I have a friend of mine who has 3 condo's in the Destin and wants to dab a little into his own rentals. I know what sites work for me but I have a home, does anyone have any advice on particular owner's sites that are better for condo's as opposed to homes? Any input would be appreciated.
Which owner sites are better than others
- Thread starter Wastin Away
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vrbo.com is the best in my book. I rent almost exclusively from this site. :clap_1:
You can post your properties on VRBO (or other online vacation rental marketing service) and get a virtual tour as well as listing on Mooncreek studios (which will create your virtual tour, post it on Mooncreek studios online vacation rental service, and give you a link so you can put the link on your VRBO site). These work well for condos or homes.
I think the key to success with online rental services is to:
(1) have really nice visuals that present your property in the best light (Mooncreek studios does excellent work -- look at some of the examples on Kurt's link)
(2) have really good text that shows why people should select your property -- I'm surprised at how many people don't use much text in their listings. Without more detailed information, potential renters can't really tell what they're going to get and it also looks like the property owner isn't that "into" their rental properties or their guests' experiences while there.
(3) take very good care of guests when they use your properties so that they'll come back and tell their friends
(4) actively manage the online listings -- for example with new information, discounts if sales are slower than expected in certain periods or if you have cancellations and have last minute deals
(5) work closely and positively with the rental management company if you work with one so that they know your properties well (and know that they are nice places that are well-kept), know you, know that you want them to take very good care of your guests, and have mutual good-will -- I see my relationship with the rental management company as a partnership in which we are both helping each other succeed (and have enough goodwill to over-ride any bumps along the way given that nothing and no one is always perfect)
I hope this is helpful and I wish your friend the best with rentals!
I think the key to success with online rental services is to:
(1) have really nice visuals that present your property in the best light (Mooncreek studios does excellent work -- look at some of the examples on Kurt's link)
(2) have really good text that shows why people should select your property -- I'm surprised at how many people don't use much text in their listings. Without more detailed information, potential renters can't really tell what they're going to get and it also looks like the property owner isn't that "into" their rental properties or their guests' experiences while there.
(3) take very good care of guests when they use your properties so that they'll come back and tell their friends
(4) actively manage the online listings -- for example with new information, discounts if sales are slower than expected in certain periods or if you have cancellations and have last minute deals
(5) work closely and positively with the rental management company if you work with one so that they know your properties well (and know that they are nice places that are well-kept), know you, know that you want them to take very good care of your guests, and have mutual good-will -- I see my relationship with the rental management company as a partnership in which we are both helping each other succeed (and have enough goodwill to over-ride any bumps along the way given that nothing and no one is always perfect)
I hope this is helpful and I wish your friend the best with rentals!
We have a condo and I augment Kurt's virtual tour with a listing in VRBO. I chose VRBO specifically because it allowed me to link to the vt whereas other sites weren't so generous. (Greatrentals comes to mind.) Plus, VRBO is very user-friendly, another characteristic I favor. If you make it easy for people to find you, find you they will, and the business follows.
Mermaid said:
I see links from greatrentals to other sites. I don't know of any that won't let you link to our virtual tours or your own website. Also, you can use the photos from the virtual tour on any other sites.
kurt said:
My apologies to greatrentals; you're correct that they'll allow the link to your virtual tours. I was thinking of vacationrentals.com. Take a look at their text--
"Listings that contain URL's (websites) and email addresses cause many problems for our owners and renters. When listings contain URL's, renters try to follow those links and get lost in the maze of pages, never to return to view other possible rentals. If every listing contained a link to a personal website, statistics show that listing views and inquires would drop by 40%.
Listings that contain email addresses are prime targets for email collecting spiders that look for email addresses for mailing lists that they sell to spammers. This is how SPAM is sent. If email addresses are present in our listings we will get spidered by these email collectors which will slow down the site, lower the listing views and inquires, and cause property owners to be spamed.
Please do not add a URL (website) or email address anywhere but in the contact information."
Kurt, I took this to mean that they wouldn't allow me to use your virtual tour on a listing. Have I misinterpreted? I consider your vt the "clincher" to getting people interested in my condo and that is the one reason that vrbo has my listing, not vacationrentals. (All other considerations being equal.) I know I could get around that by e-mailing the vt to a potential renter after they've made a rental inquiry, of course, but why bother if there's an easier way to make it universally available by having it in the listing in the first place?
I don't agree with their logic. The only way to keep people from leaving a website or getting confused is to take away their mouse. :roll:
I guess a person could add the address to their virtual tour or website but not have it be a hot link.
Also, in general I think that just getting the still photos alone without the 360 panoramas, web page with text and contact info, and listings on our site(s) is worth the cost alone. Not to mention the free help and bookings you can get from the rental forum on this site. I don't understand why everyone doesn't do it! Then I could hire SJ.
I guess a person could add the address to their virtual tour or website but not have it be a hot link.
Also, in general I think that just getting the still photos alone without the 360 panoramas, web page with text and contact info, and listings on our site(s) is worth the cost alone. Not to mention the free help and bookings you can get from the rental forum on this site. I don't understand why everyone doesn't do it! Then I could hire SJ.
kurt said:Also, in general I think that just getting the still photos alone without the 360 panoramas, web page with text and contact info, and listings on our site(s) is worth the cost alone. Not to mention the free help and bookings you can get from the rental forum on this site. I don't understand why everyone doesn't do it! Then I could hire SJ.
Exactly! :clap_1: