New Short Term rental host, Am i doing this right?

Question

Hello Everyone,

My wife and I jsut bought a 3 bedroom cabin from Avery's team at the Short Term Shop, and are very excited to take over a cabin that was poorly run, and turn this thing into a cash machine! This post may be better split into multiple, but here are some things I need help with, and turned to the only place i trust! Thank you for advance for your replies.

1 - We inherited over 50+ bookings, all the way into December of 2022, all of which are rented WELL below what we plan to rent it for. The previous owner sent an email out saying we would honor their booking and pricing, which i never agreed to, i only agreed to honor their dates. She apologized, and i sent out my email either way, offering them a discount from what we WOULD rent it for, to get them closer to what they a paid. A few people have understood, and a few have written some very strongly worded emails saying how this is "bad business." I do feel bad for these people, as i would be angry in their situation, but there is no reason i need to honor bookings, especially things that are 6+ months out, correct? Perhaps i just need some motivation to stick to my guns and do things for myself, its either their money or mine.

2- Does anyone have recommendations for programs that will help manage messaging, and syncing the calendar between VRBO and AIRBNB? I know @lukecarl has a video about syncing them with a calendar, is this the best way?

3 - I have setup price labs on the listing, and the prices seem to be all over the place, with some weekdays  being $199, and some weekends the same week being upwards of $400, does anyone have experience with price labs? And if someone books this, would they pay the different rate per day, or do they pay based on the start day of their booking? i know i am supposed to run things only booked out 14 days, but i am very nervous to loose too many bookings with having my price too high... Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thank you!!

Luke Carl · Answer

You do not want number 1.

Read a book called short term rental long term wealth. It’ll answer all of your questions.

John Underwood · Answer

I want to say don't be greedy. You said you would be mad if someone pulled the rug out from under you. Are we just talking 20% or less difference or 50% different between what you want to charge.

Remember someone of these people that you treat right might turn into repeat customers.

You don't need all the paid apps and software for one property.

Account Closed · Answer

@Blake King  PriceLabs more than pays for itself (even with just one property).  And it gives you great insight into the market if you make use of it.  I combine that with Hospitable to automate and manage my messages…and automatically offer guests extra days on either of their trip if the nights are unhooked. That extra revenue pays for that subscription.

As for the current bookings, I’ve inherited a few properties like that. It bugged the heck out of me having guests staying there for half a year at rates well below market. I honored the bookings and am now we’ll past that phase.  They said, the rates I honored were well below market and we renovated the property. If I had a “do over”, I would’ve canceled them and let new bookings come in. The rates we charge now are much higher and the same folks would not be booking.

Sherief Elbassuoni · Answer

@Blake King,

I will honor the prices for a few months in 2022, but I will not honor reservations that are made till December 2022. This is something your broker should have negotiated with seller.

Price Lab is good, the main down side of it is that it is pretty expensive and you need to select specific areas. If you want more areas, you need to pay more. It is not good if you have a lot of Airbnbs all over the place

Blake King · Answer

I love that, thats exactly what i needed to hear, i want to make this as automated as possible, and i know a computer can do things a heck of a lot better than i could with a calculator, but i also dont want to put all my trust and hope in one place. Ill stick it out and watch how it goes closely, and go from there. I really appreciate your response, so thank you!

Jess Haas · Answer

What kind of program did you buy it through? Was this cabin listed on the mls?

I am very surprised since in her own book she says not to take on future bookings. Your broker should have negotiated that into deal(for the owner to remove prior to the sale). It’s a headache and personally I would feel bad. Maybe keep the next 2 months but any farther out they could probably find accommodations that are similarly priced.

For pms I use hospitable. They are the best value in my opinion and they are growing. I created a direct booking website from their platform or you can use a widget and build it into a website you create. I just signed up for price labs this month and it seems great, but time will tell if it will return. It’s more expensive than I thought it would be.

Jimmy Woodard · Answer

I personally use Wheelhouse but have heard great things about Pricelabs as well. I have no complaints with the cash flow and cash on cash return I'm seeing and I know I couldn't have done this without a pricing tool. Systems that give me peace of mind are more important to me than controlling every aspect of my business.

Luke Carl · Answer

You don’t want the bookings.

Pricelabs yes. And yes changed prices often when you’re new based on enemies. Can usually find the sweet spot and let it sit after a month of learning. Remember the goal is to not have to work hard. Systems.

Account Closed · Answer

@Blake King  our property manager coordinates with the cleaners. You can sync calendars through the apps with them or just text them when you get last minute changes. So long as you let them know what your doing. Our cleaners are flexible and it doesn’t happen too frequently…and when it does it’s usually guests staying an extra day (as opposed to arriving a day early).

Kevin Pillow · Answer

I defer to Avery Carl when it comes to STRs since she is an authority in the space. That being said, for a channel manager when starting out hospitable is what I recommend to my clients starting out. Here is some comparisons https://www.capterra.com/vacat....

New Short Term rental host, Am i doing this right?

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