VRBO ruined my business. Need advice!

[Troy Ritter]

I’m a 21-year active duty military guy who started renting my home after being transferred out-of-state. The home is in Anchorage, Alaska and I live in Atlanta.

In 2014, I began doing short term rentals from May-August and then I’d find a long term tenant for September-April. Until recently this worked very well. I averaged $16,000 cash flow the first 5 years.

About a year ago, VRBO changed how they rank properties in guest searches. My home used to appear in the top 15 and now I average around 180. I only get a handful of views and I only have 2 bookings for the upcoming 2020 summer season. In past years I’ve been about 70% booked by New Years.

The problem is that the new VRBO ranking method is heavily weighted towards volume. Because I only rent 4 months per year, I get fewer bookings and reviews than other properties who rent year-round. Renting short term year-round isn’t an option for me and the monthly rental rate still just covers the mortgage.

Does anyone have suggestions for getting my business back on track? Any suggestions will be appreciated!