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Merry Christmas We are so happy since we switched over!
Happy Holidays!!!
Merry Christmas and Thank you for all the Hard work.
Merry Christmas!
As the year comes to a close, we want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude for choosing OwnerRez. Your loyalty means the world to us, and it drives our commitment to delivering a platform that’s fast, reliable, and built to stand the test of time. Thank you for being a part of our journey!
(OwnerRez Team during our company retreat in Cancun)
We pride ourselves on delivering frequent, meaningful updates. In fact, we release more updates in a single month than some competitors do in an entire year! If you didn't have time to read all of our product updates from the past year, here's a quick recap of the highlights from 2024:
As mentioned above, we are continually improving our platform to meet your needs. Here’s a sneak peek at some of the exciting features we plan to release in 2025!
Already in development/testing:
Planned for 2025:
(The roadmap can and will change over time as priorities shift or emergencies are dealt with, so release times will vary. But this is what it looks like now.)
Great software is a reflection of the people who create and support it. When the passion and care behind a product wane, its quality inevitably suffers. At OwnerRez, our People First philosophy guides every decision we make. We firmly believe that people—both our customers and our team—are more important than profits. As we look to the future, we’re genuinely excited about the growth ahead: new features, stronger partnerships, and enhanced support that will continue to elevate OwnerRez for everyone who relies on it.
Happy Holidays!🎅
-The OwnerRez team
(Artwork by our designer Adela)
If you’re an OwnerRez enthusiast, why not get rewarded for sharing the platform you love? Our Affiliate Program is designed for users like you—passionate about vacation rental management and eager to help others succeed. Whether you’re a seasoned consultant or just starting out, the program offers a great way to earn extra income while promoting a tool you already trust.
Here’s the beauty of it: you don’t have to be a marketing expert to succeed. Simply share our ready-made affiliate links and banners to introduce others to OwnerRez. When someone signs up using your link, you’ll earn a percentage of their monthly fees—up to 30% in the first year!
Affiliates have turned these earnings into everything from extra spending cash to serious income. As Tyann from Branson Family Retreats puts it:
“I call it my ‘Mexico money.’ May or may not mean I run off to Mexico for margaritas at the beach, but…who are we kidding, that’s exactly what I do with my OwnerRez affiliate payouts.”
Our affiliates come from diverse backgrounds, and their stories highlight just how rewarding the program can be:
Jodi Bourne, Vacation Rental Consultant and Website Designer:
“As a vacation rental consultant and website designer, I’ve been able to take advantage of the OwnerRez Affiliate Program for many years and have significantly increased my monthly payout. What started as a ‘margarita money’ fund has now become a substantial figure that pays for my virtual assistant—plus a few big concerts a year and several margaritas! Many of my affiliates were added simply by sharing my link in Facebook groups.”
Stacy Parkelj, The Utmost Host:
“We love being an OwnerRez affiliate because we feel great promoting a tool that has helped us grow our business exponentially while getting rewarded for doing so! We make enough affiliate revenue each month to pay for our OwnerRez account (we host about 40 properties!) and have a little leftover each month.”
Megan Hicks, Sun and Sand Properties:
“Anytime I’m asked how I manage eight properties plus a full-time job and family, I credit OwnerRez for making it not only possible but EASY—and I share my affiliate link. Doing so has evolved into a side consulting business. I’m blown away at how this has grown and thank the folks at OwnerRez mentally every time I’m swishing down the slopes on the ski trip they paid for!”
Diana Roberts, Full-Time Traveler and Vacation Rental Specialist:
“As an OwnerRez affiliate, I am excited to refer clients to a platform that elevates vacation rental management. By sharing OwnerRez’s innovative solutions with my network, I earn additional income that supports my nomadic lifestyle. Traveling full-time in an RV across the United States, I’ve turned my passion for travel and hospitality into a rewarding venture. Together, we can turn passion into profit while embracing our dreams and helping others succeed in the vacation rental industry. As always, ‘Expect nothing, appreciate everything!’”
The OwnerRez Affiliate Program offers more than just income—it’s a way to:
Whether you’re sharing your link at meetups, on social media, or during casual conversations, you’ll be amazed at how quickly your referrals can add up.
Here’s how you can join today:
Not an OwnerRez user yet? No problem! Sign up now to start your journey.
From margarita money to ski trips and beyond, the OwnerRez Affiliate Program is a fun and flexible way to turn your enthusiasm for our platform into real rewards. Ready to join our growing community of affiliates? Sign up today, and let’s grow together!
For more details about the program, check out the OwnerRez Affiliate Program page or contact us with any questions.
Hey Sarah! I see that you've added this as a feature request. OwnerRez takes these requests very seriously and I suggest that you continue to garner votes so that it will bubble up to the top of the list.
Thanks for your feedback, Scott. All good points.
For the record, the two biggest use cases we wanted to support are these:
1) Follow up [x] days later with the guest to ask "hey, did you have any questions about this quote?" in the subject and quote body. This follows a standard sales/CRM type process of pushing the customer for questions or to convert. You can do that with the new quote triggers. Create a scheduled one, [x] days after quote created, with condition quote status is still "open".
2) Alert the guest that their quote is no longer valid when someone else takes the dates or property. ie. the quote becomes "preempted". Basically, you want to shoot out emails to everyone with those dates saying "the dates you wanted are no longer available at [x] property, can we get you in somewhere else?". This proactively reaches you and drives business, instead of waiting until the guest goes to open the quote and hits a "preempted" wall.
Both of the above were highly requested use cases for a long time. I like your minutes request and we really need that across a lot of trigger scenarios. Keep the feedback coming!
Unfortunately, the quote triggers you've got are not what's needed.
- Sending a text or email immediately upon a quote being sent is simply pestering the potential guest.
They just got a message from me with that quote, and they need time to read it and respond accordingly.
- Sending a first message a day later is way way way too late.
- I need to have a quote trigger that allows me to send them a text or email within minutes of them getting the quote. For me, I'm not comfortable sending any sooner than 10 minutes.
Regardless of how many minutes is ideal, please may we have to option of scheduling a message a number of minutes after they get the quote?
Thanks!
Winter is here! 🎄 Don't miss our webinars this holiday season!
To close out the year, we have an in-depth focus session on reports and a demo. Be sure to register early to secure your spot and join us live. You can also catch up on any past sessions on our webinar page here.
Join Adrielle from our Onboarding Team for a look at Reports. We'll review the top handful of reports for info on bookings, financials and credit card processing.
Join us for a live demo of OwnerRez! Our client engagement team will give a high-level demonstration of how OwnerRez looks across all of its menus and features.
HI There, any progress with a group SMS feature to all your guests?
OwnerRez closed out 2024 strong - with some powerful new features, including Google Vacation Rentals Request-To-Book, Lynnbrook Group Security Deposit Holds, Airbnb per guest/pet/night surcharges, and the ability to run reports on disabled properties! These and much more rounded out a busy 2024 - read on to see how things shook out in December.
Since the release of OwnerRez's Google Vacation Rentals (GVR) channel integration, you were limited to using the Instant Book (IB) mode if you were using the OwnerRez Global Landing Page (a.k.a. Public Booking Link). With our December 18th release, you can now configure your GVR channel integration to use the Global Landing Page with the Request to Book (RTB) mode.
If you want to change the booking mode of your GVR channel integration, navigate to Settings > Channels > API Integrations > your Google Vacation Rentals channel > Change > Mode > select Request to Book and Save.
Explore all the listing channels available through OwnerRez.
Setting up Airbnb surcharges ensures fair compensation, covers additional costs, attracts responsible guests, and increases revenue while maintaining transparency, enhancing guest satisfaction, and protecting your property.
However, configuring those additional Airbnb per guest/pet/night surcharges had lots of limitations—until now. As part of our December 18th release, OwnerRez now supports additional Airbnb per-guest, per-night flat fees. And we also now support per-pet, per night or stay flat fees.
You can now configure per-guest, per-night surcharges by navigating to Settings > Pricing > Surcharges > + Create Surcharge. In the Description > Category, select Additional Guest Fee. In the Surcharge > Applies section, select Per Night in the Applies section and configure the guest Multiplier. If you want this additional guest surcharge to apply to Airbnb only, add the Condition "Listing Site > is > One Of > Airbnb."
Airbnb per-pet and per-night surcharges are also supported now. You can configure that by navigating to Settings > Pricing > Surcharges > + Create Surcharge. In the Description > Category, select Pet Fee. In the Surcharge > Applies section, select Per Night in the Applies section and configure the pet Multiplier. If you want this pet surcharge to apply to Airbnb only, add the Condition "Listing Site > is > One Of > Airbnb."
Other supported Airbnb surcharges include per-person, per-night community, management, and resort fees.
For complete information, see our Airbnb Surcharges support article.
Security Deposit Holds protect property managers and owners from potential damages or rule violations, ensuring that guests are accountable for any damage without requiring upfront payments, fostering trust,t and safeguarding assets.
Many users have asked why Lynnbrook Group only supported Refundable Security Deposits. Lynnbrook Group heard the calls and found a way to support more on their end. Beginning December 18th, 2024, Lynnbrook Group introduced support for Security Deposit Holds for all. This new feature allows users to place a security deposit hold on their guests' credit cards, as with all other credit card payment processors.
Rest assured, Lynnbrook Group still fully supports Refundable Damage Deposits. This update just adds the option to use Security Deposit Holds, which are controlled at the property rules level.
Thinking about switching to Lynnbrook Group? Check them out or any of our Payment Processor options.
Including inactive or disabled properties in OwnerRez reports provides a fuller picture of your portfolio, tracks performance history, highlights trends, and empowers you to make informed decisions for your vacation rental business, especially as you prepare your year-end reports.
However, disabled OwnerRez properties could not be included in Reports without first reenabling them, running the reports, and then disabling them again, which was a real hassle for users. As part of our December 18th release, you can now include active and/or disabled OwnerRez properties in Reports.
Learn more about all of the available OwnerRez Reporting options.
In case you missed our December 2nd announcement of OwnerRez'z Integration With LocalOTA, we're excited to announce our partnership with LocalOTA as a new first-class channel partner!
LocalOTA is a white-label travel software provider dedicated to empowering travel businesses, from individual hotels and home rentals to Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) such as visitor centers and international OTAs similar to Airbnb and Booking.com, making LocalOTA a versatile choice for enhancing local travel offerings.
Learn more by reading our LocalOTA support article.
Integrating QuickBooks Online with OwnerRez can automate accounting, enhance accuracy, save time, and provide seamless financial tracking for your vacation rental business. With our December 4th release, we've added support for QuickBooks Categories, such as channel, credit card, and commission fees, to bookings that will automatically map to your QuickBooks accounts and the OwnerRez Line Item Pivot Report.
Learn more about QuickBooks Categories by reading their support article: Group products and services into different categories in QuickBooks Online.
To configure your QuickBooks categories, navigate to Settings > Financial > your QuickBooks integrations > the Deposit Settings tab > and click the Change Deposit Settings button. In the Fees Expense Account, select "Use different expense accounts depending on the fee category (channel, credit card processing)." Then select the QuickBooks Expense Account for each Fee Category and Save.
Then, on the individual Bookings > Transactions > Fees sections, you see that those OwnerRez Fee Categories are mapped to your QuickBooks Categories.
Those categories will be properly synced to your QuickBooks account, in this case, $12.20 for the credit card fee.
You can also add the category when recording fees and expenses to individual bookings. Here is an example of recording an expense to an individual booking by navigating to that specific Booking > Expenses > + Record Expense > Category.
You can add a fee category to a specific booking's fee by navigating to the individual Booking > Transactions > Fees > + Record Fee > Category.
PM users will note that Booking fees and PM expenses will have the same category.
Tag a guest. Tag a booking. Tag a property. So many possibilities! As part of OwnerRez's December 18th release, tags and field codes can be used together. Now, you can use field code tag lists to display a list of all the tags associated with a booking {BTAGS}, blocked-off time {BOTTAGS}, guest {GTAGS}, inquiry {ITAGS}, owner {OTAGS}, property {PTAGS}, or quote {QTAGS}.
Are you wondering how you can use these new field code tag lists? They will be a great addition to message templates and iCal exports. Do you offer a Pack n-Play or a high chair to guests with young children? Do you offer extra pet supplies? Wood for the firepit? Did your potential guest request an early check-in? Here are just a few ideas.
We're sure you have some really creative ideas about how to use these field code tag lists. Share them with the OwnerRez team—we're excited to learn from you!
Importing your property listing content from Airbnb directly into OwnerRez is convenient and efficient. With our December 18th release, the Airbnb Listing Import tool now retrieves more listing content and is designed to be more future-proof than ever.
Initially, a change made on Airbnb's end caused issues with the OwnerRez Airbnb Property Import tool. This led to a complete rebuild of the tool, which is now built against Airbnb's official API, ensuring a more reliable and robust future.
Deposits are an essential feature of OwnerRez, referring to the payments or payouts recorded in your account. This process is automated for many users, with daily payouts recorded from platforms like Airbnb, Lynnbrook Group, and Stripe.
Sometimes, automated deposits may be delayed or held up for various reasons, causing a transaction to remain in an undeposited state. This causes even more problems for PMs who want to make Owner Payouts based on deposited funds only and QuickBooks users hoping to sync deposited transactions.
Users could manually record non-integrated deposits, but automated deposits could not be recorded until our December 18th release. You can now manually record your deposit, even if it was initially supposed to be made automatically.
OwnerRez email and push notifications provide timely updates on bookings and messages, eliminating the need for constant manual checking, keeping you connected across devices, and enhancing productivity for your vacation rental business.
With our December 4th release, OwnerRez has normalized your Culture settings, such as date formats and currencies, to ensure they are accurately reflected in your Notifications.
Importing data into OwnerRez ensures accurate guest booking records, streamlines your operations, improves accuracy, enhances reporting, and facilitates centralized management of your vacation rental business.
OwnerRez has updated many Excel Import spreadsheet templates to accept more property identifiers: property names, IDs, or internal codes.
Updated Excel Spreadsheet import (and one export) templates with more property identifiers are now included on the following Import spreadsheets: Booking, Custom Fields, Expenses, Inquiries, Owner Property Mapping (PM only), Review, Seasonal Rates, and Spot Rates; and the Review Export spreadsheet.
OwnerRez's API for Apps is available to partners and users who want to communicate with our software. We added both living_area and living_area_type fields to our API v2 Property View Model as part of our December 4th release.
Learn more by reading our OAuth Apps support article.
Add Google Vacation Rentals Headline Override for Global Landing Page. Despite a correctly configured Google Vacation Rentals (GVR) property description headline override, the Global Landing Page headlines incorrectly used the hosted website headline. OR fixed this bug by using the configured Google Vacation Rentals (GVR) property description headline override for the Global Landing Page headline.
Add Notification When Booking.com Room is Not Mapped to OwnerRez Property. Unmapped Booking.com (BDC) rooms in OwnerRez or BDC generated unuseful internal error messages. We've resolved this issue by sending email notifications to users advising them of unmapped BDC booking events.
Fix Calendar Widget to Show Rates Beyond Two Years if Set to Do So. Calendar widgets configured to display nightly rates failed to display rates past two years in the future, despite being configured that far into the future and the Max Days Before Arrival on the property rules allowing bookings. OR fixed this glitch to ensure that calendar widgets display nightly rates failed to display rates past two years in the future if configured that far into the future, and the Max Days Before Arrival on the property rules allows bookings.
Fix Changeover Check Marks Property as Available. This issue arose when our system did not support a user's changeover restrictions, resulting in one of their properties being incorrectly marked as available instead of unavailable. We corrected this bug to support these changeover restrictions.
Fix Creating Multiple Quotes When an Airbnb Special Offer is Extended and the Guest Subsequently Requests to Book. Occasionally, multiple quotes were generated when an Airbnb special offer was extended, and the guest later requested to book the same property. OR resolved this glitch to ensure that multiple quotes are not generated when an Airbnb special offer is extended, and the guest later requests to book the same property.
Fix Google Vacation Rentals Channel Booking Status. Since Google Vacation Rentals (GVR) bookings are essentially direct bookings, the status displayed on the GVR channel page failed to display when the last booking came through GVR, which was misleading. We corrected the status on the GVR channel page to display when the last booking came through GVR.
Fix Not Fully Paid Booking.com Errors Due to Rounding Errors. Due to rounding errors, some Booking.com (BDC) bookings were not fully paid, resulting in guest system payment reminders being sent. OR fixed this bug so that rounding of less than $1 will not generate guest system payment reminders being sent.
Fix Property Share Availability Widget to Display Correctly for All Properties in the Share. Availability/Property Search widgets for Property Shares were not correctly filtering for maximum rooms. We resolved this issue to ensure that Availability/Property Search widgets for Property Shares will filter and display the search results correctly.
Fix to Show Google Error Message After Failed Login Attempts. After a failed login attempt, the text displayed on the OwnerRez login linking your Google account was unclear to our users. OR fixed this bug, and the text displayed after failed Google login attempts will be more apparent to users.
Fix Showing PointCentral Authentication Errors. PointCentral authentication errors were inadvertently hidden when users attempted to connect their PointCentral door locks. We corrected this issue to ensure that only valid PointCentral door lock authentication errors will be displayed.
Fix Tax Mode From Being Unknown for Airbnb. Some taxes configured in OwnerRez were incorrectly passed to Airbnb as an unknown tax mode. OR resolved this bug, and taxes configured in OwnerRez will be correctly passed to Airbnb.
Fix Travel Insurance Form to Use Default Country for Address and Phone Number. The guest booking travel insurance form's default country and phone internationalization inputs were not working correctly. We corrected this issue to ensure that the default guest country and phone internationalization inputs will work as expected on the guest booking travel insurance form.
Fix Triggers Cannot be Skipped. Triggers selected and configured to be skipped on the Trigger Forecast page were not skipped as expected, and the templates were incorrectly sent. OR fixed this glitch, and triggers selected and configured to be skipped on the Trigger Forecast page will be skipped as configured.
Fix Triggers Running Multiple Times in Some Cases. Due to a code regression, we found that some triggers incorrectly ran multiple times following a status change. We corrected this bug, and triggers will run as configured to send templates.
Fix Vrbo Reviews Channel Bridge Export for All Properties. The Vrbo Reviews Channel Bridge tool was not functional due to a change on the Vrbo side. OR resolved this issue, and the Vrbo Reviews Channel Bridge tool should work again.
Handle Booking.com Passthrough Tax. This edge case occurred when a Booking.com (BDC) API-connected property had taxes configured, but those taxes were not collected and marked to be collected separately at the property after the guest check-in. We corrected this issue by collecting the configured taxes from the guest at the time of booking and marking them "paid at property."
Handle Guest Names With Unicode Characters for Google Vacation Rentals Reviews. Google Vacation Rentals (GVR) guest names that include Unicode characters were incorrectly truncated on guest reviews. OR fixed this bug, and guest names with Unicode characters will be displayed correctly on guest reviews.
PM:
Add Better QuickBooks Error Messages. We have improved QuickBooks error messages to be more informative and user-friendly. These error messages now accurately show the specific QuickBooks error or indicate if their subscription has expired, helping users resolve issues more effectively.
Add Confirmation Check When Disconnecting Google Account. No confirmation check was displayed when users disconnected their Google account. We have added a confirmation check for users who disconnect their Google accounts for security purposes.
Add Glamping Hub Link Formats to Channel Property List Page. Similar to most other OwnerRez API-connected listing channel pages, we have now added Glamping Hub property listing links to the Glamping Hub channel property list page.
Add Listing Site Column/Filter to Quotes Grid. While the ability to filter by listing site and listing sites was displayed on the Inquiries grid, listing sites were not included in the Quotes grid. OR resolved this issue by including the ability to filter by listing site, and listing sites are displayed in the Quotes grid.
Clarify Airbnb's New Listing Discount Booking Eligibility Includes Canceled Bookings. While Airbnb's New Listing Discount booking eligibility includes canceled bookings, that fact was not made clear in-app to users. We have added additional in-app language to clarify that Airbnb's New Listing Discount booking eligibility includes canceled bookings.
Fix Airbnb 0.01 USD Transactions. Some Airbnb deposit transactions erroneously included single Airbnb transactions of 0.01 USD and also included a host fee of 0.01 USD. Since those 0.01 USD deposit transactions are a net zero change, single Airbnb transactions of 0.01 USD, including a host fee of 0.01 USD, will be skipped.
Fix Error in Conversation View When Message Failed to Send Due to Channel Error. Due to channel errors, some channel message send failures resulted in Conversation View errors. OR corrected this glitch, and channel message send failures will be correctly displayed in the guest Conversation View.
Fix Error When Message Failed to Send Due to Unsupported Attachment in Inbox View. Sometimes, message send failures due to unsupported attachments, resulted in errors in the Inbox view. We resolved this issue, and message send failures due to unsupported attachments will no longer result in errors in the Inbox view.
Fix Extra Entries in Some Dropdowns on iOS Devices. Even if they should not have been available, iOS devices (e.g., iPhones, iPads, etc.) incorrectly displayed all items in some in-app dropdown menus. OR corrected this glitch, and iOS devices (e.g., iPhones, iPads, etc.) will only display available items in in-app dropdown menus.
Fix Log Out Everywhere for Team Access Users. The Safeguards > Lost Device? > Log Out Everywhere process failed to log out Team Access users from all devices and browsers. We fixed this bug to ensure Team Access users can complete the Safeguards > Lost Device? > Log Out Everywhere process correctly.
Fix More Channel Logos Not Loading on Booking Channel Tab. Some listing channel logos failed to load properly on booking channel tabs. OR corrected this glitch to ensure listing channel logos load properly on booking channel tabs.
Fix "Movie Theater" Room Type Spelling. The "Other Rooms" dropdown menu "Movie Theater" room type item was misspelled and has been corrected.
Fix Overwriting Reservation Data When Booking.com Request Errors. Booking.com (BDC) reservation summary data were erroneously overwritten when OR attempted to pull full reservation snapshot, but received a transient BDC request error. We fixed this bug, and BDC reservation summaries will no longer be overwritten when OR receives BDC request errors.
Fix QuickBooks Airbnb Payments Category. Airbnb payments were not always exported to the correct QuickBooks category. OR resolved this issue, and Airbnb payments will be exported to the correct QuickBooks category.
Fix Sending of Airbnb Special Offers. Airbnb Special Offers were not working or sent correctly. We fixed this bug to ensure that Airbnb Special Offers are working again and sent correctly.
Fix Surcharge Percentage Check in Listing Quality Analyzer for Google Vacation Rentals. The Listing Quality Analyzer (LQA) continued to check for and display percentage surcharge warnings incorrectly. OR has resolved this issue, and the LQA will no longer check for and display percentage surcharge warnings.
Fix Tag Automations That Trigger for Security Deposits. Tag Automations configured to run when booking security deposits are created or updated were not running correctly when guests scheduled their security deposits. We fixed this bug to ensure that Tag Automations configured to run when booking security deposits are created or updated will run correctly.
Fix to Remove Extra Dollar Sign in "Pending New Card on File" Notification. The "Pending New Card on File" push notification displayed an erroneous dollar sign, $. OR corrected this glitch by removing the dollar sign from the "Pending New Card on File" push notification.
Fix to Show All Form Types in Grid Filter for Form Messages. The Settings > Branding & Legal > Form Messages > + Create Form Messages dropdown list was missing some Booking Type forms. We fixed this bug to ensure that all Form Message types are included in the + Create Form Messages dropdown list.
Fix to Show Bookings From Other Participants on Property Share Calendar Widget. Bookings from Non-owner Property Share participants were not displayed on the Multi-Property Ribbon Calendar widget. OR resolved this issue, and the Multi-Property Ribbon Calendar widget will display all Property Share bookings.
Fix Vrbo Late Thread Trigger Send on Create Booking. This edge case occurred when a trigger erroneously sent Vrbo channel and email templates even after the conditions were satisfied. We corrected this glitch to ensure that triggers send templates as configured.
Reimplement Airbnb Property Import Tool via API Authentication. Due to changes made on Airbnb's side, the OwnerRez Airbnb Property Import tool was not working correctly, resulting in property import errors. OR fixed this bug, and the Airbnb Property Import tool is working correctly again.
Remove Google Vacation Rentals Property is Syncing Notification. Although it usually takes 2-3 weeks for a Google Vacation Rentals (GVR) property to become an active GVR listing OR was sending a "GVR Property is Syncing" notification to users before the property was actually live, leading to confusion and frustration among our users. We resolved this issue and will no longer be sending users a "GVR Property is Syncing" notification.
Remove Obsolete Airbnb Accessibility Amenity "flat smooth pathway to front door.". The Airbnb accessibility amenity "flat smooth pathway to front door" is now obsolete and has been removed. Any properties and property photos with the "flat smooth pathway to front door" accessibility amenity have been updated to the "home step free access" accessibility amenity instead.
Remove Unsupported Booking.com Booking Detection From iCal. Since Booking.com (BDC) no longer supports distinguishing between bookings and other types of blocks in its iCal feed, we have removed the "Bookings Only" option from the iCal feed settings in OwnerRez and notified affected users by email.
Remove "Via" From Listing Site Column in Inquiries Grid. The word "Via" displayed on the Inquiries grid listing site column title was determined unnecessary and has been removed.
Rename "Deposit Status" Condition to "Payment Deposit Status." The "Deposit Status" and "Security Deposit Status" trigger condition statuses were easily confused by users, so we have renamed the "Deposit Status" trigger condition status to "Payment Deposit Status."
Rename "System Alert" to "Notification" on Communication History Email Tab Filter. The Communication History Email tab filter has been updated to display the current "Notification" text instead of the old "System Alert" name.
Show Field Name on Condition Display in Grid When There's Only One. The text "equal to 1" in the Trigger grid Conditions column confused users, requiring them to open each specific trigger to determine the actual condition. OR fixed this issue by displaying the single trigger condition in the Trigger grid Conditions column.
We are excited to announce our partnership with LocalOTA as a new first-class channel partner!
LocalOTA is a white-label travel software provider dedicated to empowering travel businesses of all kinds, from individual hotels and home rentals, to DMOs such as visitor centers, as well as international OTAs similar to Airbnb and Booking.com, making them a versatile choice for enhancing local travel offerings.
Driven by the belief that traditional OTAs are overly exploitative, their software is designed to create a fair alternative while offering all the same features of a more expensive OTA. Since their founding, they have supported a diverse array of businesses, continually growing while staying true to their mission of leveling the playing field for hosts in the online travel industry.
You can now list your properties on HipInn.com, GOhostels.com, and BigBear.com!
Learn more about LocalOTA by visiting here and checking out the OwnerRez support article for integrating OwnerRez with LocalOTA.
Prepare your holiday spirit by dashing into the OwnerRez November Product Update! As we enter a busy season for 2025 bookings, discover some timely gifts such as the new Quote Triggers, additional Property Search Widget Amenity Filters (e.g., pet-friendly, smoking allowed), Map Pin channel display, and more.
We've all seen it: a potential guest begins your website's "Book Now" process but doesn't complete the reservation. They may have been evaluating their options for a larger group or exploring different choices. Still, following up to address any questions and remind them to finalize their booking was essential. However, following up with these potential guests was a frustrating, manual process for OwnerRez users.
Our November 6th release includes new immediate and scheduled Quote Triggers, allowing you to send follow-up templates to potential guests who started your website's "Book Now" process. These new Quote Triggers can be configured to send your follow-up template immediately after a quote is sent.
Or the Quote Trigger can be scheduled to be sent a few days after a quote is sent.
There should be no shame in your guest communication game. Be sure to check out all of the OwnerRez Messaging options.
Presenting your property's amenities on your hosted website promotes transparency and empowers potential renters to make informed decisions. Detailed amenity filters that attract guests seeking pet-friendly or specific amenities enhance guest satisfaction and your property's overall marketability.
As part of our November 6th release, we added additional Amenity filters to the Availability/Property Search Widget for Hosted and Integrated Websites. These new Availability/Property Search Widget Amenity Suitability Filters include the following.
You can add these new Suitability Amenity Filters to your Availability/Property Search Widget by navigating to your Hosted Website > Properties webpage > Availability/Property Search Widget > Change Settings > Filters > Amenity Filters > Suitability.
These new Suitability Amenity Filters will be displayed on your Hosted or Integrated Website Property page.
Are you considering a hosted website for your vacation rental property? Learn all about OwnerRez Hosted Websites.
OwnerRez's API for Apps is available to partners and users who want to communicate with our software. In November, our OwnerRez API v2 had several updates.
Due to numerous partner and user requests, OwnerRez added the capability to fetch property reviews in our November 13th release.
With our November 20th release, we added support for both inquiries and quotes.
We also improved the performance of outbound webhooks, fixed long custom fields from causing booking endpoint errors, and smoothened the auto-pausing and notification process for high-failure webhooks.
These API v2 updates include support for WordPress plugins and Integrated websites in the OwnerRez API v2. To access the reviews endpoint, the WordPress Plugin + Integrated Websites premium feature must be enabled.
Learn more by reading our OAuth Apps support article.
The November 6th release improved the OwnerRez Support Center navigation menu design, giving it a cleaner, crisper look and feel on both desktop and mobile.
Gone are the large green categories, and much like the OwnerRez app, the navigation menu now includes simplified icons.
Stay abreast of all the OwnerRez design updates by reading the New Design 2024 support article.
Highlighting your property's amenities fosters transparency and helps potential renters make informed choices. Precise details build trust, set expectations, and attract guests looking for specific comforts, enhancing their satisfaction and your property's appeal.
With our November 6th release, OwnerRez has reorganized and moved some amenity features to other areas. Let's review these changes one by one.
The Amenities Type section was moved to the top of the Accommodations page, and the Wheelchair Accessible and Shared Spaces from Accommodations were collapsed into the Accommodation Type section (Properties > specific Property > Listing Content > Accommodations> Change > Type).
Events and Smoking was moved to a new Suitability Restrictions section within the Property Rules area (Properties > specific Property > General Info > Rules > Change > Suitability Restrictions), just above Occupancy Restrictions.
The Long-term Renters Welcome, Senior Adults Only Community, and Additional Info options have been removed from Amenities, as we feel that information is best suited for Property Descriptions.
Why all these changes to Amenities? These updates to the Amenities section are essential as they are part of our overall plan to revamp the entire Amenities page, which is expected to be released in early 2025.
Both Airbnb and Vrbo recently provided data showing that listings using Map Pin—a setting that displays your property's location on the map without revealing the exact address—perform better in search results and are more likely to convert to bookings.
Not only that, there are a number of other reasons why listings using Map Pin are more successful.
Having Airbnb and Vrbo listings set to "Use Property Default" for location display could lead to inconsistencies and missed booking opportunities, so OwnerRez will be switching all properties using "Use Property Default" to Map Pin in early December. If you prefer the new setting, you need not take any additional action; we'll update it for you. And hey, you're making the right decision!
Check your current property location settings by navigating to Settings > Channels > your Airbnb and/or Vrbo channel > Change > Options > Map Display section > and selecting either Map pin or General Area. You can also opt-out of either by selecting Use Property Default for your location display.
OwnerRez emailed all users with affected properties whose Airbnb and Vrbo listings are set to "Use Property Default" for location display.
OwnerRez's Channel Management integrations effectively streamline your advertising on both Airbnb and Vrbo. With our November 13th release, OwnerRez has added more information from your Airbnb and Vrbo integrations to the "Check Status" display for each property under its respective API connection.
Want to view your Airbnb or Vrbo Listing Status displays? Navigate to Settings > API Integrations > either your Airbnb or Vrbo channel > and select Check Status from the Actions dropdown list on the right side.
When clicked on, the Check Status popup will appear. In addition to the Check Status and Quality Standards of your Airbnb listings, you can now view Host Roles and Regulation Requirements.
If sent to OwnerRez, any Regulation Requirements will be displayed, but if no regulation requirement items are provided to OwnerRez, no Regulation Requirements will be displayed.
When you click on Check Status for your Vrbo listing (Settings > API Integrations > your Vrbo channel > and from the right side Actions dropdown list, select Check Status), your Vrbo Legal Registration (if returned) will be displayed.
OwnerRez's incredibly powerful Channel Management feature can simplify all your channel advertising. Be sure to check out all of our Channel Integrations.
As part of our November 20th release, OwnerRez now supports Booking.com's Payments Clarity Package. The Payments Clarity Package enables hosts to retrieve more granular information via Virtual Credit Cards (VCC), bank transfers, and even agency reservations, whereas Booking.com (BDC) doesn't have to facilitate financial transactions.
BDC's Payments Clarity Package also supports their new automated tax calculation and remittance capability for some U.S. states. How will these tax capabilities affect your BDC API-connected property? Learn more about that by reading Booking.com's Understanding tax remittance management in the US
Not familiar with Smart Locks? A great place to start is by reviewing our Smart Lock Overview vacation rental guide and then checking out all of OwnerRez's door lock integration options.
Farewell, TripAdvisor! Effective October 2024, TripAdvisor officially closed its rental business, including Holiday Lettings, FlipKey, and Niumba, so OwnerRez sunsetted the TripAdvisor API integration on November 6th.
OwnerRez had a long-standing relationship with TripAdvisor and FlipKey. TripAdvisor was one of the first API integrations that OwnerRez undertook, so this sunset is particularly bittersweet for us.
TripAdvisor's August 2008 acquisition of Flipkey rocked the vacation rental industry, so it's no surprise that on June 19th, 2011 (13 years ago!), we announced our New calendar synchronization for FlipKey and TripAdvisor. Also, TripAdvisor was prominently featured in our October 10th, 2018, Introducing OwnerRez Channels Product Update blog post.
Don't Display URLs in Search Result Previews. OwnerRez search results incorrectly displayed URLs in the search result previews. We fixed this bug, and search result previews will no longer display URLs.
Fill in the Correct Number of Adults and Children in Quick Quote. While the inquiry was valid, clicking the Create Quote link from the guest conversation view did not auto-populate the correct number of Adults and Children in the Create Quote popup. OR corrected this glitch, and the correct number of Adults and Children will be auto-populated in the Create Quote popup when linked from the guest conversation.
Fix Cases Where Taxes For a Booking Could be Negative. In rare instances, tax amounts were calculated as negative if the rent was not taxable and included a taxable discount. We have resolved this issue, and now, rents that are classified as not taxable while containing a taxable discount will not result in negative tax amounts.
Guest Review Form Character Limit to 10,000. While the Guest Review form displayed an allowance of a maximum of 10,000 characters, it limited guest reviews to less than 1,000 characters. OR resolved this issue, and Guest Review forms will again allow up to a maximum of 10,000 characters.
Specify Bookable Gap Selections on Conditions Editor Dropdown. Some users found the language of our new "Gap" fields confusing since the logic only looks at "available" gaps, not all gaps. We have clarified the language by adding the suffix "(bookable)" after the title of all three fields: Arrival Gap, Departure Gap, and Arrival Or Departure Gap.
Update Error Messages to Accurately Show Minimum Nights Rule Violation. Even though the minimum night rule was configured, error messages did not accurately display the minimum night rule violation when expected. OR fixed this glitch to ensure that minimum night rule violations are accurately displayed on error messages.
Update Error Page Message With Support Ticket Option. We've updated the text on error messages to include a link to open a Support Ticket.
Add LQA Check for Vrbo Charge Category Taxability Mismatch. Users with multiple surcharges in the same category, one taxable and the other non-taxable, discovered that all surcharges in that category were deemed taxable for Vrbo bookings, even though some surcharges were set as non-taxable. OR resolved this issue by adding an additional Listing Quality Analyzer (LQA) check for taxable and non-taxable surcharges applicable to the Vrbo and the same property and charge category and display the following LQA error: "Surcharges in the same charge category must either all be taxable or non-taxable."
Fix Airbnb Bulk Recalculate Charges Property Dropdown From Losing Selection After Preview. Properties selected from the Airbnb Bulk Recalculate Charges Property dropdown list during the preview failed to hold those property selections when users executed the Airbnb Bulk Recalculate Charges batch. We corrected this glitch to ensure that properties selected from the Airbnb Bulk Recalculate Charges Property dropdown list during the preview will be maintained when users execute the Airbnb Bulk Recalculate Charges batch.
Fix Blocked-off Time Trigger From Possibly Running Twice. Due to a code regression, some blocked-off time triggers inadvertently sent templates twice.OR fixed this bug, and blocked-off time triggers will send templates correctly.
Fix Channel Bridge Error on Airbnb Charge With "(generated)" in the Name Field. The Channel Bridge import logic did not properly handle some Airbnb charge descriptions, leading to the addition of the word "(generated)" at the end of each value in the Name column. We corrected this issue, and the Channel Bridge import logic will properly handle Airbnb charge descriptions.
Fix Guest Conversation Ability to Apply Template. Due to a code regression, some guest conversations did not allow users to apply templates. OR fixed this bug to ensure that templates can be applied correctly in guest conversations.
Fix Immediate Type Triggers From Firing as Scheduled Ones. Due to a code regression, some immediate type triggers inadvertently sent templates as a scheduled type trigger. We resolved this issue, and immediate type triggers will send templates correctly.
Fix Inquiry Email to Send Even if Inquiry Body is Empty or No Adults is Set. Some inquiry emails failed to be sent if the inquiry body was empty or no adults were set. OR corrected this glitch, and inquiry emails will be sent even if the inquiry body is empty or no adults are set.
Fix Merging of Similar Charges When Creating Line Item Pivot Report. Despite having the "Merge Similar Charges" checked when creating the Line Item Pivot Report, similar surcharges were not merged as expected. We resolved this issue to ensure that similar surcharges are merged as expected when the "Merge Similar Charges" checkbox is checked when creating the Line Item Pivot Report.
Fix Payment Detail Report Projected Deposit Date if Completed Deposit. The projected dates for completed deposits on Payment Detail Reports were incorrectly displayed if the deposit had already been completed. OR corrected this glitch, and projected dates for completed deposits on Payment Detail Reports will not be displayed for completed deposits.
Fix Quote Trigger "Open" Status Criteria. Due to a code regression, some "open" quote status conditions were not correctly applied, resulting in trigger failures. We fixed this bug, and "open" quote status conditions will be correctly applied to triggers to send templates properly.
Fix Sending the Correct Grace Time Before Arrival to Schlage Locks. Schlage API-connected locks configured with the Grace Time Arrival period to all day instead sent the door lock code with the incorrect grace period of the OwnerRez configured property check-in time. OR resolved this issue, and Schlage API-connected locks configured with the Grace Time Arrival period to all day will send door lock codes with the correct grace period.
Restore Featured Sort Order for Property Search Widget Default Option. Due to a code regression, the featured property sort order was inadvertently removed from the Availability/Property Search Widget. We corrected this glitch, and the featured property sort order has been restored to the Availability/Property Search Widget.
Restore PMv1 Owner Statement Full Amounts Export Behavior. Users encountered errors when attempting to Export Full Amounts from PM v1 Owner Statements. OR resolved this issue, and the Export Full Amounts from PM v1 Owner Statements process will work correctly.
Update Air Surcharge Category Mismatch LQA to Provide the Correct Fix. Following the October 2024 Airbnb and Vrbo Surcharge Categories release, the Airbnb surcharge category mismatches displayed on the Listing Quality Analyzer (LQA) did not provide adequate information for users to correct the issue. We fixed this bug to display the LQA Airbnb surcharge category mismatch information, providing users with adequate information to correct the issue themselves.
Add LQA Check for Non-taxable Rent When Some Configured Taxes Apply to Vrbo. Vrbo does not support non-taxable rent, so the Listing Quality Analyzer (LQA) has been updated to include checks for and warnings about non-taxable rent applied to Vrbo when other taxes are configured.
Add LQA Check for Non-taxed Discount That Applies to Vrbo. Vrbo does not support non-taxable discounts, so the Listing Quality Analyzer (LQA) has been updated to include checks for and warnings about non-taxed discounts that apply to Vrbo.
Billing Info From Travel Insurance Should Not Cause iCal Bookings to be Updated. When travel insurance was purchased for iCal bookings, OwnerRez was sending Booking Update webhooks to OAuth-integrated applications. We have corrected this so that no Booking Update webhook is sent when travel insurance is purchased.
Fix Blocked-Off Immediate Triggers to Run. Some triggers configured to send templates for blocked-off times failed to run correctly. OR resolved this issue, and triggers configured to send templates for blocked-off times will run correctly.
Fix Crash When Submitting Vrbo Review Response. Some users experienced errors when attempting to submit a Vrbo review response. We fixed this bug to ensure users can submit a Vrbo review response correctly.
Fix Expenses With $0 Amount Being Filtered Out From Owner Statements. $0 expense amounts were incorrectly filtered out of v1 owner statements. OR corrected this glitch, and $0 expense amounts will be handled properly on v1 owner statements.
Fix 'minimum' Typo. An error message contained a typo of the word minimum. This typo has been corrected.
Fix Per-guest Fees to Not Convert to Per-stay Fees on HA-XML-based Channels. Due to a possible incorrect or incomplete multiplier fee, some per-guest fees were incorrectly passed to HA-XML-based channels as a flat per-stay fee. OR resolved this issue, and per-guest fees will be correctly passed to HA-XML-based channels.
Fix Public Link (Global Landing Page) From Allowing Selection of More Children Than Max Guests. The Public Booking Link (formerly the Global Landing Page) incorrectly allowed the selection of more children than the guest maximum limit. We fixed this bug so that the Public Booking Link will adhere to the property guest maximum limit.
Fix Quote Trigger With "Open" Status. Scheduled triggers configured with an "open" quote trigger status condition failed to send templates as expected. We corrected this glitch, and scheduled triggers configured with an "open" quote trigger status condition will send templates as expected.
Fix Theming Rendering on Certain Guest Forms. Some client theming was not rendered consistently or correctly on some guest forms. We fixed this bug to ensure that theming is consistent and correct on all guest forms.
Fix Vrbo Channel Bridge Bookings Download. Due to changes outside of OwnerRez, the Vrbo Channel Bridge bookings download process encountered errors. OR resolved this issue, so that the Vrbo Channel Bridge bookings download process should be working again.
Have Trigger Forecast and Booking Messages Tab Tooltip Verbiage to Account for Disabled Seasons. The trigger forecast and booking messages tab tooltip language did not accurately account for or reflect any disabled seasons. We corrected this glitch to ensure that the trigger forecast and booking messages tab tooltip language accurately accounts for or reflects any disabled seasons.
Improve Airbnb Message Filtering Option on API Channel Edit. The labels on the Airbnb API connection message filtering options were somewhat confusing. That language has been updated for clarification to "Ignore messages regarding listings not managed by OwnerRez."
Fix Search Widget Amenity Filter to Carry Search Selections to Properties Index Page. Some amenity filters configured in the Availability/Property Search widget failed to display the correct search results on the Properties index page.
Fall is in full swing! 🍂 Don’t miss out on our November webinars!
This month is full of weekly demos, a live Q&A, an in-depth focus session on security deposits, and partner webinars with Breezeway and Igloo. Be sure to register early to secure your spot and join us live. You can also catch up on any past sessions on our webinar page here.
Join us for a live demo of OwnerRez! Our client engagement team will give a high-level demonstration of how OwnerRez looks across all of its menus and features.
OwnerRez and Breezeway's International Short-Term Rental Safety Expert Justin Ford will dive into the crucial measures needed to ensure a safe and secure environment for guests and hosts.
Join us for a live webinar with the igloo team! OwnerRez has built a direct integration with igloo door locks to offer our users an affordable and seamless automated smart door lock service.
Join Adrielle from our Onboarding Team for a look at Security Deposit Holds and RDDs - Setting/Releasing/Options.
Join us for a live demo of OwnerRez! Our client engagement team will give a high-level demonstration of how OwnerRez looks across all of its menus and features.
Join us for a live Q&A! Steve, from our Engagement Team, will be answering your questions. Please write in questions prior to the webinar and we'll start off by answering those.
Join us for a live demo of OwnerRez! Our client engagement team will give a high-level demonstration of how OwnerRez looks across all of its menus and features.
OwnerRez CEO Paul Waldschmidt recently sat down with the team from The Art Of Hospitality Podcast, where they discussed the origin of OwnerRez, an engineering mindset, updates, growth, funding in our space, and a lot more.
Welcome to "The Art of Hospitality," where the Operator meets the Philosopher to unravel the intricate tapestry of the vacation rental industry.
Led by Conrad O'Connell, the Digital Strategist who turns clicks into bookings, and hosted by Scott Fasano, the "Operator," and Adam Norko, the "Philosopher," their podcast presents a trinity of perspectives that uniquely positions them at the intersection of practical operations, philosophical depth, and digital innovation.
They tackle the gamut—marketing strategies, guest relations, property management, and internal operations—all while keeping an eye on the ever-changing landscape of our industry. This isn't just about running a vacation rental management business; it's about mastering the Art of Hospitality, where operational precision and thought leadership intersect to create extraordinary experiences.
So, if you're keen on listening to discussions that marry tactical excellence with intellectual depth, all underpinned by game-changing digital strategies, you're in the right place. Join them as they redefine what it means to excel in the vacation rental industry.
Ready to listen? You can listen to the full conversation using the Spotify podcast player below:
If that doesn't load for you, go directly to the Paul Waldschmidt episode on Spotify or visit the The Art Of Hospitality podcast page. Want to listen on another platform? Here are more options:
We are happy to announce our partnership with Owner Center to offer our users a comprehensive tool to automate owner payouts and more!
Owner Center is a tool designed for managing short-term rentals, offering customizable features and automation capabilities. It enables property managers to effortlessly create owner invoices, statements, booking reports, and collect payments, making it a robust platform for streamlined communication and efficient financial management for both managers and property owners.
7-day free trial! Take a look at their pricing calculator here.
Get started with Owner Center by visiting here and checking out the OwnerRez support article for integrating OwnerRez with Owner Center.
We are excited to announce our partnership with AIPEX to offer our users an AI solution for guest engagement.
The AIPEX platform allows hosts to efficiently handle guest interactions while at the same time raising the bar on the guest’s experience. One affordable subscription delivers 3 different AI solutions: An AI Concierge on guest’s phones, In-Property AI Devices, and AI-Powered Messaging with the OwnerRez inbox. With powerful features like support for images and video in AI responses, hosts get unique capabilities to help differentiate their properties.
Get started with AIPEX by visiting here and checking out the OwnerRez support article for integrating OwnerRez with AIPEX.
It's officially spooky season! 🎃 Don’t miss out on our October webinars!
This month is packed with weekly demos, a live Q&A, in-depth focus sessions, and partner webinars with RemoteLock and Jervis Systems. Be sure to register early to secure your spot and join us live. You can also catch up on any past sessions on our webinar page here.
Join us to learn how RemoteLock’s universal access control eliminates those cumbersome keys through their leading smart lock integrations and provides so much more than just keyless entry.
Join Adrielle from our Onboarding Team for a look at Tips & Tricks to make your OR account work for you!
Join us for a live demo of OwnerRez! Our client engagement team will give a high-level demonstration of how OwnerRez looks across all of its menus and features.
Join us for a live demo of OwnerRez! Our client engagement team will give a high-level demonstration of how OwnerRez looks across all of its menus and features.
Join Adrielle from our Onboarding Team for a look at Tags & Tag Automations.
Join us for a live demo of OwnerRez! Our client engagement team will give a high-level demonstration of how OwnerRez looks across all of its menus and features.
Join us for a live Q&A! Steve, from our Engagement Team, will be answering your questions. Please write in questions prior to the webinar and we'll start off by answering those.
Join us for an insightful event hosted by Jervis Systems and OwnerRez, where we’ll explore how automation can transform guest management and make your life as a property manager easier.
Is there another integration that would work better? This still hasn't been solved and is a back and forth between Schlage and Ownerrez that I am a bit frustrated by, both blaming the other for being the issue (and I am guessing Schlage is at fault but it's still frustrating to be in the middle of this and feeling helpless since I'm JUST a user with no power in this situation). I would like to change to another integration if it works better and allows me to have the default toggle to code usage notification as on.
Hi Susan,
We have updated our support content so that our users are aware of this limitation.
https://www.ownerrez.com/support/articles/integration-schlage-door-locks#notification
Thank you for the update!
Is there another integration that would work better? This still hasn't been solved and is a back and forth between Schlage and Ownerrez that I am a bit frustrated by, both blaming the other for being the issue (and I am guessing Schlage is at fault but it's still frustrating to be in the middle of this and feeling helpless since I'm JUST a user with no power in this situation). I would like to change to another integration if it works better and allows me to have the default toggle to code usage notification as on.
Hi Susan,
We have updated our support content so that our users are aware of this limitation.
https://www.ownerrez.com/support/articles/integration-schlage-door-locks#notification
Is there another integration that would work better? This still hasn't been solved and is a back and forth between Schlage and Ownerrez that I am a bit frustrated by, both blaming the other for being the issue (and I am guessing Schlage is at fault but it's still frustrating to be in the middle of this and feeling helpless since I'm JUST a user with no power in this situation). I would like to change to another integration if it works better and allows me to have the default toggle to code usage notification as on.
@Paul,
thanks for following up on the surcharge tag automations. I do realize it is much harder to add tags around user generated items but from following the forums this was one of the biggest needs around tag automation. Is there a timeline for V2? Is there any way to just do a V1.1 to just add auto tags for surcharges?
Did the votes from the 4 closed topics get added to the new consolidated thread? It seems to few votes for all the comments. At least Insee that it is in development!!!
Hey Tarki,
I see what you mean - thanks for the screenshot. We will discuss internally. Thanks for your patience.
As a temporary fix, you could use some custom CSS in the page to replace that hover text with your own custom wording. This is a very hacky solution, but it will work.
Go to the widget > Change > scroll down to CSS and put in this:
.popover-content
{
visibility: hidden;
}.popover-content:after
{content:'Total includes fees and taxes';visibility: visible;display: block;position: absolute;top: 9px;}
Then Save and go refresh your website again. You should see different words appear. I just tried it and it works:
You can customize that CSS to change other things or alter the words slightly.
PS.Thanks for continuing to raise good feedback! ♥ Don't hesitate, even if you've mentioned it before, and it's not fixed yet. We get an enormous amount of feedback every day and devote a lot of our development effort to fixing bugs or making small tweaks. If you scroll up and look at this very blog post, you'll see that 45 bugs were addressed in August alone. Then there were many other tweaks and new features above that. This is the case every month. Customer feedback about bugs or inconveniences is a huge thing for us.
You do all sorts of design improvements and other things and this is good. But... when it comes to some errors I point in your system you never accept to do anything about them.
Our prices are inclusive of everything and taxes as well.
However, when I make a search on the widget and when I bring the cursor on the price I see "Total includes fees, not tax". Please see the following screenprint.
We don't have separate taxes and our prices entered in OR are inclusive of taxes and showing a text saying that "Total includes fees, not tax." makes customers think that these prices will get more expensive although they'll not.
This deters potential customers from making a booking by creating hesitation.
Quick update - looks like Dori is correct. There is a dependency on PM being turned on in order to turn on "different expense accounts for different fees". We are working on removing that dependency so that everyone can use the setting.
Hey Dori! Great question. Short answer is: no, you should not need to pay for PM in order to map expense accounts. However, I'm wondering if we have some error (or dependency in place) that is limiting how you select expense accounts? I will follow up with the team to see what happened with that. But no, deposit syncing using different expense accounts for fees will not require paying for PM.
I am unable to "Use different expense accounts depending on the fee category" in the Deposit Syncing. Looks like you must enable (and pay extra for) the PM feature in order to properly configure the "Fees Expense Account." Please let us know if this is the case or if this Deposit Syncing feature is available without paying extra for the PM feature. Thanks!
As we moved further into fall, with more time for reflection and relaxation, OwnerRez continued to work diligently throughout October. Take a look at the results from the month's Product Update, including the progress on Property Management v2 (PMv2), Vrbo additions, a sneak peek of the Unified Inbox, and more.
On October 23rd, 2024, PMv2 (internal codename: "Everything is an Expense" 😄, rolls right off the tongue, doesn't it?) debuted for new OwnerRez users (not because we didn't want to reward loyal and long-standing PM customers, but) due to its magnitude of how it handles PM data. Why didn't we just release this PM Upgrade for all users? An upgrade of this magnitude significantly impacts the appearance of owner statements and changes underlying bookings and expense data. OwnerRez takes your property management business and operations seriously. We want to carefully observe the outcomes of this initial release to ensure that we get it right before we release it to all Property Managers.
PMv2 includes more flexibility in configuring and displaying expenses and allows the creation of custom formulas for owner statements. What does that mean for new and existing OwnerRez Property Management users?
For one thing, we've added some system-wide default expense settings for all PM users with this release. All existing PM users can configure their system-wide default expense settings by navigating to PM > Expenses > Settings. Then, they can determine the default dates to use: the Arrival (default), Departure, or Booked Dates.
As mentioned above, newly enrolled OwnerRez users who enabled the Property Management premium feature (after October 23rd, 2024) will be on PMv2. If you've been an OwnerRez user for a while but only now need the PM premium feature and are turning it on for the first time, you will also begin your PM journey on PMv2.
For new PM users, "how it used to be" won't matter as much, but you may still be asking, "What is PMv2?" Read on to understand what else PMv2 brings to the table.
PMv2 handles things differently in a few key ways from PMv1 (a.k.a. Legacy PM). Things are more straightforward and visible to you and your owners, making it easier to "follow the math." For example, taxes, commission, and damage protection are now system-managed visible expenses on each booking on the Expenses tab (depending on who is set to pay for each—i.e., Property Manager or Owner).
Some other features for newly enrolled PM users include enhanced PM Expense Settings and a newly redesigned "PM tab" on each booking, detailing side-by-side Owner/PM information.
The biggest thing PMv2 eliminates is the "Owner Visibility" settings (i.e., the concept of pre-deducting expenses). Instead, Custom Statement Views include an option to "Hide Booking Expense Category" to control what is visible to owners on Owner Statements.
The ability to add custom formula columns to Statement Views, is another way to roll things together and help you owners understand the breakdown you desire to show them. When PMv2 users configure their Statement Views, they can add custom formula columns by clicking the formula calculator icon to open the Custom Formula pop-up.
PMv2 users also have an additional Damage Protection expense setting available in the PM > Expenses > Settings area. There, they can determine what booking default dates to use for expenses and select their Damage Protection PM Account (if configured).
PMv2 users can also access the new Owner Statement Summary Report, an income statement (i.e., Profit & Loss statement) that contains owner income and expense totals based on remittances (i.e., how things appeared on the included v2 Owner Statements. This report will not return legacy (v1) Owner Statements data, so that's why this new report is only available to PMv2 accounts.
For more information about all things PMv2, you can read the ever-expanding support documentation - PMv2 has its own new section.
More information on the upgrade path from Legacy PMv1 is coming in the future. Interested existing Property Management users are being added to the PMv2 upgrade private beta waiting list upon request.
Integrating with Vrbo through OwnerRez streamlines your property management by automating bookings, improving visibility, and increasing revenue by reaching a wider audience efficiently.
With our October 2nd release, OwnerRez has added more listing status update webhooks to our Vrbo API integration. What does that mean for you? During your initial Vrbo API integration, the listing status of your property/ies is now more real-time in if your property is recognized on the Vrbo side.
When your new Vrbo API integration is initiated, property listing statuses include your Property ID, Property Active Status, First Time Active, and Property Status Change statuses. New Vrbo messages now include your Property ID, Message Thread ID, Message ID, From Role, and Reservation ID.
To learn more, explore OwnerRez's direct partnerships with major listing channels (Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, Google Vacation Rentals, and more).
Patience is a virtue, and soon, OwnerRez users will be rewarded! Yes, indeed, one of our long-awaited feature requests, Automatic 5-star Vrbo Reviews (which operates much like the Airbnb option), will be available to all in the coming weeks.
It will also alleviate the need to run Channel Bridge to bring in your Vrbo reviews (if you're API-connected, that is).
Rather than leaving our users in suspense, please know that OwnerRez is diligently working on testing it in production with a set of properties.
Be assured that we're hustling to reach the wide-release phase. At OwnerRez, we never settle for half-baked solutions and want to ensure we get this right for you.
The OwnerRez Unified Inbox is coming soon, and we want to give you a little sneak peek to whet your appetite. Not only have we included regular inbox functionality with the ability to compose, archive, and mark messages as read/unread, but the associated booking information includes links to booking charges, transactions, and guest contact information that opens in another tab. Here's a little taste.
The Unified Inbox is in active testing in production with limited users (and we continue to add more features before we release it widely), and we look forward to releasing it in a "limited beta" phase very soon.
The OwnerRez in-app design changes continue. In October, we focused on the in-app Profile Menu Items, including the Profile, Preferences, Notifications, Safeguards, Affiliate Program, Change Password, and Logout pages. These subtle design changes are consistent with other recent in-app design enhancements.
Here's a side-by-side before and after example of the OwnerRez Profile section.
The new Preferences page includes updated rounded toggle buttons.
Here's what the previous Notifications page looked like.
Now, the Notifications page also features rounded toggle buttons with the ON/OFF text removed for simplicity. Additionally, both the Email and Push notification Previews now have their columns for increased visibility.
Here is the previous Safeguards page.
The New Safeguards page now includes the rounded toggle buttons.
We also revamped the Affiliate Program pages.
Here's our new OwnerRez Change Password page, which now includes the password eye icon for viewing the input in the password fields.
And lastly, check out the new Logout page.
Once again, these design changes may be subtle, but they were implemented to ensure consistency across all areas within the app.
Have you noticed the new OwnerRez public website header and footer yet? Our new header looks like this now.
Check out our new footer, which appears on all public website pages, including the Support Center, Blog, Forum, and Vacation Rental Guides.
Do you remember the required Surcharge Category "keywords" for your Airbnb or Vrbo API-connected property to ensure your surcharge was correctly passed to Airbnb or Vrbo? Those Surcharge description "keywords" included Cleaning, Resort, Management, Community, Linen, and Pet.
With the October 30th release, those magic description field "keywords" are no longer necessary. Now, through category mapping logic, you can safely rely on the Surcharge Category to push your surcharges for your API-connected Airbnb and Vrbo properties to Airbnb and Vrbo.
The work on this release paves the way for future support for Airbnb per night, per guest fees.
Still not API-connected? Check out all of your OwnerRez channel management options!
Since the release of the OwnerRez "Global Landing Page," it was only available as an option with Google Vacation Rentals. With our October 23rd release, it is available for you to send as a "Public Link" to potential guests from multiple in-app places (Bookings, Inquiries, and Quotes).
Sending potential guests a Public Booking Link is a great alternative for users who don't yet have a hosted website (we recommend all users have a direct booking site) but still want to accept direct bookings and allow guests to select different dates. Here's a reminder of what the Public Link/Global Landing Page looks like.
Prospective guests can change the dates and guest party details and begin the Book Now process directly from your Public Link!
How do you send a quick Public Booking Link to a potential guest? There are several ways to generate the Public Booking Link in-app.
One quick way is to navigate to the Quick Quote tool through Tools > Quick Quote or click the + Create Quote, + Create Booking, or Block Off buttons on the Booking section. The Quick Quote pop-up allows you to generate a Public Booking Link by selecting the Public Link radio button and choosing to Copy Link or View Link, which will open the Public Booking Link in another tab.
You can also click on the dropdown lists on the Booking List view, Quotes, and Inquiries grids and select Copy to New Public Link.
You can select the Public Booking Link from the Copy To dropdown list on individual Quote Overview pages.
Just like Quotes, you can also send a Public Link to guests (past and present) so they can book their next reservation. Select the Public Booking Link from the Copy To dropdown list on the Booking Overview page.
Is the Public Link available to send to guests through OwnerRez channel messaging (Airbnb, Booking.com, and Vrbo)? Unfortunately, no. These listing channels will redact your Public Link in their messaging systems.
OwnerRez integrates with many industry-leading processors and gateways. OwnerRez has been connected to Authorize.net for a long time and it was due for an upgrade. With our October 9th release, OwnerRez has upgraded and modernized our Authorize.net integration to the latest direct API. The updated integration also lays the groundwork to support automatic deposits (like we offer for Stripe, Lynnbrook Group, and Airbnb).
Check out all of the available OwnerRez payment processor options.
The OwnerRez Zapier public integration allows users to connect OwnerRez with thousands of the most popular apps, so now you, too, can automate your work and have more time for what matters most—no code required. OwnerRez has recently updated our Zapier platform version, enhancing our Zapier integration to improve communication, add more trigger types, and enable the updating of additional categories for contact and booking updates. Additionally, you can now filter your webhook subscriptions.
Zapier is very powerful, and we have other automation integration options. Check out all of the Business Automation integrations.
Taxes can get complicated, but OwnerRez tries to simplify them for you as much as possible. Your configured tax line items are added to quotes and bookings, and OwnerRez ensures those tax settings are initially applied correctly to both direct and channel bookings.
But what if your rent is not taxable? By design, even if you had configured your Pricing Preferences > Rent Taxability to Not-Taxable, taxes would automatically be applied whenever you added additional nights to a booking. While you could uncheck the Taxed checkbox, it was frustrating and easy to miss.
With the October 30th release, you can now extend a guest's stay, and your configured Pricing Preferences > Rent Taxability settings will be applied correctly, even when set to Not Taxable.
Vrbo and Airbnb reviews boost credibility, attract more bookings, improve search rankings, and provide valuable feedback to enhance guest experiences and drive repeat business.
Starting with the October 2nd release, OwnerRez has added a new Review Submitted Via Channel Notification that alerts you when your Airbnb or Vrbo channel guest has left a review of their stay.
Notice that the Email Notification is automatically turned on for all users, but the Push Notification is defaulted to Off. You can enable the Push Notification for Review Submitted Via Channel by navigating to your Profile menu > Notifications > Review Notifications > and toggling the Review Submitted Via Channel Push Notification to On.
Here's an example of the Review Submitted Via Channel Notification from OwnerRez to users.
Configuring automatic 5-star reviews of guests saves you time, encourages positive reciprocal reviews, boosts your listing's ranking, and enhances guest satisfaction for future bookings. But sometimes, a guest isn't a great fit for our property. While we may be able to skip their automatic 5-star review through the use of tags, there may be times when you want to cancel the automatic 5-star review altogether and write a manual review.
With the October 2nd release, you can now click the new Cancel Automatic Review button on the specific Booking > Reviews tab.
Learn more by reading our Automatic Posting of 5-Star Reviews for Airbnb support article.
OwnerRez partners with many third-party integrations to provide additional features, allowing you to choose the best solutions for your specific vacation rental business needs alongside the power of OwnerRez. But keeping track of, or accessing, your disabled listing channels, locks, payment methods, or QuickBooks integrations was tricky until now.
When you attempt to connect an integration, we've added links to your disabled listing channels, locks, payment methods, or QuickBooks integrations, allowing you to access those disabled integrations if needed, instead of thinking you have to recreate a new connection, you can often times reactivate a disabled one.
Check out all OwnerRez third-party integration partners to solve your vacation rental business needs.
OwnerRez's Oauth API is available to other companies and users who want to communicate with our software. With our October 9th release, we've added additional support for the creation of booking and block information (e.g., Cleaning Date, Check-in, Check-out, Arrival, Departure, Owner Blocks, Property IDs, Guest IDs, Notes, etc.) to the OwnerRez Bookings API v2.
Learn more by reading our v2 OwnerRez API for Apps Overview support article.
Change Communication Notifications Descriptions from "Channel" to "Channel/SMS." For clarification, the Notifications > Communication notifications section has changed "Channel Message Fails to Send" and "Channel Message is Received" to "Channel/SMS Message Fails to Send" and "Channel/SMS Message is Received," respectively.
Don't Send Forum Notifications to Users With Disabled Notifications. Forum notifications were incorrectly sent to users who had disabled them. We fixed this bug so that we no longer send forum notifications to these users.
Exclude Non-automatic Discounts From LQA Checks. Non-automatic discounts (e.g., Discount Code, Optionally, and Manually) were incorrectly displayed as errors on the Listing Quality Analyzer (LQA). OR corrected this glitch to ensure non-automatic discounts are excluded from LQA checks.
Fix Airbnb Check-in Window Display. Some Airbnb bookings had incorrect check-in window times field codes rendered and displayed on channel templates. We resolved this issue by correctly rendering and displaying Airbnb check-in window times field codes on channel templates.
Fix Error When Some Team Access Staff Users Try to Access Notifications. Some Team Access Staff users encountered errors when accessing the notifications area. OR fixed this bug to ensure that, if allowed, Team Access Staff users can access the notifications area.
Fix Phone Number Inputs on Booking Widget and Guest Forms to Follow Default Country. Some booking widgets and guest forms failed to automatically detect the default country in the phone number input fields. We resolved this issue, and booking widgets and guest forms will correctly automatically detect the default country in the phone number input fields.
Fix Sorting Issue for Surcharges With Blank Position. We experienced a code regression in which some surcharges with no position configured were incorrectly placed above discounts, resulting in an incorrect discounted surcharge. OR corrected this glitch, and surcharges with no position will be appropriately applied.
Show Distribution Channel Name on Vrbo Bookings. Other than Vrbo, other Vrbo distribution channel names (e.g., Expedia, etc.) were not displayed on the booking channel tab. We resolved this issue by ensuring that other Vrbo distribution channel names are displayed on the booking channel tab.
Alphabetize Property "Other Rooms" Type Dropdown. The Property > Other Rooms > Type dropdown list was unalphabetized, confusing users. OR has updated and alphabetized the Property > Other Rooms > Type dropdown list.
Auto-disable Webhooks for Partner OAuth App Integrations That Fail at a High Rate. Some partner OAuth Apps occasionally respond to OwnerRez data pushes with errors. When this happens at too high a volume, it can cause problems for that partner and other OwnerRez partners. Partner OAuth App integrations that experienced high failure rates utilized substantial OwnerRez processing power. We have resolved this problem by auto-disabling partner OAuth App integration webhooks when too many failures occur, skipping all retries for these apps, preventing old retries when and if the webhooks are re-enabled, and notifying the partner that their webhooks are disabled with the following message, "Webhooks have been paused due to a high incidence of errors from the remote server. Please review the HTTP failures in the webhooks below and correct any issues. Then re-enable webhooks."
Don't Send Review Submitted Via Channel Notification on Placeholder Create, Wait Until Submitted. We inadvertently sent users notifications when Airbnb created a temporary review placeholder. We fixed this bug, and notifications will only be sent when the guest actually submits a review.
Fix Duplicate Contact Issues When Multiple Vrbo Inquiries. When Vrbo guests initiated multiple inquiries, multiple guest contacts were inadvertently created. We corrected this issue so that Vrbo guests who initiate multiple inquiries will not result in multiple guest contacts.
Fix Error on Host Review When Delayed Negative Review Scheduled. This edge case occurred when a scheduled and delayed negative host review received an error, resulting in a host review failure. OR fixed this bug so scheduled and delayed negative host reviews will be sent correctly.
Fix Incorrect Inquiry Violation Autoresponder Upgrade. When we converted Autoresponders to Inquiry Triggers, some triggers were created with an incorrect send condition, resulting in these triggers being sent with the wrong inquiry status. We've corrected these triggers so that they will now be sent with the correct inquiry status.
Fix Incorrect Trigger Gap Rule Between Upgrade. When we released the September Trigger Conditions redesign, we upgraded Gap Rules to use the new Between operator. However, if the gap rule was set to exactly 1 number, the upgrade was incorrect. OR corrected the upgraded triggers that exhibited this problem by using the Equals operator instead.
Fix Missing Items for Conditions Editor for Triggers. We encountered a code regression that resulted in some condition options not appearing for blocked-off time triggers. We've corrected this regression so that blocked-off time triggers will offer all applicable conditions.
Fix Issue With Review Import When Neither Guest Nor Review Have a Display Name. Some review imports without guest or display names resulted in import failures. OR corrected this bug, and review imports without guest or display names will be imported correctly.
Open Up QuickBooks Fee Settings to Non-PM Users. The August QuickBooks Deposits release mistakenly required users to enable the Property Management premium feature to configure the QuickBooks fee settings. We resolved this glitch so all users can configure the QuickBooks fee settings for deposits.
Push Trigger Between Criteria to Channels. Due to a code regression, the "between" surcharge/discount condition wasn't properly sent to listing channels. Or fixed this bug, and "between" surcharge/discount conditions will be properly sent to listing channels.
Set Correct Listing Status for Vrbo Status Webhook. Vrbo listing statuses were incorrectly set as not sync connected on the Vrbo status webhook fallback. We resolved this glitch to ensure that Vrbo listing statuses are set to active on the Vrbo status webhook.
Update Notification Name to "Pending Booking New Card On File." The "Booking New Card on File" email and push notification had a confusing name, so we have updated the notification description to "Pending Booking New Card On File" for clarification.
Use the Correct Default Field When Creating a "Payment" Type SMS Template. When creating a "Payment" type SMS template, the form incorrectly prepopulated the "To" phone number field with an incorrect field code, resulting in the phone number not rendering or being displayed correctly. OR fixed this issue so that the "Payment" type SMS template "To" phone number field will be prepopulated with the correct field code.
Fix Error When Disabling Property Tied to Mutual Blocking. Users who attempted to disable mutually blocked properties encountered errors preventing them from disabling them. OR resolved this glitch to ensure that mutually blocked properties can be disabled correctly.
Fix Igloohome Locks When Trying to Move Arrival/Departure Times. Some users with Igloohome API-connected locks encountered errors when they attempted to move arrival or departure times. We fixed this bug, and Igloohome API-connected locks will be able to process moved arrival or departure times correctly.
Fix Issue With Booking.com VCC Scheduled Payments. We experienced a code regression that resulted in some Booking.com (BDC) Virtual Credit Card (VCC) scheduled payment failures. We corrected this issue, and BDC VCC scheduled payments will be properly processed.
Show Helpful Error if Setting up QuickBooks Deposits With No Undeposited Funds Account. Users with API-connected QuickBooks accounts encountered unclear errors when attempting to configure deposits without an "Undeposited Funds" account. OR resolved this glitch to display a more helpful error message to API-connected QuickBooks when they attempt to configure deposits without an "Undeposited Funds" account.
Show Scheduled Messages on Blocked-Off Time's Messaging Tab. While triggers correctly sent messages for blocked-off times, the blocked-off time messages tab failed to display those scheduled messages. We fixed this bug, and scheduled messages will be displayed on the blocked-off time messages tab.
Fix Converge Credit Card Handling Issue for Non-US Addresses. Due to an error in our system, Converge credit card payments from non-US addresses were rejected. We corrected this error, and Converge credit card payments from non-US addresses will be processed correctly.
Fix Error on PM Statement Export to Excel. The PM Statement Export to Excel contained a null reference (a value saved for indicating that the pointer or reference does not refer to a valid object), which resulted in errors. OR fixed this bug, and the PM Statement Export to Excel process will work correctly.
Fix Error While Viewing Older Outbound Channel Messages. Several of our older outbound channel messages included language that stated, "You can go ahead and reply to this email. This email account is monitored." However, that is no longer the case, so that language has been removed from outbound channel messages.
Fix UI Issues With Widget Amenity Filter. The amenity widget filter was not rendering or behaving correctly on integrated websites. We resolved this issue to ensure the amenity widget filter renders and behaves correctly on integrated websites as expected.
Fix Vrbo Listing Import Duplicating Pet/Children Policy Text. Pet and children policy text was inadvertently duplicated and imported during Vrbo Listing Imports. OR fixed this bug, and the pet and children policy text imported during Vrbo Listing Imports will be correct.
Fix WWW Support Center Interactivity Bugs. Following the October 16th Public Website Header and Footer release, we noticed that the Support Center left navigation menu was bleeding over the footer under certain circumstances. We corrected this glitch, and the Support Center left navigation menu will now be displayed and behave as expected.
Improve Navigation on the Possible Airbnb Duplicates Page. The Possible Airbnb Duplicates page navigation inadvertently directed users to the merged contact's conversation history after merging rather than the expected Possible Airbnb Duplicates page. OR resolved this issue by sending users to the expected Possible Airbnb Duplicates page after merging duplicate contacts.
Restore Event Time Filter to Triggers. We experienced a code regression that removed the Event Time conditions from the trigger configuration form. We fixed this bug, and Event Time conditions have been restored to the trigger configuration form.
Hi Ben, who is supposed to be my rep?
I’ve only had support interactions first with Chris and Paul, then with Ken, and this year a number of different support people.
