Bigger Pockets Podcast - Episode 680 (Short Term Rental Focused)

Most Popular Reply

Luke CarlPro Member
Rental Property Investor · Tennessee Florida · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 5k+ votes
3y
Welcome to the party 😍
Podcast Guest on Show From Surviving on $30/Day to 30+ Properties Thanks to Blue-Collar Skills
2Reply
See this reply in the discussion

10 Replies

Jump to latestLatest
  • Luke CarlPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Tennessee Florida · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    3y
    Welcome to the party 😍
    Podcast Guest on Show From Surviving on $30/Day to 30+ Properties Thanks to Blue-Collar Skills
    2Reply
  • John UnderwoodPro Member
    Investor · Greer, SC · Member since 2014 · 13k+ posts · 17k+ votes
    3y

    I've not listened to the pod cast, but I haven't had any decline or trouble with staying booked up.

    I only buy nice vacation destination rental houses and maybe that is the difference.

    0Reply
  • Mark Simpson
    OP
    Specialist · Member since 2022 · 33 posts · 32 votes
    3y
    Quote from @John Underwood:

    I've not listened to the pod cast, but I haven't had any decline or trouble with staying booked up.

    I only buy nice vacation destination rental houses and maybe that is the difference.

     @John Underwood i look forward to what you think after watching/listening to the podcast

    You'' resonate, especially if you're booked up

    0Reply
  • Ash Hegde
    Lender · Fort Lauderdale, FL (Lending in FL CT GA MI PA) · Member since 2022 · 470 posts · 349 votes
    3y

    Really good ideas on moving booking off the big sites and over to your own private bookings. You never know when they will change their terms/commission rates so getting it under your own control makes a lot of sense. 

    2Reply
  • Leslie Anne Morris
    Real Estate Agent · Smoky Mountains, TN · Member since 2022 · 1k+ posts · 984 votes
    3y

    Google Ads! 

    1Reply
  • Dave StokleyBusiness Member
    Property Manager · Cleveland, OH · Member since 2015 · 705 posts · 799 votes
    3y

    My calendars stay full only using Airbnb. I’ve always thought direct booking sites aren’t worth it and are way more expensive to operate. I get a ton of bang for my buck for the 3% I pay Airbnb.

    1Reply
  • Ken Boone
    Investor · Greenville, SC · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    3y
    Quote from @Dave Stokley:

    My calendars stay full only using Airbnb. I’ve always thought direct booking sites aren’t worth it and are way more expensive to operate. I get a ton of bang for my buck for the 3% I pay Airbnb.

     My calendars stay full as well however, I use Airbnb and VRBO.  I have always thought the same thing as you.  Why waste time with direct bookings?  I will say my mind has been changing over the last year.  Back in September, we saw 3 out of 4 listings go dark for about 3 weeks.  We still booked up but had to hustle, this is not normal for us at all.  For some reason, 3 out of 4 listings dropped in the rankings for about 3 weeks.  Then doing some anonymous digging I found that for whatever reason, the platforms were pushing new listings up to the top and it didn't matter that they had bad reviews.. I'm talking in the 3.x range, but they were ranking on the first page, ranking way over my properties with indoor heated pools with tons and tons of 5 star reviews and longevity on the platform.  The property that didn't drop off, was a newer listing (within 5 months) and that was rocking.  

    Then I just recently had an incident where the VRBO billing system was jacked up for about 48 hours.  I had a guest trying to book for the next day, and the VRBO billing system was having problems, they told the guest to contact the host..   We were like huh?  we don't even see the money until you get here for crying out loud.  We called VRBO and they said they were doing an upgrade and having problems and acknowledged it might be 48 hours before they got it fixed.  We tried everything we could think of in the communications with this guest to infer that maybe they should look for us elsewhere but they did not pick up on the clues.  Finally after midnight the guest was able to put in the CC info on VRBO.. but now we are on the same day, and VRBO does not allow same day bookings. 

    Then on top of that, there are just too many stories out there of people's accounts being shut down, etc..  If for whatever reason, @Dave Stokley AirBnb shuts your listing down, what are you going to do?  If an incident like this bedbug thing in the article happens and you are locked down for even 6 weeks what are you going to do?

    My PMS is Guesty for Hosts and they offer a direct booking website that I can use with stripe.  This direct booking website doesn't cost any more to operate.

    I'm not trying to be snarky @Dave Stokley because I have had that same attitude for the last several years myself, but seriously, from your perspective, having all eggs in the Airbnb basket, do you just feel like the risk is not there or do you have other backup plans if you were to be shut down, due to a bad guests and airbnb taking their side for whatever reason?

    2Reply
  • Gerald Pitts
    Lender · Asheville NC · Member since 2016 · 470 posts · 317 votes
    3y
    Quote from @Dave Stokley:

    My calendars stay full only using Airbnb. I’ve always thought direct booking sites aren’t worth it and are way more expensive to operate. I get a ton of bang for my buck for the 3% I pay Airbnb.


     I've always felt the same way, but Mark makes a super compelling argument.  It's just nice to know I am working on fortifying my investment.  I'm kind of looking at it like insurance against the future.  The way the OTAs are growing, they can start calling even more of the shots than they are now.  The podcast goes into this.  I like the idea of leveraging the marketing of the OTAs for the 3%, etc. while slowly growing a client list of repeat guests / less drama.  

    0Reply
  • Jason Kudo
    Real Estate Agent · Pasadena, CA · Member since 2017 · 276 posts · 255 votes
    3y
    Quote from @Ash Hegde:

    Really good ideas on moving booking off the big sites and over to your own private bookings. You never know when they will change their terms/commission rates so getting it under your own control makes a lot of sense. 


     Remember that there will be additional costs with relying on a direct booking site. Payment processing fees, marketing fees, hosting fees, lack of host protection with damage incurred by guests, etc so these additional costs need to be accounted for when running numbers.

    0Reply
  • Mark Simpson
    OP
    Specialist · Member since 2022 · 33 posts · 32 votes
    3y
    Quote from @Jason Kudo:
    Quote from @Ash Hegde:

    Really good ideas on moving booking off the big sites and over to your own private bookings. You never know when they will change their terms/commission rates so getting it under your own control makes a lot of sense. 


     Remember that there will be additional costs with relying on a direct booking site. Payment processing fees, marketing fees, hosting fees, lack of host protection with damage incurred by guests, etc so these additional costs need to be accounted for when running numbers.


     True, but the message I tried to get over in the podcast was that it's not about the cost on this, it's the control. 

    Control of the data (key) 
    Control of the booking



    1Reply
Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.
Log InJoin for Free