Rental Property Investor · Corpus Christi, TX · Member since 2019 · 306 posts · 176 votes
Hello!
Getting ready to dip my toes into the STR world. I've got a few long term rentals but no STR's at this point. I'll be managing this one from a distance so I thought I'd use a management company at first and then transition to managing myself once I learn more.
Turnkey Vacation Rentals charges an 18% commission off your gross which doesn't seem bad compared to some that charge up to 35%.
I have a friend who started using them in SD, he said he was able to negotiate the rate a bit so give that a try if you haven't already. He seems happy with them, but nothing extraordinary in regards to service of quality that I could tell. Just be cautious if you plan to 'start with them' and then move over regarding who owns your listings. Many of these operators will own your listings on the booking sites and not transfer them to you if you want to leave. It's not the end of the world if you have to start fresh but you will just want to be aware of that...additionally, migrating bookings is a pain the butt often especially when you have future bookings and/or deposits in their system.
Best of luck and congrats on taking the plunge...you have to dive in...no dipping your toes. LOL j/k ;)
We have two STRs, one on Lake LBJ near Austin, and one in Angel Fire, New Mexico. We use Vacasa at our Lake House - they have a local manager who is awesome and we have 2-3 same-day turns per week in the summer, so we can't afford surprises or lapses. We pay 25% and it's worth it for us right now even though we're pretty local. We are trying out a new company for our Mountain House - https://www.stayboutiq.com/bou.... Lower rates, great marketing, and a bespoke website for return visitors (saves fees). So far, so great. If they keep it up, we may look into changing things up at the lake. We only have 1-2 turns in the mountains, and usually not same-day so we have more room for error.