Thoughts on Houfy?

Question

In an effort to have a bit more control I'm thinking about adding Houfy in addition to VRBO and Airbnb which are currently about 50/50 of my bookings. Any experience, thoughts?

Lisa Graesser · Answer

Love Houfy!  I use it in place of my own website. I have been using it since it inception and it gets better every year. Of my 66 bookings this year, 39 were booked through Houfy. These are either repeat guests or leads from other local listing sites, that I direct to book through Houfy. No booking fees for guests or owners, although you can purchase extras(which I have not had the need to add)

Can use either Stripe or Square to accept credit card payment or take payment on your own by whatever payment you prefer. I do charge an extra credit card fee if the guest chooses to pay with a credit card, otherwise I take payment with check, zelle or venmo. Guest sign your rental agreement when they book.

I would highly recommend.

Lauren Kormylo · Answer

No, Houfy is like direct booking, you are taking payment directly from the guest.  But if you sign up with Stripe or Square, the guest can pay you through them on the Houfy site.  Houfy doesn't hold the payments, they go from Stripe or Square directly to your account.  You set all the rules, your cancellation policy, you decide if a guest should ever get a refund, etc.  Houfy stays out of it. If you only want to take Venmo or Zelle, you can totally bypass using Houfy for payment.I have been on it for a few years and have some returning guests using it.  But you really have to drive bookings there yourself, Houfy doesn't have the money to promote itself like Airbnb or Vrbo.  I also like that they have a Facebook page for hosts called Say Yes to Houfy where the owner of Houfy responds to any problems hosts have with the site or whatever, and corrects them quickly.  I also like that when guests get ready to book, they show a comparison between their price and Airbnb and Vrbo, and how much guests can save by booking on Houfy.  Also, Houfy is now integrated with Google Vacation Rentals, which before was not available for hosts unless you used a registered PM.  There are a few requirements for that, such as having a connected payment processor and having the entire house for rent (no rooms). I haven't gotten around to listing on there yet, they just started this in June and my calendar has been booked up.

John Underwood · Answer

This is a good reminder that I need to set up a Houfy account.

Nadia Naviwala · Answer

Love Houfy too! Nice to see this thread. Would love to connect with other Houfy hosts.

Patricia Andriolo-Bull · Answer

Do you have repeat guests?  I've used Houfy for years!  I got a few guests initially but haven't had even on in over a year.  I haven't changed a thing.  Maybe it is market specific?  Any tricks to get bookings through them?  Do you market them as your direct booking site (I have my own site so I don't).

Lisa Graesser · Answer

Other payments like check, venmo, zelle are done by the host outside of Houfy, then you can add a note of "payment made outside of Houfy" to add to the reservation

Mike Grudzien · Answer

So Houfy does not do any of the booking payments?

Jules Aton · Answer

@Lisa Graesser that is exactly what I was thinking.

Mike Grudzien · Answer

Cool!  Thanks again.

Thoughts on Houfy?

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