VRBO ruined my business. Need advice!

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VRBO ruined my business. Need advice!

Troy Ritter
Rental Property Investor · Roswell, GA · Member since 2019 · 15 posts · 8 votes

I’m a 21-year active duty military guy who started renting my home after being transferred out-of-state. The home is in Anchorage, Alaska and I live in Atlanta.

In 2014, I began doing short term rentals from May-August and then I’d find a long term tenant for September-April. Until recently this worked very well. I averaged $16,000 cash flow the first 5 years.

About a year ago, VRBO changed how they rank properties in guest searches. My home used to appear in the top 15 and now I average around 180. I only get a handful of views and I only have 2 bookings for the upcoming 2020 summer season. In past years I’ve been about 70% booked by New Years.

The problem is that the new VRBO ranking method is heavily weighted towards volume. Because I only rent 4 months per year, I get fewer bookings and reviews than other properties who rent year-round. Renting short term year-round isn’t an option for me and the monthly rental rate still just covers the mortgage.

Does anyone have suggestions for getting my business back on track? Any suggestions will be appreciated!

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Luke CarlPro Member
Rental Property Investor · Tennessee Florida · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 5k+ votes
6y

@Troy Ritter  Your subject was so dramatic I was very excited to read your post. Turns out its boring. If your rankings aren't good enough for you.... try harder. 

Have you looked in to airbnb? It's a 3 billion dollar per year vacation rental website. 

My 5 VRs are 90%+ occupied year round. I have never once taken the time to look at what number I'm ranked on VRBO. In fact I question the validity of said rankings. It's not like there's a magical wizard in Austin, Texas (VRBO headquarters) that said "this house shall be number 168 until further notice." 

If you're not getting as many bookings as in the past -try something new like hiring a professional photographer. I have not seen your listing but I can take an educated guess that you only have like 12 photos. Max out your photos at 50. And good ones. Just one place to start. If you have 50 excellent photos, don't say "Lucas is a jerk he told me to get 50 photos and I already have 50 photos he doesn't know what he's talking about."  

Finding the solution is a trickle down effect. Next place to look would perhaps be your price per night. Minimum night stay. Cancellation policy, or any number of factors where your neighbors may have an edge over you. Or maybe your property is just in Alaska and there's a limited amount of traffic? 

You could post your listing here and we'd be happy to give you some tips. 

Podcast Guest on Show From Surviving on $30/Day to 30+ Properties Thanks to Blue-Collar Skills
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42 Replies

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  • Theresa HarrisPro Member
    Member since 2019 · 15k+ posts · 11k+ votes
    6y

    @Troy Ritter  Can you post it on another platform in addition to VRBO?

    0Reply
  • Matt Castle
    Realtor · Gatlinburg, TN · Member since 2018 · 261 posts · 155 votes
    6y

    @Troy Ritter VRBO isn't the only STR platform out there. Why would you reserve your property to this single platform only?

    Push it out there to as many as you can, but make sure bookings are synchronized across all platforms so they don't double book it. 

    1Reply
  • Troy Ritter
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · Roswell, GA · Member since 2019 · 15 posts · 8 votes
    6y

    Hi Theresa and Matt,

    Thanks for your reply! I’ve always advertised on VRBO, AirBnB and FlipKey. I just don’t get many bookings through the other two. At least 90% of my booking have been through VRBO. 

    0Reply
  • Luke CarlPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Tennessee Florida · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    6y

    @Troy Ritter  Your subject was so dramatic I was very excited to read your post. Turns out its boring. If your rankings aren't good enough for you.... try harder. 

    Have you looked in to airbnb? It's a 3 billion dollar per year vacation rental website. 

    My 5 VRs are 90%+ occupied year round. I have never once taken the time to look at what number I'm ranked on VRBO. In fact I question the validity of said rankings. It's not like there's a magical wizard in Austin, Texas (VRBO headquarters) that said "this house shall be number 168 until further notice." 

    If you're not getting as many bookings as in the past -try something new like hiring a professional photographer. I have not seen your listing but I can take an educated guess that you only have like 12 photos. Max out your photos at 50. And good ones. Just one place to start. If you have 50 excellent photos, don't say "Lucas is a jerk he told me to get 50 photos and I already have 50 photos he doesn't know what he's talking about."  

    Finding the solution is a trickle down effect. Next place to look would perhaps be your price per night. Minimum night stay. Cancellation policy, or any number of factors where your neighbors may have an edge over you. Or maybe your property is just in Alaska and there's a limited amount of traffic? 

    You could post your listing here and we'd be happy to give you some tips. 

    Podcast Guest on Show From Surviving on $30/Day to 30+ Properties Thanks to Blue-Collar Skills
    10Reply
  • Nathan GesnerBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
    6y

    I've heard really good things about booking.com but agree with Matt that you should try several platforms that sync with each other. I think that low-volume could potentially hurt you on any platform.

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    0Reply
  • John UnderwoodPro Member
    Investor · Greer, SC · Member since 2014 · 13k+ posts · 17k+ votes
    6y

    You could also use FB marketplace and Craigslist to advertise your Vrbo site.

    I agree with Lucas, make sure you have the max number of great photos. 

    Check your competition to make sure your amenities and prices are inline.

    Reviews are king, do everything you can to get as many 5 star reviews as possible.

    4Reply
  • Troy Ritter
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · Roswell, GA · Member since 2019 · 15 posts · 8 votes
    6y

    Lots of good comments and suggestions so far. Lots of thanks! Here is a link to my listing: www.vrbo.com/666645

    2Reply
  • Aaron T.Pro Member
    Developer · Aguada, PR · Member since 2014 · 927 posts · 279 votes
    6y

    have you tried to see where your guests are coming from and use a pay per click campaign to target these cities?

    I no longer do VRBO, because its too much hassle. I never cared for them to start with. 

    2Reply
  • Corey Meyer
    Investor · Big Sky, MT · Member since 2019 · 66 posts · 28 votes
    6y

    @Troy Ritter

    You have to keep the coal in the fire. It’s an ultimatum but when you offline from short term renting that coal is cooling. There are plenty of hungry hustlers doing all they can to beat you in the power rankings. You are going to have to play ball with the best of them. The competition is here to stay.

    1Reply
  • Corey Meyer
    Investor · Big Sky, MT · Member since 2019 · 66 posts · 28 votes
    6y

    @Matt Castle

    The issue with putting the listing on all the platforms is that when it is booked outside VRBO the calendar receives a block versus a booking on the VRBO platform. This will affect the rankings and lower the listing in search results on all platforms. If demand isn’t a problem then it doesn’t really matter but if you want to crush it you may have to focus on beating the game on one of the platforms to get highest dollar per night.

    0Reply
  • Kyler Peters
    Specialist · Austin, TX · Member since 2019 · 5 posts · 6 votes
    6y

    @Troy Ritter have you tried running any online advertisements for your VRBO? Can you imagine a hotel that spends $0 in marketing? Like you said, you have a business, treat it as such.

    1Reply
  • Paul CoxPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Manassas, VA · Member since 2013 · 193 posts · 156 votes
    6y

    @Troy Ritter, You have a beautiful home and the pics look great. I'm a newbie with a new cabin in Pigeon Forge TN, using both VRBO and AirBnB. @Lucas Carl along with his Wife @Avery Carl were my online mentors and continue to be so I listen to pretty much everything they pass along to me. I've only been hosting since Thanksgiving and hands down 95% of my bookings have come from AirBnB. We are in a very competitive market with over 12 million people visiting throughout the year and so cabins are always in demand. I'm still working on finding the sweet spot on pricing, but I'm pretty much booked up all the way through April, and this is supposed to be the slow season. Anyway, the only thing I don't see at your property is a Hot Tub. It's one of the necessities in our market to have a rentable cabin. Good Luck  and again, you have a beautiful home!

    Paul

    2Reply
  • Paul Sandhu
    Investor · The worst town to live in, KS · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    6y

    I have 23 STRs in this town, and I'm on Airbnb plus a few other vacation rental websites.  I get maybe 6 contacts a year from a vacation rental website, but I turn them all down because they just want to rent a place for the weekend.

    I'm on Craigslist too.  Probably get 6 calls a month from that website.  Half of those calls pan out to a rental.  Average rental duration is probably 6 weeks.  Refinery contractors are my only tenants.

    2Reply
  • Nancy Bachety
    Rental Property Investor · North Fork, NY · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 631 votes
    6y

    @Troy Ritter I didn’t look at your listing but can you adjust your calendar on VRBO to show no blocked dates? Then you can state in your listing or set your conditions for renting during the off-season ( long term tenant only) and be sure to turn off instant books. If you’re ranking is based on blocked dates, perhaps the aggravation is worth the extra steps.

    2Reply
  • Jon Latorre
    Real Estate Broker · Boise, ID · Member since 2017 · 101 posts · 41 votes
    6y

    Well I know one thing hindering your ad ranking in VRBO is sharing your listing with others. Everyone on this thread just clicked into your listing but didn’t book... that’s hurts conversion score and further pushes you down their ranks. 

    To put it simplY, VRBO wants to display the best converting units first. When people go to your listing and don’t book, that’s a signal your listing isn’t optimized. Could be pictures, could be rates, could be lack of availability... but one thing is certain, sharing the link to your listing with people who won’t book isn’t going to help your case. 

    0Reply
  • Justin Polston
    Property Manager · Shelbyville, IN · Member since 2014 · 303 posts · 161 votes
    6y

    @Troy Ritter a lot of folks create their own FB page for the rental, or even a group. You might try to find other similar rentals near yours and combine them into one page? Seems to work for several folks I know in FL

    1Reply
  • Brandi Croom
    Real Estate Broker · Alaska and Oregon · Member since 2018 · 44 posts · 35 votes
    6y

    I lived in Alaska for 30 years so looking at the price and location of your VRBO, the daily rate seems high. There are plenty of VRBO rentals on there for almost half of your price and it’s not in a sought after location for VRBO. I’d adjust your price and remain competitive. With BP selling I’d expect more houses of your size to enter the VRBO market if prices start to decline.

    3Reply
  • Lauren Kormylo
    Rental Property Investor · Phoenix, AZ and Rehoboth Beach DE · Member since 2019 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    6y

    Speaking as a customer of STRs, I think you'd do better if you got rid of 2 queen beds and put in king beds instead.  Your photo of the group around the campfire shows many adults sharing the house.  My sister and I along with our husbands like to meet for vacations in different states, and we all want to sleep in king sized beds.  We don't want queens - they are smaller than we have at home and we don't want that on vacation.   Put in all kings, and have one bedroom with 4 twin bunk beds for the kids.  

    Your photos look great, and your house is beautiful.  I can't say about pricing, because I have never been to Alaska.  Is there anyway to contact your previous customers to remind them you'd love to have their repeat business?

    3Reply
  • Ken Latchers
    Hatfield, PA · Member since 2012 · 1k+ posts · 629 votes
    6y

    VRBO had absolutely nothing to do with ruining your business! Any more than Amazon or Walmart had anything to do with Sears or Kmart failures

    you chose a property and the market and prices and services and made other choices to try to make short-term money.

    but VRBO like other listing sites, and regulators and competition keep marching on.

    the failure is always on the part of the property owner for their choices. VRBO does not know you or have anything against you. You just didn't keep up

    1Reply
  • Charles Kao
    Specialist · Grand Rapids, MI · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 611 votes
    6y

    @Troy Ritter Try more

    platforms. For some reason we have some properties that do

    AirBNB than VRBO and others the other way around. We also have used Expedia and Travelocity.

    1Reply
  • Satha Palani
    Investor · Newark NJ · Member since 2012 · 104 posts · 61 votes
    6y

    @Troy Ritter

    Try posting directly to universities and collages close to you; visiting scholars and temp faculty are great short term tenants. Also reach out to hospitals nearby. Many nurses travel to take up temporary positions.

    I had a short term rental for awhile. My first tenant was a traveling nurse that found my add on Craigslist. Got a bunch of nurses after that just from here referral.

    0Reply
  • Natalie Schanne
    Real Estate Agent · Princeton, NJ · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    6y

    @Troy Ritter - The downfall of vrbo and airbnb is they’ve become so popular that many people have put their homes on the platform, driving down prices and occupancy. When I put in dates to book your house in August, the price was $400/night for “sleeps 12 in 4br” for a 3 week stay while the competition was $130-150 for a “Sleeps 6” in a 3 bedroom with similar 4.8+ star rankings. The general view of your house shows your $300/night price.

    I don’t know if your area is only good for vacationers or if you could transform it into an ongoing short/long term rent by the room property like to other people working at your employer. I have a 2100sf house that when I bought was advertised as 3 bedrooms but is actually 7, so I rent 7 bedrooms at 700/mo each utilities paid. Fully furnished. I charge up to $900/mo for month to month. I get leases and security deposits from everyone. If I have a vacancy, I pop a particular room on Airbnb and try only to accept rentals starting within the next month so I don’t block a long term room rental option. It’s less headache because you’re not coordinating cleaners every day/week. Generally roommates will tattle on each other if there’s any damage. It may earn you more year round. Other than that your house is beautiful. Are you sure you don’t want to sell it and reinvest closer to where you live now? What ties you to Alaska?

    3Reply
  • Heather Ramsey
    Member since 2019 · 3 posts · 2 votes
    6y

    @Troy Ritter Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Use different platforms. AirBNB. Booking.com. Even make a FB page.

    0Reply
  • Ola Dantis
    Multifamily Syndicator · Houston, TX · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    6y

    @Troy Ritter I checked out your photos and they look pretty good actually. 

    ONE THING you could is to add VIDEO. This could a slideshow of the pictures, but in some instances that could help you profile completeness and possibly increased rankings. 

    That said, I'd have to agree with Lucas about Airbnb, which is a juggernaut in the vacation rental space. 

    Adding your listing to Airbnb or to one of those sites that syndicates your listing across multiple sites could increase your booking rates.  

    Good luck. 

    0Reply
  • Account Closed
    Investor · FL · Member since 2016 · 332 posts · 388 votes
    6y

    @Troy Ritter Troy, I disagree with many above. VRBO was my bread and butter, but as I received more and more Airbnb bookings I also dropped in VRBO rankings. All 5 stars for all my properties. VRBO did change the logarithm and I have had discussions with them about it. For me it solidified building my own website and push marketing to it. As we say in the military, Intel drives Ops. Knowing you are ranked lower you have a couple options. Improve the listing. Improve the price. Add booking platforms. Add a marketing plan. Now come up with a detailed solution (COA) like you would for a commander and then execute. Precision and speed.

    Where are you stationed now?

    Blessings,

    Chaps

    1Reply
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