A lot of great information. One more tip. I am more hands on so I operate two of my properties w/o a property management. On my third one, which is a condo, I have a property management company BUT I am able to do my bookings also so I operate through airbnb, vrbo, flipkey. If I book it, I get 100% of the rent and the agreement is that the PM company will clean it, with a fee. If the PM books it, they get 30%. I really did not want to mess with the condo so wanted to play hands off so I added 30% more to my rent. Believe it or not, I booked my condo 90% of the time this summer vs the PM company (they have 230 plus condos to fill). If I depended on the PM to book , I would at best break even. But If I leave town and there is a ckin, I can tell the owner to go to the PM company and they can pick up the key or I will leave a lock box. I get calls and the first question is "are you the owner" . People rather deal with the owners, not a PM company where they are a number. However, I got a call from a national pm company, and I was interested working with them but they want 100% of the bookings. I cant do that. I want some control. But what drives your bookings are the Reviews. Customer service is #1. I went a little farther and bought an homemade icecream maker, and if my guests have children, the last night I will fill it up with the mix, plug it in at the vacation rental, give them the ice and salt and they can have homemade icecream in the evening after they come in from the beach. I dont do it all the time, but believe me, it is cheap advertising. The bad part is if they put it in the review that I gave them an icecream maker, some of the future guests may be expecting it.
