All Forum Posts by: Joel Oh

I think that is the difference. As you can see, two people already said just in this thread they have 100% occupancy during the hot time. Yes the average American income is barely $60,000 and most of people on bigger pockets make more than that and a lot of people make that much in a month. 

I think you shouldn't compared people who are visiting the forum to the Airbnb average. We are all here because we don’t want to be the average. Airbnb also said not even 10% of hosts make more than 100k as revenue. I make that with one listing. 

I am telling you that 100% occupancy is possible. My whole year average occupancy rate is 80% and it is possible because I focus and continuously hit the very top of the rank. The way to find it starts with testing and challenging yourself and your system. 

No one knows the exact algorithm even if you work at Airbnb directly. I doubt even Brian Chesky himself knows the exact detail nowadays. Everything is speculation but there are people who knows more because they run very similar things. Science, monetary policy, stock market are all just speculation but people still believe and live with it. Just saying it is just a speculation doesn’t make you go anywhere in life. At least I am drawing my conclusion from my knowledge of algorithm, higher education and real estate experience on top of handling thousands of guests and residents with my own hands. 

If competition is the reason why you are going to multi platforms, I think that is you choice and I understand it. How can you beat the guy who is dedicated on one platform when you are spreading your ranking points here and there. You simply can’t and that is my whole point.

I don't think you understand how ranking system and first page works. Once the top ranking properties get booked, the next properties goes on to the first page. So you don't need to be the best property in the area to be on the first page. Of course the goal should be on the first page by anytime but that is usually bad ROI since the price is the biggest factor on the rank. Once you see that your first page exposure is over 35-40% you will easily see over 80% occupancy rate and don't need other platforms.

Quote from @Dan H.:

Quote from @Joel Oh:

Quote from @Dan H.:

The reason that i would never suggest a single OTA is the all eggs in one basket risk.  What happens if the OTA start $crewing the hosts?   What happens if the OTA goes bankrupt?  If all your bookings come from a single OTA, do you have a business?  It certainly has a large dependency; you are at the mercy of that one OTA.

In addition, unless you are at ideal occupancy, alternate platforms can fill some holes.  In 2019 i was at ideal occupancy but none of my STRs are at ideal occupancy today.

Do what you want with regard to the number of OTAs, but i plan to never be associated with a single OTA.  My advice is to not focus on one OTA, but to be sure to be listed on multiple OTAs.

best wishes

 It is a Wallstreet myth that you should not put all eggs in one basket to sell their portfolio. Almost every single successful business owner found a strong competitive advantage and used it to focus on one thing to be the best at it. Business should start to extend only because there is nothing left to eat in the market not because you are losing in the competition.

 If you are worried about Airbnb or Vrbo screwing over the hosts, I think you are in the wrong business. OTA business doesn't exist without the hosts and screwing hosts will be the last thing they would do. (Weeding out bad hosts is a different story)

You should expand to a different OTA only because you are too big to be on single platform, not because you can't find enough customers with current system. If you are seeing a lower occupancy, that is happening because you are out of the current ranking system. There are more customers than ever right now on any platforms. This should give you an idea that your business model is outdated, and you lost your competitive advantage. Your role should be finding the reason for customers to buy your product instead of worrying about Airbnb goes bankrupted. 

I question how long you have had STRs.  The reason i ask is airbnb consistently has gotten less host friendly continuously since inception (i have had my STRs on airbnb since their year 1).  There are various degrees of screwing the host, but every change that is less host friendly is screwing the host to some degree.  Death by 1000 cuts.

virtually everyone recognizes that placing all eggs in one basket elevates risk.  If you do not recognize this i cannot help you, but i suspect most readers can recognize the risks of having all eggs in a single basket.  I also suspect that most can recognize having occupancy gaps filled by an alternate OTA is a positive outcome. 

you can stay on a single OTA if you desire or you can follow the advice of the experienced posts that suggest otherwise.  I leave it to the reader to determine what path is correct for them. 

i will continue to advocate for direct bookings and being on multiple OTA platforms.  my goal is have all bookings be direct and not be reliant on any OTA. 

good luck

I may not be seasoned as some of you guys who ran Airbnb for 10 years but I have enough experience to claim what I know. I also manage hundreds of residential and commercial properties outside of STRs so I actually understand how seller friendly these platforms are compared to the legal and government system outside of STR world need to deal with. What you are saying is the same as how the government "screw over" investors by changing their policies. In the end, you have 2 choices when there is a change, blame the system or find a way to win the game. You can't compare the system to the time that the entire Airbnb's focus was inviting more hosts to the platform vs Airbnb is focusing on the customer experience era. Hence, this is maybe why your occupancy rate is dropping nowadays.

 I am trying to help people to understand the current ranking system OTAs have. You get penalized by being on multiple platforms. Just imagine that you are Airbnb or Vrbo, OTA makes money when guests book on its platform, that is why OTA punishes people who uses direct booking outside of its platform. OTA rewards hosts who maintain high occupancy rate on its platform over other hosts who spreads out to many other OTAs. It is really that simple.

Also, compare to any other industries, Airbnb and Vrbo are incredibly friendly toward sellers. If you ever had to fight the government or insurance company you would understand how fair these STR platforms are. Amazon shut down your listing because of simple typo. Maybe try to remove a review on Google. You will not even hear back from them.

Yes, in the end it is viewer's choice to decide what they do. I maintain 100% occupancy during the hot season and 70% occupancy during the off season on all my listings with being on single platform. If your occupancy rate drops, you may able to patch the damage by trying other platforms but this will further decrease your ranking on the system in the future. 

Hope this makes sense. Good luck!

 Yes and a few bookings on Airbnb cost your ranking on Vrbo. You could have those dates booked on Vrbo instead if the dates were open and your ranking on your main platform would be higher which led to more exposure. 99% times, getting a higher ranking on one platform worth way more than picking up a few bookings unless a few bookings are what you are looking for. (Luxury mansion or hosting your home while on a vacation)

Have you noticed that your bookings are coming in a chunk? instead of spreading out evenly throughout days? It is because your bookings all come in when your rank is highest, and your listing is exposed on the first page. Hence, your goal should be staying on the first page as long as possible instead of picking up a few bookings from different places.