VRBO - who uses it? Is is hard to set up?

[Bernster]

I have used VRBO for about three years now with the calls directed to a well known local rental management company for the first two years. The first year I was not getting any credit from the rental management company for customers calling in because of the VRBO ad. After learning that many of the renters were coming in through the VRBO, without the rental company giving me credit for them, I stated in the ad to ask for the 5% owners discount when calling. Then they couldn't be hidden. That next year about 85% of the renter were obviously coming in through VRBO and the management company had to give me the small credit. During 2007, 100% of my renters were coming in through VRBO and none through the advertising of the rental company. I fired the rental company when I found out that the rental company had steered one of my renters that called in on my VRBO ad to other properties. I had suspected that had been going on, but this was the only case I could prove.

Now we only use VRBO and manage the property ourselves. We lowered our rental fees slightly but this was more than made up by charging cleaning fees for less than a four day stay instead of the three day free cleaning that the rental company had set. This year we will have the highest gross ever, well more than double the gross rental amounts we had when we were with the rental company last year and keep all of it except for the cleaning fees and taxes.

Not only did the rental company take a large percentage of the rental fees, but they were forever charging special fees for other things - inventory, touch-up cleaning, putting in a fire extinguisher and iron when we already had them in the rental unit. Additionally, the quality of the cleaning was sometimes so bad that we would reclean the unit ourselves. One time we discovered that the cleaning people threw cups, saucers, and flatware in the garbage rather than wash them when the renters had left them in the sink.

We would never use a rental management company again. If they supposedly treat you like family, that's one family I never again want to be part of.

 

[swantree]

Hi Suma! I've already put you in my network!

 

[Beach Runner]

Bernster, we have used two rental management companies, and we have never had a problem with getting the appropriate commission for VRBO procurements versus procurements acquired by the rental management companies.

 

[Suma]

Thanks Swantree. I will be in touch!

 

[Rather B Paddlin]

I have used VRBO for about three years now with the calls directed to a well known local rental management company for the first two years. The first year I was not getting any credit from the rental management company for customers calling in because of the VRBO ad. After learning that many of the renters were coming in through the VRBO, without the rental company giving me credit for them, I stated in the ad to ask for the 5% owners discount when calling. Then they couldn't be hidden. That next year about 85% of the renter were obviously coming in through VRBO and the management company had to give me the small credit. During 2007, 100% of my renters were coming in through VRBO and none through the advertising of the rental company. I fired the rental company when I found out that the rental company had steered one of my renters that called in on my VRBO ad to other properties. I had suspected that had been going on, but this was the only case I could prove.

Now we only use VRBO and manage the property ourselves. We lowered our rental fees slightly but this was more than made up by charging cleaning fees for less than a four day stay instead of the three day free cleaning that the rental company had set. This year we will have the highest gross ever, well more than double the gross rental amounts we had when we were with the rental company last year and keep all of it except for the cleaning fees and taxes.

Not only did the rental company take a large percentage of the rental fees, but they were forever charging special fees for other things - inventory, touch-up cleaning, putting in a fire extinguisher and iron when we already had them in the rental unit. Additionally, the quality of the cleaning was sometimes so bad that we would reclean the unit ourselves. One time we discovered that the cleaning people threw cups, saucers, and flatware in the garbage rather than wash them when the renters had left them in the sink.

We would never use a rental management company again. If they supposedly treat you like family, that's one family I never again want to be part of.

Been there done that with the "family" same results. On our own is so much better with higher gross and net rentals.

 

[Matt J]

Not only did the rental company take a large percentage of the rental fees, but they were forever charging special fees for other things - inventory, touch-up cleaning, putting in a fire extinguisher and iron when we already had them in the rental unit. Additionally, the quality of the cleaning was sometimes so bad that we would reclean the unit ourselves. One time we discovered that the cleaning people threw cups, saucers, and flatware in the garbage rather than wash them when the renters had left them in the sink.

Having worked in the rental industry I can tell you that all rental companies have fire extinguishers checked and recertified every year. There is actually fire code as to the type of fire extinguisher you have to have. Generally most owners will purchase a small one and put it under the sink. 90% of the time that extinguisher has lost it's charge. Huge liability for an owner in the event of fire. Even if the fire is the guests fault.

Advanced Fire Protection Services of Florida is a great company. They will happily sell you a certified extinguisher for around $60.00 or they can recertify the one you have.

 

[Paula]

Bernster. I think I use the same rental company you used to use and haven't had the same problems you mentioned. Granted, using a rental company takes a chunk of money out of my rental income, but since I live far away I don't know how I'd take care of the rentals very well without them and I have a full time job (plus a little extra work and a family) so the cost of the care of the cottages is worth it to me. I do get most of the rentals through VRBO, though, but it's nice to hand the rentals over to the agency once I've made contact and gave them the information they need and a welcoming invitation to the cottages. Then the agency takes care of everything else and I don't have to get any phone calls at home for any organizing/problems/etc. and my time at home is precious so I'm glad for that.

I've been pleased overall with the care they've given the cottages. The cleaning is quite good (I've used a different agency before and the cleaning was quite bad which is why I switched) and the maintenance is very good. Of course, there are problems now and then, but the benefits and overall good care they give outweigh any problems (and any organization is going to have problems now and then).

I do take an active role in caring for the cottage by visiting them every 3 months or so and checking everything out, replacing things that are broken, noting any cleaning or maintenance that needs to be done that hasn't been done, etc. And I probably spend about 1 hour at most each week at home responding to VRBO emails, updating the information on the VRBO site, and doing other marketing-type things for the rentals. Overall, I see the management company as a partner with these rentals, so I communicate with them in ways that keep our relationship a good one so that we respond well to each other's needs/requests/etc. I've made a few mistakes with renters/cottages and the agency has saved my butt a few times.

So, for now using a rental company is worth it to me even though I recruit most of the guests through VRBO. Perhaps someday when I'm retired or semi-retired and the kids are grown I'll have time to manage the cottages mostly/fully by myself. We'll see when that time comes.

And VRBO has definitely been worth it.

 

[Bernster]

Paula,

I think the very smart thing you are doing is having the VRBO calls come to you. The obvious mistake, in hindsight, we made was directing the VRBO ad calls directly to the rental company.

We are down at the beach about 50% of the time as we are retired and our rental unit is a carraige house next to our main house so it is easy to check on. After deciding to take it over ourselves, we changed the lock to a Schlage combination deadbolt and that has made our life so much easier rather than deal with keys. The combination is fairly easy to change and you can have multiple combinations, one for us, one for the cleaning people, one for the maintenance man, and another for renters that we change as often as we can.

Since it is almost always only two adults that rent our carriage house, "Cozy for Two" www.VRBO.com/64896, we have never had a single problem with any of the renters in the several years it has been rented and have alway received rave reviews from guests. Although we try not to interfere with their privacy, we have enjoyed meeting many of them, especially those that keep coming back.

 

[TooFarTampa]

Yes, Bernster, great point -- I would agree that any VRBO calls should always go directly to the owner! This is great for the renters because they can ask the owner questions that the rental company may not be able to answer. They get a little more personal attention. AND, it is GREAT for the owners, because it is my belief that renters who have had a conversation with an owner are probably more likely to take good care of the place. Win-win. But by doing so you do earn that break on the commission -- it is extra work to be available to field those calls and inquiries.

We use VRBO and are very happy. The vast majority of our renters come from VRBO.

 

[spinDrAtl]

One point about pictures is that vrbo will only let you change them for free on your anniversary renewal date, unless policy has changed. Otherwise there is a small fee. You can add new pictures at any time to move up the list for whatever the additional charge is.

I have found that finding a reputable local cleaner/maintenance/manager is much preferred to referring renters to a management company. Typically the management companies still want to keep a hefty (but slightly reduced) commission when an owner does all the securing of guests. Paying a trustworthy person/company by the hour or for specific tasks allow us to keep much more of the revenue that we were generating in the first place.

We recently parted with one management company that was living in the past regarding the internet and changing ways guests are finding accomodations. They were unwilling to make even the slightest alterations to their management contract that had been in use since the late 80's/early 90's. Lots of management companies tack on 'admin fees', 'booking fees' and all sorts of add ons and many of them didn't see the internet tidal wave coming. When I joined vrbo about 5 years ago, they had 15-20k properties. They are over 100k now.