All
Members
Companies
Blog
Forums
Podcast
Webinars
    User Log in  /  Sign up
  • Forums
    Newest Posts Trending Discussions Followed Forums Real Estate News & Current Events General Landlording & Rental Properties Buying & Selling Real Estate Deal Analysis See All
  • Education

    Read

    BiggerPockets Blog BPInsights: Expert Analysis Guides Glossary Reviews Member Blogs

    Watch

    Webinars Video Library Financial Independence Blueprint Intro to Real Estate: Rentals

    Listen

    BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast BiggerPockets Money Podcast BiggerPockets Business Podcast Real Estate Rookie Podcast Daily Podcast (Audio Blog)

    Topics

    Business Operations Finance Finding Deals Property Management Property Types Strategy
  • Network

    Recommended Vendors

    Real Estate Agents Mortgage Lenders Hard Money Lenders Insurance Contractors Investment Companies Build Your Team

    Search

    Members Events Jobs
  • Tools

    Calculators

    Rental Property Fix and Flip BRRRR Rehab Estimator
    Wholesaling Mortgage Payment 70% Rule Airbnb

    Services

    BPInsights: Property Insights Tenant Screening Property Management Lease Agreement Packages

    New Feature

    BPInsights (beta)

    Quickly analyze a property address or ZIP Code to compare your rent in your neighborhood.

    Analyze a property
  • Find Deals
    Real Estate Listings Find Foreclosures External Link Ads, Jobs, and Other
  • Bookstore

    Real Estate Books

    Profit Like The Pros Bidding to Buy See all books

    Featured Book

    BiggerPockets Wealth Magazine book cover
    BiggerPockets Wealth Magazine

    Written by financial journalists and data scientists, get 60+ pages of newsworthy content, expert-driven advice, and data-backed research written in a clear way to help you navigate your tough investment decisions in an ever-changing financial climate! Subscribe today and get the Oct/Nov issue delivered to your door!

    Get the Magazine
  • Pricing
Log In Sign up
User
Quick search links
Podcast Hard Money Lenders Books Washington
ForumsArrowShort-Term and Vacation Rental DiscussionArrowBest way to sync Calendars
  • Newest Posts
    • Newest Posts
    • Unanswered Discussions
  • Trending
    • Top Discussions
    • Trending Discussions
  • Browse Forums
Search Nova
Create post

Best way to sync Calendars

11 Replies

  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
Rotate Log in or sign up to reply
user profile avatar
  • Posts 46
  • Votes 23

Logan Fast
from Omaha, NE

posted about 3 years ago

I own a triplex in Omaha and I am listing each apartment across multiple platforms as short-term rentals. Right now they are on Air Bnb and Homeaway, which I find to sync up nicely, but it doesn't look like this is the case when listing on Booking or Flip Key. I want to have as much exposure as possible by having it on more platforms, but I'm a little worried about double bookings. Is there a way to Sync up all the calendars to a master Google calendar or something similar? Or do I have to use a property management software like Guesty or Host Away if I want to list on all these platforms without manually updating for every booking?

Rotate Log in or sign up to reply
user profile avatar
  • Posts 145
  • Votes 95

Michael Kugler
from Branson, Missouri

replied about 3 years ago

It is pretty much industry standard for all P2P websites to use a feature called iCal, even ours. 

Look for the instructions on setting up iCal for your listing and you should be good to go. If you need help, let me know. 

Best of luck, Mike

Rotate Log in or sign up to reply
user profile avatar
  • Posts 46
  • Votes 23

Logan Fast
from Omaha, NE

replied about 3 years ago

Thanks Mike! I'll get that set up asap

Rotate Log in or sign up to reply
user profile avatar
  • Posts 8
  • Votes 2

Cody Purcell
Rental Property Investor from Omaha NE | Atlanta, GA

replied about 3 years ago

I'm not a STR host yet but something we're looking at. I haven't used this myself but another host had recommended I check out AirGMS https://www.airgms.com/ which has your multi-calendar support (think it uses iCal on the back end like @Michael Kugler  said), plus automated messaging and supports multiple accounts among other things.  Could be worth a look.

Rotate Log in or sign up to reply
user profile avatar
  • Posts 145
  • Votes 95

Michael Kugler
from Branson, Missouri

replied about 3 years ago

@Cody Purcell , that is way more than he was asking for. If I understood correctly - he just simply wants to put a reservation on the system and have it update all of his platforms at once which is pretty normal. Plus, iCal is free.

Rotate Log in or sign up to reply
user profile avatar
  • Posts 145
  • Votes 95

Michael Kugler
from Branson, Missouri

replied about 3 years ago

With iCal it is pretty quick and easy to setup. 

It works off of a master/slave feed - meaning that pretty much any source can be the master. i.e. VRBO, AirBNB, Vacation.Rentals and so on.

Copy the URL for the feed



and then paste it into the reader. In this case this is from our site. Then click Import Calendar and it is done.



The grey boxes are existing bookings and not available for inquiry (searches) and the green are still available with pricing. 

Again, this is pretty standard across the industry.

Rotate Log in or sign up to reply
user profile avatar
  • Posts 46
  • Votes 23

Logan Fast
from Omaha, NE

replied about 3 years ago

@Cody Purcell Thank you. I was only able to take a quick glance but from what I can tell that looks very similar to other property management software like Smart BnB or Guesty...have you found any advantages with AirGMS over the others? With Smart BnB it will cost $26 for all three listings, and AirGMS would be $20 per listing, so $60 in total per month. I would expect it to have quite a bit better functionality to justify the extra cost

@Michael Kugler that looks perfect for what I'm looking for. I'm looking into a property mgmt software as a long-term solution, but its good to know I can sync up all my calendars for free in the meantime. Does it create a separate calendar for each property (or apartment in my case) or do they all show up on the same calendar in different tiers?

Rotate Log in or sign up to reply
user profile avatar
  • Posts 145
  • Votes 95

Michael Kugler
from Branson, Missouri

replied about 3 years ago

@Logan Fast Okay, you are kind of mixing things up - so let's keep it simple.

Hold your hand straight out with fingers extended. 

Your outstretched fingers are the "tools" (AirBNB, VRBO, Vacation.Rentals and so on)

The palm of your hand "feeds" the fingers


If you are going to do this you are going to need a "feeder". You do that by getting a reservation company to handle your properties. I use AvailabilityOnline.com for my 12 condos. Webervations is another as well as OwnerRez. There are tons of them out there and they all do the same thing. Customer name - address - email - phone - dates - rate - etc. 

Once you have the feeder setup and running, simply supply the feed to the tools and everything else will take care of itself. This way you are only concerned with feeding one system.

Rotate Log in or sign up to reply
user profile avatar
  • Posts 145
  • Votes 95

Michael Kugler
from Branson, Missouri

replied about 3 years ago

Now - alternatively you could simply make VRBO be the "feeder" ( I would HIGHLY recommend against this - but it is your call )

In that scenario, there is zero cost involved because you have already paid the fees to them. 

Have a good one

Rotate Log in or sign up to reply
user profile avatar
  • Posts 46
  • Votes 23

Logan Fast
from Omaha, NE

replied about 3 years ago

@Michael Kugler that makes sense. My question had more to do with whether or not you would have to update a separate "feeder" for each property, or if they are all on the same. From what you are saying it seems like they are all on the same feeder calendar. I'm sure it will make more sense too once I actually get in there and start playing around with it.

Rotate Log in or sign up to reply
user profile avatar
  • Posts 145
  • Votes 95

Michael Kugler
from Branson, Missouri

replied about 3 years ago

They are all on the same. Depending on the time of resync will determine the amount of time it will update. Ours is on a every 3 hours cycle. The others may be quicker or slower. IOW, there is no platform out there that just continually pings. The only way to get up to the second results is to manually sync - but then that takes time and hassle. Normally, the aurosync is more than sufficient.

Rotate Log in or sign up to reply
user profile avatar
  • Posts 46
  • Votes 23

Logan Fast
from Omaha, NE

replied about 3 years ago

@Michael Kugler good to know. Thanks for the help, I really appreciate it.

Rotate Log in or sign up to reply
  • 1
Related Resources Short-Term and Vacation Rental Discussion
6 Tech Tools That Make a Landlord’s Life Easier
Turtle Soup in the Kitchen Sink — Or, Why You Shouldn’t Skip Yearly Rental Inspections
What Is Rent Control—And Is It Bad for Landlords? (Updated 2021)
How to Choose a Management Company for Multifamily Properties
Trouble Collecting Rent on Time? Try Flexible Rent Payments
Resources Read, see, and learn more!
Link Real Estate Investment Calculators
Link BiggerPockets Blog
Link Path to Purchase
Link Mortgage Loans
Link Find a Contractor
Link Real Estate Agents
Link Hard Money Lenders
Link Real Estate Listings

Top Contributors

Paul Sandhu
Paul Sandhu
The worst town to live in, KS
10.0
Score
John Underwood
John Underwood
Greer, SC
8.4
Score
Luke Carl
Luke Carl
Tennessee Florida
5.15
Score
Marcello Di Gerlando
Marcello Di Gerlando
Colorado Springs, CO
3.07
Score
April Clark
April Clark
Austin, TX
3.0
Score

Short-Term and Vacation Rental Discussion Trending Discussions

  • Insurance for short-term rentals?
    10 Replies
  • Traveling nurse rentals
    30 Replies
  • Airbnb Rentals front door locks
    30 Replies
  • Divorce and AirBNB rentals
    3 Replies
  • Ideas for Off-Grid STR
    3 Replies
Log in Sign up

Log in

Forgot password?

If you signed up for BiggerPockets via Facebook, you can log in with just one click!

Log in with Facebook

Or
btn_google_dark_normal_ios Created with Sketch. Continue with Google

Let's get started

We just need a few details to get you set up and ready to go!

Use your real name

Use at least 8 characters. Using a phrase of random words (like: paper Dog team blue) is secure and easy to remember.

By signing up, you indicate that you agree to the BiggerPockets Terms & Conditions.

Or
btn_google_dark_normal_ios Created with Sketch. Continue with Google

Why create an account?

Receive a free digital download of The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Real Estate Investing.

Connect with 1,000,000+ real estate investors!

Find local real estate meetups and events in your area.

Start analyzing real estate properties, we do the math for you.

It's free!

Explore

  • Membership
  • Community
  • Education
  • Marketplace
  • Tools
  • FilePlace
  • REI Resources
  • Perks
  • Glossary
  • Reviews
  • iOS App
  • Android App

Company

  • About Us
  • Press
  • Advertising
  • Careers
  • Stats
  • Contact Us

Important

  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Terms of Use
  • Rules
  • Privacy
  • FAQ

Social

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
© 2004-2021 BiggerPockets, LLC. All Rights Reserved.