All Forum Posts by: Monika Haebich

Hi Michael,

Very cool! May I ask how your website will differ from the other current options? It's definitely an exciting to time to be in this industry! :)

While you're still building up guest reviews on your own site (which are good mechanisms for verifying hosts), you could cross-check guest reviews from other listing sites to make sure real people have stayed there before. Not sure how you'd be able to verify that you're dealing with the same owner as the one on other sites, but just an idea... 

Denita, this tool might help: http://www.rented.com/income-calculator

Other things to consider: marketing/booking costs, occupancy taxes, the value of your time, maintenance, cleaning, etc. 

Hope this helps! :) 

@Crystal H. there are a ton of really great home automation companies that can help homeowners remain in control of things like locks, AC, heat. PointCentral and Parakeet are two great ones! 

Patricia, 

Here are also a few sites that will be helpful if you're looking to use automatic locks:

• CodeBox
• Kaba Oracode
• Kwikset
• Parakeet
• PointCentral
• ResortLock

Good luck! 

Hi Patricia,

Welcome to the site! If you'd like to speak on the phone, I'd be happy to talk to you about what I've learned in the vacation rental industry. I'm not a property manager, but I work with hundreds of vacation rental homeowners. 

As far as your insurance goes, you should notify your insurance company of the changes. RentalGuardian and CSA Travel Protection might also be of help. 

Here are some really useful blogs to get you started:

• Short Term Rental Advocacy Center: They have a lot of current information on short term rental regulations.
• rented. blog: Industry news, tips for homeowners
• AVROA: The American Vacation Rental Owners' Association
• Rentals United blog: Rentals United is a channel manager, but they have a great blog on managing your vacation rental.
• Cottage Blogger
• Vacation Rental Marketing Blog: run by Matt Landau

If you have any other questions, feel free to reach out! :) Best of luck! 

Hi all,

Just saw this article and thought of this thread! Enjoy! 

Hi Kristen,

I'm sorry I only just saw your post! Welcome to the site. :) 

I work with hundreds of vacation rental homeowners worldwide, and it's definitely a really exciting time to be in the industry given all that's been happening with the sharing economy. I'm not a vacation rental manager, but I just returned from the VRMA Conference, and the general consensus is that there's a lot of opportunity in the industry right now.

 If you ever have any questions about the industry, I'm always happy to talk! If you're also ever looking to do an outright rental on the home, I'd be happy to see if I could find someone to buy out your weeks for the year. 

See you around! :) 

Hey Thomas,

I work with PMs doing outright rentals there, and I'm happy to see if they have any demand there at the moment. Let me know! 

Hi Erin,

Typically, I have seen cleaning rates from independent companies around that range, and I'm not sure that I've seen anything cheaper. Most management companies use their own people for that, which is why it doesn't eat as much into their profits. 

If you are looking for a management service that would take care of cleaning for you, I'm happy to see if I can find a management company willing to do an outright rental, where they'd pay you a guaranteed amount for the year and handle cleaning, inquiries, occupancy taxes, maintenance, booking/marketing, etc.

Best of luck! 

To echo Dafina, I also wouldn't advise listing only on Airbnb. A lot of people actually prefer VRBO, and here's some info on why: http://www.vrma.com/files/2015Annual/Materials/Third%20Party%20Channels%20How%20to%20Generate%20Millions%20of%20Dollars.pdf

If you are looking to use a channel manager, I'd be happy to refer a few companies.

@Dafina Smith, while you're using instant booking now, you may not have that luxury for long. A lot of the major booking sites are moving towards instant bookings, and by 2016, it's expected that instant, online bookings will have to be available for all listings.