Airbnb, VRBO, FlipKey....other suggestions.

[Christina Kovacs]

We will be putting one of our SFH's on the market for short term rental in a month. Do you suggest listing on all sites? Which company charges the most to list/rent?

Have you had experience with HomeToGo.com?

This will be our first experience with short term rentals, any advice is appreciated! Luckily, the property is in a city that has no short term rental restrictions. We are considering offering a minimum of 3 night stay but I need to check if our insurance policy allows that, most are 7 day min. We plan to manage the property ourselves and hire a cleaning company after each guest. 

Last question, we are considering putting an electronic lockbox and the RING (camera/doorbell) at the front door. The property is 1.5 hrs from us so we don't plan to greet each guest. Do you recommend using the RING and do you have a suggestion for a electronic lockbox where we can change the code after each guest departs?

Thanks!

[Beth L.]

@Christina Kovacs I have a short term vacation rental near Disney. We list almost exclusively with VacationRentals.com. This year, amidst all the chaos of them beginning to charge service fees, many disgruntled owners decided not to renew, but I did. I haven't seen an issue and most of my bookings come from there. It will pick up each year as you go along, as we have found that some guests come back, year after year, and they become returning guests. Those bookings are just handled directly with me.

We are long distance owners and have a property manager there locally that meets the guests, handles maintenance issues, schedules cleaning, pool care and lawn care. He is invaluable! I think that it is important to have someone meet the guests to confirm how many are staying and that they are who they say they are (unfortunately there are many scams out there. You rent to someone trusting their identity, only to find out they stole a wallet, used the ID and credit card on a last minute booking and then the cleaning lady finds they up and left with all the electronics. YIKES!)

But I also know of someone who self manages a condo in Myrtle Beach. He ships them the key, handles money through PayPal, and has a cleaning lady come in afterward and it seems to work out well for him. 

So there are many things to consider. I self manage all the communications and bookings. The property manager handles everything while the guest is there. I works out great for us!

Something to keep in mind is who will handle the call-outs. Call-outs are those inevitable maintenance issues and concierge questions. Our property manager has handled calls like a clogged toilet, leaking pipe, a broken mini blind, broken shelf in the fridge, blender not working, A/C not working, the guests can't figure out how to operate the TV, meeting with repairmen, pool heat needs to be turned up/down/on/off, neighbor used our trash bins so now they are full and no room for the guests' trash so the PM has to go pick up their trash and haul it away, light bulbs are blown out, etc. Some of these calls, if an emergency can be made in the middle of the night or the weekend and need to be handled right away. You will need someone you can trust to call out who can be there quickly.

And in case you didn't know, it is part of Florida Law that they must register with the owner/manager within 48 hours of arrival and sign a form in which they agree that they are renting a "transient" facility. They confirm that no permanent residence is planned by them. If this form is not signed and they decide to just stay there and not leave on the date they provided, it is very difficult to get them removed. This form is a MUST and the importance of it has been greatly stressed by our PM. As a matter of fact, he goes to collect the form and meet them in person if possible, or at least checks the unit while he is there. So if you are self managing and not meeting them after arrival, you must make sure that it is included in your rental agreement.

I hope some of this info helps!