Just five weeks after announcing their partnership with Vacasa, Google’s new vacation rental venture has hit a roadblock. In order for Google’s listing platform to establish itself, it needs some early adoption help from VR industry giants. Up until a couple days ago (Oct 8), it appeared as though they had their foot in the door through cooperation with Booking Holdings and its subsidiaries.
On September 24th, 2019, the Santa Monica City council enacted an ordinance to ban sort-term rentals. Just six days later, they voted unanimously to impose $1000 fines on vacation rentals who violate the ordinance. To tie it all off, the federal appeals court has upheld the ordinance – also voted in unanimously.
One of the best things about short-term rental schemes is that it allows blue collar people the chance to own and maintain a second property. Most people would never be able to justify taking a mortgage on another home or tying up their savings in real estate without a return expected. This leads to a lot of people searching for properties in their ideal vacation spots, often outside of their home countries.
Not too long ago, we reported on a potentially massive shift in the vacation rental listing hub / OTA world: Google wants in. And if you’re familiar with Google’s business operations, you know their inevitable dominance is a slow burn.
It might be hard to imagine, but email marketing is still one of the most effective forms of advertising around. How can that be when everyone you know hates junk mail? No one reads it, it goes straight in the trash. Well, proper email marketing isn’t going to look like junk to your target audience.
Everyone who owns or manages vacation rentals will quickly become familiar with their seasonal traffic. After the first couple years of operation, you may find yourself wondering if there’s anything to do to remedy your seasonal slumps. It can be extremely frustrating knowing there’s a beautiful property sitting vacant.
WiFi is much more than just an amenity – these days, it’s more of a utility. Our society essentially exists on the internet now, so it’s safe to say that your guests need it. For that reason, a poor WiFi signal can amount to a major strike against your property’s ratings.
Setting effective and profitable rates is a major hurdle for vacation rental owners and first-time managers. And rightfully so, it’s a big subject that requires research and constant monitoring. Of course, it’s possible to set a flat rate that guests find fair and allows you to make a profit. But your occupancy will be severely limited, and success is certainly short-lived.
Four or five years ago, the web was awash with articles featuring emphatic proclamations about fail-safe vacation rental retirement plans. Many of the headlines were presenting the idea of VR management as an unrealistic low-effort money-making scheme. Now that the smoke has cleared and the vacation rental industry seems to be approaching some sort of predictability, how have retirees actually fared in the business?
Starting a business is easy, staying in business is hard. And foreseeing, preparing for, and avoiding the pitfalls common to your industry is even harder. But, with a little help, you can actually cover all of your bases right from the start. That’s what we mean when we say “bulletproof”.
