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Agree with Blue about the questionable value of these pricing engines. If you manually adjust for holidays, weekends and recency (eg. way far out or way close) with stuff going up and down accordingly, you don't need the dynamic engines. I thought they were based on supply at one time (eg. PriceLabs would actually crawl sites and see what dates are taken) but that's not the case. They are just going up/down based on factors I can come up with myself. Then use the import from Excel in OR to bulk load a year or two at a time and you can update all your properties quickly for a year or two at a time. Adjust the spreadsheet and load again. Use discounts to make last-minute time (30 days, 14 days and 5 days from now) have automatic drops and you're covered.
Yes, all our price-pushing functions have a price escalator % setting. So you can indeed raise your Airbnb prices by 5%.
What I did not like with pricelabs (and I did do a free trial) that you have to pay whether you have bookings or not in a given month. For 3 properties it was something like $42. I like Wheelhouse's pricing better- only the bookings processed through them are billed a percentage.
Overall still on the fence about benefits or dynamic pricing( and I have done it for 2+ years on some platforms) . yes it can make some holiday rates higher. But I do not think that I had a significant increase in revenue vs doing it myself overall.
Another question is whether we can "pad" rates with higher % before pushing to Airbnb. (such as pricelabs suggests $100 per night but I want to up the Airbnb rates by 5% due to higher risk). ?
That's fine -- set the HomeAway calendar imports in OwnerRez to only import bookings (so that they don't import blocks).
Then go to HomeAway and create the blocks there.
That way OwnerRez won't update with the block because the calendar import is now only importing bookings.
Yes, the rates, rules and availability sync are a fundamental part of the Airbnb API push. You can set the API to "Limited" mode instead of "Everything" but rates are still part of the limited sync. It's a very powerful API integration - we are recommending everyone get onboard, particularly since the Airbnb calendar import (iCal) is changing in a few weeks to strip out all the guest and booking information. Time to look at PriceLabs? 😜
I don't want to rent the summer months through HomeAway. I am sure I can book them directly through other sites. I only want to block the dates on HomeAway for the summer and not on Ownderrez.
Thanks,
Cheryl Hughes
Right off the bat, question. is pushing rates from OR to Airbnb mandatory? reason I ask is because I have Wheelhouse set to manage my Airbnb rates.
It has arrived!
We are officially announcing that Airbnb API integration is available to all users. Whether you have one property or 100, you can now connect OwnerRez directly to Airbnb and enjoy direct integration.
We have prepared support articles for the Airbnb API integration. Please click the following links to get started:
If you have questions, feel free to shoot over an email and we'll take a look.
Enjoy!
Yes, it uses an online dashboard, not a manual PDF.
Will there be a link somewhere for submitting?
Marcy
Marcy, yes - on the paperwork being tiresome. The new RentalGuard system has an online digital claims process. Much easier to use.
I may be reading the question wrong, but I'm not sure this is the right solution.
If your calendars are syncing in both directions, and you don't want what you block on HomeAway to be blocked on OwnerRez BUT you still want the rest of your actual booking information synced, then you want to keep the calendar syncs in both directions. But, in OR, go to that specific calendar import from HomeAway, and change the settings for "Import Events" from "All Events" to "Bookings Only." That way it will import bookings, but ignore blocks that are created on HomeAway.
Cheryl H said:
How do I unconnect HomeAway/VRBO calendar sync. I don't want what I block on HomeAway to be blocked on ownerrez
I agree with Paul. I use this insurance all the time. Linen costs alone from stains and rips is huge and it allows me to have linen that is in tip top shape and my owners have had zero linen replacement costs this year. I manage 33 properties and believe me I got a lot of use out of the insurance. The best part is that you do not have to deal with the guest because no matter how many times you tell them it is covered, unless they reported it to you, they will deny they did it. I think they think that if they admit it and it costs more they will be on the hook or something.
We inspect all of our properties before arrival and take pictures so many times we can prove it was not like that. But who wants to get in a argument with a guest and "prove" they did it. This saves us lot of trouble. And for me, things that I would have to go and repair myself I can now send my handyman to do it knowing that it will be covered.
I have thought of self-insuring because of all the work involved in doing the claims. It would be wonderful not to have to pay someone to do all that paperwork. But at the end of the day it is close and as of now I don't really want to take the risk. I did have 3 claims for the $1500 max that were paid effortlessly so for now I will stick with it.
I was very happy with Ardi and I hope the new one is just as good.
Marcy
How do I unconnect HomeAway/VRBO calendar sync. I don't want what I block on HomeAway to be blocked on ownerrez
How do I unconnect HomeAway/VRBO calendar sync. I don't want what I block on HomeAway to be blocked on ownerrez
BlueMtnCabins said:
Rich S said:
I'm curious how many owners are planning on including this coverage. In the past year I've had about 100 bookings and if I had paid $27/booking I'd be out $2700. Maybe I've been lucky, but I had maybe one broken glass in the year. Now maybe there could have been a broken window or TV or countertop, but I imagine most years I won't have any significant claims per each 100 bookings.This seems like for some owners it could be a useful protection, but I'm not getting why I shouldn't just self insure. This coverage won't help with catastrophic losses, and I already have mentally prepared to spend $2000+ on repairs/upgrades anyway so in years where nothing goes wrong I'd rather pocket the cost of the insurance.
My view is that I have to pay for this out of my own pocket. If I'm able to pass it along to the guest it means I could have raised my rates anyway.
Now on the flip side, I would be interested in offering guests the ability to protect themselves. I've had a few (maybe 2 or 3) in the past year tell me that they bought vrbo's added insurance for their own peace of mind. I figure it might be nice for my guests if I told them I could offer some kind of protection (damage + trip insurance) as a convenience. Not looking to make more $$'s on this, but it might let me have a more strict cancellation policy and not lose any guest visits.
I would consider a "guest option" because right now I have traditional refundable damage deposit ($300 to $500) added to the quote, depending on property. Since most renters do not read that it is "refundable", I suspect that quote total scares many off because they think that my total is $300 (or $500) higher that it is. Depending on how Guest Option will work and be shown to potential guest, I think many may opt for that vs big "scary" number of $300 to $500. I have 154 bookings between 3 cabins this year.
@BlueMtn - I fully agree, I've kept my refundable deposit at $100 to avoid scaring people off, but it's low enough that it really isn't useful when damage occurs. I'll probably just keep doing what I have been..
Rich S said:
I'm curious how many owners are planning on including this coverage. In the past year I've had about 100 bookings and if I had paid $27/booking I'd be out $2700. Maybe I've been lucky, but I had maybe one broken glass in the year. Now maybe there could have been a broken window or TV or countertop, but I imagine most years I won't have any significant claims per each 100 bookings.This seems like for some owners it could be a useful protection, but I'm not getting why I shouldn't just self insure. This coverage won't help with catastrophic losses, and I already have mentally prepared to spend $2000+ on repairs/upgrades anyway so in years where nothing goes wrong I'd rather pocket the cost of the insurance.
My view is that I have to pay for this out of my own pocket. If I'm able to pass it along to the guest it means I could have raised my rates anyway.
Now on the flip side, I would be interested in offering guests the ability to protect themselves. I've had a few (maybe 2 or 3) in the past year tell me that they bought vrbo's added insurance for their own peace of mind. I figure it might be nice for my guests if I told them I could offer some kind of protection (damage + trip insurance) as a convenience. Not looking to make more $$'s on this, but it might let me have a more strict cancellation policy and not lose any guest visits.
I would consider a "guest option" because right now I have traditional refundable damage deposit ($300 to $500) added to the quote, depending on property. Since most renters do not read that it is "refundable", I suspect that quote total scares many off because they think that my total is $300 (or $500) higher that it is. Depending on how Guest Option will work and be shown to potential guest, I think many may opt for that vs big "scary" number of $300 to $500. I have 154 bookings between 3 cabins this year.
Thanks for the feedback, Rich. 100 bookings is a lot of bookings for one property. The average per year is 30-50 per property. There is typically a lot more broken damage than a broken glass over that many bookings, but it's great for you that you don't have that. The 500 coverage may be better for people will less damage. 500 will cover a lot of things - broken windows, ripped/stained sheets, fridge screens, TVs - and is only $13 per booking. For your 100 bookings, that would be 1300 per year but 100 groups is a heck of a lot of traffic to have nothing. Self insuring is also a good option. There is no perfect solution that works for all owners/PMs.
I'm curious how many owners are planning on including this coverage. In the past year I've had about 100 bookings and if I had paid $27/booking I'd be out $2700. Maybe I've been lucky, but I had maybe one broken glass in the year. Now maybe there could have been a broken window or TV or countertop, but I imagine most years I won't have any significant claims per each 100 bookings.
This seems like for some owners it could be a useful protection, but I'm not getting why I shouldn't just self insure. This coverage won't help with catastrophic losses, and I already have mentally prepared to spend $2000+ on repairs/upgrades anyway so in years where nothing goes wrong I'd rather pocket the cost of the insurance.
My view is that I have to pay for this out of my own pocket. If I'm able to pass it along to the guest it means I could have raised my rates anyway.
Now on the flip side, I would be interested in offering guests the ability to protect themselves. I've had a few (maybe 2 or 3) in the past year tell me that they bought vrbo's added insurance for their own peace of mind. I figure it might be nice for my guests if I told them I could offer some kind of protection (damage + trip insurance) as a convenience. Not looking to make more $$'s on this, but it might let me have a more strict cancellation policy and not lose any guest visits.
No, you can't because of insurance regulations that say that if the guest is paying for it, then they are the insured party and, as such, they are supposed to be allowed to opt-out and so on. This spread-risk model is not insurance for the guest, it's for the owner/PM. As such, the guest can not be the one paying for it. You can increase your other fees or add on other nominal charges for admin/management, but the guest cannot have a named fee for damage protection. That being said, we will be adding a Guest Option program, totally separate, where the guest will see and be able to select if they want it but that's a totally different program with different guidelines, rules and rates.
Ken T said:
Not exactly.It used to be that you were expressly forbidden by the contract from rolling Damage Protection into your rates or listing it as a specific line item.
Now, you can, except that you cannot literally have a specific surcharge saying "Damage Protection". Just call it "Maintenance Fee" instead, or if you already have a fee like that, simply build the cost of the damage protection into that fee.
Transition will occur on Mon Nov 18:
https://www.ownerrez.com/blog/transition-to-rentalguardian-will-go-live-on-monday-nov-18
Unless you've been living under a rock, you already know that our Damage Protection program is changing - we've talked about it on our blog and emailed users directly. If this is the first time emerging from your rock, take a second to go read those articles. 😀
We wanted to announce that the transition to RentalGuardian will be complete on Monday November 18.
As mentioned previously, you do not need to do anything or confirm anything during the transition. The system will take care of that for you. If you want to confirm, look at new bookings that are created after the transition date and make sure that Damage Protection is still showing on those bookings. You can also watch the Insurance Detail report.
Not exactly.
It used to be that you were expressly forbidden by the contract from rolling Damage Protection into your rates or listing it as a specific line item.
Now, you can, except that you cannot literally have a specific surcharge saying "Damage Protection". Just call it "Maintenance Fee" instead, or if you already have a fee like that, simply build the cost of the damage protection into that fee.
"n the past, you were not allowed to build Damage Protection into your rates as a limitation of the program. However, you will now be able to do that. While you can't explicitly say "Damage Protection" as a line item in the guest charges, you can add a general maintenance or admin fee to cover the amount, thereby passing the cost onto the guest."
We used to be able to list DP as a line item, but no longer?
yes, my RDD is not a sec hold. It is actual charged amount
BlueMtnCabins said:
Question, does that mean that on quote guest can select either RDD or Guest option? As my RDD is set as separate not taxable item on quote.Yes, but it depends on how you do your RDD. Guest Option will be surfaced (ie. shown to the guest) in a similar way that Travel Insurance is currently. There will be settings for it where you can configure whether the security hold is skipped if they select the damage protection option (or you can still do both). If your RDD is a hard-coded surcharge in the charges, because you collect the money and refund it back after, there wouldn't be a way of removing that upfront. However, we plan to make security deposit have a RDD/surcharge option and not just be the hold, so that would work later on.
"Another great feature will be a new program called Guest Option. This program will allow you to offer Damage Protection to the guest on a booking by booking basis for a higher cost but one that is entirely passed to the guest. If the guest purchases coverage, you will have the option of automatically skipping the security deposit (or not) based on settings. To be clear, you will have to choose between the Spread Risk (current) program and the Guest Option. You cannot have both programs running on the same properties. Any Spread Risk properties will be treated separately and the guest will not be shown any options. Guest Option is coming in early 2020 and will not be available at the transition date."
Question, does that mean that on quote guest can select either RDD or Guest option? As my RDD is set as separate not taxable item on quote.
Guest option sounds wonderful!
