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. 

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  • Aaron T.
    Developer · Aguada, PR · Member since 2014 · 928 posts · 279 votes
    6y
    Originally posted by @Lauren Kormylo:

    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?


    I doubt his lack of guests are because of the difference between a king and queen beds. Plus, the cost of converting over beds, linens, mattresses, etc... may not make sense in the ROI. He can see what other rentals have, and if they are all listing king beds, then it may be something to look at.
    1Reply
  • Daniel Schiller
    Rental Property Investor · Houston, TX · Member since 2014 · 91 posts · 76 votes
    6y

    I always use AirBnB and HomeAway for my seasonal beach rental, but lean heavily on AirBnB. I’ve never noticed a volume correlation; just that HomeAway renters complain less.

    0Reply
  • Russell BrazilBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Agent · Washington, D.C. · Member since 2012 · 17k+ posts · 30k+ votes
    6y

    Here is an idea, if the volume thing hurts you. Could you list it for the entire year, but then just mark those offlimit times as booked already from a different platform?

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  • Jamie Rose
    Real Estate Agent · Anchorage, AK · Member since 2017 · 294 posts · 182 votes
    6y

    @Troy Ritter - yeah you just got out competed. I did AirBnb here in Anchorage back in 2013 - it was easy to book as much as you wanted for top dollar - because there were not many options. Now there are tons of options - and newer hotels. You just haven't kept up the pace. The summer market is great here, and growing... if you're competitive. You no longer are. 

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

    Hey @Account Closed thanks for the terrific advice. When VRBO changed the logarithm I dropped in the market rankings from top 10 to approx 750-850. By only renting 4 months I just don’t get the number of bookings or reviews. 

    I agree that I need a new course of action! My approach worked for 5 years but things have changed and I have to adapt. Fortunately when Business was good I saved 6 months operating expenses in reserves. I have some time and cash to make a new plan... and execute was speed and precision :)

    I’m a medical officer detailed to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. It’s a good gig. Hoping to hang on here for a bit longer. Thanks again for your advice!

    Troy

    0Reply
  • Troy Ritter
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · Roswell, GA · Member since 2019 · 15 posts · 8 votes
    6y

    Hey @Jamie Rose thanks for your comment! The only thing I disagree with is that it’s written in past tense. I’m not done yet. All business have peaks and valleys and I'm in a valley at the moment. My place is rented to a long term tenant through April. Now I’m doing my research to make a new plan and implement a new strategy. Don’t count me out :)

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

    Hey @Brandi Croom thanks for the helpful feedback! Yesterday did a cost comparison with other properties and I agree that I need to reduce the nightly rate and cleaning fee. Thanks again!

    Troy

    0Reply
  • Jamie Rose
    Real Estate Agent · Anchorage, AK · Member since 2017 · 294 posts · 182 votes
    6y

    @Troy Ritter - well said! You've got this - T.R. STR 2.0 in 2020!

    1Reply
  • Wendy Schultz
    Property Manager · Wisconsin and Florida · Member since 2017 · 346 posts · 227 votes
    6y

    I would not advise using Booking.com. We have had 2 fraudulent stays and damages with no recourse since Booking.com doesn't retain the credit card info so you're SOL. I've spoken with several others in the STR industry who have told me that Booking.com is trouble. Just a heads up

    1Reply
  • Luke CarlPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Tennessee Florida · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    6y
    Originally posted by @Wendy Schultz:

    I would not advise using Booking.com. We have had 2 fraudulent stays and damages with no recourse since Booking.com doesn't retain the credit card info so you're SOL. I've spoken with several others in the STR industry who have told me that Booking.com is trouble. Just a heads up

    I also found booking.com to be a waste of time. 

    Podcast Guest on Show From Surviving on $30/Day to 30+ Properties Thanks to Blue-Collar Skills
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  • Cliff H.Pro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Nashua, NH · Member since 2014 · 610 posts · 486 votes
    6y

    Hi @Troy Ritter I've seen similar results from AirBnB at various times in the past and it's one of the reasons I recommend STR hosts build their own website and do all possible to drive business outside the major channels, at least for those guests that have already stayed in their homes and have no reason to pay the channel tax again if they're already communicating directly with you.

    As we've seen with Amazon, Walmart, and virtually every other platform play, when you're in Rome, the rules are at the Emperor's whim. Just because you have a successful STR business today, does not mean your primary STR platform does not decide that it's in their best interest to change the rules tomorrow and tank your rental's ranking. You're a guest in their house, you play by their rules, and their business directive is not always aligned to the interests of the small time STR owner. There's far greater forces in play than most of us know.

    As an interim step while you build that personal channel out, consider at lease standing up a channel manager capable of syncing all details, pricing, and availability across the big three: AirBnB, VRBO, and Booking.com.That’s pretty simple actually and it’s often a far easier overhead to learn one set of controls than remembering where X setting was in 3 different places. Booking.com’s controls on it’s own are enough to make my head spin. 

    I realize this may be old hat and nothing you have not heard before, but from what I’ve seen across different markets it’s silly for me in an entirely different market from you to tell you to get on board with AirBnB, when you’re already saying VRBO/HA has always been your bread and butter. I see exactly the opposite in my market and have heard Booking.com has 4x the market of the other two any way (open to others fact checking that one since I cannot remember when/where I read it). 

    The point is, the channels are in flux, the industry continues to change, and thinking you have a business because you’re the top dog in someone’s storefront today is not putting yourself in the best position for long term success. The number of folks who find themselves hung out to dry because Walmart tells them what price to sell Amazon ape’d their product with an “Amazon Essential” at 1/2 the cost, or Facebook moved to “pay to play” when the stock went public are too many to count. 

    Keep us posted on how things progress, but definitely get your place listed in more than just HA/VRBO. 

    0Reply
  • Ken Latchers
    Hatfield, PA · Member since 2012 · 1k+ posts · 629 votes
    6y
    I would advise  to disregard this advice about booking.com. they do considerably better than Airbnb for me. And they let you choose whether to have them or you process the cards.

    there are people who advise not to use Airbnb, because they're extenuating circumstances policy can yank back money from a stay because of fraudulent reasons by the booking party.

    The title of this thread is that VRBO  ruin my business. there are people who advise not to use VRBO or HomeAway because their card merchant yapstone totally does not support people for frivolous chargebacks.

    there are people who advise not to use Flip Key TripAdvisor because...

    in other words, don't use anyone and don't worry about having guests.

    Originally posted by @Wendy Schultz:

    I would not advise using Booking.com. We have had 2 fraudulent stays and damages with no recourse since Booking.com doesn't retain the credit card info so you're SOL. I've spoken with several others in the STR industry who have told me that Booking.com is trouble. Just a heads up

    0Reply
  • Troy Ritter
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · Roswell, GA · Member since 2019 · 15 posts · 8 votes
    6y

    Hey @Cliff H.! I can’t thank you enough for the really helpful advice. I’ve been impressed with the people on this app and How they’re will to help. 

    Up until about a year ago, my market rank on VRBO hovered around 6-12 and I was booking about 100 days May-August. I only rent during the summer. Then VRBO changed how they rank properties in a way that disadvantaged seasonal rentals. I dropped to around 850-900. Of course, my bookings stopped. 

    At first I was bitter at VRBO but thanks to a lot of help from people on this site and others I’ve gotten 5 bookings in just the last week! The changes are helping! I’ll write more later about the steps I’ve taken and the result. However, the main lesson is that I can’t be dependent on any single booking site. 

    Thanks again for all your advice! 

    Troy

    0Reply
  • Joey Morea
    Lender · Tampa, FL · Member since 2018 · 149 posts · 102 votes
    6y

    @Troy Ritter

    Not sure if this could work but what if you set the dates as available but charged like 10k per night so no one would ever book those dates in the off season. Would that be a way to trick the system to help with the SEO without actually blocking the dates?

    0Reply
  • Angelica M Garzon
    Rental Property Investor · Miami, FL · Member since 2018 · 110 posts · 113 votes
    6y

    Hi Troy, 

    Have you tried other platforms like airbnb, homeaway, tripadvisor? 

    Also, does VRBO have an option for you to first accept the booking prior to the guest confirming their reservation? I ask because Airbnb does have this feature so I have a 365 day availability but only accept reservations that work for me. 

    Hope this helps and good luck!

    0Reply
  • Brian G.
    Rental Property Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    6y

    @Troy Ritter so what steps helped right the ship?

    1Reply
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