Purchasing STR in Oklahoma with Future Bookings - How to transfer (Cancel/Co-host)

[Amanda Parks]

Hi. We are looking to purchase a STR in Oklahoma that has future Airbnb and VRBO bookings through the end of the year. I've been researching and it seems like we have two options.

1) Have the seller agree to let us co-host on the listing from the closing date through the end of the year/when the future bookings end while advertising the new listing for any new bookings. This would help prevent canceling any bookings and losing them when asking to re-book.

Has anyone done this? How have you handled the transfer of all deposits/payments received and the remaining payments received after closing on those future bookings?  Was it written into the sales contract?

2) Work with the seller to cancel the bookings and re-book under the new listing.

[Jeff Langley]

I’m not a fan of #1 because then the reviews will be left for the other account and not yours. I’ve found it best to start over from scratch but maintain the old listing title and cover photo for a short period of time to get any potential guest transfers. Unless you know the previous hosts, I’d much rather vet guests using my own criteria and pricing adjustments.