My wife and I recently purchased a condo in Maui (5 minutes north of Ka’anapali). The history of the unit/complex shows very good repeat renters, families, etc. My wife has an amazing eye in regards to interior design (Her day job). We will be making some changes to the unit to make it even more attractive to vacation renters. My question is: Does anyone have suggestions in regards to filling those gaps (3 - 4 nights) in between rentals? The property management on site allows booking through their website directly, we have transferred the VRBO to us from the previous owners, and I am using my personal facebook account, and craigslist to get the word out. My goal is to fill those gaps in between rentals. I am wondering if there are any other owners out there with any suggestions which have worked for them? Any other good methods, facebook groups, etc.? Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance.
Rental Property Investor · Campbell, CA · Member since 2017 · 419 posts · 499 votes
8y
@Justin Brophy, congrats on the new condo! I own several on kauai and absolutely love it! I've found that facebook, craigslist, etc is pretty ineffective at filling these weird gaps as the odds of finding the right group that needs it for that time is slim to none. I've ended up discounting those gaps on a sliding scale.
If the gap is within 30 days i'm ultra aggressive with discounts to fill it. Typically 25% off If the gap is within 30-45 days, I'll go 10-15% off
Outside 45 days I keep it around 5% off.
My calendars stay VERY full using this approach. (Avg 92% occupancy). I'm also pretty liberal with pricing. I'd rather give it to someone for a decent discount that have it sit empty.
One thing to make sure is to manually set your minimum nights to allow the shorter reservations for that window. You should set a minimum of at least 5 nights as a general rule.
How were you able to take over the old VRBO account? Unless it's their only rental and they give you their login, it's my understanding that VRBO will not separate a listing and transfer to a new account. Very curious if this changed.
Rental Property Investor · Campbell, CA · Member since 2017 · 419 posts · 499 votes
8y
@Justin Brophy, congrats on the new condo! I own several on kauai and absolutely love it! I've found that facebook, craigslist, etc is pretty ineffective at filling these weird gaps as the odds of finding the right group that needs it for that time is slim to none. I've ended up discounting those gaps on a sliding scale.
If the gap is within 30 days i'm ultra aggressive with discounts to fill it. Typically 25% off If the gap is within 30-45 days, I'll go 10-15% off
Outside 45 days I keep it around 5% off.
My calendars stay VERY full using this approach. (Avg 92% occupancy). I'm also pretty liberal with pricing. I'd rather give it to someone for a decent discount that have it sit empty.
One thing to make sure is to manually set your minimum nights to allow the shorter reservations for that window. You should set a minimum of at least 5 nights as a general rule.
How were you able to take over the old VRBO account? Unless it's their only rental and they give you their login, it's my understanding that VRBO will not separate a listing and transfer to a new account. Very curious if this changed.
I like your approach in regards to offering discounted rates depending on how far out the gap may be. This is something I was planning on offering as well. I guess my question to you would be; how are you marketing those gaps (VRBO, Airbnb, etc.?) I'm curious of the best method to ensure I can get the information out to potential vacation renters specially for those gaps.
Our property management does require a 5 night minimum stay but potential renters are allowed to call in directly and possibly book a shorter stay.
In response to taking over the VRBO account; our property management has control over the account and we can make any changes/updates as needed. Does that make sense?
Rental Property Investor · Campbell, CA · Member since 2017 · 419 posts · 499 votes
8y
The price reduction is all it takes for me and the fill via Airbnb or VRBO consistently. Most listings will have 5 night minimums, so when a guest searches for weird short stays yours will be one of the few they’ll see. Pair that with the price reduction and you’re the winner. No further marketing needed.
I would caution about allowing the property manager to maintain the VRBO listing. They’re notoriously slow to respond and don’t have the custom feel many people are looking for. It also keeps you tied to their program. As a new owner I’d consider starting a new, fresh account even if it means losing great reviews. It’ll hurt in the short term but will quickly be worth it... and when you fire the PM you’ll still have the listing. If you fire them now, you’ll lose it so it’s best to maintain that as yours and not theirs.
If a guest has to call to inquire about shorter stays you’re never going to fill them. It needs to be easily searchable on the website and if your property manager isn’t willing to adjust it (which most wont because they’re lazy) then I’d find a new one or do it yourself. You should also see if you’re bound to the current management and if not, considerself managing and all you need is an great cleaner (which is usually one of their staff on their off time anyways). Save the 30-40%
Rental Property Investor · Waikapu, HI · Member since 2018 · 305 posts · 197 votes
8y
@Justin Brophy I have a couple vacation rentals here on Maui and I stay pretty full on occupancy as well. Those little gaps definitely need to be filled and I too discount pricing as it gets closer.
We have a minimum of four nights as we’ve found a lot of people come and island hop. Not everyone stays for a week or two. When we do have gaps we will go in and select all the days of the gap and start discounting the price about 45 days out. If it’s a three day gap we make a rule that we can accept three day bookings during these dates. Then as we get closer we discount a little more if needed. We rarely have any openings longer than one night.
Also, we probably get 95% of our bookings on Airbnb as opposed to VRBO. Make sure you’re on there as well. Good luck!
Rental Property Investor · Campbell, CA · Member since 2017 · 419 posts · 499 votes
8y
@Mike Neubauer that’s interesting you get yours mostly on Airbnb. As 95% of mine are VRBO. I specialize on larger units (3+ bedrooms). Are yours smaller?
I’m just curious why you’re mostly Airbnb while I’m mostly VRBO.
Rental Property Investor · La Quinta, CA · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 779 votes
8y
I would recommend making sure you have full visibility on your VRBO account so you can make sure they are responding quickly. You can also always let them maintain the existing account, and start a 2nd one, and use .ical to make sure you don't doublebook. And make sure you are on Airbnb of course, and have full visibility there as well. There are some great pricing tools that will help you discount as unbooked dates get closer (beyondpricing is the leader, we use wheelhouse as it gives me more control) as well as offer custom automated strategies for small unbooked gaps.
Attorney · Wilsonville, OR · Member since 2017 · 504 posts · 411 votes
8y
@Mike V. I am glad I came across this thread. My wife and I are talking about getting a vacation rental on Maui and then VRBO or Airbnb it when not using it. As our girls are getting older and starting to travel their more we are getting tired of hotels.
Residential Real Estate Broker · Paia, HI · Member since 2016 · 479 posts · 311 votes
8y
What gaps?? Lol
I wouldn't worry about it too much. Those gaps will fill themselves with time. I use Airbnb exclusively for all my rentals and there's hardly a day not booked. I don't do any special Marketing in rarely offer discounts.
I did do Craigslist posting once, but the folks who responded were looking to stay without paying the cleaning fee which is ridiculous. Not recommended
I will see gaps of 3-4 days here and there occasionally between rentals. I am also using different Facebook groups to get the word out on those gaps. My unit has a history of around 75% occupancy but I am looking to raise that up to 85%+.
Wife and I closed on 1/1 unit in Kihei on April 20th, had renters April 22nd. I also noticed some of the gaps are 4 days, so that's where we adjusted our min. Confirmation was in days that it was the right number and sweet spot. Majority of our rentals are via VRBO, but we do a lot of Facebook referrals and word of mouth. We also redid the unit we bought and started over with all our reviews. At this point it's completely proving out and possibly looking at another unit. Best of luck and mahalo!
Larkspur, CA · Member since 2015 · 46 posts · 43 votes
7y
I am on Kauai and my occupancy was 89% last year. I primarily use VRBO and then Airbnb to fill the small gaps and that strategy has worked out well. I only open my Air calendar 3 months out. How can I find your place? I would love to take a look.
I only use airbnb for the units that I manage and have been killing it for years. You should use airdna.com for market research in your area as this is extremely helpful. This will help you plan/project the rates on your calendar. Oh and as for the orphan days, I simply offer steep discounts to keep the cash flowing. Hope this is helpful.