Feedback from hosts on their experience with short term rental management companies

Residential Real Estate Broker · Denver, CO · Member since 2017 · 2 posts · 2 votes

I am planning on putting my single family full renovated luxury home on the short term rental market and would greatly appreciate any positive/negative experiences, input, advice from hosts utilizing a S.T.R. property management company that services the Portland, Maine metro area. I have familiarized myself with three national companies and each one seems to have its share of negative issues from both hosts and guests. I would prefer to align my property with a Maine based S.T.R.P.M.C. so if anyone has a positive recommendation to one that would be great.

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Collin HaysBusiness Member

Property Manager · Gatlinburg, TN · Member since 2020 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes

National companies are garbage. Vacasa, Evolve, etc. They've got really slick marketing materials to appeal to you. They tell you that your management fee will be 20% or less.

The reality is that they offer little to no management, and charge you 40% or more, after you add in all of the junk fees and fees that they impose on your guests that they do not share with you.

You are far better off managing yourself. You can "not" manage your property and do so without any management fee whatsoever. Now, if you truly want someone to actively mind and manage your property, with real people, find a local company. Ask them for homeowner references. If they won't provide any, run.

[email protected]806-672-7102

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Collin HaysBusiness Member
Property Manager · Gatlinburg, TN · Member since 2020 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
2y
National companies are garbage. Vacasa, Evolve, etc. They've got really slick marketing materials to appeal to you. They tell you that your management fee will be 20% or less.
The reality is that they offer little to no management, and charge you 40% or more, after you add in all of the junk fees and fees that they impose on your guests that they do not share with you.
You are far better off managing yourself. You can "not" manage your property and do so without any management fee whatsoever. Now, if you truly want someone to actively mind and manage your property, with real people, find a local company. Ask them for homeowner references. If they won't provide any, run.
[email protected]806-672-7102
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Kimberlie P.Business Member
Property Manager · Knoxville, TN · Member since 2015 · 7 posts · 6 votes
2y
I do not normally comment on things like this as it typically is not productive. As a Sales Executive for Vacasa Tennessee. I feel like you should do some due diligence with interviewing each company. All of the companies mentioned in this post have different levels of service. Vacasa has two levels of service. Every Vacasa Market has local area experts in them, giving the experience with Vacasa a local feel with a National Brand. All of our employees that take care of each of our properties are locals. Even I am local...
Knowing Vacasa as deeply as I do the above opinion should be taken with a grain of salt. As he is a competitor of ours here in Gatlinburg. To OP, if you were a competitor of ours would you do the same as above? Most would say yes... Also the person above does not have the slightest Idea about how our fee structures work. So Please reach out to us. I know I would love to chat with you!

What the person above is not telling you is that before Vacasa came into the Market here in Sevier County all of the Property Managers here were charging 30-50% Property Management fee's. Some of them still do. We offer a pretty supreme service to both our homeowners and guest. Are we absolutely perfect? No we are not and no company is. If they levy that they have all 5 star reviews with 0 bad reviews they are simply not telling you the truth because the statistics are at least 1% of guests are going to be dissatisfied with something.

Below is a graphic from 3rd party Data taken here in Sevier County, 35% of the guests that book in Sevier County, Book directly from our website. Can you imagine leaving 35% on the table by going with a smaller company? Let that sink in...

This opinion is my own and does not represent Vacasa Opinion
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Nick Maynard
Property Manager · Saco, ME · Member since 2020 · 16 posts · 7 votes
2y
Hey Eric,

My wife and I operate a full-service short-term rental management company here in Southern Maine. I've learned a lot about how the large PM companies operate and why they don't seem to be a great fit for a lot of property owners, but still can be for others. I'd be happy to connect and share my thoughts and see if we might be a good candidate for managing your home. Feel free to send me a message on here or reach out through my info on my profile.

Nick Maynard
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Eddie Gonnella
Bangor ME & Richmond, VA · Member since 2018 · 166 posts · 106 votes
2y
@Eric Fortin Hey Eric, I was going to refer you to @Nick Maynard but he beat me to it. Nick is a local STRPMC in the Portland area. I ultimately decided to continue managing my own property as I am about 3hrs north of Portland and have managed myself for two years, but I had some great discussions with Nick and he knew what he was talking about. He has also taken courses with some of the leading STR management training programs and was able to give me some tips from what he learned from there. If I ever go shopping again for a STRPMC, Nick will be one of the first people I reach out to. I agree with the discussions above, larger vs smaller companies are really a personal choice. I am sure not all Vacasa or Evolve local reps are bad. There are pros and cons to working with larger companies. I personally prefer smaller local companies that can give my properties a high level of attention. I'd say you should schedule a consult with a large company and a small. For the small one, I don't think you could find much better or more local than Nick who is born and raised in your area and already manages some of his own properties and others right in the Portland and southern Maine area. Hope this helps!
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Nick Maynard
Property Manager · Saco, ME · Member since 2020 · 16 posts · 7 votes
2y
Quote from @Eddie Gonnella:

@Eric Fortin Hey Eric, I was going to refer you to @Nick Maynard but he beat me to it. Nick is a local STRPMC in the Portland area. I ultimately decided to continue managing my own property as I am about 3hrs north of Portland and have managed myself for two years, but I had some great discussions with Nick and he knew what he was talking about. He has also taken courses with some of the leading STR management training programs and was able to give me some tips from what he learned from there. If I ever go shopping again for a STRPMC, Nick will be one of the first people I reach out to. I agree with the discussions above, larger vs smaller companies are really a personal choice. I am sure not all Vacasa or Evolve local reps are bad. There are pros and cons to working with larger companies. I personally prefer smaller local companies that can give my properties a high level of attention. I'd say you should schedule a consult with a large company and a small. For the small one, I don't think you could find much better or more local than Nick who is born and raised in your area and already manages some of his own properties and others right in the Portland and southern Maine area. Hope this helps!

@Eddie Gonnella Appreciate it, Eddie! Hope all is going well with the latest purchase! We'll have to catch up sometime soon.
Nick
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Andrew SteffensBusiness Member
Tampa, FL · Member since 2022 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
2y
I definitely recommend avoiding the national companies. If possible I recommend a medium size company 30-150 listings. This is large enough that it is not a 1 man show and there should be some reach with more technology and channels etc but small enough you know everyone there. Best of luck!
[email protected]813-563-0877
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Sarah KensingerPro Member
Real Estate Consultant · OH · Member since 2023 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
2y
Quote from @Kimberlie P.:

I do not normally comment on things like this as it typically is not productive.

This sentence right here just killed any thoughts someone might have towards rethinking an opinion about your company. We're here to bring value to others! A company whose mindset is not about bring value to everyone they can, well never convince others they can bring to the table what a value minded company does.

[email protected]330-557-3021
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Sarah KensingerPro Member
Real Estate Consultant · OH · Member since 2023 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
2y
The absolute best is Stayspace! I might have a couple more names, so if you want more reach out and I'll get those around.
[email protected]330-557-3021
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