Real Estate Investor · Chelsea, MI · Member since 2017 · 56 posts · 13 votes
Hi all
I have a lake house for rent on VRBO. This is my first time doing a short term rental.
I have had the place listed since about February 18th so about three weeks with no listings. I am starting to get cold feet.
My question is from others experience what part of the year do people see the most bookings in this area. Keep in mind the season up here is Memorial Day to Labor Day.
I am hoping I didn't miss people booking already.
Any advice would be great.
Thanks
Matt
Investor · Greer, SC · Member since 2014 · 13k+ posts · 17k+ votes
9y
Matt,
This is the time of year that you should start getting some bookings soon. Look at your VRBO listing at "analytics" I think.
See how many page views you are getting. Also refresh your calendar often.
If you have instant bookings enabled it will also help.
Search your area on VRBO and see what the competition looks like. Look at their pictures, amenities, calendar and pricing. See if you need to add anything to be more attractive to renters.
When I first started out I listed our place a little below the other guys so that I could start getting reservations and reviews. Check with your guests when they arrive and make sure they are happy and don't need anything or have any questions. You want to go out of your way to start getting 5 star reviews.
Provide some floats and chairs at your dock if you don't already have these.
Also if you have a fireplace and/or fire pit and even a hot tub it may increase your off season rentals.
We had every weekend in February reserved. I never would have guessed that we would get so many off season rentals on our Lake house.
If you message me and send me your listing number I'll look it over and provide some feedback.
Mine is #3685237 on Homeaway, but it can be found on VRBO also.
I have an add on AirBNB also, but it isn't performing anywhere close to my VRBO listing.
Specialist · Grand Rapids, MI · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 611 votes
9y
Matt Burr Post on AirBNB, Craigslist and Chamber of Commerce. Also may want to take profesional photos or have AirBnB do it for free for you. Hard to say after that but I have had many and regardless of location and type they rent. My maid is basically my property management.
Investor · Greer, SC · Member since 2014 · 13k+ posts · 17k+ votes
9y
Matt,
This is the time of year that you should start getting some bookings soon. Look at your VRBO listing at "analytics" I think.
See how many page views you are getting. Also refresh your calendar often.
If you have instant bookings enabled it will also help.
Search your area on VRBO and see what the competition looks like. Look at their pictures, amenities, calendar and pricing. See if you need to add anything to be more attractive to renters.
When I first started out I listed our place a little below the other guys so that I could start getting reservations and reviews. Check with your guests when they arrive and make sure they are happy and don't need anything or have any questions. You want to go out of your way to start getting 5 star reviews.
Provide some floats and chairs at your dock if you don't already have these.
Also if you have a fireplace and/or fire pit and even a hot tub it may increase your off season rentals.
We had every weekend in February reserved. I never would have guessed that we would get so many off season rentals on our Lake house.
If you message me and send me your listing number I'll look it over and provide some feedback.
Mine is #3685237 on Homeaway, but it can be found on VRBO also.
I have an add on AirBNB also, but it isn't performing anywhere close to my VRBO listing.
Real Estate Investor · Chelsea, MI · Member since 2017 · 56 posts · 13 votes
9y
I am glad to hear VRBO is the best performer. That is what I am treating as my primary listing. I also have AirBNB and Tripadvisor. I have already been playing with pricing. The listing number on VRBO is #1018915.
Investor · Greer, SC · Member since 2014 · 13k+ posts · 17k+ votes
9y
Here are my observations and opinions:
Good looking property with great lake views.
In the off season lower your minimum stay to 2 nights. This will allow people to reserve just a weekend
I would raise the price on Memorial day weekend and lower the min stay to 3 or 4 days.
I would add increased rates for any 3 day holiday weekends such as Easter
Look at events that will be going on in your area, fishing tournaments, festivals etc and add special pricing for those time frames.
Could you add gear for ice fishing in the winter to attract winter fisherman?
I would reduce pictures of fish and add pictures of house. Kitchen, bedrooms, TV area. We have people stay at our lake house that don’t fish, they may only be there for the view.
Be careful about renting your boat to people unless you can confirm you have insurance that would cover an accident and cover you if someone sued you for their accident.
A deposit and renters insurance may be overboard. We stopped asking people to pay for rental insurance and started just doing a $300 deposit. I never had a claim and it just makes your place more expensive to rent.
Not having Internet may be a deal breaker for people that are addicted to the internet.
I checked and there are only 2 other listings in your area. You are the most expensive of the 3. One is not water front and the one that is water front is only a 2 bedroom. So yes you should get more money. However if it is only a couple who want to stay a weekend then they can go to the other house and pay less. I would just adjust your price lower until you get some more bookings which should lead to repeat renters who come back year after year. The other house have a 3 night or 7 night minimum. If you have a 2 night minimum especially in the off season then you are the only game in town.
Make sure your homeowners insurance cover short term rentals since this can be viewed as a business. You want insurance that will cover a renter if they get hurt while on your dock (and on your boat).
Hope this is helpfull and again these are just my opinions. Ask 5 other people and you will get 5 different opinions.
Real Estate Investor · Chelsea, MI · Member since 2017 · 56 posts · 13 votes
9y
@John Underwood I appreciate the feedback a lot. I will be doing some price adjusting. I will also be updating pictures as well. There was a hang up here because a friend moving to town has been staying out there so I couldn't get and didn't have any set up bedroom pictures which I know I need.
I have informed my insurance agent if the boat and the intent to rent the house.
On the positive note it did rent over the Fourth but I am still kicking myself because on AirBNB I didn't have the settings right and they got it for only 2 nights at only 200 a night. But gotta start somewhere.
Real Estate Investor · Chelsea, MI · Member since 2017 · 56 posts · 13 votes
9y
@Scott Matthew C. sorry I am not following your question. I understand you are asking about days on market but that wouldn't really apply to a short term rental. Either way I don't have the data prior to owning.
Real Estate Investor · Houston, TX · Member since 2016 · 142 posts · 79 votes
9y
Matt,
I would also agree with what John said. He has given you some very solid advice. I fully agree that you don't have nearly enough pictures of the interior of the house and the one picture of the living room isn't very inviting. I would spend a good bit of time on the imaging of the listing.
We went through similar ups and downs in our first year (2016), but have a very steady stream now. We also learned a lot about what revenue management means (and that it needs constant attention). But definitely start your year 1 cheaper than your competition. We even went so far as to make sure our deposit requirements and even house keeping fees were lower than our comps. I think renters tend to look at each component of the cost.
My added advice point would be to find a comp that you want to emulate. Take what they do well and copy it -- then figure out how you can do better. Make sure it is one that is similar in size, location, bedrooms, etc. That's helped us a lot.
Oh yeah....add internet for sure.
Since we're sharing -- here is our listing in Galveston on VRBO: #839250
Best of luck!
Mark
PS -- We also got bit because we didn't realize the differences between AirBnB and VRBO on how they handle pricing. So our first two AirBnB listings were a great deal for the renter, but not so much for us ;)
@Scott Matthew C. sorry I am not following your question. I understand you are asking about days on market but that wouldn't really apply to a short term rental. Either way I don't have the data prior to owning.
Matt, sorry for the confusion. What is the DOM for rentals in and around the subject property? I make it a point for my rentals to review rental market values from the past 3 - 5 years. I like to have a picture view and then drill down. Everyone has a different approach of doing things and that's fine with me. Best of luck Matt.
Real Estate Investor · Chelsea, MI · Member since 2017 · 56 posts · 13 votes
9y
Charles Kao John Underwood Mark Sheppard
Thanks again for the advice. One follow up question how do you guys deal with the difference between AirBnB and VRBO when it comes to minimum stays.
I can require certain stays with VRBO such as a whole weekend. Then someone can book on AirBnB for just Saturday night effectively loosing me at least a night in most cases. In this market and location the ideal is to book vacation weeks during the summer. So single nights ruins that.
What are your thoughts. Is it worth it to do single nights or should I block those out for the summer and just lower my weekly rate?
Thanks in advance.
Real Estate Investor · Houston, TX · Member since 2016 · 142 posts · 79 votes
9y
AirBnB is great for the renter's perspective. Very easy to use and a nice interface. But it's pricing isn't as flexible for owners as VRBO. I realize both sites are geared to make the most money -- for the site. But it is annoying at times. You just need to keep playing with it. Unfortunately mistakes are the best teacher. But remember you're in this for the long haul so if you miss a few reservations, or short-change yourself on rates, don't worry. Just correct it and move on.
As John said -- right now ALL you want are 5-star reviews. Even if that means under pricing the value you feel your property brings to the market or a tenant. Treat that tenant like royalty and earn that 5-star review.