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Hi
Regarding renters agreement changes, does this mean these clauses should also mention the Group:
Thanks Annie
Thank you for increasing the number of channel providers. In the future, would it be possible to list on these announcements (and in the channel description) if they are "instant book only" or allow "request to book"? I went through the onboarding process (which was easy on the OwnerRez side, as always), only to find out once the OR process was completed that they do not allow Request to Book listings. This is not the first time that's happened and I am now up to seven channel partners that are disabled on my account due to this.
Keep up the great work on these integrations! I really wish I could take advantage of these.
Is there a way to block Thanksgiving, Christmas, July 4th with the Changeover option as you have shown but as a "set it and forget it" into the future so we never have to remember every again?
Or if PriceLabs feeds into OR should we do it there?
I want to select that Changeover option (into the future forevermore) unless I change it for:
•every Dec. 25th
•the fourth Thursday of every Nov. (Thanksgiving)
•every July 4th
(Kind of like creating a repeating event in iCal.)
Unfortunately, there is no automated way to set your Changeover options to no arrivals or departures for every holiday indefinitely at the moment. You would have to explore your PriceLabs configuration to see what options are available there.
Is there a way to block Thanksgiving, Christmas, July 4th with the Changeover option as you have shown but as a "set it and forget it" into the future so we never have to remember every again?
Or if PriceLabs feeds into OR should we do it there?
I want to select that Changeover option (into the future forevermore) unless I change it for:
•every Dec. 25th
•the fourth Thursday of every Nov. (Thanksgiving)
•every July 4th
(Kind of like creating a repeating event in iCal.)
Where do the results of a guest review populate? It would be great if we could connect it to our Google Business listing.
Guest reviews are stored directly in your OwnerRez account and displayed on your OR hosted website. Feel free to add your vote to the Google My Business - Add to where guests posted their review Feature Request.
We are excited to announce our Partnership with Whimstay as a new first-class channel partner!
Whimstay focuses on booking last-minute stays. 80% of its users book within 30 days of check-in. YTD bookings are up over 500%. Whimstay uniquely generates incremental bookings (including demand generation from Google Vacation Rentals), provides property managers more control over the guest experience, and a higher percentage of the economics.
Pricing Model - 5% commission, no commitment required. Learn more here.
Get started with Whimstay by visiting here and checking out the OwnerRez support article for integrating OwnerRez with Whimstay.
Where do the results of a guest review populate? It would be great if we could connect it to our Google Business listing.
These are some great updates! I noticed the Expedia link on one of my listings yesterday, it's great to know which ones have been picked up by them.
While the original review form was nice and fit nicely with my personal form design standards (KISS), I do really like the new design. The booking info card is a nice touch and responsive is always a plus. Question, are the developers incorporating ADA design principles into the new forms? It would be a crucial thing for any pre-booking forms especially.
Thank you. We generally follow and will continue to work on good design and layout principles, and our components have accessibility support. Part of our reason for upgrading is modernizing the components to work best with the latest browser versions and accessibility tools.
Why didn't the skeleton pull the Trigger?
Because they didn't have the guts! Unlike that skeleton, our gutsy OwnerRez users aren't afraid to "pull the trigger" to automate their guest messaging! Unearth the secrets of our October 11th release with 23 updates by unlocking this Friday, the 13th product update to decipher expanded Trigger Retry options, the 2FA ability to Verify by Email, and more ghostly delights.
In case you missed Thursday's announcement, OwnerRez is excited to announce our partnership with Whimstay as a new first-class channel partner!
Read out Whimstay Setup & Connecting support article to learn more.
OwnerRez Triggers automate the sending of custom templates by responding to booking events and conditions, allowing users to streamline their vacation rental business processes. We have improved the Trigger retry options by adding more time-based retry options.
Users can now choose from multiple time-based retry options for triggers, providing greater flexibility in trigger configurations.
Users can add these time-based retry options when they create a Trigger by navigating to Settings > Messaging > Triggers > + Create Trigger.
At the top of the page Trigger Action section, select At a scheduled time (required).
Scrolling down to the Trigger > Options > Retry section, users now have multiple Trigger time-based retry choices.
How will this release affect your current Trigger configuration?
We encourage users to review their Triggers to ensure that they are configured as desired.
Users can always verify their triggers by reviewing their Trigger Forecast.
OwnerRez users have been required to configure and use Two-Factor Authentication for their accounts for a while now. If you're like most users, the thought of losing access to your OwnerRez account can be nerve-wracking, especially for our users who rely on an Authenticator App for their 2FA authentication.
We have implemented a new email verification option, which we expect will be appreciated by our Authenticator App users.
Let's say that you are attempting to log into a device and do not have access to your Authenticator App to enter your authentication code. Simply click on the bottom "Try verifying by email instead" link.
And users will have a Verification Code sent by email instead of relying on their Authenticator App.
We hope our new email verification process will alleviate concerns about losing OwnerRez account access.
By default, Hosted Websites display a summary of general rates for each property and the rates table only displayed weekend rates if they differed from weeknight rates.
OwnerRez changed the default Rates Display for single-property sites and relabeled the Rates Display menu options for single-property and multi-property sites to be clearer on Rates Display.
Single-property Hosted Websites
These newly labeled Rates Display menu options for Single-property Hosted Websites are displayed live on your Hosted Website Availability web page.
Navigate to your Hosted Website > Change Settings > Display > Rates Display.
Multi-property Hosted Websites
These newly labeled Rates Display menu options for Multi-property Hosted Websites are displayed on the individual property Availability sections.
Navigate to your Hosted Website > Change Settings > Display > Rates Display.
If users choose "Availability Rates Calendar," their Hosted Website's individual property Availability section will display individual rates for each calendar night without the Rates Table section.
If "Rates Table" is selected, their Hosted Website's individual property Availability section will only display calendar availability along with the Rates Table section displayed below.
If users choose "Rates Table and Availability Rates Calendar," their Hosted Website's individual property Availability section will display individual rates for each calendar night along with the Rates Table section displayed below the Amenities section.
Sometimes, incorrect credit card information was added to a booking, but deleting that credit card on file was impossible. OwnerRez has added the ability for users to delete credit cards on file in individual bookings.
To delete a credit card, navigate to that specific Booking > Transactions > Cards on File > and click on the credit card you want to delete.
Scroll to the bottom of the Change Card On File pop-up window and click Delete Credit Card.
The system detects if the deleted credit card was used for upcoming scheduled payments or security deposits. When asked, "Are you sure you want to delete this credit card?" select Yes, Delete!
Users will see the credit card deletion confirmation in-app in the upper right corner and note that the credit card has been deleted from the booking.
It is recommended that guests avoid deleting their credit card information unless it is absolutely necessary, as there is no way to undo this action other than asking the guest to re-enter their details.
Create Host Fee for Stripe Refundable Security Deposits. This error occurred when a booking with a refundable security deposit that used a Stripe payment method was created, and the security deposit was collected but not kept or released. When the Stripe payout arrived, the secdep fee was incorrectly stored as a deposit adjustment rather than matching up to the secdep because there was no existing associated booking fee. This issue has been corrected, and Stripe security deposit fees will accurately pass to OR as a booking fee.
Default Trigger for Request Renter Agreement via Email Has Too Many Listing Sites Defined. When new accounts sign up for OwnerRez, and after adding their first property, OR creates a trigger and template for requesting renter agreement via email. The listing site criteria displayed listing sites that were invalid. This was resolved by taking out those listing sites.
Do Not Remove Airbnb Amenities for Listings With Multiple Mappings. This edge case occurred when a user encountered missing amenities on their API-connected Airbnb listing with multiple mappings. This bug was fixed, and API-connected Airbnb listings with multiple mappings will properly display all available amenities.
Factor Direct Remittance Into Owner Statement/Payout Calculations. This edge case was encountered by a PM who created a booking for an owner and added a payment so a payout was due, then created a statement and paid the owner. The direct remittance set should have generated a negative payout balance, but subsequent owner statements did not reflect the negative payout balance because the owner amount hadn't changed. This has been corrected, and affected PM users were emailed to explain the best way to resolve.
Fix Error on Editing Guest With No Phone. After last week's International Phone Number Input release, some users experienced errors while attempting to edit Guest Info with no phone number added. We have resolved this bug, and users can edit Guest Info whether the guest has a phone number added or not.
Fix Error on Missing Expedia URL. Following up on last week's Expedia URL Capture and Auto-Population release, we had to prevent any potential errors arising from null Expedia URLs. We corrected this issue by skipping validation checks, allowing null Expedia URLs, and not displaying empty URLs in users' Vrbo API connections.
Fix Error on Pre-existing Invalid Phones. As a quick follow-up to last week's International Phone Number Input release, we anticipated some errors would be generated for pre-existing invalid phone numbers. We have resolved this glitch by skipping the added validation checks for pre-existing invalid phone numbers.
Fix Error on Updating Old Bookings That Predate Rules Changes. This edge case error occurred when a user attempted to edit a booking with rules that no longer conformed to the latest validation enforced by OwnerRez (for example, days before arrival greater than 0). This bug was fixed by not validating these historical bookings.
Fix Error When Rendering File Type Field Referenced in RA But Not Populated During Checkout on Quote. A guest received an error during the quote acceptance and booking process because the system attempted to render the renter agreement referencing an unpopulated unrequired File type field during the checkout process. This glitch was corrected, and unpopulated or null, unrequired File type fields will now display blank fields rather than generate errors when rendering renter agreements.
Fix Issue on Airbnb Batch Charges Update When Previous Update Has Been Archived. Users encountered errors during an Airbnb Batch Charges Update when their previous update had been archived. This issue has been resolved, allowing the Airbnb Batch Charges Update process to proceed properly.
Fix Phone Numbers Not Accessible Through v2 API. Last week's International Phone Number Input release inadvertently caused a couple of international guest phone input errors via the v2 API. We promptly fixed this bug to ensure accurate input of guest phone numbers through the v2 API.
Fix Typo in Security Deposit Failed System Message. A spelling error was displayed in the Security Deposit Failed system message due to not having a space between two words. This typo has been corrected by adding a space between the two words, and Security Deposit Failed system messages will display correctly.
Fix When Adding a Charge to a Booking on a Mobile Device Doesn't Respect Surcharge Expense Config. A PM encountered a case where surcharges added while using a mobile device were not accurately added to bookings. This glitch was resolved, and surcharges added while using mobile devices will be correctly added to bookings.
Improve Phone Deduplication Performance. Following last week's International Phone Number Input release, OwnerRez enhanced the system's deduplication performance, improving efficiency.
Only Switch Off Channel Apply Payments on Merge for Non-channel Managed for BDC, Not Other Channels. This bug only occurred if an Airbnb channel was disconnected, reconnected, and then bookings remerged. The bookings would be incorrectly set to manual payments mode in that case. This bug is now fixed; those payment types will remain in auto-payment mode.
Optimize Spot Rates Grid. OwnerRez has improved the Spot Rates grid to enhance its speed and functionality.
Properly Parse Phone Numbers Received From Airbnb. After last week's International Phone Number Input release, we anticipated errors passed from Airbnb. We added additional validation checks to ensure that Airbnb guest phone numbers would be correctly parsed and stored in OwnerRez.
Skip Bed/Bath Import for Vrbo Listing Import if the Data is No Longer Available. This Vrbo Listing Import error occurred because Vrbo removed the listing ID from the page and made the mobile GraphQL endpoint OR was using to grab bed/bath data not return anything, resulting in an error when populating beds and baths during the import process. This issue has been corrected by adding additional validation checks and parsing to skip beds and baths during the Vrbo Listing Import process if that data is no longer available from the Vrbo listing.
I am in the process of changing over to OR and I was just commenting today that the only thing I will miss from my old PMS is the ability to disallow departures on holidays. And then this!!!!! I made the right choice!
Welcome to OwnerRez Lisa!
I am in the process of changing over to OR and I was just commenting today that the only thing I will miss from my old PMS is the ability to disallow departures on holidays. And then this!!!!! I made the right choice!
These are some great updates! I noticed the Expedia link on one of my listings yesterday, it's great to know which ones have been picked up by them.
While the original review form was nice and fit nicely with my personal form design standards (KISS), I do really like the new design. The booking info card is a nice touch and responsive is always a plus. Question, are the developers incorporating ADA design principles into the new forms? It would be a crucial thing for any pre-booking forms especially.
Summit Retreats is a vacation rental company based in Breckenridge, Colorado, that is run by a husband, wife, and a dedicated team. Their mission is to provide exceptional vacation rental experiences to their guests by offering a wide range of properties, from luxurious homes to ski-in ski-out condos.
My wife and I met at a university and have spent pretty much our entire careers in hospitality and property management. We love to travel, and from our experiences, we found that sometimes the quality of vacation rentals fell short, and a personal touch was often missing. About eight years ago, convinced there must be a better way, we decided to start our own vacation rental business. We are committed to providing our guests with the highest level of service and attention to detail so they can relax and fully enjoy their vacation.
We have always done something connected with vacation rentals.
We moved to Breckenridge almost 25 years ago. The mountains and skiing did it for us. We came for the skiing and stayed for the life. Even though there is no Disney here, it’s a magical place.
Creating great experiences and making people happy. What can be more important than a great vacation? We put our heart and soul into it, and people appreciate and reward us with great reviews, sharing how much they enjoyed it. And that’s why we are here and do what we do. Here is one of our favorite reviews: "This is easily one of the nicest places I have ever stepped foot in. The views are breathtaking. The bathrooms and amenities are perfect. The hot tub is nice. The neighborhood is so quiet, you can hear the sprinklers come on in the evening. The host is so gracious and had some of the most welcoming communications I've experienced. Starkly different from some hosts who make you feel like you are nothing but a liability."
I love vacation rentals and helping guests create great memories and experiences. But it’s frustrating when people break things. They’re often not as careful as they would be in their own homes. And many will try to cover up or even lie about it. The worst thing is that this can have a negative impact on the experiences of upcoming guests. I also find the current government regulations to be ridiculous.
It’s the key part of our daily routine, a place where we find everything. I’m often out and about, and I really appreciate the fact that it’s easily accessible on my phone. I open the app like a hundred times a day. 😁
OwnerRez has a ton of great features, from API integrations and calendars to comprehensive reservation details. It’s everything you need, all for a reasonable price. But what I really love, though, is your commitment and the effort you put into it. As a customer, I can feel that your team cares more than others, and that’s huge for me.
>>>>>>>>>
We love hearing how OwnerRez helps property managers run their businesses successfully, and Summit Retreats is a prime example of what success looks like.
At this year's VRMA International Conference in Orlando, FL, OwnerRez will be hosting a Hangout event, and you're invited!
The event will be held outside the convention center at Casita Courtyard on Monday, 10/23, from 7:00 - 9:00 PM. OwnerRez is co-hosting this event with a select group of our amazing integrated partners: PriceLabs, Turno, Rental Guardian, Hostfi, StayFi, RueBaRue, Minut, Lynnbrook, and The Host Co.
Our last Hangout event back in 2021 was a huge success, and we want this year's event to be bigger and better! We can have up to 400 people in the space, so reserve your free ticket ahead of time! There will be free drinks and snacks for you to enjoy as you have conversations with some of the biggest names in the vacation rental industry.
If you have a team, please register each person separately using the same link/promo code. To enter the Hangout, you must show your ticket to one of the team members on site so we can check you in.
RSVP NOW using promo code: OWNERREZ
We were so focused on attempting to achieve Inbox Zero Day 📨 last Friday that we missed getting the Product Update out!
We made a dent in our inbox, but we're still working on clearing it out! Before you resume your own Inbox Zero efforts, take a look at our latest product update. It's all about our October 4th release with 18 updates that include the redesigned Guest Review Form, improved Changeover and Gap Rules functionality, a new Airbnb Bulk Recalculate Charges tool and so much more to discover.
OwnerRez Guest Forms (e.g., Quote Acceptance, Legal/Renter Agreement, Travel Insurance) have long been overdue for an overhaul to be modern and mobile-responsive. The Guest Review Form was a good one to start with due to its straightforward nature.
It's difficult to remember the old Guest Review Form now that we love the look of the new one so much, so here's the old version to remind us all of how far it really evolved.
While we didn't add any new functionality, the redesign features an added floating booking information card that will be a mainstay of all future guest forms. We also added a contact information pop-up.
And yes, it is mobile and device-responsive!
Users should remember that they can customize their header and footer form theming and edit the blue box text of their Guest Review Form by navigating to Settings > Branding & Legal > Form Messages.
From the Create Form Message dropdown menu, select Booking Review - Step (1) Enter Review Page.
Allowing users to edit the (blue box text of their Guest Review Form) Message Content body and Save.
Preview your Guest Review Form by navigating to any booking and clicking on Reviews > Request from Guest > Preview.
Do we have plans to redesign other Guest Forms? Yes, we're already at work on the Guest Travel Insurance Purchase Form!
Learn more by reading our Reviews Overview support article.
Controlling specific Arrival, Departure, or Gap rules for potential holiday or special event bookings is imperative. Securing a cleaner available for a turnaround cleaning (check-out and check-in on the same day) on a holiday can be especially difficult.
OwnerRez has changed the Set Rules dropdown menu, which now includes one Changeover selection pop-up modal for Arrival, Departure, and Gap rules!
Here's the old Set Rules dropdown menu, with individual selections for Arrival and Departure. This was good, but users could easily miss adding either an Arrival or Departure rule as they were separate steps.By selecting Changeover from the Set Rules dropdown menu, users can now determine Arrival, Departure, or Gap rules in one process. Notice that we selected Thanksgiving Day 2023.
On the Changeover pop-up, we've selected Stay is allowed (no arrival or departure). This selection would allow guests to book and stay over Thanksgiving but not allow a guest to arrive or depart. Click Update.
And Thanksgiving day now shows No arrivals or departures allowed.
Users can now choose to require a Gap by selecting Gap required (no same-day changeover) or any other rule configuration by selecting It's complicated:
If users add a Gap rule, Gap required (no same-day changeover), to a night allowing guests to stay but not allow any changeovers, the Rate Calendar will display the Gap rule as follows.
And if a booking comes in that departs on that day, the Gap rule remains in effect by not allowing arrivals until the following day.
If that night is booked as part of an extended stay, the Gap will still appear on the Rate Calendar.
As a user, you no longer need to rush to the Rate Calendar to block a booking for a no arrival or departure when you don't want to support a same-day changeover. With this added flexibility, you can easily automate your preferred rules for each property.
Tracking Airbnb charges ensures accurate accounting, financial transparency, and compliance with tax regulations for your financial management and reporting.
As OwnerRez works toward eliminating the need for the Channel Bridge tool, we continue to expand our listing channel transaction toolboxes.
OwnerRez's new Airbnb Bulk Recalculate Charges tool allows users to recalculate current Airbnb booking charges, surcharges, taxes, and Value Added Tax (VAT) if applicable.
To use this tool, navigate to Settings > API Integrations > your Airbnb Channel > Bulk Recalculate Charges.
Only available to users that have enabled the Airbnb Transaction Sync, this new standalone Airbnb Bulk Recalculate Charges tool, which is limited to a bulk batch size of 100 bookings across all of an account's Airbnb connections, can be used for updating ongoing current booking charges and surcharges, not just historical bookings.
Read the Airbnb Transaction Sync support article to learn more.
While OwnerRez's Damage Protection premium feature protects against any accidental damage a guest might do while at your property, some listing channels (Airbnb, Vrbo, etc.) offer damage protection programs or other coverage programs.
We've allowed our users to "opt-out" of OwnerRez's Damage Protection premium feature for those listing channels offering their own damage protection programs. Now, Hopper Homes has been added to that list!
Users can add Hopper Homes to their Damage Protection channel opt-out configuration by navigating to Settings > Financial > Damage Protection > Channel Opt-Out > and selecting Hopper Homes from the Channels dropdown menu.Learn more by watching the Damage Protection video and read the Hopper Homes Setup & Connecting support article.
Vrbo API-Connected OwnerRez properties are often also listed on Expedia. OwnerRez has now started to auto-populate Expedia URLs, if found, to all Vrbo API-connected properties.
What does that look like for Vrbo API-Connected users? Expedia links will be displayed just below the Vrbo link with their respective icons.
Learn more by reading the Vrbo Overview support article.
Maintaining accurate and current guest phone numbers, especially international phone numbers can pose challenges due to formatting complexities.
OwnerRez has implemented international-friendly phone number input processes for all guest forms and in-app guest records.
When a guest or OR user enters a phone number, they can select a country from the phone dropdown menu to ensure their phone number is stored in the correct country code format.
What does this look like for guests?
It's important to note that whether the country code is entered or not, upon saving, OwnerRez will store and display the phone number in a clean format in-app.
Display Created Time on Oauth App Webhooks Grid. The Oauth app webhook grid did not display the time that an Oauth app webhook was initially created, creating troubleshooting difficulties for users and the OR team. We have fixed this issue by exposing and displaying the time an Oauth app webhook is created on the webhooks grid to Oauth app owners.
Don't Auto-release PayPal Secdeps on Channel Move. PayPal security deposits, which cannot be rescheduled, were auto-released when booking dates or property were moved by a channel. We've corrected this glitch, and PayPal security deposits will no longer auto-release when bookings are moved by a channel.
Fix Issue Where Total Host Fees Weren't Returned in /v2/bookings List API Call. Total host fees were not correctly returned in the API v2.0 bookings list API call. OR has corrected this bug, and total host fees will now be correctly returned in the API v2.0 bookings list API call as well as the single booking GET.
Fix Rare Edge Case Where Vrbo Sync Might Error for Some Stay-collected Fees. This edge case occurred when a stay-collected secdep had too many decimal places. This glitch was fixed, and Vrbo sync processes will continue to push Vrbo property stay-collected fees correctly.
Handle Case Where Airbnb Payouts Contains No Transactions. Airbnb API-connected users that had the Airbnb transaction sync enabled experienced an Airbnb transactions error, but the deposit was correctly synced. We have fixed this bug, and future Airbnb transaction syncs will process accurately.
Improve Default RA Has Wrong Language for Ages. The default OwnerRez Rental Agreement stated, "I am over the age of {PMINAGE} and assume responsibility for those in my charge under the age of {PMINAGE}" and there were other areas of the default Rental Agreement that referenced "children" as well. Still, we needed to change these areas to reference the entire group of guests instead of focusing on children only. OwnerRez has made the following changes to the default Rental Agreement.
Improve Validation Around Bounds Checking for Numeric Rules. If a user entered a "days before arrival" cancellation policy, that would result in a date further back than the DateTime.MinValue, while editing booking rules, an error would occur. This glitch has been corrected, and users can correctly enter a "days before arrival" cancellation policy while editing booking rules.
Parallelize Webhook Sending. OwnerRez's webhook sending was too slow, so we've optimized this action by processing and sending different webhooks in parallel to speed up the webhook sending procedure.
Remove Airbnb Amenities From Dictionary as Needed. OwnerRez was removing Airbnb amenities by not including them in the amenities dictionary. Still, that method was suboptimal as there were times that those removed amenities were incorrectly synced to Airbnb. Airbnb has changed its amenities logic, so OR has resolved this issue by including the amenity but passing it as is_present: false.
Show Correct Stripe Charge Transaction Identifier for Secdeps. This edge case happened when a user with multiple active Stripe accounts attempted to process a refund from the security deposit, but the Stripe account credit card information was no longer valid and the system did not allow the user to re-enter the credit card details because the original transaction was no longer active. This error occurred because the payment method used an older Stripe account (still active), but the source payment method ID was from a new Stripe account. We corrected this glitch to expose and display the correct Stripe security deposit charge transaction identifiers that allow users to process security deposit refunds correctly.
Use Channel/Listing Site Override When Quoting in Booking Widget. We recently added handling for passing listing site parameters through to quotes created by the widget (in preparation for Google Vacation Rentals), but we missed passing the listing site parameters properly for quotes displayed inline on the widget before the redirect. We fixed this bug, and are now passing listing site parameters properly.
Webhook Subscription Creation on v2 API. v2 API Subscription Creation Webhooks sent with invalid URL values were accepted, but our webhook sender service would throw errors every time it tried to send something to that subscription. This issue has been resolved by adding additional URL validation checks and will display the following error message, "The WebhookUrl field is not a valid fully-qualified http, https, or ftp URL." if an invalid URL value is sent.
Is the stickier filters the first step to "Saved Filters" which is what is really needed? Is that on the roadmap soon?
Great question! While not on our official roadmap, OwnerRez is exploring this possibility.
Is the stickier filters the first step to "Saved Filters" which is what is really needed? Is that on the roadmap soon?
Join us live with the Key Data team on October 3rd at 2 PM Eastern and 11 AM Pacific time!
In the dynamic world of vacation rentals, data-informed decisions are crucial. However, the importance of effective owner communication often goes overlooked. This webinar delves into the pivotal role that owner communication plays in enhancing property performance, building trust, and ensuring long-term success. Join us as we explore proven strategies, real-world examples, and actionable insights to elevate your owner communication game. Whether you're looking to improve relationships, boost your market position, or understand the nuances of owner expectations, this session is tailored for you.
The session is free to join, but you must use the Key Data webinar link to register.
You can find all our upcoming and past webinars on our Webinars page.
We have partnered with Vacation Rentals Agency to offer another certified WordPress design service for those looking for a custom website.
We understand that everyone's needs and wants differ, so we offer our WordPress plugin alongside our Widgets and Hosted Website options. For those looking to create a very detailed and custom website, this can be very time-consuming and takes web design skills. This is where Vacation Rentals Agency can help! Their team will utilize our WordPress plugin to create a beautiful, custom-built website for you.
"Vacation Rentals Agency (VRA) is an ethical team of leaders who work for property owners in the vacation rental, real estate, and hospitality industries. We provide almost all web services like website development, property listings, SEO and Digital Marketing, Smart Lock Integration, Dynamic Pricing Integration, Content writing, and cleaning management for Vacation Rentals, Holiday Homes, BnB(s), Hotels, Villas, Resorts, Homes, and Apartments. We have been working with the OwnerRez Property Management system (PMS) and providing services like OwnerRez Website Development, Airbnb, VRBO, HomeAway, Booking.com, PriceLabs, Squarespace, WordPress, Wix, etc.
Moreover, we create customized and fully functional websites and major projects that support multi-owner and multi-payment gateway which helps your hospitality and vacation rental business to attract more guests and increase your revenue. In addition, we create integrations between multiple OTA sites (Airbnb, VRBO, Booking.com, etc.) and the Property Management System (PMS) account so that you can handle all your distributed bookings, payments, guest communication, and calendar synchronization through a single platform i.e. PMS."
https://bookabeachvacation.com/
Call/WhatsApp: +91 8386890221
Email: Sales@VacationRentalsAgency.com
Website: VacationRentalsAgency.com
Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal or ideal.
Join OwnerRez on our journey of achieving worthy goals and ideals 💪 in this product update as we break down all the details in our September 20th release with 17 updates, including the addition of Last Updated dates to Support Articles and Search Results, faster Two-Factor Authentication Email and SMS alerts and so much more!
The OwnerRez Support Center is vast, and locating the most recently updated support articles and search results could be difficult...until now.
We've added the last updated dates to all support articles and search results!
On desktop view, search results now include the last updated dates on the right side and a Sort by dropdown menu to select the Most Recent results located at the top.
Users can see the date that the support article was last updated by hovering over the Updated date in the upper right corner on desktop.
On smaller screens like tablets and mobile phones, the Sort by dropdown menu to select the Most Recent results is on the upper left side of the screen, and the last updated dates are located below the title of the support article, blog post, etc.
Users can find the date that the support article was last updated by touching the Updated date in the upper right corner on smaller screens.
For the safety and security of your account, OwnerRez requires that all users participate in our robust two-factor authentication (2FA) process.
OR has now optimized the delivery speed of your 2FA email alerts to be sent immediately! 📨 While we were at it, we made the SMS alerts also be sent immediately, so when you receive a text message, you will be notified that much quicker.
Learn more by reading our Two-Factor Authentication support article.
Some Property Managers enter important recordkeeping information in their PM Payout Notes section.
Previously, the PM Statements Payout Export did not include those vital notes, but OR now includes those crucial PM Payout Notes in the PM Statements Payout Export file.
Many partners and prospective partners work to provide stable API integrations for OwnerRez users through our API. We've added Owner Search endpoints to the OwnerRez v2 API.
Learn more by reading our API for Apps Overview support article.
Allow Select All on Seasonal Rate Editor Even With Many Properties. Because the Seasonal Rate Editor can only edit 50 properties maximum at a time, we hid the "select all" button. Now that OwnerRez has added new filters allowing users to type and filter down, we have exposed the "Select all" option. This will enable users with less than 50 properties to select all their properties in the Seasonal Rate Editor easily. Selecting more than 50 properties in the Seasonal Rate Editor will now display an error as attempting to edit 50+ properties results in very slow processing.
Better Error Messaging for Unmapped Owners on Owner Payouts Send to QuickBooks. . PM users who have not yet mapped owners to QuickBooks Online received an unhelpful BadRequest Required parameter VendorRef is missing in the request error when attempting to send owner payouts to QuickBooks. OR has resolved this issue by disabling payouts to unmapped owners and now displays the more helpful tooltip, "This owner is not mapped to a QuickBooks entity." when trying to select unmapped owners. If users attempt to select "All Owners" and they are all unmapped, the user will be redirected to the QuickBooks configuration page.
Don't Allow Renaming a Custom Expense Category the Same as a System Category Name. Users who created or renamed an expense category that was a duplicate name of an existing OwnerRez system category experienced various errors, including Excel import errors. For this reason, users will no longer be able to create or rename an expense that is a duplicate name of an already existing OwnerRez system category name and will receive "A system category with the name "expense name" already exists." error message when attempting to do so.
Don't Apply Commission Deduction to Transaction Fees With No Expense. When a PM configured an owner with commission settings calculated on the owner amount but excluded transaction fees, then created a booking for that owner, and subsequently created a payment that included a transaction fee, the booking charges had no transaction fee expense associated with the payment. We fixed this bug by applying the logic that if there is no transaction fee expense, then the owner amount IS the gross, so there will also be no commission deduction.
Don't Shift+Select Hidden Options on Filtered Multi-select. Filtered multi-select dropdown menus inadvertently allowed users to shift+select hidden options during the filter process, producing unexpected filter results. OR resolved this glitch by no longer allowing users to shift+select hidden options, and the range select now acts correctly and as expected in filtered multi-select dropdown menus.
Fix Issue Where Automatic Reviews Summary was Displayed in Reviews Grid Even When Automatic Review Feature Had Been Disabled. Some users that had reviews scheduled for automatic submittal and could view the reviews on the Reviews grid and subsequently disabled the Automatic Reviews feature still had reviews displayed that appeared to be scheduled for automatic submittal in the Reviews grid. OR determined that this was a display issue only and that users that have turned off the Automatic Review feature, would not have had those reviews published. OR fixed the Reviews grid issue to no longer display Automatic Reviews after the feature is disabled.
Fix Issue Where Payment Report Was Using Marked as Deposited Date. Payment Reports, both detail and summary, were incorrectly using the "marked as deposited" date logic, leading to unexpected results. OR has resolved this bug to correct the payment report logic to skip now payments that are marked as deposited.
Fix Issue Where Property Import Stores Airbnb URL's if Invalid. Users experienced import errors when incorrect or invalid Airbnb property URLs were entered as Airbnb listings. OR corrected this import issue to now attempt to parse for a room number if it exists and check for duplicate listings either within the import file or with existing OR data.
Fix Issue Where "Send Quote" After Copying Uses the Property From the Copied Quote's Inquiry in the "From." Users who received an inquiry for one property and then copied and saved a quote for that inquiry to a second property experienced unexpected results when emailing the saved quote from the second property. The quote email instead incorrectly pulled the return address, subject line, and some text pertaining to the first property ("from" property) but the actual quote for the second property ("to" property). OR has fixed this bug, and copied quotes from one property to another will correctly render quote email property information.
Handle Vrbo CB Negative Charge Total and Zero Owner Amount as Full Refund and Clear Charges. Vrbo Channel Bridge imports were not correctly calculating negative charges (discounts) that included zero owner amounts. We have corrected this issue, and Vrbo CB negative charges (discounts) that include zero owner amounts will be calculated and imported accurately.
Improve Google Vacation Rentals Push Service Error Messaging and Don't Error on Warnings. Google Vacation Rentals (GVR) API integrated properties that received any transaction field errors resulted in a Waiting for Sync status to be safe and notified users that something wasn't right with their integration. OR now resolves these issues by inspecting the contained issue, acting on them appropriately, and adding the additional status of Vacation rental listing is undergoing initial processing while continuing to show the status as Connected.
Include Custom Discounts in Vrbo Booking Update Service Response. This edge case occurred when a user applied an additional manual discount to a Vrbo booking that already had a discount. Still, those discounts did not appear correctly in the booking charges. OR fixed this glitch to now correctly include additional manual discounts in the Vrbo booking update service feed charges.
Update Review Excel Template File to Specify a Day for StayDate Clearly. The Import Reviews Excel template included an incorrect format of month/year (ex. Jan 2023) for the StayDate column rather than the expected month/day/year format, resulting in imported reviews not linking to their associated bookings. We corrected the Import Reviews Excel template to include now a complete date of month/day/year format in the StayDate column.
Michelle,
You are correct, while this works great for VRBO, if the listing site continues to handle payments, this will not work. I agree with your hesitation if API integration with Hopper does not mean I can handle my own payments. I haven't yet found enough information from them to make a decision.
- Kaye
I'm concerned about the instant book option. Mainly because we have a minimum age to rent. If the guest instant books, is there a process where we can cancel the booking if we feel uncomfortable with it or their booking violates any of our rules. Will we be somehow penalized? Also, can we still require the guest to sign our rental agreement.
-Chad
Michelle,
I do the same. Although I do not use instant book at the moment, even when I do I control bookings. My cabins are booked direct and on VRBO. I have set up my payment processor (Bambora) to "authorize only" on booking. This means they charge only $1 which drops off later but validates the card. Upon receiving a booking, I require e-signature of my rental agreement which also asks the required questions associated with my OR booking custom fields. I review those answers and only if they are consistent with my requirements do I charge the guests card. If they are not acceptable I cancel the booking request or, if IB, the booking, citing cancellation due to guest request or actions.
So Instant Booking does not mean you have to lose control over bookings.
Hope this is helpful!
- Kaye
Kaye,
Thanks for this insight. I don't like the instant book part of this and has been my main hesitation. My question is that if hopper processes the payment then it would never go through your payment processer. So how could you then cancel it?
Chad
Im interested but 14% commission? Does that all come out of the hosts pocket?
Hi Brock,
Yes this 14% commission is charged to the host but we do not charge a traveler service fee. This really helps boost conversion.
It looks as if Hopper only gives the option of insta book?
Hi Myke, yes this is correct. Our app users like the user experience and we see it really drives conversion.
I've signed up with all the OTAs on OR that apply, and the only ones I have ever gotten any bookings from are Airbnb and Vrbo, and maybe a couple times a year Booking.com.
Join us live with the Hopper Homes team on September 19th at 2 PM Eastern and 11 AM Pacific time!
Hopper Homes is in its second year of operations and is growing rapidly, doubling in booking volumes YTD vs. 2022. On top of that, Hopper is now at 100M+ app users and is the 3rd largest OTA in North America. Hopper is now live with OwnerRez, and through the new Self-Service Onboarding tool, we already have 2000+ properties live! Join us live to learn about:
The session is free to join, but you must use the Hopper Homes webinar link to register.
You can find all our upcoming and past webinars on our Webinars page.
Arrg, it's talk like a pirate day!
Ahoy mateys! Peruse this update o' products, released on September 13th, boasting 21 grand updates, including "stickier" filters (e.g., Bookings List View), Channel API Integrations grid enhancements, Airbnb API additions, and much more!
With all the recent Ribbon Calendar love, we decided it was time to show some of that love for many grid filters in-app, think Bookings List, Inquiries, and Quotes!
When users add any filter in any of the Bookings List View, Inquiries or Quotes sections and then move elsewhere in the app, those "stickier" filters are still applied when they return to those sections. Watch it in action!
This new stickier filter has been added to many other grid filter areas, but these mentioned are likely the most frequently used.
Using the "stickier" filter would be a great way to view all bookings that still need signed renter agreements. And the best part is that each logged-in user can apply these unique"stickier" filters to their account until they log out, change their filters or close their browser window, which resets the filters. This "stickier" filter feature includes team members' portal accounts, allowing larger organizations to assign specific team members to monitor various booking processes.
We also removed the Default Confirmed and Pending filters from the Bookings List view, meaning that canceled bookings were filtered out. Here's how the Booking List view appeared before.
Now, the only default filter added to the Bookings List view is the "Departs after today's date" and the Show All link. All canceled and pending bookings are now displayed by default. Of course, users can always change or clear their "stickier" filters by clicking on the Show All link.
OwnerRez plans to add "stickier" filters to other in-app grid filters in the future.
Managing multiple API integrations for one property is one thing, but managing multiple APIs of the same type (i.e. 2 or more Airbnb channels) for multiple properties can be challenging. OwnerRez has enhanced the API Integrations Grid!
Account #’s were already included but the Channels grid now includes the Account Name for each API-connected channel with a link displaying the number of properties, and each property is listed when the link is clicked.
Users can now filter by property on the Channels grid by clicking the new Filter button and a filter pop-up appears.
Linking and unlinking individual properties by Changing Property Mappings in each API Integration now forces the grid cache to clear, allowing users to see their changes immediately.
It's been a minute since we last updated everyone on our hotly anticipated Google Vacation Rentals integration, and you deserve an update on where we are at with it.
As expected, during the OwnerRez onboarding process of the "limited beta" phase, we were able to identify some quirks and bugs.
We've been able to fix these bugs and adjust the API configuration so that you can be assured that we get this integration right. We sincerely appreciate your patience!
Google Vacation Rentals private beta is not available to all OwnerRez users at this time, and regrettably, the waitlist for our Limited Beta is already filled.
Some users prefer to keep their guest contact list organized and want the option to remove contacts. While not recommended, OwnerRez has added the ability to do that as long as the guest has no bookings.
Previously, users could not delete guests if they had inquiries or quotes associated with them, but that has changed. OR users now have the ability to delete guests (as long as they have no bookings), and the deletion will also delete any inquiries or quotes associated with that guest.
Users can delete a guest in a couple of different ways.
In the guest Conversation View, users can delete the guest by navigating to Actions > Delete Guest.
On the CRM > Contacts grid, users can select one or more guests to delete and click on the Delete button. Note the OR pop-up that warns that deleting the guest includes the deletion of all associated inquiries and quotes.
Deleting a guest will include the deletion of all associated inquiries and quotes.
OwnerRez acknowledges that deleting guests will be infrequent but still want to provide our users with the ability to do so. OR recommends that users use the Separating or Merging Guest Records process if possible instead of outright deleting guests.
Airbnb has added a few new (and one old!) options in their booking API settings and our Airbnb API connection has been updated to ensure optimal functionality for our users.
Here are some key changes we've implemented that users can configure in OwnerRez that will now be synced with Airbnb.
Read our Airbnb Overview support article to learn more.
We understand the effort you put into your reviews. By storing them in OwnerRez, you retain ownership and can use them elsewhere.
OR has kept the default review display option configured to "Don't Auto Show Reviews" but now we allow users to choose whether their new reviews will be automatically displayed publicly.
Select your Auto Show Reviews configuration by navigating to CRM > Reviews > Guest Reviews > from the Don't Auto Show Reviews dropdown list, and select Configure Settings.
You can select which reviews you want to automatically display or show publicly by selecting from the following.
Users can manually show or hide any review at any time regardless of the settings on this page. And be assured that these settings do not affect historical active reviews.
Learn more by reading our Reviews Overview support article.
Many partners and prospective partners work to provide solid API integrations for OwnerRez users through our API. We've added new Property Search endpoints to the OwnerRez v2 API.
Learn more by reading our API for Apps Overview support article.
Add Link From Owner on Booking PM Tab to Owner in PM Area. We added a link to the owner of record in the specific Booking > PM tab which takes the user to that Owner in the PM area.
Clarify Airbnb Override Tax Mode Text. OR updated the in-app Airbnb override tax mode text to be more explicit, "By default, Airbnb automatically collects certain taxes and remits them. Hosts can set custom taxes which replace Airbnb's default taxes. If you set your own taxes, this will opt-out of Airbnb’s automatic tax collection and remittance and you will assume the responsibility of remitting all taxes."
Clear Seasonal Min Nights Rules in Airbnb PUT. One user had an issue where a 5 night seasonal minimum was being fed to OR from Airbnb, but the user had not configured that seasonal minimum restriction in OR. We suspect that the 5 night seasonal minimum was configured in an integrated dynamic pricing tool. Still, to address this glitch in the future, instead of sending seasonal_min_nights: NULL to Airbnb, we will instead send seasonal_min_nights: [].
Don't Show Lock Name if There's Only One Lock. Previously, we did not display the lock name when there was only one lock, so we removed it once again to keep users from thinking the name was part of the actual door code. When more than one lock is configured we will show each lock name next to the code.
Fix Issue Where Ctrl-Click on Enable App MFA Does Not Show QR Code. When users navigated to their Account dropdown menu > Safeguards > Two-factor methods and selected the Enable button next to Authenticator app, using Ctrl+click to open in a new tab, the new tab opened but the QR code was not loaded on the page. We fixed it so the QR code loads if Ctrl+click (or right-click "Open link in new tab") is used when clicking on Enable.
Fix Issue Where Negative Money Amount From Airbnb Not Correctly Parsed When AED Currency. OR's logic did not correctly parse the United Arab Emirates Dirham (AED) values/currencies sent from Airbnb. We've corrected this bug, and AED values/currencies will be parsed accurately.
Improve Airbnb Channel Tester Output. We now show when errors are reported from Airbnb, instead of not saying that and directing users to check their rule settings in OwnerRez when that may or may not be the issue. It looks like this: "If a guest actually tried to book this, Airbnb reports they would have the following problems:"
"Insert a field" Table Could be More Responsive. We noticed that the "Insert a field" table on mobile devices experienced text "bleeding" to adjacent table cells. We corrected this by optimizing it to be responsive to the mobile device's size.
Remove Extra Whitespace Line From Above Rate Calendar on Mobile. We tidied up the Rate Calendar display for mobile devices by removing some extra whitespace. This was accomplished by removing the word "Legend" and having the (?) icon display to the right of the "click and drag dates to select" line.
Send Alert to User if Vrbo Message Upload Fails. PDF, JPEG, PNG, and GIF files are sent in-line (embedded) with Vrbo Messaging, all other file types are sent as downloadable links. We've updated the in-app booking channel template attachment help text explaining this. Also, previously when a user tried to send another type of file attachment, it would fail but there was no alert. We've changed it so the message body will still send, but a message failed to send alert will also be sent if there are file attachment failures explaining the remainder of the message was sent successfully but the file attachment failed.
Shorten "Support Center" in Search Sidebar and on Small Viewport. After a recent renaming change, the desktop search bar in the Support Center left sidebar was crowded when the "Support Center" type was selected. The same crowding was on the mobile search bar as well. We fixed this by shortening "Support Center" to "Support" in those two places.
TikTok Should Show Properly on Hosted Website Footer When Configured. Hosted Websites with TikTok configured to be displayed in the website footer were displayed, but the alignment was incorrect. This bug has been resolved by displaying the field code {MYSOCS} which displays any configured social networks and website URL under Theming (instead of each social network being set up individually) and TikTok links (if configured) will now appear correctly in new Hosted Website footers on a go forward basis.
Update Worldline Merchant Application Link. The Worldline merchant application link was updated on the Worldline Payment Method turn-on page in-app.
Update Yapstone Payment Processor Logo. Yapstone has a new logo so we updated it in-app.
Does Hopper also remit taxes like Airbnb? I pay taxes for direct and VRBO through Avalara but for Airbnb who is also merchant of record, I don’t have to remit the taxes which is nice.
thanks!
In about two weeks, the 2023 FAVR Xtravaganza conference is taking place, and we'll be there! The event is being held on September 25-27th at DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel at the Entrance to Universal Orlando, FL.
The FAVR Xtravaganza Conference is designed to educate, connect, and inspire those involved in the thriving vacation rental industry in Florida. Receive the latest news, information, trends, and vacation rental education all in one place. This event allows attendees to build connections and learn alongside experienced vacation rental professionals. Conference sessions are designed to be hands-on and personalized. Participants are encouraged to share ideas and build solutions together.
Whether you are new to the vacation rental industry or well-experienced, the resources and knowledge obtained from this conference will surely help you discover ways to boost your bookings and earnings. This conference is a must for industry owners, managers, and investors.
OwnerRez is a sponsor for this event, and we hope to see you there! Steve Clark and Rex Cannizzaro will be at our booth to answer any questions you have. Stop by, shake some hands, and scan our QR code for a free OwnerRez T-shirt!
If you can't make it to Orlando, we'll be at a handful of other events this year, which you can find here.
Once again, be sure to stop by the booth and say hi! It's the bright green one, you can't miss it. See you in Orlando! 🌴
