Getting to know short term rental industry
If you’re new to the short term rental industry, you most likely have accrued quite a number of questions, concerns, and pure curiosities about the success and longevity of your business. Figuring out logistics along with formalities, you may be getting bogged down by what actually matters: actually managing your short term rental(s) or vacation home. The art and mastery of managing your own business is something that is commonly sought after, and for good reason. Being able to have control over your business, while also figuring out the ins and outs so that you can better manage your company is crucial to the success and wealth received. So when you ask yourself what actually goes into managing your short term rental business, you have to tackle it from all sides.
Doing a test run through of the whole process of booking a stay with you and your business should be your first step, as this will allow you to figure out what is the procedure that has been put in place for both you and your guests. Having a close friend or relative run through it is a great way of removing bias so that you can get a better picture of what happens to actual guests. If you notice that your test guest is having trouble during the process, take note of it so you’re able to better implement strategies and solutions so that it doesn’t happen again. Doing this not only enables you to better understand your guests in the future, but also creates an opportunity for you to fix any current issues you may have.
When managing your properties, there are several different facets that go into running your rental: communication, access to the rental, the utilities and appliances in the rental, among others. Making sure that you’re a well rounded host is to be able to confidently say that every aspect of those aforementioned facets has been taken care of. If your response rate for your guests is low, then obviously this is something that you will need to fix. Response rate and ratings are quite important with certain Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) such as Airbnb, as the higher they are, the more visible your listings will be.
If you are wanting to join in on the discussion of short term rentals and other aspects of the short term rental industry, our CoFounder and CEO, Francois Gouelo, along with myself currently host twice weekly discussions (Tuesday and Thursday at 5:55pm EST) on our Airbnb on Autopilot club. It is currently hosted on a new platform called Clubhouse, if you are wanting to join in, feel free to check it out. If you have any questions, like always feel free to email us at contact@ensoconnect.com
