All Forum Posts by: Myka Artis

@Nancy Bachety I personally don't offer any travel or trip insurance. The only thing I have is liability and short term rental insurance. 

@James Carlson I've read about the host protection coverage and it sounds great but I went ahead and covered myself through my regular homeowners insurance. Do you know of anyone that has used the host protection that is offered? Once I see that it is legit I'm definitely willing to cancel my other insurance to save myself some money.

I use VRBO, TripAdvisor, and Airbnb. VRBO has a terrible calendar sync method. It can take up to 24 hours to sync your calendar from the other platforms. Airbnb brings me most of my business and the calendar functionality works great and you can manage your entire listing from your phone. TripAdvisor is great as well but the biggest downfall with TripAdvisor is that you can't export their calendar so you have to manually update the other sites if you receive a booking through them. TripAdvisor does allow you to import calendars and the sync is immediate. The best platform to me is Airbnb but it's good to list with as many as possible to get your bookings up.

I use several sites but Airbnb does the best for me. I like to keep my options open for more sites for more advertisement but these guys seemed like a mom and pops start up. After talking to he guy I finally realize why Airbnb doesn't allow you to give out your phone number. People like the book holiday rentals guy will continuously hit you up for you to use their advertising space.

Steven C. Suarez I'd be down to meet up and discuss this. I'd also like to know how you and your friends coordinate your stock group.

It takes VRBO almost 24 hours to sync. There currently isn't a fix. I've talked to VRBO's customer service and they are aware and supposedly working to get it fixed.

Yeah VRBO's calendar is the worst. AirBnB and TripAdvisor have the best calendar imports. I talked with VRBO's customer service and they let me know that they are aware of the issues with their calendar and are working to improve it but I've taken a few of my listings down due to their old technology.

Harrison Yat I use Airbnb in the DFW area. You just have to comply with your city tax which you can either call the city council or go to their website to check if you will owe any taxes. You will also have to go to the Texas comptroller website and register with the state. State tax is due every month on the 20th and it is 6% of your nightly rental. In the DFW area I pay a total of 15% tax for city and state. I'd like to connect with more people that use Airbnb in Houston. I heard some people made $2000 -$3000 Super Bowl weekend just renting out 1 - 2 bedroom houses and apartments.

I rent out my condo on Airbnb. You need to make sure if the condo has an HOA if they allow Airbnb. You will also need to check your local tax laws to make sure you are in compliance. I know in the state of Texas you have to pay 6% tax to the state and 9% to the city. A lot of people don't report what they are doing but if you are caught the fines are no joke. I also rent out my timeshare in Vegas so I can avoid all taxes and fees because the resort pays them for you of course.

Hello BP!

Has anyone ever listed with bookholidayrentals.com for their STR property? I have a listing up on VRBO & Airbnb for one of my Las Vegas condos and I get a message from a guy requesting dates and asking for my phone number for more information on the property. I end up giving him my number and it ends up being a salesman trying to get me to list with the Book Holiday Rentals company. He pretty much says he will have your property listed with all the big guys in the overseas markets. Has anyone ever listed with them? If so are they any good? I have attached a link to the packages that they offer. I know VRBO offers a similar package so you don't have to pay the booking fees for a whole year but it sounds like with this company you are paying for advertisement.

https://www.bookholidaysrental.com/package.php

Michaela G. I'm not sure how it works. I wasn't going to trust it either. I just went out and got STR insurance through my regular home owners insurance. I've heard people say it's just a selling point for Airbnb. I'd be interested to hear any success stories people have had with it.