What Happens If No One Is Booking Your STR?

Question

Assuming you're listing your property on AirBnb and VRBO,

Is it just a given that these properties will be booked out? (Assuming an attractive property in a good area with a good AirBnB listing)

Or is it common to have to direct your own traffic to an STR to really have it be booked out and profitable?

Has anyone had any experience with not getting any bookings from these hosting platforms?

If so, what did you have to change to see bookings start to come through?

Did you have to send traffic yourself?

Super curious!

Michael Baum · Answer

Hey @Zackarias Aitchison. 4th question! WOOT!

So it is possible that you won't get bookings. Your first year will be lean for sure as you build up the reviews.

You will need to have some kind of cash reserve to cover expenses and be ready for lean times. Otherwise convert to LTR to pay the bills.

AirBNB and VRBO are the dominant platforms and all you should need. Some folks are trying to build out their own sites but they don't leave those 2 platforms.

As you build up your reviews you will start to get more bookings. If you did everything right and in a good area, one year should be all you need. Our first year was lean and we didn't make any money but we were prepared for that.

Year 2 was in the black. From then on, it has been awesome. We are booking 2023 of course, but we also have bookings for 2024.

Collin Hays · Answer

I wouldn't panic.  January and February are off considerably over last year.  If someone tells you different, they are telling stories.  If you are on VRBO and/or Airbnb, you have a quality listing, and your rates are competitive, whatever you are experiencing right now is similar to what the rest of the market is experiencing.

Katie Miller · Answer

You could play some algorithm games on Airbnb (though it's hard to tell if this will result in a direct increase in bookings or if any of this is true but it's easy enough to try!) to boost your place in the search for your area:

-Share your listing with friends and get them to "heart" it or add it to their wishlists. The more hearts = the higher in search

-Update your listing description or photo arrangement every few days. This makes your listing appear "updated" even if you didn't materially change anything and could get you higher

-Change the name entirely! Check out your neighbors and see what their titles are. Maybe people aren't drawn to yours as much based on headlines

-Change your first photo. I think I heard somewhere the average number of photos people look at is 5 before booking or scrolling to the next listing

Luke Carl · Answer

What he said.

Joe C. · Answer

One thing to consider is if your particular market already has a hyper-local site that is well-entrenched.

For example, the NJ market has some really unique features to it with regards to tax laws and if you own less than 3 rentals you do not have to charge certain taxes to the guest if you don't use a platform that collects funds on your behalf. This has fed a market for local websites catering to these owners that specifically does not collect funds from guests so that owners can avoid the taxes. These local sites are enormously popular.

Google your area as if you were a person looking to stay there but not in a hotel, like "xyz beach rental condo" or "xyz beach weekly summer rental". Look at the sites that are not airbnb/vrbo and see what the top ones are that keep popping up. It may pay to list on another local platform that caters only to your market.

Good luck!

Bob Willis · Answer

There are many areas they have been over-saturated with STR. That must be a consideration. I have been in the Phoenix market with STR for seven years. It is brutal here now. You MUST stand out from others if you want bookings. Best of luck.

Andrew Steffens · Answer

All great advice above.  If it still is not booking and you burn through your reserve, your options will be to sell (hopefully for a profit) or rent MTR or LTR.

Leslie Anne Morris · Answer

If you aren’t booking you can look at google ads to drive traffic to your listing but it’s smarter to drive traffic to a direct booking site where you control the listing.

Eliott Elias · Answer

Not a given, you have to look at your competition and evaluate where you are at compared to them. You want to adjust price according to how quickly you want it booked out.

What Happens If No One Is Booking Your STR?

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