San Diego, CA · Member since 2016 · 29 posts · 4 votes
I recently started managing a vacation rental.
Been researching a lot about the different tools that would make my life easier (Dynamic pricing, automated messages, expenses tracking, ...) and found a few useful ones but having a hard time to decide.
Curious to see what others are using and whether you would recommend it or not
Investor · Denver, CO · Member since 2016 · 533 posts · 433 votes
9y
1. Google Calendar to sync schedules (also sync Airbnb to VRBO and visa versa to avoid double bookings)
2. Beyond Price during low season, manage myself during high season. Had an interest conversation today with roomdots.com and will be testing their solution(s).
3. @Jon Crosby has developed a keen way to automate messaging. I haven't been able to implement, but it's a winner. I know he will chime in....
4. Mint.com for accounting coupled with MinttoReport
New York, NY · Member since 2017 · 11 posts · 2 votes
9y
Here's a list that might be helpful :) http://www.capterra.com/vacation-rental-software/
Quick question about the vacation rental you are managing - what sites are you booking your vacation rental through? why did you choose that particular site? looking to expand my reach
Investor · Denver, CO · Member since 2016 · 533 posts · 433 votes
9y
1. Google Calendar to sync schedules (also sync Airbnb to VRBO and visa versa to avoid double bookings)
2. Beyond Price during low season, manage myself during high season. Had an interest conversation today with roomdots.com and will be testing their solution(s).
3. @Jon Crosby has developed a keen way to automate messaging. I haven't been able to implement, but it's a winner. I know he will chime in....
4. Mint.com for accounting coupled with MinttoReport
Rental Property Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2016 · 306 posts · 205 votes
9y
@Mike H. Some good suggestions you've gotten thus far. I use coral guidebooks to send to my guests. Easy way to get everything over to them digitally and it's free (for now). We use excel for managing expenses/revenue.
Rental Property Investor · Littleton, CO · Member since 2015 · 252 posts · 164 votes
9y
Google Inbox (GTD version of GMail), and Google tools in general. I just talk to my phone any time to set reminders for when emails need to be sent, security deposits refunded, etc. Saved email templates are great for the situations you run into most often; "Yes, we're available.", "No, we don't do long term rentals.", "Your security deposit has been refunded, please leave us a review.", etc.
VRBO does a great job with tools and templates. Although the more they try to become AirBNB, the less I like what they are doing. I've tried 'expanding my reach' to other booking sites, a few times now. I always go back to just VRBO and AirBNB. IMHO, the others are quite literally more trouble than they are worth.
Also, some type of notetaking software, like Evernote, OneNote, or sticking with the Google theme, Keep. On Podcast 159 Nathan Brooks talks about how he uses Evernote and why.
A Google Voice phone number, so you can have your rental business ring you anywhere, at any time (and more importantly, NOT ring you at the times you want to be 'off work').
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the best tool in my toolbox is an automated keypad lock for the front door. I can generate a code that only works during a particular stay, and I don't have to meet to hand off keys, worry about the housekeeper remembering to change the lockbox code, etc. And there are versions of these that work without Wi-Fi too.
Sorry for delay, just back from Idaho to see the eclipse! Amazing experience! As @Michael Greenberg mentioned I created a hack for free automated messaging (basic messaging like pre-check in, post check in, review request, etc). Here is a link to that article.
Sorry for delay, just back from Idaho to see the eclipse! Amazing experience! As @Michael Greenberg mentioned I created a hack for free automated messaging (basic messaging like pre-check in, post check in, review request, etc). Here is a link to that article.
Investor · Roseville, CA · Member since 2016 · 893 posts · 1k+ votes
9y
It's much for booking platform agnostic than that...it doesn't integrate with them, it merely leverages your Google calendar to time them appropriately. It's just a 'hack' so to speak so if you need something fore platform specific, you would want to pay for some other 3rd party platform that integrates with each of those...although there is not much that integrates with VRBO unfortunately that I know of.
Investor · The worst town to live in, KS · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
9y
I feel like an antique. I use a piece of 22"x28" posterboard to make a calender. The days of the week run up and down. The board fits 35 days (5 weeks) My horizontal lines are the addresses of the rentals. 22 horizontal lines. I use post it notes to write down who and what company is at an address, and to mark down reservation dates. I also mark down on the board the day they pay, the day they pay again, how many weeks they are there, and how much they pay each week.
Maybe 3% of my rentals call more than 24 hours in advance. 97% call me when they are already in town or when they are on the road heading this way.
Investor · Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2015 · 273 posts · 217 votes
9y
My Toolbox:
Google (Free)
Sheets - For tracking all rental information (name, dates, $, contact), basic accounting and calculations, and some forms. Integrates with other products (I use Zapier for this). Great add-ons - gmail scheduler, translate, mapping, split, autocrat
Calendar - For tracking rentals and rental specific tasks and events. It can support multiple color-coded calendars for different rentals. Can be shared with cleaners/managers easily,
Docs - Producing guides and marketing materials. Storing message templates, etc.
Keep - Long term to-do list for property maintenance, repairs, and one-time tasks.
Zapier ($20/month) - Automation/Workflow product. Takes information from my main spreadsheet and automatically populates calendars, tasks, sends emails, etc.
Evernote ($34.99/year) - Easily capture receipts, notes, and business ideas stored in the cloud. Tags and notebooks allow for great organization.
Property Manager · Columbia, SC · Member since 2017 · 121 posts · 163 votes
7y
I use the following:
AirGMS as a channel manager to manage automatic messaging & manage turnovers with cleaners
Free for up to 4 listings
Outswitch for managing pricing rules
Less than $50 per month for 7 listings or les
RBoys Rental Lock Automater to manage electronic door locks
One time $100 payment for source code
Quickbooks for managing the books
$10 a month
I have 4 listing right now and I pay $60 a month for software. I am a big advocate for paying for software that is charged on a flat basis rather than a percentile of revenue. Consider that you are making, on average, $10,000 of revenue over 4 listing. If you use a channel manager and a pricing software that take a combined 4% of revenue, which would be pretty typical (Guesty + BeyondPricing), you would be paying $400 a month. I just don't think they provide enough value over the flat pricing model softwares to justify their expense. The only thing I could potentially see as worth the cost is Beyond Pricing, because they could potentially increase your top line revenue better than you could using your own pricing strategies / rules. But I think even that would really just depend on how savvy you are personally in revenue management and knowing your market & local events.