All Forum Posts by: Alberto Nikodimov

One of the most thrilling aspects of this industry is the opportunity to optimize pricing strategies to maximize revenue from each property we manage.

My absolute favorite part of my job is controlling the pricing of the vacation homes we manage and squeezing the maximum revenue from each home. I have been in the industry for about 7 years now, and I have tried a lot of different pricing software. In the beginning, we also handled this manually, but currently, I have settled on using PriceLabs and doing a lot of manual input and monitoring on a daily basis.

With that being said, I have discovered that to be successful and get the absolute best revenue from each home, you need to adopt different strategies for different seasons. We are currently trying to book high-season months 2-4 weeks prior to check-in because we see the highest rates this way. On the other hand, in the low season, we try to book 3+ months in advance since if you wait until the last minute, you will either book for a very low price, since all other hosts drop their prices then, or you will not book the home at all and have very low occupancy rates.

There are two ways to do this on PriceLabs. The first one is to just trust the algorithm and let it set your prices; the second way is to have a different base price and settings for the low season. In my opinion, the second option is a better approach. Where I'm currently struggling is having to adjust a lot of things manually, which I don't mind, but as we scale, this will become more and more challenging.

Here are the highlights of what we do when it comes to pricing:

1. 1. We carefully select our base price after looking at comparable properties, neighborhood data, data from previous years, and, of course, considering the condition and quality of the home.
2. 2. PriceLabs is pretty good at adjusting to our season, but I believe it works even better when you adjust pricing and minimum stays, especially when it comes to mid-season months, very high, or very low season.
3. 3. We select a list of top 10 competitors in the neighborhood and monitor their pricing closely, adjusting our pricing to theirs after considering reviews, condition of the home, occupancy, etc.
4. 4. We encourage longer stays in low season and shorter stays in the high season by adjusting our minimum stays.
5. 5. We look into the pricing from the previous year and adjust next year's pricing by increasing the rates by 10%.
6. 6. When setting our pricing, we look at homes with the exact same number of bedrooms and competitors in the same price range. I believe this is very important since if a guest can afford a 5-bedroom pool home in the same neighborhood as your 3-bedroom home with a pool, most likely, the 5-bedroom home will book first.

This is why I am reaching out for advice. My favorite part about the Short Term Rental community is how cooperative we are and how we always strive to become better. I would truly appreciate your feedback, suggestions, and advice. I am open to different approaches. We always try new things, but these are the methods that have worked for us in the past.

What is your approach regardless of the pricing software you use?

Are you happy with the regular base algorithm, or do you make a lot of adjustments and changes?

Do you adjust your minimum stay depending on the season?

Hi Anna! I have a great company I've been working with. They are very knowledgeable, and they just specialize in cost segmentation for STR. I highly recommend: https://gfgsolutions.com/ 

I agree with Bruce, Airdna is awesome for general market trends, it can be a bit shallow for deep dives.  Like, digging into specific sub-markets and getting that super detailed intel requires more than just surface-level stuff.
I don't recommend relying only on just one platform.
Speaking of, a colleague just mentioned Rabbu as an option, but I haven't personally tried it yet. I recommend manually digging through comparable listings, it can be super helpful, especially if you can see their booking calendars and amount of reviews (gotta check the actual rental performance, not just the listing!).

It's definitely a bit more work, but it can give you much richer insights than relying solely on one platform.

Hi Andrew! Great information! It seems like we are dealing with very similar conditions.

I would love to hear how you adopt your pricing strategy with your portfolio. On our side, we try to book the slower months and especially the low season far in advance since there are more properties than there are guests traveling and we want to be very competitive in the low season and avoid vacancies. We usually book the slower months couple of months in advance.

On the other hand, in high season, we keep our prices high at premium and we slowly start reducing them 3-5 weeks prior to the check-in. We find this strategy very successful since our research on the market shows that the highest rates per night are on bookings 2-3 weeks prior to check-in.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts and some of the strategies you implement to bring the highest returns possible for your investors.

@Andrew Steffens

Seasonality in the Short-Term Rental Florida Market remains a consistent phenomenon with minor variations each year. Notably, last year saw an unusual surge in October, which traditionally had been one of the slower months, often trailing only behind September.

Seasonal Trends Based on Previous Years:

January - Recognized as a mid-season period, January experiences a boost from holiday spending that extends into the first 10 days of the month. Following this, both the Average Nightly Rate (ANR) and occupancy experience a slowdown until the beginning of February.

February - Marked as the high season, February consistently stands out as one of the best months due to favorable weather conditions in Florida and colder climates elsewhere. ANR and occupancy rates peak during this time.

March - Continuing the high season trend, March witnesses an influx of snowbirds, spring breakers, and various conferences and events, making it the best month of the year.

April - Maintaining the high season, April sees a slight slowdown as spring breakers decrease. However, events like Easter contribute to keeping April among the best months of the year.

May - Positioned as a mid-season month, May historically faces challenges as students have exams, and parents are saving for summer vacations. Some cities, recognizing this, have successfully implemented major events, such as the Formula 1 race in Miami, to boost tourism.

June - Transitioning to mid-season, June surpasses May as the summer season begins, leading to higher occupancy rates, even though ANR is lower compared to previous months.

July - Categorized as mid-season, July stands out due to 4th of July celebrations, resulting in some of the highest nightly rates during the summer months.

August - Although August is generally good (mid-season), a slowdown occurs as the end of the month marks the return to school for kids, signaling the end of the summer season and the beginning of the low season.

September - Consistently the worst month, September signifies the low season with lower occupancy and nightly rates. It becomes an opportune time for property updates and maintenance.

October - Remaining a low season, October sees a pickup towards the end, especially with Halloween events. Orlando distinguishes itself with Halloween Horror Nights, making October comparatively better for the area.

November - A transitional month between low and high season, November sees an uptick in occupancy and ANR, particularly around Thanksgiving week.

December - Ending the year on a high note, December is unique with a slow start followed by the highest nightly rates after the 21st, as people save money for Christmas and New Year travels.

Our pricing and advertising strategies are shaped by these learned seasonality trends, proving successful. However, I am very curious to know if other people in Florida, Orlando, Miami, Naples, Fort Myers Beach, Daytona and other cities popular for STR investments are seeing the same Trents. IF not, what are the differences? Which months do you think are part of the high-season, which months are mid-season and which months are part of the low-season? Lastly, how do you adopt your businesses and investments based on that knowledge?

Oh yes, there ae endless things that you can always do to keep your bookings up! I was just naming one!

Best time to improve your Airbnb is during low season. I recommend going through your reviews, see what guests recommend you to improve in order to make their stays better. Take advantage of the low season to keep your bookings up with good reviews in high season!  

Also, low season can be good to list your new airbnb. So you can focus on getting 5 start reviews, build the property profile and be ready for high season!

If you are a host on Airbnb, you might have to initiate clames on Airbnb.

The best way to win a claim is by showing airbnb how the place was left to the guests. You also want to get every invoice of how much it cost you to repair the place. Handyman work or extra cleaning fees you paid to leave the place ready for the coming guest. Make sure you save and record everything so you help airbnb solve your case faster!

One of the main things guests look when booking a vacation home, is the decoration the home has. The more updated and decorated is, the faster it can be rented and you can justify high prices better. Some ideas are turn the garage into a game room, themed bedrooms, and themed bathrooms.

Hi @Brooklyn McCarty, self-management works if you want to have a part time job or a full time job if you have more than 5 properties. If you want to concentrate on growing your portfolio while maintaining a career, you need to have a property manager. In addition to this, there is a huge difference in the performance of them home when is being managed professionally by a great management company vs when someone self-manages. When the management is done right, it pays for itself.