All Forum Posts by: Michael Greenberg

@Tim Schroeder I have five high end homes in AZ and it has not been a deterrent for bookings/guests at all.  I want guests that are respectful of my homes and will treat them as they would treat their own.  Like I mentioned, I've only charged someone the towel fee one time and it was because they used bath towels to clean up the kitchen (not the guests I want).  This particular family also paid the damage fee which in 3+ years I have only had to charge on two occasions.  Counter to the OTA's desire, I treat my VR's as a very serious business and not a hobby.  The "warm and fuzzy's" you are reading about lately are really only costing you money and it adds up I assure you.  Not to say I don't provide welcome baskets etc.... just be careful how much you provide and latitude you want to give your guests.

@Shelby Pracht I recently implemented a $15 damaged towel fee spelled out in my listing and rules.  It seems to be working as a deterrent and I've only had to charge it one time.  I use all white towels and linens now as the dark towels fade and bedding discolors and look pretty lousy after heavy usage.  I'm no make-up expert, but I do know they have make-up removers exist and I would hope that guests would be respectful enough to know that make-up does ruin towels (though sometimes they don't care).  So I figure if they don't care, then pay up. :-)

Mike

I recently purchased from JC Penney Home Expressions as @Julie McCoy indicated.  Bang for the buck, they are fantastic and they do have HUGE discounts.  They are my new go to for linens (sheets as well) until JCP is likely gone for good.

Hi Dustin,

My general opinion is that the larger sites are extremely powerful marketing engines and you get what you pay for (though I think VRBO/HA are a bit excessive).  I wouldn't limit yourself too much, but to manually track more than (3) OTA's can be challenging and monotonous.  As @Julie McCoy mentioned and I agree "how could they support themselves without charging fees?"  Interestingly @Brad Shepherd I just joined a Tokeet introductory webinar yesterday.  Interesting solution but their full integration is somewhat limited to particular OTA's that allow a full level of integration.  It's a worthwhile hour just to check it out as they are very competitively priced and their capabilities may outweigh their limitations.  I will be signing up for their second, more advanced webinar to dig deeper.  I've also heard good things about Orbirental and a few others.

Best,

Mike

I would also do a search for capterra's vacation rental software.  They have some really good detail about what's available, though it can be overwhelming once you dive in.  

Tokeet seems to be getting some attention and has spurred by interest as well.  Channel integration with unified communication, website design, direct bookings appear to be available.  I will be scheduling a demo to check it out.

They really do tend to bully their hosts but I have found higher returns/rates on VRBO/HA as of late though I believe OTA's are market specific (to your point).  You might take a look at a recent blog post by Evolve that compares pay per booking vs. annual fee (and also compares other OTA's). I would post the link here, but I think BP will block it (they don't like external links).  The blog makes a few assumptions, but it's a pretty solid comparison.  That said, I couldn't agree more that they are getting greedy with their fees and it's unfortunate.  I currently have all properties on pay per booking but I am considering converting a couple of them to subscription, then again it's just a consideration at this point as who knows what these continual increases will do to the potential guests.  I do try to instruct return guests to book direct to avoid this fees and it can enhance my rates if I only partially offset the guest booking fee.  @Michael Kugler - Can you expand on this?  Where's the help?  @Paul Sandhu was VRB"S" a typo - I'm guessing not and thanks for the chuckle this morning.

Mike

Hi Bryan,

I own STR's in Scottsdale and fortunately the Governor signed legislation to legalize vacation rentals statewide. That said, an HOA can amend or disallow STR's in their CC&R's as one of my condo properties is trying to do right now. I would recommend reading them carefully and before you purchase any property and get to know your neighbors as well to get a feel for their acceptance for transient renters.

Best of luck,

Mike

Why would anyone go to a store when they can get them in 2 days at Amazon.  27,000 reviews can't be wrong.

https://goo.gl/kCp6G9

Hi Vance,

I would recommend doing your own homework and analysis within the OTA's.  Create a spreadsheet and find your local competitors, then compare their rates to what you would like to obtain.  Doing so will produce as close, if not a better idea of how successful you can be.  Then run your cash on cash and financial statements to see if this plays out the way you want it to.  I would also take a look at @Jon Crosby's very cool app Click2Flip for a high level view.  It's a lot of numbers to crunch but will be worth it in the end.  You can also use this data to maintain your rates and compare your YOY performance.

Let us know how else we can help.

Mike