All Forum Posts by: Michael Greenberg

Thanks @Richard Lee.  Would like to hear your strategy with regards to length of stay.  

@Alan Da Costa Perfect knowledge of anything and I wouldn't be doing this :-).  Yes, absolutely I would assign those values to my listings.  It is presently running on my existing properties, the term "experiment" is that I am limiting the amount of time but willing to give it at least 90-days.  I will also be adopting the strategy that @Selena Walsh and @Julie McCoy have taken - the closer the dates become, the lower the minimum stay requirement.  Quite a bit of heavy lifting but it's my full time job now.

@Lee L. Just scroll down a bit from not allowing check-in's.  

@Selena Walsh and @Julie McCoy - really like this "sliding nights scale" you have created and I'm going to add that to my strategy.  VRBO is definitely more challenging with this process right now, although their MarketMaker tool (that's been in BETA for 10 months now - hmmmm?!) will make this easier as I have been part of the "BETA" with one of my properties.  @Luke Carl - I believe you may the ability to set this up if you are marketing on Airbnb.  You can set rules under "availability" "trip length".  @Jon Latorre I don't think the strategy will "kill demand" and based upon my experience and others on this thread, it can work with some homework, research and monitoring.  Maybe there will be a future process that can help automate this process.

Thanks everyone for your feedback and would welcome any additional ideas and thoughts.  It is a serious and important business topic, one that belongs here on BP and not a bulletin board.    Mike

Thanks @Nancy Bachety.  I agree, would be great to see different pricing strategies here.  I just received a booking for (8) nights (I never used to get these length of stays for November at this property).  They booked for $90 per night and my normal rate would have been around $100 for these same nights which likely would have booked a (3) night long weekend stay.  Simple math $90 x 8 = $720, $110 x 3 = $330.  No brainer!  Thanks for sharing more details @Eric A.

@Eric A. that is hilarious!  Interesting results and it's exhausting already (spreadsheet hell) and I'm just getting started.  I too have a strong weekend clientele and want to attract more weekday/business stays as that too is an opportunity in my market, especially in low season.  It appears from your post that you were priced competitively already whereas I have been market neutral with my competitors, but still getting north of 70% occupancy.  Similar to @Julie McCoy I want longer stays and 'better" clientele, especially at my larger properties that accommodate larger groups.

Thank you both - great stuff.

For some reason @Jon Crosby I thought you might be the first one to weigh in :-).  Will do.

Best,

Mike

Fellow BP STR Owners, would like to read your opinions:

In my microcosm active STR market, a recent study of my local competitors on Airbnb I saw to see a trend of required longer stays. Two specific multi-property owners are requiring 5-night minimum stays across the board and based upon their calendar (although the bookings could be coming from other OTA's) it is working. They are also providing 25% weekly stay and 35% monthly stay discounts. I scratched out the math and if their calendars are accurate, this is a really smart strategy financially, but also could weed out the riff-raff as @Selena Walsh post this week discussed. So I'm following suit - but not exactly the same. Since my focus is on maximizing revenue and profit (occupancy comes along for the ride), I have taken my properties and are requiring the following length of stays:

My minimum stay is set to two nights so Tuesday (I don't get Tuesday requests) and Friday are left alone because I also restricted Saturday check-in and check-out.

Minimum stay by day of week is now set to:

Sunday - 4 nights

Monday - 4 nights

Wednesday - 4 nights

Thursday - 3 nights

I then lowered my rates for the weekdays to capture more revenue but priced below majority of the competition; e.g. if Property A was $100 per night for a minimum 2 night stay = $200.  Now the same property is requiring (4) nights at $75 = $300.  I adjusted my weekends slightly to encourage longer stays as well and since there are not check-in/out Saturday's, this is capturing more than my original 2-night requirement.  Leaving my minimum stay at (2) still helps my search position and broad searches.

I added weekly/monthly discounts slightly different per property to capture more days/$$$ but not as aggressive as 25%/35%.

Best,

Mike

Nope, they're already making money on our money by collecting it from the guest at time of booking and paying out during the stay (and now seems to be later than it originally was).  One could argue that they are hold OUR money once the guest books and they should be paying us interest, not vice-versa.  As you mention @Kevin Lefeuvre and @John Underwood, VRBO prepay's without interest or penalty - for which is great except when a guest cancels as you mention @Julie McCoy.

This is a great topic Selena, thanks for posting.  I seem to have more issues with guests that try and negotiate as @Mike V. mentioned as well as last minute bookings as you describe.  I also have challenges with off-season guests as they pay less and for some reason cause more problems.  If a potential guest has no reviews and/or no description of their plans I always follow up with "can you please tell me a bit more about all of the guests and what your plans are for your visit?", and make sure they are all at least 21 years old (I'm considering raising this minimum to 25 years old).  I have also set my Airbnb booking requests to accept instant bookings, however the prospective guest must have at least one positive review.  Unfortunately VRBO/HA doesn't have this option for instant booking, but I do converse with them as well for additional details.  I also set my damage deposit high and if they negotiate or complain about it - red flag.  Hope this helps a bit and gives some additional ideas.

Mike