All Forum Posts by: Lauren Kormylo

A regular camera will monitor more of an area, but it is nice to have the doorbell version so if the house is empty and someone rings the doorbell, you are notified and can talk to them through it.  The doorbell also gets a good view of their faces since it is mounted low, and can see under hats. 

Quote from @Patricia Andriolo-Bull:

Quote from @Lauren Kormylo:

Quote from @Kristi K.:

Quote from @Lauren Kormylo:

Yeah, no way am I paying Vrbo 10% for bookings elsewhere.  Especially when they only charge me 8% for bookings through them.  Where does it say this in their terms of service? If it's not in there, they can't charge it.  

How are you only getting 8% VRBO charges? Our average for almost 1.5 years is about 18%. 

In the example below, it shows my "Vrbo commission" is 5% and their "payment processing fee" is 3%, so they take a total of 8% (of the nightly rate + cleaning fee + pet fee). 
The guest is also paying a $169 "guest service fee" to Vrbo.  I don't get to keep that, so that is subtracted from my payout here. So the guest is paying a 14.23% commission to Vrbo.

You don’t have any taxes? I have 11% taxes and they charge their fees on taxes also so my effective rate is higher since I don’t keep the taxes but pay the fees on them. 

No, no tax at all up till now.  But the state (Delaware) just enacted a 4.5% tax effective in January.  And my county is thinking about a 3% tax too. 

Delaware has no sales tax, so has been slow to jump on the band wagon of taxing STRs.  But the thought of all that money has changed their minds.

I can see Vrbo charging 3% on taxes for the credit card fee, but I didn't know they charge 5% commission on it too. 

Quote from @Kristi K.:

Quote from @Lauren Kormylo:

Yeah, no way am I paying Vrbo 10% for bookings elsewhere.  Especially when they only charge me 8% for bookings through them.  Where does it say this in their terms of service? If it's not in there, they can't charge it.  

How are you only getting 8% VRBO charges? Our average for almost 1.5 years is about 18%. 

In the example below, it shows my "Vrbo commission" is 5% and their "payment processing fee" is 3%, so they take a total of 8% (of the nightly rate + cleaning fee + pet fee). 
The guest is also paying a $169 "guest service fee" to Vrbo.  I don't get to keep that, so that is subtracted from my payout here. So the guest is paying a 14.23% commission to Vrbo.

Yeah, no way am I paying Vrbo 10% for bookings elsewhere.  Especially when they only charge me 8% for bookings through them.  Where does it say this in their terms of service? If it's not in there, they can't charge it.  

I don't use Padsplit, but have done research into them because they operate here in the Phoenix market. You know they will want to add more bedrooms to your house by eliminating the dining room and any den or other similar space and turning it into more bedrooms, right?  So your 4 bedroom house will become 6 or 7 bedrooms. That's one way they make more money than a traditional rental.  I would not do any more renovation without consulting them and what they will require you to do.

Padsplit does not allow pets except for service and ESA animals.

As I understand it, parking space is an add on fee to renters.  But a long driveway doesn't help if cars are blocked in by other cars when renters need them to go to work. So that's another area that they will need to advise you on.  

For $10 a month, I would do it, if it's for all the TV's in the house. That's a bargain. It is was $10 per TV, probably not worth it for me with 5 TVs.  Is it necessary, no.  

Quote from @Ryan Moyer:

It's $558 and anyone saying otherwise is wrong :P

 I agree - it's your total "host payout" plus the "host service fee" added back in.  That's what the IRS wants to see for gross. 

But is that what AirDNA and others like it use as the gross?  I thought they used what the "guest paid" minus taxes.

Smart lock, smart thermostat, Ring doorbell or security camera that you can view remotely (make sure to disclose them on the platforms), Pricelabs for dynamic pricing.  Cleaning team if possible, so there is more than one person to cover illness or emergencies, the house absolutely MUST be clean for the next guest.  Appliance repair person lined up, warranties don't work fast enough for STRs, you need to pay to have an appliance fixed or replaced right away. I host remotely too, and when I bought the house, I went through it and made a list of everything that needed attention or was close to wearing out.  I had an electrician and plumber come and repair or replace it all at once.  You don't want a call from a guest that a toilet is running and you have to pay a plumber to repair just that.  I had all new smoke detectors with 10 year batteries put in, so I wouldn't have to worry about changing dead batteries - that beeping can ruin a guest's vacation. 

All of my TVs have built in Roku, put in Guest Mode, which automatically signs the guests out when they leave.  I say in my description and remind them when texting the door codes that it is all Roku and streaming, and they need their passwords for channels.  No one has had complaints about the TVs or streaming so far.  

I have a vacation rental townhouse in Rehoboth that I tried to rent for the winter months last year on FF.  This is a very nice place that brings 15K-20K a month in the summer.  I had a few people interested only after I dropped the price down to $2100/month for a 4 Bed/3.5 Bath, utilities included, and I was the cheapest house in the area for that size on FF (we also allow dogs, which many don't).  I showed it in person twice, but neither decided to take it.  One was a medical professional couple working at Beebe, the other a family relocating and needing a place to stay while their house was built in Lewes.  I had another person try to bargain me down to $1700/month, and said she was moving out of her dad's house and so needed room to store boxes in the extra bedrooms.  Uh, no.  I would rather let it sit empty with no wear and tear than take $1700 a month and pay probably $300/month for heat in the winter.  I've found that FF guests are bargain hunters.  I decided not to list it on FF again, because I am not local to show it, and it hasn't been worth the effort.  But maybe you'll have better luck in Millsboro finding people who need to work temporarily in the area. Look at what else is for rent there on FF, and what they're charging. Keep track of them and see if any of them rent. One thing I didn't like about FF's calendar was that you can't define a time period that you will rent.  For instance, you can't block off May through December on your calendar - it will stay open and show as available to guests, and you'll need to explain in your description that you won't be renting it then.  

I just had an inquiry on Vrbo for 1.5 months, but they only wanted to pay about $1800, so I said no. I've heard that many people also rent midterm in the area on Airbnb.  They have a separate URL for longer stays, so you might try looking on there at your competition. https://www.airbnb.com/stays/monthly    One caveat on renting to someone having a house built, it often takes longer than planned, and you have a short definite window to rent (3-4 months).  So know that they might need to extend if you rent to them. 

New for 2025, just so you know, the state has enacted a short term rental tax of 4.5% on stays of 31 or fewer days.  You'll also need to obtain a license ($25) unless you only list on Airbnb or Vrbo, because they will collect and remit this tax for you.  FF will not do that, so you'll need the license if you want to rent there for 31 days or less.  This goes into effect Jan. 1st, but the state has not figured out the particulars and the license is not available yet.  We're still waiting to find out when we can apply and who we apply to, etc.  This tax applies to rental contracts entered into on Jan 1 and after.  If someone rents before Dec. 31st for next year, even if they only put a partial deposit down now, the tax does not apply to them.  Here's a link to the bill: https://beachrentals.penfedrealty.com/sites/default/files/ar...