Today we’d like to introduce you to Matt Pacheco.
Hi Matt, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Everyone’s growth starts with the roots in their family tree. My name is Matt Pacheco, and I was born and raised in La Mesa, CA where my parents, Mark and Anne, still live. I’ve lived in San Diego nearly my entire life and I absolutely love it here! My brother, Eric, and I went to Saint Martin of Tours Elementary and then attended Saint Augustine High School. Our dad has worked at SDSU for over eighteen years as a facility coordinator. Our mom has worked at our elementary school for almost thirty years and was actually featured in a SD Voyager article back in 2018 for her work with the International Fair Trade movement.
Eric and I were very blessed to have loving parents who supported us in everything we did. They gave us a strong foundation for life by teaching us to have a strong moral compass and values for life as well as a strong work ethic. They taught us to love the outdoors by taking us to National Parks and on many memorable road trips growing up in our humble little RV. We’ve developed a love for all things outdoors, including camping, hiking, backpacking, kayaking, scuba diving, and so much more! The Royal Cabin wouldn’t exist without my love for the outdoors.
In 2009, I left San Diego County to study mechanical engineering at Cal Poly Pomona, following in my brother’s footsteps from two years earlier. While he chose a different line of engineering, we shared a love for it just the same, stemming from all the Lego sets our dad had found for us at thrift stores throughout our childhood. He also taught us woodworking and various DIY skills which were invaluable for our career choices and eventually would prove themselves truly invaluable for The Royal Cabin renovations.
After graduating from Cal Poly Pomona in 2014, I took a job in Research and Development at Applied Medical designing and developing laparoscopic surgical devices. While I loved what I did and got amazing hands-on experience and knowledge, Orange County wasn’t home for me. I wanted to be back in San Diego again, and got my chance in 2016 when I began a job at Novo Engineering. I loved the work there and I loved being back in San Diego with the ability to go on outdoor adventures again, but something was still missing.
I felt the pull to start something more and I started my entrepreneurial path. I began a self-development journey, reading over a hundred books that first year, absorbing as much information as I could about a wide variety of topics such as emotional intelligence, financial education, mindset development, and more.
That’s a little bit about how I got started. Here’s how The Royal Cabin got started!
I grew up going to Julian with my family every fall for as long as I can remember. We loved the shops, restaurants, and of course, the delicious apple pie. It was a place close to our hearts in memories, and I wanted to make it a place we could make future memories at as well.
In November of 2021, I started looking at properties in Julian. My self-development journey had guided me toward the path of real estate investing, and people kept telling me I would make a great AirBnb host, so I thought I would give it a shot. But my mission was deeper than that. How you do anything is how you do everything, so I wanted to do this in the absolute best way possible. Not only did I want to become a great host, but I also wanted to become an integral part of the Julian community, and that included a few keystone objectives:
- I wanted to become one of the best places to stay in Julian in terms of the quality of the home, abundance of amenities, and in providing exceptional hospitality to guests and their loved ones.
- I wanted to be a great neighbor and attract high quality guests and good-natured travelers from near and far who were seeking a peaceful nature retreat.
- I wanted to support local businesses in Julian by using local help/services as often as possible. I believe a rising tide raises all ships and I wanted to boost and support the local economy and community.
- I wanted to be a contributing member of the Julian community by joining the Chamber of Commerce, attending community events, and spending as much time as possible at the home and in Julian with family & friends between guests stays.
In early 2022, the perfect little home in the perfect location came up on the market. Many entrepreneurs and investors get stuck in analysis paralysis and miss opportunities from taking too long to take action, but after running numbers, I immediately took action and put an offer in on a Tuesday and scheduled a tour for that weekend.
We were completely shocked that weekend to find that the home was not anywhere near the perfect condition shown in the MLS listing and it was currently occupied and had been neglected for years–something that was not disclosed ahead of time. The listing pictures were at least a decade or so old and everything described in the listing as “new” was also more than a decade old. The home needed a complete and total renovation. We were blindsided, but our offer was accepted, and we had to make a big decision: should we pass this home up on inspection contingency, or take on the challenge of a complete (and unexpected) renovation?
We decided to step up and take the challenge, and we closed in February of 2022 with an expected renovation completion date of July 2022. However, the renovations took all year, with our first guests staying in December 2022. The first few guests of the home were friends, family, and colleagues, and while it was a slow start in the middle of the slow season, looking back I am grateful for it. I was learning the systems and processes of running a vacation rental, and soft-starting it with people I knew was a great start!
When I got my first real bookings from strangers, it was a mix of excitement, fear, anticipation, and an entire mix of emotions! Things were suddenly real and I was about to put the home and all of the hard work we had put into it to the test. Fast forward to today, we have hosted nearly 50 stays with guests from all over the state, country, and world! We have gotten to host and interact with some amazing and wonderful people, and many guests have told us that our home is the best AirBnb they have ever stayed in! People have come for all reasons: from birthdays to weddings, holidays, taking their family to see the snow or the milky way for the first time, or just much-needed weekend getaways, we love hosting all sorts of trips!
The hosting journey has been incredible so far, and I absolutely love it! My family, team, and I are excited to see what the future brings as we continue to help as many travelers from and far have an absolutely amazing time in Julian making memories with their loved ones. We are proud to continue to grow in our mission of being a good neighbor and supporting the Julian community in a loving and responsible way.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The entrepreneurial path by its very nature is not a smooth road. It has bumps, hurdles, obstacles, and a myriad of challenges along the way. The obvious challenges are external, but the largest challenges are the internal ones. Feelings of stress, exhaustion, and loss of motivation or hope when the going gets tough are common. My self-development journey has come in very handy with this, giving me the tools I needed to maintain a positive mindset through adversity, which is something successful entrepreneurs need to have!
With The Royal Cabin, the largest challenge was the full repair and renovation of the home. It needed a new roof, a new driveway, paint top to bottom inside and out (literally), a kitchen remodel, two bathroom remodels, overhauls of the downstairs rooms and everything else you could possibly think of.
Additionally, I wanted to use local companies for repairs and renovations I couldn’t do on my own, but that proved to be a challenge as well. It was sometimes tough to find local specialists in the Julian area, and many specialists in San Diego do not service Julian either, so finding specialists in between the DIY renovation work proved to be a challenge!
I started out as a one-man army and was prepared (and expecting!) to renovate the entire house on my own since it was a project I took on for myself. What I didn’t expect was the outpouring of love and support from my family and friends to help me along the way. My parents and aunt and uncle came up almost every weekend for months, along with a multitude of friends on various weekends as well! This was a full DIY effort of hard work, sweat, and love from the Pacheco family and our friends, transforming the home with our hard work and love while making great memories ourselves sharing in all of the work!
Since I work as an engineer, I am grateful to be used to solving unknown technical challenges, but some of the technical challenges encountered during the renovations were more of a beast than others! Much of the work I had never done before, but thank God for the information age and “YouTube University,” blogs, forums, and so many other helpful resources. Some of the projects, such as plumbing in and installing the new walk-in shower, were an absolute PAIN and difficult to install with the walls not being perfectly plumb and all sorts of other challenges encountered after starting. Other projects were just incredibly difficult and physically demanding to work on, such as sanding, priming, painting and renovating all of the kitchen cabinets, leaving us incredibly sore weekend after weekend. Despite the challenges, I am grateful for all of the new knowledge and skills we learned along the way!
There were times when the emotional part of my brain wanted to quit, but the logical part of my brain pulled in the reins and told me to keep going. When timelines slip and technical challenges build up, the emotional part of your brain wants you to give into failure and give up. I felt this, but entrepreneurs often face a myriad of challenges all at once, and when they compound against you, it gets tough. Working on the project nearly every single consecutive weekend of 2022, I missed many get-togethers with friends and family, sleep (so much sleep), and had countless acquaintances add to mental stress by putting me down or questioning what I was doing instead of supporting me. By building my mindset and mental resilience, I was able to overcome all these challenges I was confronted with. It is darkest before the dawn, and when you cross the deepest valleys before you climb the mountain, it gives you a better appreciation for the view once you reach the top.
When the renovations were finished in late 2022, I thought my hard work was done…but I was wrong! There were amenities, household goods, and furnishings to get! I had to build a variety of systems to help automate running the AirBnb and to ensure comfortable and enjoyable stays for all of our guests. I had to build a team and network of people to help support the home from cleaning to maintenance to backup property management and more and keep in communication with them frequently. I made a thorough house binder complete with information about local things to see and do so guests could have access to every detail of the home and town and make the most of their stay, as well as make systems and binders for all of my team members as well!
On top of the general maintenance, upkeep, and improvements, I also had to learn how to market the home too. I worked with professional photographers, marketers and freelancers to make business cards and flyers for the home, as well as promote it in town, online and on social media. I also stayed true to my mission and joined the Julian Chamber of Commerce to make time to meet with the local business owners and community members so I could promote them too.
This focus on systems and processes, documentation, team building, marketing and the excruciating attention to detail that came with it was a whole new challenge and demand on my time that was far different than the demands of the renovation work! I also wanted to continually improve the home, so planning new renovations to the home in between guest stays was yet another challenge. It has been successful though and has resulted in one of the best hot tubs in Julian! All of this in addition to my full-time job that demands high focus and attention to detail in addition to a full return-to-office has been another challenge to my balancing skills. However, since looking to begin this journey in late 2021, things are finally starting to feel settled nearly two years after starting down this path!
I absolutely love this journey and would do all of the hard work all over again in a heartbeat! I love Julian and I look forward to making our home and the local community thrive even more as we progress further down our path. I love the night skies, the deer, blue jays, and squirrels that frequent the yard. I love the snow in the winters and the beautiful blooms in the spring, the summer stargazing, and the beauty of Julian in the fall as well. I love the town and community and all the amazing travelers that pass through too. I am so grateful to be on this journey and I look forward to all of the continued growth on it! Here at The Royal Cabin we look forward to achieving our mission of becoming one of the best places to stay in Julian, and certainly the best AirBnb that gives back to the town of Julian and is a positive presence in the community!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We are an AirBnb vacation rental cabin that is quickly becoming one of the best places to stay in Julian, CA. We provide an exceptional quality home, abundant amenities, and top-level hospitality to our guests so that they have an amazing experience during their time at the home and during their time in Julian! Our home was completely renovated in 2022 and features luxury amenities such as a hot tub, smoker/BBQ, firepit and fully-stocked kitchen, pool table, and a large, private yard complete with games for the whole family. The house has a large, comfortable couch and giant 85″ TV along with the fastest internet in Julian and a wood-burning stove in the living room perfect for a movie night! The entire house is fully-stocked from complimentary coffee, tea, cider and hot chocolate, down the smallest details like extra toiletries and cell phone charging cables in case you forgot anything while packing!
We have a growth and abundance mindset, so we will always be improving the home and raising the bar of our hospitality listening to our guests’ feedback. We love that our guests love feeding peanuts to the blue jays and squirrels in the yard. We love that our guests love to stargaze and see the Milky Way relaxing in the yard or soaking in the hot tub! We take every ounce of feedback into consideration and use it to raise the bar for the quality of the home and the experience of our guests. We are very proud and humbled by the positive feedback we’ve gotten so far, especially when many guests have told us that this is one of the best AirBnbs they’ve ever stayed in! It is incredibly rewarding hearing stories of families taking their little ones to see snow or to see meteor showers and the milky way for the first time. It is a dream come true knowing that we are helping so many other families and travelers to make memories with their loved ones at the home just like our family has, and we look forward to providing many more amazing experiences to our guests as we continue on our journey!
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
As with any entrepreneurial journey, there will always be big shifts and changes to adapt to. Especially with real estate investing and vacation rentals, the rules are always changing. I see more regulations and restrictions coming into play, and in the short term I see more competition coming into the AirBnb space seeking short term gains. Ultimately this will drive more competition, and only hosts committed to excellence will stick it out. Hosts will need to elevate their games in terms of quality and hospitality and can’t just sit complacent or idle expecting things to stay the same, so ultimately I see this as a positive change as it will raise the bar for quality and raise the bar for hosts to provide exceptional experiences to guests.
Since we are committed to becoming one of the best places to stay in Julian, I can say with absolute confidence that we will thrive in this environment as we are already committed to continually improving everything about ourselves: the quality of the home, the quality of our services, and providing the best guest experiences. Since it is part of our mission to be such an integral part of the Julian community and partner with other local business owners and community members, we look forward to continuing to grow with all of our friends and partners here to elevate everyone in our local Julian community!
Pricing:
- $350/night avg. on auto-pricing software adjusted for seasonality and supply/demand
- Early-bird discounts: 10% 1 month out, 15% 2 months out, 20% 3 or more months out
- 25% weekly discount, 35% monthly discount
- Mention promo code ‘SDVoyager10’ for 10% off of your next booking with us!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://airbnb.com/h/the-royal-cabin
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theroyalcabin/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheRoyalCabin
Image Credits
Val Dostalek
Toni Murcia
Matt Pacheco
