Frequently

Asked Questions

About Us

Who is Joy Watson Real Estate?
We’re a family-run real estate and rental management business based in Greensboro, NC. I’m Joy Watson—a licensed NC real estate agent, former special education teacher, and master gardener—leading a team dedicated to personalized service. Learn more about us here.

What services do you offer?
We help you buy, sell, or rent homes. Our rentals include short-term, mid-term, and 12-month stays (furnished or unfurnished) for corporate travelers, travel nurses, vacationers, and more. Furnished options come with utilities, Wi-Fi, linens, and kitchen essentials. We also offer a Domestic Arts Apprenticeship for high schoolers, teaching domestic, business, and property management skills.

How can I contact you?
Visit our contact page, email joy@joywatsonrealestate.com, or call/text 928-699-8883. We’re ready to assist!

What makes you different?
We prioritize personal service, sustainability, and community. Through initiatives like Watsucker Urban Farm, we create homes—not just rentals—and build an inclusive Greensboro community.

Do you handle both sales and rentals?
Yes! We manage home sales, purchases, and rentals—short-term mid-term or long-term.

Buying + Selling Homes

Does Joy Watson Real Estate offer assistance with selling my home?

Yes! We can list your home and assist with the whole process. Please contact us for assistance with listing your home for sale.

Does Joy Watson Real Estate offer assistance with buying homes?

Yes! Joy Watson has helped many people find a home in Greensboro, NC. Get in touch with us via our contact page to start your search!

Rental Properties

Which rental properties are available?
We manage a host of charming rentals in Greensboro, NC, ready to welcome you! Please click the links below to check availability for each rental property.
You can also browse our Rentals page:

  • Urban Bird House Tiny House ADU (905 W Wendover Ave, NC 27408): A veteran-crafted, eco-friendly tiny home tucked behind Hunsucker’s Place, with 1 bedroom, 1 bath, and room for 2 guests.

  • Hunsucker’s Place (905 W Wendover Ave, NC 27408): A revitalized, eco-friendly cottage in front of Urban Bird House, offering 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, and space for up to 6 guests.

  • Whole Hunsuckers (905 W Wendover Ave, NC 27408): Combines Hunsucker’s Place and Urban Bird House, with 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, and room for up to 8 guests.

  • The Library of Ivy and Ellie (903 W Wendover Ave, NC 27408): A cozy eco-friendly retreat near downtown, featuring 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, and space for up to 4 guests.

  • My Sisters House (1007 Grayland St, NC 27408): An eco-friendly haven with 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, and room for up to 4 guests.

  • Gramma Dotties Garden Retreat (909 W Wendover Ave, NC 27408): A private room homestay with 1 bedroom, 1 shared Jack and Jill bath, perfect for up to 2 guests.

  • Mawmaw Uschis Greensboro Retreat (909 W Wendover Ave, NC 27408): A private room homestay with 1 bedroom, 1 shared Jack and Jill bath, ideal for up to 2 guests.

  • Your Moms Place (909 W Wendover Ave, NC 27408): Combines Gramma Dotties and Mawmaw Uschis, offering 2 bedrooms, 1 shared Jack and Jill bath, and space for up to 4 guests.

  • Downtown Greensboro College Hill Brownstone (Wafco Mills Condo) (622 Walker Ave, NC 27408): Our only condo at Wafco Mills (where I’m the HOA president), with 2 bedrooms, 1.5 baths, and room for up to 4 guests. Possibly available Summer 2025, $1700/month.

  • Idlewood House (907 W Wendover Ave, NC 27408): A single-family home with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and space for up to 6 guests. 12-month lease, possibly available April 2026, $2000/month.

  • King Edward (4201 King Edward Court, NC 27455): A spacious, eco-friendly home with 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, and room for up to 8 guests. 12-month lease, possibly available November 2025, $2300/month.

What is an ADU?

Are your properties furnished?

 

Amenities

What amenities are included in your rentals?
Each home is packed with comforts to make your stay special:

  • Urban Bird House Tiny House ADU: 1 bedroom (loft, ladder access), 1 bath, kitchenette (microwave/convection oven, refrigerator, hot plate), Wi-Fi, pet-friendly, sleeps up to 2.

  • Hunsucker’s Place: 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, full kitchen, vintage decor, Wi-Fi, pet-friendly, sleeps up to 6.

  • Whole Hunsuckers: 4 bedrooms, 5 beds, 2 baths, full kitchen, Wi-Fi, pet-friendly, sleeps up to 8.

  • The Library of Ivy and Ellie: 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, full kitchen, Wi-Fi, pet-friendly, sleeps up to 4.

  • My Sisters House: 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, full kitchen, Wi-Fi, pet-friendly, sleeps up to 4.

  • Gramma Dotties Garden Retreat: 1 bedroom, 1 shared Jack and Jill bath, dorm-sized refrigerator, microwave, Wi-Fi, iron, small ironing board, pet-friendly, sleeps up to 2. No kitchen access—see floor plan photo in listing.

  • Mawmaw Uschis Greensboro Retreat: 1 bedroom, 1 shared Jack and Jill bath, dorm-sized refrigerator, microwave, Wi-Fi, iron, small ironing board, pet-friendly, sleeps up to 2. No kitchen access—see floor plan photo in listing.

  • Your Moms Place: 2 bedrooms, 2 queen beds, 1 shared Jack and Jill bath, dorm-sized refrigerator and microwave in each bedroom, Wi-Fi, iron, small ironing board per room, pet-friendly, sleeps up to 4. No kitchen access—see floor plan photo in listing.

  • Downtown Greensboro College Hill Brownstone (Wafco Mills Condo): 2 bedrooms, 1.5 baths, washer, dryer, stainless dishwasher, stainless range, stainless refrigerator, water, landscaping, pet-friendly, sleeps up to 4.

  • Idlewood House: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, washer, dryer, stainless KitchenAid dishwasher, stainless KitchenAid gas range, stainless French door KitchenAid refrigerator, water, landscaping, pet-friendly, sleeps up to 6.

  • King Edward: 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, washer, dryer, stainless dishwasher, range, refrigerator, water, landscaping, pet-friendly, sleeps up to 8.

Are properties near public transport?
Yes, hop on with ease! Explore routes with the Greensboro Transit Authority.

What’s nearby?
You’re in the heart of it all! Properties at 903/905/907/909 W Wendover Ave, 1007 Grayland St, and 622 Walker Ave are steps from downtown Greensboro’s buzzing nightlife, delicious dining, and cultural gems near Moses Cone Hospital and UNCG. King Edward is a short drive down Elm St away. Check out our favorite local spots on the “Businesses We Love” Google Map.

Utilities

Trash and Recycling

Idlewood Neighborhood Trash and Recycling Pickup Guide:

Keep Idlewood sparkling clean with our community trash and recycling schedule! Use green carts for weekly trash pickup every Monday morning, brown carts for recycling every other week (following the red or blue calendar), and gray carts for weekly yard waste, ensuring all carts are at the curb by 7 AM. For more details, holiday adjustments, and more info on recycling limitations (no glass, styrofoam or plastic bags in recycling bin), check out our Trash and Recycling Pickup on the Joy Watson Real Estate blog, and big thanks to Page High School OCS students for rolling carts in on Monday’s during the school year—join the fun if you’re inspired!

Do rentals include utilities and Wi-Fi?

  • Furnished: Everything’s taken care of—water, trash, gas, electricity, and Wi-Fi (peek at details for each of the properties we manage on our rentals page).

  • Unfurnished: We handle water, trash, and landscaping for your peace of mind. Traditional 12 month tenants will need to set up Electricity, Gas, and Wifi services in their own name no later than their scheduled move in date.

Booking + Policies

What’s your cancellation policy?
Your flexibility matters! Check the policy on Airbnb, VRBO, Booking.com, or Hopper before booking, as it varies by platform.

Do you require a security deposit?
For furnished rentals, we’ll share the details when you book. Payment is due within 24 hours to lock in your stay—otherwise, it’s not held. Direct bookings need a screening and short-term rental insurance completed through Truvi.com (about $50—see Truvi.com for details), including a “light touch” credit check for safety.

What is dynamic pricing?

Dynamic pricing means rental rates change automatically based on supply and demand. Local events, and what similar properties charge in our area are part of the algorythm used by our channel manager tool Hostaway.

Rental Payment Options

  • Short-term: Book via Airbnb, VRBO, Hopper, or our direct booking platform powered by Hostaway, which syndicates to multiple platforms like Airbnb and VRBO while offering direct booking for short-term rentals. Payments on all platforms except Airbnb are processed securely through Stripe. Please note that nightly rates adjust with dynamic pricing.

  • Mid-stay: Mid Stay guests are those who book 30+ day stay. Book via Airbnb, VRBO, Hopper, and Booking.com for select properties, or our direct booking platform powered by Hostaway, which syndicates to multiple platforms like Airbnb and VRBO while offering direct booking for short-term rentals. Payments on all platforms except Airbnb are processed securely through Stripe. Please note that nightly rates adjust with dynamic pricing.

  • 12-month: We use RentRedi and require tenant payment through RentRedi for seamless payments.

  • What is Truvi: Truvi is our guest screening and short term guest damage insurance. It is similar to Aircover used by Airbnb. Even if you have stayed with us previously, you are still required to complete this part of the process if you are using direct booking.

  • Lease agreement: We require e-signature of the lease agreement. This keeps both host and guest in step on expectations for all stays. If you are booking through a platform like Airbnb, their software takes care of making screening, insurance and lease agreement process very slick. We are working to create a similar experience for our direct booking guests and make updates to our process as our software improves.

  • Please note that we do not have a staff of employees and do not contact guests requesting extension of any stay. We do not hold or block dates for any unpaid reservation and can not hold dates for any length of stay. If you are a contracted worker such as traveling professionals, you must update your reservation by booking any needed dates from the available dates at the property of your choice. We do our best to provide all guests with the same home-like experience and can not accommodate guests who need us to intuitively know their contract status, or have expectations of having dates reserved without payment.

Rental Lease Options

  • Unfurnished: Designed for settling in with a 12-month lease.

  • What are the requirements for renting a home with Joy Watson Real state? For short term furnished rentals, there are built in screenings on Airbnb, and VRBO. For guest who book direct, we require screening and short term rental insurance through Truvi.com for approximately $50. For 12-month traditional rentals, clean background check, clean eviction check and 650+ credit score is required.

  • How do I book a rental property?
    Booking’s a breeze! For short-term stays, pick your platform: Airbnb, VRBO, Booking.com, Hopper, or go direct on JoyWatsonrealestate.com with the Direct Booking Button near the calendar. Our channel manager, Hostaway, syndicates to these platforms and powers our direct booking for all short-term rentals, processing payments securely through Stripe. For 12-month rentals, apply through Zillow or RentRedi.

  • Do you offer flexible lease terms?

    • Furnished: Perfect for short visits—2 nights minimum, 30 days maximum, with a mid-stay cleaning for longer stays (see FAQ #8).

    • Unfurnished: Designed for settling in with a 12-month lease.

What is dynamic pricing, and why do you use it?
Our rates dance with demand, seasonality, and local events to keep things fair and fun, all thanks to Truvi.com and Hostaway dynamic pricing tools. We pay to subscribe to a dynamic pricing tool through our paid channel manager Hostaway. This allows our pricing to function similar to a hotel. We use a dynamic pricing tool to help increase revenue that is currently used to pay down debt incurred when we rehabbed each home. Revenue is also reinvested into homes to maintain and improve what we share with guests. Our local non-corporate business contributes to our neighborhood, and our Greensboro NC community.

Renter Screenings

  • What is Truvi.com, and why do we use it?
    Truvi.com is our trusty sidekick for screening short-term and mid-term guests using real-time data. Truvi handles guest screening and insurance (about $50—check Truvi.com for details). It’s a time-saver and keeps your stay safe knowing the person who booked matches the person who shows up.

  • How does Truvi.com work?
    Think of Truvi.com as a screening maestro! It does a light touch background, check to ensure we keep our guests safe. Truvi reviews every screening from to ensure safety.

Pets

Are pets allowed at your rentals?

Bring your furry family members—all properties that we manage are pet-friendly!

Here’s how to keep the love flowing:

  • Scoop pet waste and toss it in outdoor green trash cans or dumpsters daily.

  • You’re responsible for any mess (waste, litter, fur, food, or damage like scratched furniture)—an $80/hour excess cleaning fee applies, plus repair costs if needed. Abandoned dog poop left after check out is removed by Doody Calls and will be billed back to you at $75.

  • Pet urine can hurt grass, so steer pets to non-grass, mulched or pine straw spots.

  • Pet fee: $50 for whole houses (Urban Bird House, Hunsucker’s Place, The Library of Ivy and Ellie, My Sisters House), $25 for private rooms (Gramma Dotties, Mawmaw Uschis).

  • Multiple pets or heavy shedders? Book a mid-stay cleaning with Simply Organized and Clean. Thanks for being a paws-itively respectful pet parent!

Cleaning

For stays over 30 days, we recommend a mid-stay cleaning to help keep things fresh:

  • My Sisters House & The Library of Ivy and Ellie – $125 for mid-stay cleaning

  • Hunsucker’s Place & Whole Hunsuckers – $185 for mid-stay cleaning

  • Urban Bird House Tiny House ADU – $100 for mid-stay cleaning

  • Gramma Dotties & Mawmaw Uschis – $50 each for mid-stay cleaning

  • Your Mom’s Place – $100 for mid-stay cleaning

Book a mid-stay cleaning with Simply Organized and Clean (payment through Venmo).

Pet Cleaning Fees

Please view our pets FAQ section on this page for further details.

Check-In / Check-Out

Instructions

How do I check in and out?
We’re excited to welcome you! Check-in/out details arrive via your booking platform or email (for direct bookings), with a keyless entry code and action items like payment, Truvi screening, and e-lease signing through a guest portal link. Near your stay’s end, we’ll send check-out instructions. A less email-heavy experience is on the way—stay tuned!

Special Requests

Needs a short-term stay with unknown dates/persons—can you provide a quote?
We’d be thrilled to help! Please submit an inquiry the rental page for the desired property. Include the details of their stay and how many guests/pets will be visiting.

Nightly rates range from $100-$500 for whole houses and $50-$300 for private rooms, plus cleaning fees, platform fees, and taxes. Exact quotes need dates and guest names in the booking system as figuring out a quote with missing details is time consuming and not respectful to our desire to share our best price.

Do you offer showings for your rental properties?

We love welcoming guests, but showings can interrupt their stay. That’s why we limit them to unoccupied 12-month rentals like Downtown College Hill Brownstone, King Edward and Idlewood House. For others, dive into our detailed descriptions, fresh photos, and tons of great guest reviews available on our Airbnb profile (awaiting exact profile URL).

Are properties ADA accessible?

We’re sorry to say none are ADA accessible right now—it tugs at our hearts, but we’re planning for a more inclusive future. Gramma Dotties, Mawmaw Uschis, and Your Moms Place need a full flight of stairs; Hunsucker’s Place and Idlewood House have walk-up attics with 1 bedroom up stairs; Urban Bird House Tiny House ADU requires a ladder to the loft; and My Sisters House, The Library of Ivy and Ellie, Hunsucker’s Place, and Idlewood House have 2 steps or more at entrances.

Are properties eco-friendly?

You bet! We embrace green living with no/low-fragrance cleaners, cotton/natural fiber bedding, regular air filter swaps, sustainable materials, and a recycling spirit. We do not use plug-in or spray air fresheners. Our pals at Simply Organized and Clean keep our homes pristine the eco-friendly way.

Additional

Information

What is an ADU?
An Accessory Dwelling Unit is a snug, sustainable living space on the same lot as a main house—like our darling Urban Bird House Tiny House ADU. Learn more at Tiny House Greensboro.

Parking

Where can I park?

Parking location will vary between properties we manage. Here is a run-down for each property: