Vacation home rental

[Valeria R.]

Hello, my husband and I just got our vacation home started early this month. We've listed on Airbnb, VRVO/HomeAway, Flipkey/TripAdvisor and booking.com. so far all we've gotten are Airbnb guests. Which one is better for you guys? And why? And differences, charges, advertisement, tips we should know about? Lots of people prefer VRBO but, maybe we're doing something wrong.. would love feedback.

[Sid Payne]

Originally posted by @Valeria R.:

@Sid Payne @John D https://www.vrbo.com/1422103

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/27955816

I don't know much about the other platforms but have had a lot of success on VRBO/HomeAway. 

Just a few things.

I would encourage you to get professional photos done, they make a huge difference. Also, you want them all to be the same size and resolution. Some of yours are portrait, some are landscape, some are wider than others and a lot of them are of stuff on the walls, which I'm not sure folks care a lot about. You also want to get as many as you possibly can since VRBO/HomeAway lets you have up to 50. What does the view from the porch look like? If it is nice, I would include that. Is there a back yard?

I think your description could be a lot longer and more detailed. I've found that the more I include on the listing, the fewer questions folks have. They still sometimes ask questions about things I have already listed but not usually. I would also maximize your title with more information. How far to the beach?

Why is your calendar blocked a year out? We get lots of folks planning farther out than that. Unless you don't think you'll want to rent it, why not give them the option to book into 2020?

Your pricing does seem a bit high compared to the competition. I would also do a new listing special. It is better to get some folks in there and at least break even for the first few months. Maybe heavily discount weekdays? That is pretty easy to do on VRBO/HomeAway. The key is to get some traction on reviews. Once you have some good reviews you will get more bookings. That will also move you up in the search rankings. Being super responsive will help with that as well.

I looks like you have instant booking turned on, so that is good. It also helps you to get higher in the search rankings.

When I search in your area, you do come up, but the photo is of your front door. I would change that to something like the whole house or something else unique. I like the painting on the front door but it doesn't really make me want to click on the photo. Your competition has photos of the outside of the house or nice pics of the living room.

I hope this helps.
Sid