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Yep! We'll be adding a cleaning date as part of our next update to PM and the portal stuff. Fear not, the cleaning date itself on the booking will be part of the base package.
The PM/housekeeping package will get an additional workflow around the cleaning date where a cleaner can be assigned to a booking, the owner or cleaner can set the date, and then the cleaner can accept the cleaning and mark it as complete later, with checklists, photos etc.
The block is an interesting concept. As you can imagine, a ton of stuff looks at booking departure to find when time is available or not, so it would be a big effort to check two dates in a bunch of places instead of one. We might be able to give you a faster link to create a block for that time, would that help?
Housekeeping aside, are you still planning to add a 'cleaning date' for each reservation in the base system? I have been asking for this for a while. This represents my entire needs as far as housekeeping goes, and I would imagine it would be all that simple (ie owners like me with just a few properties) would need. I would just be happy if the cleaning date shows up on the dates tab of the reservation.
If you are feeling generous, it would be great if the system intelligently looked at the check out date and the cleaning date together and if the cleaning date was later than the check-out date, it would extend the reservation block on my calendar. Occasionally my cleaner cannot schedule until a day or two after guests have left. I am tired of creating lots of tiny manual blocks on my calendars (cannot have new guests booking before cleaning is done). I would imagine this represents the needs of a lot of users (who don't need full blown housekeeping and/or PM functionality at an additional price).
We get a lot of questions about the best way to set up security deposits, when to use damage protection insurance, travel insurance, etc. I've seen a lot of different scenarios over the years, both with OwnerRez clients and my own properties, so here are my thoughts (I'm not a lawyer, standard disclaimers apply, bla bla bla)...
Security deposits are the first line of defense, whether you do a security hold on a card or a refundable deposit charge. I'd recommend taking a secdep even if you also have separate insurance. Not only do you have access to the funds immediately rather than having to file a claim, it also gives the guest some skin in the game so they tend to treat your property with more respect. You can also charge a deposit for other items covered in the renter agreement -- undisclosed extra guests, pets, etc. "covered in the renter agreement" is the key phrase there -- if the guest didn't agree to it prior to the charge, you'll loose a chargeback if they do one.
That said, there are issues that a secdep won't cover. Damage for an amount more than the secdep for one. There's also a risk of chargebacks unless you're taking the deposit by check. You can win chargebacks, but it's a capricious system. If the bank doesn't like you and the guest denies having done the damage, the bank sometimes just ignores the renter agreement and tells you to take the guest to court if you don't like it. I wouldn't recommend doing an additional charge for more than the security deposit for that exact reason -- if you don't have documentation that the guest specifically authorized an additional charge, you'll loose the chargeback. For secdeps, they specifically authorized the charge so that'll typically stand up, but language in a renter agreement about charging an undefined additional amount if necessary doesn't meet the banking requirements -- you'd have to take the guest to court.
The biggest thing to do is document, document, document. Pictures of damage, video of more cars than guests authorized on the booking, statements of neighbors or staff who witnessed, etc. If possible written admissions from the guest. Police report if relevant. Take pictures from time to time of everything so you'll have a recent "before" photo. Timeliness is key here -- the closer the documentation is to the time of the incident, the more weight it will carry. When I encounter damage, I'll get copious pictures and send the guest a professional email asking if they know what happened. A good deal of the time they'll admit it and we can work out a solution.
All of the above is basically to keep honest people honest. It sounds like I'm suspicious of guests, but I'm generally not -- 95% of people are good guests and everything will go smoothly. The point of the above is to establish a process beforehand and know what you'll do, know how to collect all the documentation you need, and be ready to work through it.
The second line of defense is accidental damage insurance. A couple of clarifying points here... First off, damage insurance doesn't cover intentional damage. Sometimes there's a fine line between negligence and intent, but no damage insurance will cover intentional damage or vandalism. That's why I recommend taking both the secdep and the insurance, so you're covered in both cases.
Secondly, the insurance offered through Airbnb, VRBO, CSA, etc. is insurance for the guest, not for you, the owner. That's why the guest has to admit fault with those insurances, and the insurance won't pay out if they don't admit to doing the damage.
We did a bunch of research on different companies when choosing the damage protection product to offer through OwnerRez, and that's why we went with TravelGuard/AIG's ARDI. That insurance is for you, the owner, not the guest. You submit a claim directly to TravelGuard, not a third party. The guest doesn't have to admit fault -- the guest doesn't even know about the insurance as you are carrying it.
To find out more about how our damage protection works and costs, check out our article on ARDI & Damage Protection.
Another option is to self insure. Charge $50/booking for a damage waiver and put that into a separate account, which you tap into when damage occurs. Of course, in that case any issues or amounts over the balance are on you vs. the insurance company. If you've got a high volume so your risk pool is larger, and a high risk tolerance, that can be a more economical option than a damage insurance policy.
Finally, there's also the option of offering travel insurance for cancellations because of weather, sickness, accident, etc. This is insurance for the guest, but offering it can also help you out as the owner. If you don't at least offer travel insurance, enforcing a strict cancellation policy can be awkward. For my personal properties, I offer travel insurance during checkout, and then also have a triggered email go out through OwnerRez after booking reminding them of the option. If they're booking during higher risk times of the year (in my case, snow in the mountains during winter), the email template language changes to identify the risk and strongly suggest they purchase the travel insurance if they don't feel comfortable in snow etc. That way, I feel I've done my due diligence in offering coverage options, and in the event of a cancellation I can hold strong to my policy. For travel insurance, we also use TravelGuard -- their All Seasons Travel Plan.
If the guest didn't buy travel insurance, suggest they check their credit card policy. Some cards include travel insurance/cancellation coverage for trips bought on the card.
Do you have anything else to add? I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences in the comments.
Excellent!
We're still contemplating the separate housekeeping management module, but we also don't want to get over complicated on the modules. I've seen sites where every last thing is a separate module with a fee, and it gets confusing and feels like nickel and diming. On the one hand, I can see that it feels "wrong" to be paying for a "PM" module when you don't use the owner statements, but on the other hand our PM module is very reasonably priced. Some competitors charge $25 bucks for PM PLUS an additional $15 for housekeeping, vs our $15 for both. Maybe we should rename the module to be a bit more generic? Anyway, a bit of inside baseball there, but rest assured this is something we're considering, we just want to get it right when we do.
You actually can already set up email alerts for new bookings (and change of dates/time/properties). If you go to a property and look at the Third Party Alerts tab, that'll let you add email addresses to be alerted when any bookings for that property are created or changed.
The housekeeper confirmation is a great idea, and something we're planning on adding. We're getting together feedback from many folks on how they schedule cleaning, because everybody does it a bit differently. Some schedule beforehand and need to pass the housekeeper a cleaning date, while others like yourself just want the confirmation and let the housekeeper maintain their own schedule. Cleaning checklists, photo upload to note the state of the property, all of this is on our list of stuff we will be adding eventually. Thanks for the reference on resortcleaning.com -- some good ideas there!
We got great feedback on the Gallimaufry post from June, so I figured it should become a recurring series. We do announcement posts for the larger features, but there are so many small ones that can get lost in the chatter if they're not called out and recognized.
Gallimaufry (n): A collection or hodgepodge of things with no apparent unifying theme.
First, the big features we've already announced over the past couple of months:
New regional listing site: New York Rental By Owner
We've done a ton of work on our Hosted Websites since we released them back in January and will continue making them better. Keep those ideas coming!
Here are the recent additions:
The availability/property search widget we released in June was one of our most widely requested widgets. We released some solid updates to that this month, as well as a brand new and fully rewritten multiple month calendar widget that subsumes the 3 month calendar and year calendar widgets to a much more flexible and responsive widget.
Thanks to all of our loyal users who suggested many of these features!
Super glad to see this. I've enabled PM tools and am testing it out now.
I would vote for:
-A separate "housekeeping management" module
-The ability for either me or the housekeeper to set up email alerts for new bookings (in case they forget to log in, or we get a last-minute booking)
As you continue to develop this module, some of the features they list over at resortcleaning.com might be interesting. I thought about using them but they only work with HomeAway calendar sync and don't support other listing sites, which kills their usefulness for me, so I haven't signed up with them. I particularly like the idea of a real-time status check--I would *LOVE* it if the housekeeper could indicate when they're done so that I know I have the all-clear to process the security deposit refund and can offer early-check-in to the next guest if they text me asking if they can arrive early (saves me the hassle of having to call my housekeeper and see if she's done, which I always hate to do because then I feel like I'm rushing her...).
Pipe dream, I know, but you did ask for product feedback! :D
With the rise of walled garden listing sites, it's become important to be able to customize inquiry responses depending on which site the inquiry came from. Some regional sites still include guest email addresses so you can send quotes directly from OwnerRez -- see our list of Regional Listing Sites. Most national sites like VRBO/HomeAway, FlipKey/TripAdvisor, Airbnb etc. have removed guest contact info until after booking, so you don't want to autorespond to them, or want to send a simple "we got your inquiry and will answer in the listing site" email.
To address this, we've moved Autoresponders to settings and added criteria for Property, Listing Site, and Time of Day.
Any existing Autoresponders on your properties have been converted to the new Autoresponders section in Settings.
Listing Site criteria allows you to run an Autoresponder for only a subset of sites. If you have multiple autoresponders, only one will be chosen to respond, based on the priority you set.
The During Time Period criteria allows you to make Autoresponders that only run during a certain time of day. For example, maybe you want to respond directly during the day, no autoresponder, so that you can give that personal touch. But you might have an Autoresponder running in off hours, overnight, letting guests know that you will respond in the morning, so they get immediate feedback.
While we were at it, we also reworked the Settings categories to move related items together. Everything that was in Settings is still there, but if you don't find the link you're looking for in the old section, look through the page in other sections.
Chris (thank you for asking), to me personally I'd rather leave things as they are now (without PM module that I have to pay for) because my housekeeper is very content with just receiving a spreadsheet of bookings for following month from me which I can easily do through download. And if there is an update (like new booking), I just send her an updated version. this worked with my 2 properties prior 3 years with other housekeeper as well (except b4 the OR I sent a part of manual spreadsheet i maintain) and it is working now with current housekeeper. Unless I have 5+ properties I do not see enabling PM module just to get the feature.
besides, when I send a spreadsheet, I have email tracker - i know she at least opened the email I am not sure if she will 'forget" to log into a portal and look for updates.. I am not her only client.
There's been some debate on this internally. Portal access is a pretty big ball of features, and something we'll be adding to over time with scheduling for cleaning, maintenance, etc. The way a lot of competitors price this is to make a separate "Employees Module" with cleaning logins and a "Property Management Module" with owner logins.
Instead of adding yet another module to add and pay for, and make folks that need both owner and employee logins pay twice, we rolled the single login feature into the PM module for now, and eventually make PM into a more general module that can be used by PMs or not PMs and has overall advanced features like the portal access, expense tracking etc.
Susan and Victoria, you've both been with us for awhile, so you've probably got some good feedback. Does our current direction make sense? Or would it be better to add a separate "Employees Module"?
Good morning! Yes, the Portal Access feature is only available within the PM tools area. You have to turn on the PM premium feature to use Portal Access.
looks like only if you have PM features enable. I have 2 properties, does not show as available to me
is only for those with PM or for owners? I need this for use with my cleaners. I own 3 condos.
When I wrote the article for that, I added the images by hand -- and we immediately realized that we'd need to add an upload button so you can do it yourself.
We just rolled out an update that adds support for uploading images or files into editors. To access it, use the new Upload button:
Where do you add an image for the add-ons like in the example shown? Not seeing anything in the Surcharges/Discounts area. Thanks!
Looks like it is correct now, thank you!
Yeah! We need to make a badge for that :-D
Hotfix is now released. How's the sort look now?
Thanks, or make it even easier that the book now button just acts like the current booking/inquiry widget and begins processing the information immediately!
Chris Hynes said:
I looked into this and the problem is that we weren't using the position for optional surcharges, only for the automatically added ones.
I looked into this and the problem is that we weren't using the position for optional surcharges, only for the automatically added ones.
We're testing a hotfix for this, will let you know when its released.
This is great, but i cannot figure out how to make optional discount (like military) to show up below rent but above cleaning fee. i.e I want to discount rent only. I got it show up above tax, but not above cleaning fee no matter what "position" I use.
Example before optional military discount is selected :
Rent 4 nights (8/24 - 8/27) during Late summer at Weekend Night rate at $259.00 per Weekend Night $1,036.00 $1,036.00
Rent 2 nights (8/28, 8/29) during Late summer at Weekday Night rate at $199.00 per Weekday Night $398.00 $398.00
Discount Last minute Discount based on 5% -5% -$71.70
Surcharge Cleaning Fee based on $150.00 per stay $150.00 $150.00
Tax TN Sales / Sevier County Lodging Tax 12.75% $192.82
Surcharge REFUNDABLE Damage Deposit based on $300.00 per stay $300.00 $300.00
After optional military discount is selected:
Rent 4 nights (8/24 - 8/27) during Late summer at Weekend Night rate at $259.00 per Weekend Night $1,036.00 $1,036.00
Rent 2 nights (8/28, 8/29) during Late summer at Weekday Night rate at $199.00 per Weekday Night $398.00 $398.00
Discount Last minute Discount based on 5% -5% -$71.70
Surcharge Cleaning Fee based on $150.00 per stay $150.00 $150.00
Discount Military Discount based on 5% -5% -$75.62
Tax TN Sales / Sevier County Lodging Tax 12.75% $183.18
Surcharge REFUNDABLE Damage Deposit based on $300.00 per stay $300.00 $300.00
I want military discount to be above the Cleaning fee as I do not discount the Cleaning fee. Any advice? thanks
Thanks
The availability search uses sleeps numbers calculated off of the Amenities tab for each property. The rules on the property are separate and are for limiting bookings, while the Amenities ones are for display. Clear as mud? :-)
You can see the calculated numbers on the General Info tab of the property (see screenshot below). Sleeps min is calc'd from the number of beds in Amenities, while Sleeps max is calc'd from number of beds with 2 people if they can (king, queen, double). That's why the 4br is still getting 10 -- 2 kings = 4, 2 queens = 4, 2 single's = 2 = 10 total.
That's how the numbers are auto calculated, but if you hit the Edit button on General Info you can put in overrides for sleeps and rates for just this eventuality where the auto calc's don't give you what you want.
Also note that on the availability search widget settings you can hide the rate and hide the min sleeps if you want.
Seems like in availability search it shows strange "sleeps" numbers. like my 3 bd property that sleeps 10 shows "sleeps 6-10"; and my 4 bd that sleeps 12 also shows "sleeps 6-10" . I have no idea where it got the lower limit if it is in beds, then 3 bd sleeps 10 in beds ( 2 kings, 2 queens, 2 single daybeds) and 4 bd sleeps 10 min in beds (2 kings, 2 queens, 2 single daybeds). But what happened with 4bd upper limit (12?) is there anything I need to adjust to make it show correctly? it seems correct in "rules". Thanks
Yep, shenrent.com is one of our hosted websites using the turnkey template -- that came out earlier this year and we've been improving it since.
Quoting price on the availability search is a great idea! I'll note that down on our todo list. It'd require adding full occupancy fields in the search so guest and pet fees would be properly calculated. Adding a option for a book now button is another good idea. The way I see that working, it would still send the guests to your individual property landing page, but with the dates from the search already filled in to the book now widget.
We first released Add-Ons back in February, which allows you to define optional charges, upsells, etc. for guests during checkout. We've gotten a lot of feedback since then. Based on that we designed enhancements that smooth some of the rough spots and add new capabilities.
Stuff that's new:
Stuff that's better:
Following up on this. I really like the layout on the site http://www.shenrent.com/. For the availability selector it would be nice if the total price with a book now button came up after each property. Otherwise, I'm forcing people to put dates in again when they go to the individual landing page.
We've just released a new user portal that allows you to grant access to owners, cleaners, maintenance staff etc. to view availability calendars, block off time, and view owner statements. This has been a highly requested feature for a long time, and we're excited to get it into your hands!
This looks like the same ribbon view you've come to know and love, but is available for each user you grant access to!
Once you set up portal access, you'll be able to give logins with permission to view one or more owners or properties, as well as allowing access to different levels of information about bookings, owner statements, and blocking off time.
For more information on setup and configuration, review our Portal Access support article.
This is only the beginning -- now that the login and permissions are in place for granting access we've got many ideas of additional things that can be managed -- cleaning workflows like acceptance of cleaning, marking cleaning as complete, notes, checklists, even uploading images of the condition at time of cleaning.
We are still in the planning stages for the next steps, so if you have ideas, let us know!
Much better, thank you
That's a good point... there's not really enough room on mobile portrait to do a "table".
Have a look now -- we added a mode where it goes vertical inside one cell instead of horizontal cells if the page is small.
Also noticed something on the page seems to be cutting off the bottom of the widget.
I just noticed that rate widget does not seem to be scaling correctly on mobile - the weekly rates column is cut off. I have Android galaxy S5. Night, week night and weekend night are showing fine. Just not the weekly rate column.
