Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicholas Aja.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My wife, Nuria, and I were interested in purchasing a house in the Bishop Arts area starting around the middle of 2020. Her and I had lived together in a few different Dallas neighborhoods over the previous three years, and were both ready to buy into a more permanent living situation. I was never a fan of the idea of purchasing a house and buying myself into debt. I relate most to the let’s make our money work and produce more of its own money mindset. Being this way, it was hard for me to swallow a large mortgage. Nuria, on the other hand wanted a place to ourselves that we could enjoy year-round. We ultimately decided that marketing the house on a short-term rental platform such as Airbnb could provide a solution for our different desires. Once this was determined, the search was on! By random chance, Nuria was searching through Zillow one day and came across the house that is now referred to as The Aja (Ah-ha) Casa. A backstory on the name: Aja, because it’s my last name, and Casa because Nuria is from Madrid. Yin and Yang. It was love at first site. A month or so later, we closed on the house. Only due to extreme commitment and determination, were Nuria and I able to build this business from scratch to success in the first nine months. You name a media source with short-term rental information, we touched it. The AJA Casa is synonymous with Five Stars. Nuria’s interior designer came to life as she curated an incredibly personal and comfortable space with a rustic twist. We wanted to provide you, our customers, with the exact level of expectation that we have ourselves when staying in a Five Star hotel. Now, in early 2022, we share the space with customers that pay well and appreciate the beautiful space and experience that is The Aja Casa!
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Absolutely not! Where do we begin? We were under the impression that our house could be listed as a “whole space” even though we still occupied the master suite. This was due to a major misunderstanding between myself and an Airbnb representative through a chat. Long story short, our space was considered a “shared space”. Our first few customers were surprised and disappointed. So, what does one do when faced with a tricky situation? You adapt. After a few phone conversations, we edited the listing to show the newly understood designation. Do you think this solved the issue? No! Even when people booked the listing as “shared”, they arrived in shock when they found that we occupied the house. What a mess, I tell you! Can things get worse? Well, over course! One group of guests came through and began selling drugs out of our mailbox, directly in front of our Ring doorbell camera and the camera covering the front of the house. Another guest was upset that we were in her group’s shared accommodation and told Airbnb that we had a camera in the bathroom. Now, this is a major accusation. Airbnb shut us down with zero evidence and I spent many hours over the next week communicating and providing evidence that this was in fact false and retaliatory. They delisted us during this time. In conclusion, we had a major shift in business plan. Nuria and I moved out into a small studio apartment nearby and began the journey as a full-time short-term rental.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’ve been working in various sales roles over the last 5 years. Most recently, I learned the Fire Suppression business and was estimating and selling these commercial fire suppression systems to general contractors all around DFW as well as out-of-state GCs. I specialize in building relationships and serving people. I was just brought on to the Vacasa Short Term Rental property management team as a sales executive. This opportunity will help Nuria and I grow and improve our personal short term rental portfolio.
Nuria is a teacher for Dallas Independent School District and has been there going on five years. She is a next-level educator.
I am most proud of Nuria. She inspires me to be better and improve myself every day. I am also quite proud of the awesome family I have and the love and support we share with each other.
What does success mean to you?
Success is living life on your terms. Success is achieving time freedom to do the things you are most passionate about and spending time with those who matter most to you.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/47078754?source_impression_id=p3_1644377975_mDdKdDpF%2FdanMC59
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nickaja/
- Other: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-ah-ha-moment/id1592567911
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