Beyond Pricing software for AirBnb / Vacation rentals

[Jerrod Mink]

Good morning, BP!

I'm about to start up my first two AirBnb properties and I'm on the fence about using a third-party software to deal with the pricing.  I'm confident I can price it well based on AirBnb comps in the area but I can't help but feel like I might miss out on some booking revenue since I wouldn't be using the pricing algorithms the big dogs use.  Does anyone have any experience, good or bad, with this kind of thing?

If third party pricing software IS the way to go, recommendations on who to use would be greatly appreciated! 

Cheers!

[Paul Sandhu]

And on the other end of the spectrum is my town. Some people call it Hades. There is no tourism. There are no listings on Airbnb, vacasa, Homeaway or any other vacation websites except my one 3-bedroom house in this town. So there are not any numbers to compare to if you are doing an STR.

In my situation, my main competition is a couple of cheap motels.  For $400/week you get a room with 2 beds and a bathroom.  So I charge $600/week for a 3BR house with a kitchen, washer/dryer, cable, wifi, smart hdtv, and bedrooms that look like Hugh Hefner himself decorated them.

My tenants are refinery contractors.  They all get a per diem between $75-$100 a day.  So most of them have to stay in that budget amount. 

There are some nice hotels with a pool, gym and breakfast.  They are $700/week.  That's a different clientele that I don't compete against.  The people that own those places are acquantainces of mine.  I don't want to take their business away because they are politically connected and could change the legal environment for STRs in my town.  The guy with the cheap motel had no connections and gave up. He sold it to another guy without connections.  They both complain about me..."People stay in my motel a week then move out and in to one of Paul's houses." 

Paul Sandhu - The Hugh Hefner of the Working Man's STR