My aunt and uncle would like more information. I just went to the VRBO site to check it out but was wondering if anyone here uses it and what are the positives and negatives?
Thanks!
Thanks!
VRBO - who uses it? Is is hard to set up?
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We get a lot of hits through VRBO. The rental management company charges us a smaller commission if we procure the rental, so we make more money. I don't know of any down side to it. You just have to be sure that you ask questions like:
1. Tell me about your group (ages, how many, etc.).
2. If you have a beachside house, find out if they have a big group where someone rents your beachside house, everyone else rents inexpensive accommodations that are not beach-close, and then you end up with 30 people spending all day at your beachside house. This is a sure formula for damage because there are too many people for anyone to take responsibiity.
Bottom line: VRBO has made us a lot of extra income. Just be savvy before you refer a group to your rental management company by asking the questions above. We don't handle the money thing or the cleaning or the details -- it's worth paying the rental management company to handle that for us. We are renewing with VRBO next month.
1. Tell me about your group (ages, how many, etc.).
2. If you have a beachside house, find out if they have a big group where someone rents your beachside house, everyone else rents inexpensive accommodations that are not beach-close, and then you end up with 30 people spending all day at your beachside house. This is a sure formula for damage because there are too many people for anyone to take responsibiity.
Bottom line: VRBO has made us a lot of extra income. Just be savvy before you refer a group to your rental management company by asking the questions above. We don't handle the money thing or the cleaning or the details -- it's worth paying the rental management company to handle that for us. We are renewing with VRBO next month.
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Thank you. I'll pass it on!
I have a rental house on VRBO and on several other rental sites. I get the most inquiries from VRBO, by far. I do not have a management company but handle all management myself, including paying the taxes. Thanks for your help, ShallowsNole! 
VRBO charges according to the number of pictures in your ad. You get five included in the basic price but they charge more for each additional picture. The additional pictures also move you up the list of rentals, so the more you pay, the more pictures you can have and the higher up on the list your rental will appear. I opted for the basic five picture ad. My rental is in Watersound so I figure anyone looking to rent in Watersound is going to look through the whole list anyway because there aren't that many listings in Watersound. Now if it were in Watercolor or another big community, it might be worth paying more to be higher up on the list.
VRBO offers a link to your other websites if you want it. I have mine linked to my Emerald Coast Tours site, which is where I have additional pictures. And speaking of pictures, IMO these can make a huge difference in how successful you are. Good pictures sell! So, unless you are a really good photographer, hire someone to do your pictures. Kurt did an amazing job on mine. For proof, look at my pictures and compare them to rentals whose pictures were not done professionally. There is quite a difference.
http://www.vrbo.com/162714
http://www.emeraldcoasttours.com/101shinglelane/
If there is anything else I can help you with, let me know!
VRBO charges according to the number of pictures in your ad. You get five included in the basic price but they charge more for each additional picture. The additional pictures also move you up the list of rentals, so the more you pay, the more pictures you can have and the higher up on the list your rental will appear. I opted for the basic five picture ad. My rental is in Watersound so I figure anyone looking to rent in Watersound is going to look through the whole list anyway because there aren't that many listings in Watersound. Now if it were in Watercolor or another big community, it might be worth paying more to be higher up on the list.
VRBO offers a link to your other websites if you want it. I have mine linked to my Emerald Coast Tours site, which is where I have additional pictures. And speaking of pictures, IMO these can make a huge difference in how successful you are. Good pictures sell! So, unless you are a really good photographer, hire someone to do your pictures. Kurt did an amazing job on mine.
For proof, look at my pictures and compare them to rentals whose pictures were not done professionally. There is quite a difference.http://www.vrbo.com/162714
http://www.emeraldcoasttours.com/101shinglelane/
If there is anything else I can help you with, let me know!
Well, I just realized, I didn't even address your question about setting it up. It is not difficult to set up. I am anything but a computer whiz and I had no trouble at all. The directions are easy to follow; just read them carefully!
Suma, your house is beautiful. You're right, Kurt is the only photographer that could do it justice. Who else has a big truck to get the tower shots.;-)
Thanks guys!
I've been using VRBO for almost 5 years now (has it really been that long???!!!), and have been very pleased. It's not hard to set up - you just follow directions. I'd be sure to have the photos ready on my computer to paste before I sat down to make up the site. You can also go in and change anything, including photos I believe, anytime you want to update something (e.g., if something changes, if you want to offer a special for a week after someone cancels it, etc.). Most of my bookings come through VRBO rather than the rental agency. And they take a slightly lower management fee for the VRBO bookings. If I get a hunch that the people who want to rent are too young, I will remind them in my email back to their inquiry that the association and management company adhere to the "no one renting under 21" policy.
Thank-you Ocean Lover!
Suma, your house is gorgeous, especially the view.
I teach web programming and design, so I did a website for our house and put a link to it on VRBO. That way we don't have to pay for extra photos.
As a tangent, I have created another website so that when renters boot the computer that we provide for them, it automatically launches the website. The website welcomes them, informs them about "the rules" of the area, such as not leaving items on the beach, and lists my email address in case they want to contact me.
I teach web programming and design, so I did a website for our house and put a link to it on VRBO. That way we don't have to pay for extra photos.
As a tangent, I have created another website so that when renters boot the computer that we provide for them, it automatically launches the website. The website welcomes them, informs them about "the rules" of the area, such as not leaving items on the beach, and lists my email address in case they want to contact me.