All Forum Posts by: Michael Kugler

It is pretty much industry standard for all P2P websites to use a feature called iCal, even ours. 

Look for the instructions on setting up iCal for your listing and you should be good to go. If you need help, let me know. 

Best of luck, Mike

@Richard Ibeh You're welcome. 

I see a lot of people that say they will not pay more than ______ and then get really bent out of shape when someone trashes them in a review.  We have literally had 10s of 1,000s of customers over the years and the range of their issues is amazing. Things I have never seen in my own home are commonplace. (I have never once broke a toilet seat in my life - I have probably replaced 50 in 14 years for my customers)

7/24 - available to them for anything - day or night. I have even jumped in the car to pickup a customer in town whose car broke down. Sure there are definitely reservations where the only thing we do is check in, check out, clean and stock but the homeowner is not paying for that. They are paying for the unexpected and there are a zillion things. Sliding glass door handle just broke - gimme a second, we will be right there with a replacement. 

I have probably done ALL of the legwork 40 to 50 times for our homeowners buying, installing and hauling off refrigerators, washers, dryers, that went bad. They are in Cleveland - we are in Branson. I don't even give it a second thought to step out and get them the best deal I can. It is good for my homeowners and good for my customers.

Probably the only time that I EVER regretted going the extra mile was replacing a ceiling fan for one of my homeowners. It was ungodly huge and massively cumbersome. I fought getting the stupid thing down and almost had a heart attack putting the new one up. Dreadful experience I won't do again.

And there is never a charge from us. Just the replacement cost of whatever needs repaired and nothing else. 

The only thing I will absolutely not do is "skilled trade" work like electrical or plumbing. Not that I can't (I do it for my own place all the time) but because of the liability. If it can harm a human being, I am not going to do it. Beyond that, we are there for them.

Trust me, we earn every part of that 35%.

Hi @Nancy Bachety 

That is what we charge. I have seen higher (45-50) but generally not a lot lower. Again, it is all about service. 7/24 hour a day 365 days a year service. Putting customers comfort as well as homeowners peace of mind first.

@Richard Ibeh

It does not cover those items. This is for service. In other words - if you the property owner need to supply those things yourself, you would continue to provide them for your property to the property manager. 

In our case, our service is to inventory, keep emergency stock on hand, handle the ordering and stocking, and also handle the billing to the homeowner. The homeowner really has no concerns other than to collect the checks and pay their bills. (mortgage, utility, HOA, etc)

Sorry, you also mentioned CC fees. We pay those as well as collection and remittance of state and county taxes.

For us it is 35%. That includes everything just as you mentioned. All marketing, check in, check out, cleaning after checkout, 2 deep cleanings a year, instant customer problem resolution issues (AC goes out at 11  p.m. - have portable ACs ready to go. Broken water line, commercial dehumidifiers ready. Replacement smoke alarms at the ready. Toilet seats on hand. Dewalt drills for broken items. Glue and clamps for wood repairs. Middle of the night television goes bad - run to WalMart and pickup an affordable replacement and install it. All at no charge)

For really exceptionally good/great PMs 35% is very reasonable.

If you simply want someone to check in and out your guests - you could get it done for 10% and go cheap cheap cheap.

If you want exceptional service and very happy customers - it will cost.

@Andrew Wong - at the time when I was speaking of it, we were in the middle of attorneys, CPAs, brokers and everything else and did not physically have the domain name. As I now own it and the wire transfers have went through - I can tell you the domain is Vacation.Rentals 

I did not hyperlink that because the site is not live at this moment and we are working around the clock to develop it and it is in beta mode right now. 

Give it another 3 weeks or so and we should be live. Thanks for asking.

And here, this will give you something to smile about in the meantime. Again - there is no site at this moment. 

Vacation Rentals

Wow! That is steep.

Okay, I am going to earn my membership to this board then. 

We use a program called Availability Online. The total for the program is $175 a year - that's it. Has iCal interface, seasonal rates, easy to use and even easier to get tech support. CC processing can be done yourself with either Stripe at 3% or PP for 1.75%

When our new program comes out next month, we will even be able to beat that price as we are going to semi partner with them to offer more to our subscribers.

(And no, I - specifically ME - am not making a dime off of it. I just love the company and think their service is next to best.)

http://availabilityonline.com 

@Myka Artis Sure thing! Thank you for that.

Just to bring you up to speed. I have a heavy background in coding - php. But this is such a large project, I have brought in 2 pros that I have worked with in the past and together we are cranking away at this for a 1 Jan 2018 launch. 

I make a solemn promise to you that we will be 100% owner friendly and will put the owner back in charge of their properties and bookings. We will never charge commissions, travelers fees, nothing. Just a simple membership plan and nothing more.

Our URL is massively SEO friendly which is going to immediately give us relevance in the marketplace. Yes, we are going to start small - but can promise you that there will be no one more committed to support of clients than we are. 

Again, thank you.

@Peter R. @Andrew Wong Trust me guys, remember this thread in 1 month. Even the title made me LOL. (It is relevant and you too will laugh when you see it :D ) Thank you for the comments - we are working like maniacs right now.

Hope your Thanksgiving was great.

@Peter R. So, I will add this, they "used" to be the only game in town. Next month we will launch a great campaign and offer a tremendous alternative for consumers that is owner friendly. 

Can't divulge more, but I promise it will be a great offering.