Latest Activity...
John W said:
I am new, how does this apply to bookings from VRBO and Airbnb?Hi John, take a look at our support article on Damage Protection here:
https://www.ownerrez.com/support/articles/damage-protection-overview#imported
That has a section about VRBO/Airbnb bookings. Basically, we highly recommend that those bookings be covered as well (because this is a different better coverage that the channels do not offer). But we do have a "don't apply DP" toggle on channel settings where you can skip over those bookings. Read that article.
Thank You great job!!
I am new, how does this apply to bookings from VRBO and Airbnb?
Thanks! It looks great!
This is good news, thanks,
We recently announced that our Damage Protection program was changing, and today we're excited to announce the new program that will be taking its place.
In the near future, we will be adding a number of new products, both on the Damage Protection and Travel Insurance sides, but we first have been focusing on creating a drop-in replacement for the Damage Protection we have now. And we've done just that!
We're happy to introduce a new partnership with RentalGuardian!
We are highly impressed with RentalGuardian's product lines, technology and team. They understand the market and the customer base and can provide the same or better level of coverage that our users depend on to secure their rentals.
Our team is hard at work getting the transition in place and we anticipate announcing the transition date in the next few days. In the meantime, here are some details we can share...
The new program will be very similar to the Damage Protection program we currently offer. Like before, the program will follow a spread-risk model that protects you (the owner or PM), not the guest. We continue to feel that this is the best type of damage coverage for vacation rentals as it does not require an admission of guilt by the guest and does not create a "self-selecting bad group" of guests who buy protection.
All bookings will be required to carry the protection for the properties that are enrolled in the program. Cancelled bookings will automatically remove coverage, but you will not be able to pick and choose which bookings have it and which do not. Accidents happen, of course, and our support team will help you remove erroneous coverage (eg. bulk-imported bookings, etc). Like before, we highly encourage holding a security deposit on all bookings even with Damage Protection in place.
In the past, claims were filed via manual PDF and the process lacked transparency. RentalGuardian has an online trackable tool for filing claims that will be much easier to use.
In 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.
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.
We negotiated with RentalGuardian to keep coverage levels the same as well as adding a new $5,000 coverage level for our users who have wanted a higher level.
We also tried to keep premium amounts as low as possible while accommodating a newer carrier, better features, better technology and some small cost-of-living adjustments which we have not done in several years.
The new coverage amounts and premiums will be as follows:
| Coverage Per Booking | Premium |
| $500 of covered damage | $13.00 |
| $1,500 of covered damage | $27.00 |
| $3,000 of covered damage | $45.00 |
| $5,000 of covered damage | $69.00 |
Again, we are working hard to make this as seamless a transition as possible. The new program is specifically designed to be a drop-in replacement for the old program. As such, there is nothing you have to do to transition from one to the other. On the transition date - which we will be announcing in a few days - your current properties will be automatically enrolled in the new program and the coverage amounts will stay the same. Continue watching our blog and your inbox for more details about the transition.
Lydia - I've done the same but only $100. I guess I'm self-insuring on this stuff and not worrying too much about it. Thanks for clarifying that this insurance is for owners ;-)
We liked how our current ARDI product worked too. We're trying hard to replace it with something as similar as possible to what we've all come to appreciate. It looks like there will be some differences, but we may be able to have some improvements as well. We'll post more information as we have it. For now, keep using the ARDI as they'll honor any policies purchased for the next few weeks. By the time that shuts down, we'll have something ready for you.
Rich - this is not coverage for the renter. It covers the owner - which is good because you don't want to have to get a renter to admit they screwed up. How do you cover VRBO bookings now? The "Property Damage Protection" they offer - with plans starting at $59 - is a guest purchased insurance so they are ultimately in control of how the claims process goes. Plus - the plans OR has been offering thru ARDI have been much less expensive. I hold $300 in a Refundable Damage Deposit thru VRBO, which hopefully encourages the guest to be good so they'll have the hold released. And on top of that I purchase the ARDI (without telling the guest).
I still get 100% (well almost) of my bookings from VRBO, so I'm curious if anyone offers this product to their guests after getting a VRBO booking, and if so does anyone purchase it?
I am so sad to hear this. I really liked them :(
Our Damage Protection carrier, TravelGuard/AIG, just announced that they are going to be ending support for the Damage Protection (ARDI) program that we sell through OwnerRez. This took us very much by surprise.
However, we are actively discussing a drop-in replacement product with several other carriers and will have more information in the upcoming days and weeks. We are working hard to make sure that there is a seamless transition to the new carrier and program.
When does the current Damage Protection program with Travel Guard/AIG end?
You can continue buying Damage Protection policies until November 25 through Travel Guard/AIG, exactly the way you've been doing. To put that differently, as new bookings come in, the current Damage Protection program will continue covering them with new policies up to November 25. After the 25th, new bookings will no longer be covered by Travel Guard/AIG.
However, we anticipate having the new carrier and product in place before the 25th, so the transition should be seamless. We will of course update everyone about the process as we learn more.
Will current policies be honored?
Yes. Travel Guard/AIG will continue to honor the policies that have been sold until those bookings are over, no matter how far out into the future those bookings occur. So if you've purchased Damage Protection on bookings in 2020, they will still be honored.
Who will the new carrier be?
We don't know yet. We have talked to two already and are meeting with a third this week.
Will the coverage levels be the same?
They will be similar. Most similar products offer $500, $1500 and $3000 coverage levels. Some also offer $5000.
Will the rates stay the same?
Most likely not. From what we've seen so far, there will be changes in what Damage Protection will cost you moving forward. We are doing out best to keep the product the same, but we are limited by what the carrier charges.
Will the program requirements be the same?
They will be as close as possible to what we offer now. We are entertaining adding an Optional Guest Add-On product in the future, but only in addition to the All Bookings Covered model that we have now. We like the current spread-risk model because it's easier to underwrite by the carrier, and we believe it is a better business model for vacation rental owners and PMs.
How will I know?
We will issue another blog post when we have the new carrier ready to go, and will provide full information as to how to go about the transition. Depending on the details, we will make the transition happen automatically with no action by you if possible. If not, you'll be given clear instructions as to what to do. Of course, you always have the ability to turn off ARDI, and that will not change.
With all the new features, new and old users, OwnerRez wanted take a moment and get to know some of you personally!
Since a lot of people will be in town for the VRBO Partner Summit, OwnerRez is hosting a Happy Hour Hangout on Friday, November 8th in Scottsdale, AZ from 5-9 pm. We would love to be able to have the opportunity to get together and celebrate our industry.
Sign up here for the event, and please feel free to email us with any questions!
Wow, all sounds exciting !
Thank you for staying on top of this and great blog post!
Sure thing! You can have pricelabs automatically update the rates into OwnerRez. Then in OwnerRez you can push the rates on to VRBO.
Here's how to set up the PriceLabs integration into OwnerRez: https://www.ownerrez.com/support/articles/pricelabs
And here's how to push rates from OwnerRez to VRBO: https://www.ownerrez.com/support/articles/push-rate-airbnb-homeaway-vrbo
Do you know how to take a list of spot rates in pricelabs and it is now updating into ownerrez. How do I get these rates to update my vrbo listing and keep updating them in pricelabs and then it will keep updating in ownerrez and then all I would need to do is press sync and it will automatically update the pricing from pricelabs into my vrbo listing.
We'd like to announce that OwnerRez now supports integration with PointCentral, recognized leader in enterprise-scale Property Automation solutions for short and long-term property managers. The PointCentral integration automatically assigns unique access codes for the keyless locks installed in rental properties and updates as needed for date changes and early/late check-in and check-out times.
How to Integrate PointCentral Locks to Your OwnerRez Account
PointCentral, a subsidiary of Alarm.com (Nasdaq: ALRM), provides short and long-term property managers of single-family and multi-family assets with an enterprise-class solution that monitors and controls Smart Home technology across all properties in their inventory over a best-in-class secure and reliable cellular network – increasing property awareness, reducing operational costs and improving resident satisfaction. PointCentral’s solutions allow property managers to realize operational efficiencies, enhancing the asset for guests and residents.
" nice results" includes not having to track and worry about pricing for 27 units. Your time is also money.
Yes, but there Comes A Time you need to let go stop trying to get the last dollar. How much is your time and energy worth? If pricelabs cost 1% of your revenue and brings 2% additional, it was worth it. Nothing stops you from tweaking their prices, as they allow you to override as much as you want. But I doubt over time really is as useful as you suspect. It's like people who just had to screen everyone, while others went with instant booking and said you know it seems over time that it really doesn't make much difference.
So far so good, I turned it on for 1 of the 27 condos and just got our first booking using pricing from them! Woohoo! We will continue to monitor and report back but so far so good... Not having to worry about pricing is key here... I'm hopeful it will produce nice results over time!
@JTVRs - yes, the same kind of approach. I personally prefer to do the analysis myself, but I'll admit it's time consuming. I just don't trust a software algorithm to find the right comps, or do the proper weighting of tangible differences such as
- which direction a unit is facing (mountain view or side of building)
- full sized fridge or tiny
- degree of updating of furniture
- etc
I'm not dissing any of the dynamic pricing algorithms. They can do things in real time, repeatedly, night after night, week after week, which I cannot. They can detect (I presume) when there is a diminished supply and jack up my price. I find myself generally just reducing price as a date gets nearer, but I sometimes realize (duh!) that I was the last unit available and I rented for $100/night when I might have held out for another week and gotten $200/night.
In any case, my market of VRBO is about 40 comparable units. I don't really have competition outside of the building when I'm located (ski resort, limited condos).
That is sort of what pricelabs or wheelhouse do isn't it? For example pricelabs help will show you different price ranges and how many Studio through 5 bedroom units are in each along with other types of information. But they do it for a whole Market not just a couple of units
It would work for other units as well since we use the same public method you demonstrate in your video. You'd have to create a property for it in OwnerRez, though, to store the information.
Great idea on the competitive analysis tool! Although if that becomes well known I wonder if they will hide the rates on the public pages :-o
Chris - that would only work for your own unit, correct?
My use of this is to gather competitive pricing from 5-10 other properties.
But since you mentioned the capability, could you incorporate this kind of competitive pricing gathering into OR? Perhaps the ability to identify a set of 5-10 comparative properties, click a button and get a table of the competition's rates, with Max/Min/Avg/Median identified per night? That would be awesome ;-)
Yep! You can actually suck these into OwnerRez directly (we use the same method) -- go to Settings > Spot Rates and use the Import from Channel button to pull in the spot rates from VRBO or Airbnb.
You can also export your current spot rates to Excel in the same location, or import a spreadsheet of spot rates to update them.
Hey folks - a bit off topic, but still relevant for diy pricing .
I made a screen recording below that shows how to grab a full calendar of nightly rates from a vrbo listing. I retrieved nightly rates from 7/19/2019 - 7/17/2021.
https://p14.f2.n0.cdn.getcloudapp.com/items/2NuxgYKy/Screen Recording 2019-07-19 at 09.37.11.23 AM.mp4
requires using excel but pretty straightforward and much easier than visually retyping rates.
That may also depend on your area. The Smokies are a highly efficient place with a lot of supply and lot of demand. My town has several dozen vacation rentals in the vicinity of a small tourist town. We get maybe 1/40 of smokies visitors.
I am of the opinion that if 1% of my Revenue yield a 2% gain, it is worth it. In addition, I don't really want to try to constantly adjust my prices manually. My time has value. Supposedly wheelhouse is in cahoots with an event knowledgeable organization, but it doesn't integrate with ownerrez yet.
Not pricelabs but other tools I used for 1.5 years./ namely Wheelhouse (AirBNB and TA) and beyondPricing (vrbo). I can say this - both have missed some "events" locally when the rate should have been raised and it wasn't. Wheelhouse was a bit better. Overall, once you are an established owner and KNOW your market and your competition,. the value of such tool diminishes to almost nothing in my experience. After 1.5 years I turned off. Yes I know it is not PL specifically but similar tools.
Chad, I'm using it on OR and AirBNB. I can tell you that it's increased my bookings a bit, as I'm better able to fill gaps now. But even in cases where I've had the same or even less number of bookings in a month, compared to last year, I've made more money. In some cases around 25% more.
