Pros vs Cons of Direct Booking for Short Term Rentals
I'm finally moving ahead with adding a direct booking website, but this was not without a lot of debating the pros and cons (and- to be completely honest- dragging my feet). Here are my reasons why I think it would be a good idea, and all the downsides I thought through. Hopefully my rationale helps you figure out if this is something that's right for you!
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Your channel seems to be the one I was searching for a long Lydia! I mean, your hustle to carry on STR along with your day job gave much a boost to venture into vacation rental being a working person. And the way you present the intricacies in easy-to-understand language makes your videos stand out from the noise. Thanks a lot & keep inspiring us 👍
Thanks for the encouragement and kind words!
Wow this is a game changer for you. Especially considering you’re probably familiar with seo/aro for your direct site. Happy to see you doing so well
thank Sean! glad to see you and your family doing well also :-)
I haven't launched my STR yet. I like the idea of direct bookings and I hope you continue to talk about it but I'm thinking of doing just Airbnb for the first year, keep it simple.
Yes i have been setting this up slowly- it definitely takes some time to learn on top of Airbnb and VRBO
I’m also mulling over this option but our ABNB revenue is closer to 60k per year. I think if we had a second unit it might justify the expense and moreover the time but right now there are probably other investments we could make before setting up direct booking. As for customer acquisition, our ABNB is in the middle of a major metro area with folks coming for work, conferences, and vacation so we might just put a card on the bedside table with a link to our direct booking website and a 10% discount if booked there vs ABNB.
I love it! That’s a great way to think of this- investing time here vs the next investment
Hi Lydia. I’m new to all this. Our property is located in New Brunswick Canada. We border with the state of Maine. We’re set up with Lodgify also. Just a heads up, when we did our integrations with VRBO they sort of wash their hands with a bunch of things. 😢Meaning they want you to do everything through your channel manager now. Process your own payments, they will collect their service fee from your credit card that you provide them with once a month. they don’t handle any payment anymore. Or collect taxes. You deal with the booking and everything else. I felt it was , if your gonna use a channel manager than we’re gonna give you way more responsibility and less for us. I’m not sure how it’s all gonna play out yet. As we just launched. If I’m missing something here please correct me. All the best
Just a quick follow up to my previous message. I wasn’t aware of this impact and it came to me as a surprise.
@@seasherr486 you are correct about the VRBO integration and I’ve given them feedback this is inconvenient for many people! I’ve chosen to only integrate VRBO as an iCal so that the payment and tax remains on VRBO for my convenience
@@lydiapatellloh I didn’t know that. So if I go iCal with VRBO will manage the money and taxes for me.
Hi Lydia ❤ I love your videos, they’re so helpful. I would like your input on something. I have a potential client that is interested to rent my Airbnb which I’m going on live this week ! 🎉anyway he’s interested to stay for 4-6 months due to job relocating. I’m new to AIRBNB and unsure if I would I need to accommodate this family as I would a family staying for a few days or just supply the furnished home ? How would that work?
Congrats on the new Airbnb! It might be good to talk through expectations with them. I would imagine a “mid term rental” like this scenario means they would replenish their own toilet paper etc but it would be good to have that discussion ahead of time. Also consider whether you want to have them sign a regular lease, depending on your state and “squatters rights”. Lastly I would think about cleaning- would you want a cleaner to swing by at least once a month or every couple weeks? All negotiable stuff and good to discuss ahead of time. ☺️
@@lydiapatelll thank you 🥰 soooo much for your response!! I’m very nervous 😬. I’ll definitely do as you suggested! One more question, usually with a midterm rental, is the host still responsible to cover all utilities ? If so should I put a cap amount on contract ? Summer is coming and the AC can run a lot .
@@lydiapatelll 🙂, what do you think about my last question?
I think this is up to you!