All Forum Posts by: Patricia Andriolo-Bull

A few thoughts here:

1.  I haven't had to deal with this but from what I read online, if this is a message in the Airbnb app, it is clear extortion and Airbnb would remove the review.

2.  That said, it does sound like a pretty terrible experience of which, they should probably receive a 50% refund.  If they hadn't threatened me, I would have probably offered them more than the cleaning fee.

3.  My properties are in a condo.  We have catwalk repairs coming in June and pool is getting refinished in September.  I have taken all of my properties offline during those times.  Yes, I lose revenue but the impact to my reputation and reviews far outweighs the loss of revenue.  I also make note in my listings when there might be construction (certain times of year), along with noise or if there are any other things potentially wrong.  It seems like you are aware of the water issues and that this is a new place.  I would do one or both of two things, take your property offline until it is actually ready and the water isn't stinky, or note it in the listing.

4.  Sounds like you could learn from the cleaning issue.  In my experience, things happen, but from the guest perspective, there isn't an excuse.  Talk to your cleaners.

 Hi.  I agree with @Andrew Steffens.  I'm in Marco Island (just slightly South of Cape Coral), the summers are not slow unless you aren't priced right or if there are other things wrong with your listings (photos, etc.).  The only slow times around here are generally September and early October then it picks up again.  Happy to take a look at your listings if you want to share.  Also, even though you are using a PM, I would still remain active if you aren't getting traction.  Become familiar with the market and see if they are pricing correctly. I find some around me drastically undercut (more than they should) or over price.

No, I do not and would not.  My reasons...

1.  I used to run operations for a large healthcare IT company.  I was responsible for outsourcing all operations to India and subsequently also the Philippines.  I was all for it.  But in my decades since and have gone from operations to customer success, I realized it wasn't very customer friendly.  I'm also convinced (from personal and professional experience without any real data points), it ends up costing more.  It takes time to teach people to do scripted work (you would be better off with AI and automation), that comes across often as scripted and ends up taking more time that if it was just done right the first time.  

2. This business is all about hospitality. It definitely isn't passive but if you have one STR (I have 4 listings), it is definitely manageable especially with all of the tools available to you (automated messaging and iCal syncing). It's a bigger lift up front (setting everything up), but after, it isn't a terrible amount of work and the results are far better.

I use OwnerRez which lists me on Google Vacation Rentals.  Would love to get on Marriott but they don't take individuals as far as I can tell.

 I agree.  My guests predominant came from VRBO and now from Airbnb.  Interestingly, in off season, there are only people looking for a deal but in high season, we get mostly high-end of the market that are not afraid to pay higher nightly rates for better properties.  

I see it similar to Viator.  I went on to see if I could offer private yoga services (currently I do this privately), but they don't have this as a service yet (they have private trainers only right now).  I'd be interested to see if it drives any business...I do have it as part of my listing descriptions right now and have very few people ask about it.

 I am in a beach vacation market that still tends to get mostly older adults and I get the majority from Airbnb. 

I have a few thoughts:

1.  In my experience (I haven't used them but see many properties in my area that do), Vacasa often underprices properties and has pretty terrible service with lower reviews, further reducing their prices, so I wouldn't trust what you are getting from Vacasa as potential.  

2.  Don't just look at this property.  Do an actual market research.  While AirDNA and other tools are helpful, I prefer looking at both VRBO and Airbnb directly for similar properties and analyzing the rates and determining your potential revenue.  History of this particular property isn't always (and usually isn't) a prediction of future.  For example, I would have never purchased any of my properties had I relied on past performance.  I knew that if I made a few changes, I could do better than the market, and I have.  Also, all the pricing tools out there suggest a lot lower ADR than what I get.

3.  I price differently on all platforms for a few reasons but usually it is due to commission structure.  For example, VRBO charges me 5% where Airbnb charges me 3% so I increase my prices on VRBO.  I increase my rates slightly for direct because guests don't have to pay the platform fee of Airbnb and VRBO but I have to pay merchant fees.  My Booking.com rates are much higher because they charge 15%.  

4.  Ask for a more detailed report from the current owner, they should be able to give you that. (breakdown of income AND expenses).

In summary, don't look at this specific property only, but look at the market in general.  

It is not at all tricky.  If you have only one property, link them using iCal.  It works well and they easily sync.