Automated Hosting:
Live STR Automation Workshop
Embedded Files
Saturday, June 13th, 2026 ~ 10:00am - 11:30am
via Google Meet
Learn to build the guest kiosk, automate check-in and checkout, and manage your rental remotely — all in one 90-minute live session.
Learn to build the guest kiosk, automate check-in and checkout, and manage your rental remotely — all in one 90-minute live session.
I've owned long- and short-term rental properties for years and watched the smart home industry promise a lot and deliver fragmented chaos — thermostats in one app, locks in another, cameras somewhere else, and a $300/hour integrator as the only way to tie it all together. So I built my own system using Home Assistant, an $89 Amazon tablet, and a lot of miscellaneous home control hardware. Now I run Lakeside on College Ave in Clemson entirely from my phone. I'll talk about exactly how I built it — live on Google Meet, June 13th.
This guest kiosk updates guest names as well as check-in and check-out dates and times with data directly from Airbnb emails and no input from me.
This piece is a bit of a complex automation, but remarkably robust and worth the effort.
A custom QR code allows guests to connect to the WiFi without having to look for login info or to text or call me.
Local map, time, and weather data.
Guest dashboard with automations and controls for all public areas of the house related to the stay. Non-public automations exist in the background to allow management control of all aspects of the house.
As an example, using the same check-in and check-out data needed for the welcome message, the house adjusts the thermostats in the rental units 45 minutes before check-in and 5 minutes after check-out.
In 90 minutes I'll walk you through the parts of the automation system I built for my Clemson lake house — the guest kiosk, smart locks, thermostat automation, remote WiFi reboot, and the host dashboard I use to manage everything from my phone. All the automation software I use is open source or, at the very least, subscription-free. I can't stand paying a monthly fee to use hardware I bought.
In 90 minutes I'll walk you through the parts of the automation system I built for my Clemson lake house — the guest kiosk, smart locks, thermostat automation, remote WiFi reboot, and the host dashboard I use to manage everything from my phone. All the automation software I use is open source or, at the very least, subscription-free. I can't stand paying a monthly fee to use hardware I bought.
This is my actual Home Assistant dashboard — thermostats, shades, garage doors, locks, and live cameras, all in one place. This is what you can build.
The Speaker
The Speaker
Jeff Schiffer, RA, NCARB
Jeff Schiffer, RA, NCARB
Jeff Schiffer owns and operates Lakeside on College Ave, a lakefront short-term rental on Lake Hartwell in Clemson, SC. He built the automation system for his own property because he was tired of managing multiple apps that didn't talk to each other. He's a licensed architect, real estate investor, and has spent the last several years building AI and automation systems — including a local AI assistant that runs his home and monitors his rental property 24/7.
Ready to stop driving to your property to fix things you could handle from your phone?
Ready to stop driving to your property to fix things you could handle from your phone?
Page updated
Report abuse