{"id":144946,"date":"2022-09-28T11:35:05","date_gmt":"2022-09-28T17:35:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/?p=144946"},"modified":"2023-08-08T15:34:04","modified_gmt":"2023-08-08T21:34:04","slug":"ways-to-get-more-bookings-on-short-term-rentals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/ways-to-get-more-bookings-on-short-term-rentals","title":{"rendered":"Are You Getting Less Bookings for Your Short-Term Rentals? Here are 3 Ways to Get More"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n      <iframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/playlist.megaphone.fm?e=BIGPOC3144999986&#038;light=false\" width=\"100%\"><\/iframe>  \n\n\n\n\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">There&#8217;s been a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/airbnbust-why-it-may-be-time-to-rethink-short-term-rentals\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">shift in short-term rentals<\/a>. Some are attributing the dip in bookings to last year&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/news.airbnb.com\/2022-summer-release\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Airbnb website redesign<\/a>. Others are blaming current market conditions. Maybe it\u2019s a combination of both?&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Whatever the reason, there has been a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airdna.co\/blog\/2023-us-mid-year-short-term-rental-outlook-report\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">decline in bookings<\/a>. Enough of a drop to the point where I\u2019m seeing some hosts become frantic and sell off their properties or take them off short-term rental sites. I think it&#8217;s crazy talk.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Though it may be frightening that there&#8217;s a dip in bookings, short-term rentals are still incredibly lucrative if you implement the right strategies. Whether you own your property or you\u2019re a manager of short-term rentals, you need to understand that you run a real estate business and real estate goes through cycles. Short-term rentals are not immune to these cycles.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Most of us are going into the slow season of our short-term rentals. I want to share some strategies I am currently implementing, which have already caused a boost in bookings for our properties.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">You Need Perfect Pictures<\/span><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">I coached over 100 students in short-term rentals last year, and the number one thing I tell them to change in order to help their booking rates is to update the pictures of their STRs. You should not use your phone to take photos and upload them directly to STR sites. If you were getting away with that before\u2014great! But now, with bookings decreasing, you need to start competing. Your goal should be to hire a professional to take your photos.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Ideally, you should find a real estate photographer. I usually just go onto Google and look up \u201creal estate photographer in my city,\u201d which should get you good results.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The best thing to look for in a real estate photographer is if they can do drone photography. Adding drone photography to your listing is my favorite way to make a property look unique on sites like Airbnb.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Lastly, you\u2019ll want to have your photographer come out for more photos as the seasons change. The reason is if you have a house as a rental, the outside will look different in the winter than in the summer and fall. I have had guests complain in the past because the photos were done in the winter, and it was summer. The outside of the property looked completely different.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  <div class=\"lg:block\" x-data=\"{ ad_block_block_64aee7027e57d: popAds(1) }\">\n      <template x-for=\"ad in ad_block_block_64aee7027e57d\">\n        <a\n          :href=\"ad.linkURL\"\n          class=\"no-underline text-black\"\n          x-on:click=\"adClicked('https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/ways-to-get-more-bookings-on-short-term-rentals', ad.sponsor, ad.title, ad.id, 'blockAdClicked', 'blockAd', '')\"\n          target=\"_blank\">\n          <div\n            class=\"py-4 border-b flex flex-col flex-nowrap text-sm border-t px-0 rounded-none\"\n            x-init=\"\n              analytics.track('blockAdLoaded', {\n                referrer: 'https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/ways-to-get-more-bookings-on-short-term-rentals',\n                sponsor: ad.sponsor,\n                ad_title: ad.title,\n                ad_page_location: ''\n              })\n            \"\n            x-intersect:enter.once=\"adViewed('https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/ways-to-get-more-bookings-on-short-term-rentals', ad.sponsor, ad.title, ad.id, 'blockAdViewed', 'blockAd', '')\">\n            <div><span class=\"text-xs text-slate-light block bg-slate-50 p-1 inline-block rounded-md\">Sponsored<\/span><\/div>\n            <div class=\"flex items-center text-sm space-x-4\">\n                <img :src=\"ad.imageURL\" :alt=\"ad.imageAlt\" class=\"h-10 w-10 object-cover rounded-full\">\n\n                <div clas=\"text-sm\">\n                    <span class=\"font-bold block\" x-text=\"ad.sponsor\"><\/span>\n                    <span class=\"text-slate\/80\" x-text=\"ad.description\"><\/span>\n                <\/div>\n            <\/div>\n\n            <div>\n                <span class=\"font-bold\" x-text=\"ad.title\"><\/span>\n                <p class=\"mt-2 text-slate\/80\" x-text=\"ad.body\"><\/p>\n                <span class=\"mt-2 text-themeBlue block mt-2 underline\" x-text=\"ad.linkTitle\"><\/span>\n            <\/div>\n          <\/div>\n        <\/a>\n      <\/template>\n  <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Update Your Description&nbsp;<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The second most important thing that contributes to more bookings is going to be your description. I am a firm believer that your description should be used to paint the future experience that your guest will have with your property.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Another thing that I want you to start thinking about is search engine optimization. When SEO is discussed, usually Google is the first thing that comes to mind. Not many hosts think about SEO on sites like Airbnb and VRBO. But they have a search bar, and if a site has a search bar, there are certain things you can say in your description to help you rank better in the search results.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Airbnb recently did a massive overhaul of its website this summer. With that came categories that your property can be placed in. What I recommend doing is going to Airbnb and looking to see what categories pop up for your area, then try to use those keywords in your listing description. That will give you a better chance of being placed in one of those categories.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The easiest way to write your description is to think about what your city or area is known for. Between those two, you should be able to come up with a killer listing description. You could also look at other rentals in your area to see what hosts have written about their properties.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Don\u2019t forget to add captions to your pictures! I\u2019m going to classify that as your description as well. I see a lot of hosts who put a considerable amount of effort into getting their pictures just right but forget to add captions. All of your photos should have captions explaining what the photo is. This helps with ranking your property as well.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Now you may be saying, \u201cAlex, I\u2019m a terrible writer, or I simply don\u2019t have time to go write a description plus 20+ captions for my photos,\u201d and I completely understand that. I personally do not write out my descriptions anymore. All my descriptions are written by someone specializing in short-term rental descriptions and caption writing. I currently use a writer off Fiverr.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">I currently pay anywhere between $100-$200 to have my listing descriptions and photo captions written, and I can say after using this service over the last three years, it&#8217;s 100% worth it.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Use Peerspace<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Lastly, I want to talk about a platform that I feel does not get enough attention in the short-term rental world: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.peerspace.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Peerspace<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Peerspace might as well be the definition of a short-term rental. It&#8217;s as short-term as it can get. It&#8217;s not meant for overnight stays. It&#8217;s meant for people to rent your place out if they have a family get-together, a photo shoot, a video shoot, etc.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">There are a lot of categories on their site, so check it out before you say that this won&#8217;t work for you. I found Peerspace when I was looking for a way to get my weekdays booked out like the weekends were.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">I own a large log cabin with horse pasture, a hot tub, and mountain views. I got a few bookings on the weekdays and realized that the daily rate the guests booked through Peerspace was similar to if it was booked overnight.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">There are plenty of advantages to booking out a few hours rather than overnight stays. The biggest is that the property usually doesn\u2019t require a deep cleaning afterward because it\u2019s often left in better shape than if a renter stayed in it overnight.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">One of the coolest ways I\u2019ve seen Peerspace used was with a property in my market, Asheville, North Carolina. This property has a beautiful mountain view of the city, and in between their cleaning window of 11 AM &#8211; 3 PM, they have something called \u201celopement time,\u201d where people can book a ceremony or photo shoot.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">This is an insane strategy because you can essentially double your daily income on the property. And that\u2019s just one idea. The sky is truly the limit when it comes to Peerspace and what you can come up with.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Conclusion<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In conclusion, if you have seen a drop in your bookings or are going into your slow season, I truly believe that focusing on updating your photos, updating your descriptions, and considering Peerspace can help. It helped my business tremendously over the past five months, and I hope it does for you as well.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There&#8217;s been a shift in short-term rentals. Some are attributing the dip in bookings to last year&#8217;s Airbnb website redesign. Others are blaming current market conditions. Maybe it\u2019s a combination [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":613612,"featured_media":144950,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7271,7119],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-144946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-short-term-rentals","category-biggerpockets-daily"],"acf":[],"comment_count":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/613612"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144946"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144946\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}