it's operating in.

What are some things you do to help your STR be a good neighbor?

May just wrapped up and we closed over $2.8 million this month. That’s great, but that’s not what I will remember about ...
05/29/2026

May just wrapped up and we closed over $2.8 million this month.

That’s great, but that’s not what I will remember about May.

What I will remember is the people, the buyers and their “why”.

A first-time homebuyer in her 30s raising 5 children and creating a new chapter for her family.

An investor purchasing his second investment property in Bradenton.

Another investor adding a triplex in downtown Sarasota to an already growing portfolio.

What a month.

But the 4th and final closing?

That one was a wild ride from start to finish.

The house was listed at $680k.

Five offers.

Escalation clauses.

Appraisal gaps.

The whole thing.

Basically the kind of situation where most buyers assume they’re not getting the house.

My buyers won by $1,000 on an escalation clause.

Not $10,000.

Not $5,000.

Not even $2,000.

One. Thousand. Dollars.

In a multiple-offer situation.

Then the appraisal came back.

$690,000 on a $711,000 purchase price.

And I thought, nope. We’re not doing that.

So I started digging.

I reviewed the appraisal line by line, used ChatGPT to help identify inconsistencies, (there were a lot) put together a detailed Reconsideration of Value package, and pushed back.

For those not in real estate, most Reconsiderations of Value don’t go very far.

Getting an appraisal completely thrown out?

Almost unheard of.

But here’s the thing.

We don’t like losing.

Especially when the facts don’t support the outcome.

The original appraisal was thrown out.

A second appraisal was ordered.

$730,000.

Just like that, my buyers had instant equity the day they closed.

A $40,000 swing.

Not because we got lucky.

Because we were willing to ask questions, do the work, and keep fighting.

That’s the stuff nobody sees.

The phone calls.

The research.

The strategy.

The moments where you could just accept something and move on, but you don’t.

Because that’s what your clients hired you to do.

And here’s the best part.

This morning, John and I are heading over to meet them at their house, which they didn’t even see until days after closing.

Not because there’s another transaction.

Not because we have to.

Simply because we’re excited for them.

One of my favorite things about this business is that when someone buys with us, we’re here long after the closing table. Our buyers call, email, send texts when they go live and get bookings,and that never gets old.

The transaction ends.

The relationship doesn’t.

Many of our clients stay in touch for years.

A lot of them become friends.

And a few of them end up becoming besties and come to little Js birthday parties and family bbqs!

Getting to celebrate moments like this is one of the best parts of what we do.

So yes, we closed just over $2.8 million this month.

And I’m grateful for every single transaction.

But what I’m most proud of are the people behind them.

The mom creating a new chapter for her family.

The investors continuing to build wealth.

The clients who become friends.

Those are the wins I’ll remember.
❤️
Thank you for putting your trust in us, we don’t take that lightly!

Random question… who else remembers playing the Cashflow game? 👀💰gosh my friends hated me for awhile lol Before John and...
05/25/2026

Random question… who else remembers playing the Cashflow game? 👀💰gosh my friends hated me for awhile lol

Before John and I were in real estate, we did a Rich Dad Poor Dad program and started thinking differently about money.

Not fancy.
Not “investor” people.
Just curious.

Our first investment property was a duplex in Sarasota that was basically one house away from the wrong side of the tracks 😅

We bought it FHA, so we had to live in one side and rent the other side out.

What’s funny is we moved OUT of our single family house with a pool to do it. We rented that house out long term and squeezed ourselves into this duplex because we knew if we could lower our living expenses for a few years, it would change things for us later.

And it did.

The tenant on the other side pretty much covered the mortgage, which gave us room to breathe and actually save money for once instead of just making money and spending it. While our single family pool home only made us $100 a month and came with a lot of problems lol

Well, we bought that duplex for $101k.

Sold it a few years later for $330k.

At the time, that felt unreal to us.

That duplex $ helped us buy another multi unit property, which eventually turned into our first short term rental, accidentally. We lived on one side, rented out the other, again…

Looking back now, it’s kind of wild how one decision can completely change the direction of your life.

We didn’t have family money.
We didn’t know exactly what we were doing.
We just made the next move we could make with what we had.

That little duplex changed everything for us.

What was YOUR first investment?

Some freedoms were paid for with everything.Today we remember and honor the brave men and women who made the ultimate sa...
05/25/2026

Some freedoms were paid for with everything.

Today we remember and honor the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. 🇺🇸

Grateful today and every day.

❤️

You know what most realtors can't tell you? What amenities actually move the needle on a short term rental.They'll sell ...
05/15/2026

You know what most realtors can't tell you? What amenities actually move the needle on a short term rental.
They'll sell you the house. But do they know what makes guests book it? What makes them come back? What makes them leave a five star review and tell all their friends?
We do. Because we don't just sell investment properties. We own them. We live this.

This right here? These are splash pad features about to be installed at one of our STR properties in Bradenton. A private splash pad with water jets, LED lights, and water features that families will lose their minds over.
When you work with us you're not just getting agents who can find you a house. You're getting two people who can tell you exactly what to do with it after you close so it actually makes you money.
That's the difference between hiring a realtor and hiring The McNaughts.
📩 DM us if you've been thinking about your first (or next) investment property on the Gulf Coast.

A few weeks ago, a dear friend messaged me asking if I could recommend a local lender. I sent her Jacy's info Mortgage ...
05/12/2026

A few weeks ago, a dear friend messaged me asking if I could recommend a local lender. I sent her Jacy's info Mortgage and didn't think much of it.

A week later she messaged me again. Her daughter Ashleigh had talked to Jacy and all was set there, and wanted to know if I'd be her realtor.

Ashleigh is in her 30s, and a widowed mother of five. And she was looking to buy her first home.

Let me be honest with you. Most of my days are spent working with investors. We talk numbers. Cash flow. Cap rates. ROI. It's what I know and it's what I love. There's very little emotion involved.

This was different.

Ashleigh had been dreaming about this for a long time. She knew what she wanted and where she wanted to be. After showing her two homes, we wrote an offer on the second one and got it under contract the next day.

Yesterday she signed her closing documents. She is officially a homeowner.

I'm not going to lie, this one hit me different. When you work with investors all day, you can forget what a home actually means to someone. This wasn't about the numbers. This was about a mama giving her five kids a place that's THEIRS.

Also got to close my first deal with Jacy at Bloom Mortgage, and wow. If you need a lender who actually cares about her clients, that's your girl. Bonus is that she also knows investment lending, DSCR, bank statements, all of it, right here in our backyard!

God has a funny way of putting the right people in your path at the right time. I didn't go looking for this one. I just answered a message and recommended a good lender. And somehow that turned into the most meaningful closing of the year!

Congratulations Ashleigh. You and your kiddos deserve this. 🏡

Happy Mother’s Day to the super moms, bonus moms, grandmas, the women who stepped in and loved us like their own, and th...
05/10/2026

Happy Mother’s Day to the super moms, bonus moms, grandmas, the women who stepped in and loved us like their own, and the women hoping and praying their turn to be a mom is coming 🤍

Today we celebrate you, honor your heart, and see you 🌸

Every closing deserves a fiesta and every fiesta deserves a closing 🎊🌮 We showed up today in full costume and zero regre...
05/05/2026

Every closing deserves a fiesta and every fiesta deserves a closing 🎊🌮 We showed up today in full costume and zero regrets 😂 Taco bout a great Cinco de Mayo! Wishing everyone a day full of good food, great people, and maybe a margarita or two 🍹❤️
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Bradenton, FL
34217

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