All Forum Posts by: Jeff Graves

Carrie, can vr’s make money on Maui?  Yes. However most of the property managers will tell you to expect a 70% occupancy rate so don’t expect much profit. I was able to 96% occupancy rates using both vrbo (longer stays) and Airbnb (typically shorter stays and filled in the pukas (gaps). 

Many of the condos allow short term rentals, mostly beachfront in Kaanapali, a couple of places in Lahaina - check out Aina Nalu those tend to do very well. 

Many in South Maui on S Kihei Rd allow vacation rentals too.  Our condo was in Kihei Bay Vista I believe our profit the last year was just under $10k, after all expenses.  

I have relocated and just gave up my license in December.  If you want a good agent to work with just let me know I can provide a couple of names. 

Good luck. 

What's worked out well for me and my clients is to find properties where the break-even is at an annual occupancy rate of no more than 60% occupancy.  That means all costs are covered, with the exception of Income tax, and all pass through fees are not included (i.e cleaning fees, transient taxes, etc. which are collected from the guest and then paid out to appropriate entity.)

Use both vrbo and Airbnb to maximize exposure.

Always have money set aside for unexpected expenses, or if you find yourself needing to cover expenses because income was lower than expected.

Steve,

Ive used vrbo for see several years and understand the issues you've mentioned.  I decided about a year ago to also use Airbnb. What is see is that vrbo is simply making changes that Airbnb already has in place.

I prefer vrbo's platform partly because I had access to the guests contact info, that said, I can still contact guests to get to know them and thank them for choosing our condo to stay in.

I was hesitant to do the Instant booking as well, but use it on both platforms and have come to trust the system. I can always reject a booking, I never have, but could as long as I have a legitimate reason.

I've found that most property rankings vary. I can have no inquiries for a week or two and then get a flurry if them over a few day period.

Good luck as you continue to figure out what works best for your business model and personal investment comfort level, it's different for everyone.

Aloha

Not that I want to question anyone's integrity, but the best play is to be up front.  Get a loan as a second residence then you have no worries.

Paul in Hawaii most of the small property management companies that handle vacation rentals charge 20% to 35%, the larger companies (i.e. Outrigger, Aston) that often handle grounds and building maintenance, will charge 50% to 55%, of the rents and have a front desk, maintenance crew, and staff.

What reservation or channel management system to use?  I know many of the smaller property managers are simply using vrbo, airbnb, etc to get property exposure, handle bookings, collecting of money from guests, etc.,  and then they may supplement that with Excel for billing purposes.  Now, I'm not recommending that's what you do, but that would be a bare bones approach, although maybe not the best for your clients if you are handling multiple properties with multiple owners.

It's been a while since I looked into different platforms such as Kigo, 365Villas, bookerville, myvr.com, etc., it'll be interesting to see what platforms others recommend for managing multiple units.

Good luck.

@Leigh Ann Smith  Yes I do price differently on the two platforms...Airbnb rate is higher, but still doesn't cover all the taxes that are nicely added on in the vrbo system.  I make more per night on vrbo than I do on Airbnb...even though my rate on vrbo is less.

Kevin, what kind of property is it?
SFH, Condo, is it in a high rise or small community, are there any "attractions close by".

Who do you think the target market is?
People coming for vacation (families or couples), business people, older, younger or middle aged, etc.

I would start with the location and look at what type of person would be attracted to stay there (who would be interested in the lifestyle your place has to offer. Income, family, married, single, ideal age brackets, what types of jobs even ). Then I'd start to do some very targeted marketing to drive traffic to your booking site

Kevin, I would think that during the Holiday season most any location would demand a higher rate than that areas low season.  Generally speaking I would think there are 4 main hierarchy of rates, such as:  

1. Holiday season
2. High season
3. Normal
4. Low season
   

To find out what those are for your area look up your State's website and look for visitor stats, they should have it broken down by month for you. (Of course there can be other key times or large events in the area that might warrant different pricing too.)

I know that's kind of a generic answer, but hopefully it helps.

I think as a host, if we can handle both of those platforms, then it makes sense to optimize the exposure of our rentals. 

@Leigh Ann Smith yeah the annual fee at vrbo is a much better deal than 3% for each guest booking.  

Vrbo more inquiries that don't book?  That may have been the case PRIOR to vrbo providing the Instant Booking feature, similar to Airbnb.  I do get some inquiries that don't book, but even if I was booking 50% of those inquires...I'll take that because I'm getting more leads from vrbo than airbnb.  

Frankly my responses to inquiries don't take that much time.  Most are canned responses with a personal twist.  I just copy and paste from a previous email I've sent.

Now, I'll be honest...I do promote my vrbo link, not airbnb's.  For the most part I prefer vrbo's platform, and access to guests contact information...(not some dynamic email address airbnb generated).

I hope that helps.

Jeff