96 - From Beach House Dream to 20 STRs | Phillip & Kate Munoz

In this episode of The Co-Host Bros Podcast, Matt Codd and Austin Spitzenberger sit down with Phillip and Kate Munoz, a husband-and-wife team who turned a single beach house idea into a growing short-term rental portfolio and management company.

Their journey started in 2020, when Phillip — already investing in long-term rentals — started listening to STR podcasts and convinced Kate (while she was very pregnant) that they should jump into vacation rentals. The pitch? A beach house.

That one decision launched them into a business that has since grown to six personally owned STR properties and more than a dozen co-hosted homes, operating across Florida’s beach markets and the Smoky Mountains.

As their experience grew, Phillip noticed a recurring problem: most real estate agents simply don’t understand vacation rental investing. That realization led him to join the Savvy Realtor team, where he now helps investors identify and acquire properties that actually perform as STRs.

Together, Phillip and Kate now help investors not only buy better vacation rentals, but also operate them more profitably through hands-on management and real-world operational knowledge.

In this episode, they discuss:

• How their STR journey started with one beach house in 2020
• Growing from a few rentals to ~20 total properties
• Operating in both Florida beach markets and the Smoky Mountains
• The biggest mistakes new STR investors make
• Why many Realtors fail vacation rental investors
• How Phillip became a Savvy Realtor specializing in STR properties
• The revenue potential many vacation rental owners leave on the table
• What it’s really like running a hospitality business as a married couple

This episode is packed with honest insights about scaling a vacation rental business, buying the right properties, and turning STR investing into a full-time operation.

👥 Follow the Hosts

Matt Codd

Instagram: @creativecodds

TikTok: @creativecodds

Facebook: @matt.codd.3

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-codd-9a3761375/

Austin Spitzenberger

Instagram: @austin_spitzz

TikTok: @austin_spitzz

Facebook: @austin.spitzenberger

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/austin-spitzenberger-70481111b/