Latest Activity...
Yessssss! let me try it out!
Folks have been asking for a rates widget for a long, long time. Now it is finally here. Go into Settings > Widgets (under the Integrations section). Click "Create Widget" and pick "Rates (Single Property)" at the bottom of the menu. Voila:
This is based on rates we added in other locations during the last release. First, we added rates (and other rollup info based on your listing data) inside each property on the info page:
We also added a rates table to hosted websites:
Initially, this shows rates only -- no surcharges, taxes, addons etc. We will be adding those in future.
If there's anything else you'd like to see in the rates widget, let us know!
Hi Jeanna, It is not yet available on the guest side. We will announce that when it becomes available.
Google told me that vacation rentals cannot be listed.
Thank you for this list. Very helpful for landlords.
I would like add that no matter where property owner decides to advertise the vacancy, they need to include high-quality photos listing. Good pictures of property are essential if landlord wants to find applicants fast. Bad photos will diminish interest in even the greatest of properties.
I read a lot of articles concerning making good pictures of the property. I like this one very much https://rentberry.com/blog/real-estate-photography-tips. It has tips from professional photographer, who has a great beginner advice on taking photos of homes. The topic also contains information about equipment property owners need to have in order to make great photos.
wil the quick quote be available on guest end soon?
i really want this hover over option for guest end. is it available yet? I am doing a trial now so its all new to me
Awesome!!!! :)
Hey everyone, been awhile since we've chatted! We've been pushing out release after release, working with users on quality-of-life enhancements all over the app, as well as continuing to develop some of our big upcoming changes. However, I wanted to take a quick second to show something that a lot of users have asked for: Add-Ons (sometimes called "optional surcharges"). This is something you're going to want to take a look at.
Let's get right to the fun part of it, and then I'll back up and show how the linkage works under the hood.
Imagine that you've sent a quote to a guest (or they came through your Book Now widget on your website). You want them to be able to "add on" some optional thing - pool heat, linen service, flowers, whatever. Now you can. Here's a live quote I just created:
(click images for full-size view)
Next to each of those Add-Ons, you can place a "What is this?" link. When clicked, the Add-On expands to show a large rich-text explanation.
In the following picture, I've just clicked "What is this?" link next to the Bounce House Add-On.
Not only can you include a rich-text explanation with picture and formatting, but you can also insert field codes.
Field codes allow you to merge in information about your account or property so that the Add-On explanation is customized to talk about the current property the guest is looking at.
Notice the property name "Acme Retreat" in this explanation. That's coming from a field code which changes the output based on which quote the guest is looking at.
Pretty cool, right? I know!
Now how does this thing work?
At the moment, we've placed Add-Ons in the Surcharges area and used an "Optional" flag on the Surcharge to denote that it's an Add-On. We will be creating a separate settings area for Add-Ons soon, but for now it lives as an "Optional" Surcharge.
So head over to Settings > Surcharges and create a new Surcharge. Set the Applied field to Optional. You'll notice an Explanation field appear with a rich-text editor. The Explanation field is optional. If you don't enter anything, the "What is this?" link won't be shown to guests.
Some items are self explanatory and don't require an explanation. Others, like pricier options, should get an explanation with pictures and formatting so that you can draw the guest in.
Use the Property criteria to decide which properties get the Add-On, and that's pretty much it. At the moment, the Seasons and Bookings criteria do not affect Add-Ons. Only the Property criteria determines whether the Add-On will be displayed.
Charge Linkage
There's another important part of this, and that's how surcharges are now linked to charges. Previously, there was no strict linkage between surcharges and charges. When a surcharge was entered into a quote or booking's charges, only the description and amount were entered. There was no way of knowing which bookings had which surcharges.
We've changed that. Surcharges are now similar to Taxes in that you can see them in the charges grid directly, select the one you want and it creates linkage that can be reported on later.
If all that sounds confusing, take a look at this picture. Notice that instead of just "Surcharge" in the drop-down, you can now see a specific list of surcharges.
When saving a surcharge, the charges grid now makes sure that the row is linked, under the covers, with your list of surcharges.
Why is this important? This might sound like just a bunch of technical mumbo-jumbo, but it's actually quite important. As we continue iterating on Add-Ons, and other charge types, it's important that you know which bookings have paid for which surcharges. Reporting and fulfillment will require it. Imagine if there was no way of knowing "how many guests have rented bounce houses this month?". It would also mean no way of triggering off that logic. If a guest rents a bounce house, you might want a special trigger email sent to your staff so that they know to get it ready.
Happy February, everyone!
I was able to create quote and email saved yesterday. So maybe it has gone away.
@BlueMtnCabins: have you seen this happen since then? Can't reproduce that on this side. Wondering if it was type of email address maybe? ~Sam
I created a manual quote, and entered person's email, and clicked the box However system did not seem to have saved the email. I had to open saved quote, edit info, and add email again.
To set up communication between FlipKey and AirBnb, or more precisely calendar sharing, the best way is to set up calendar imports for both (https://www.ownerrez.com/support/articles/calendar-import) and then calendar exports to update their calendars (https://www.ownerrez.com/support/articles/ical-availability-calendar-listing-sites).
That way, your OwnerRez calendar becomes the central calendar and the others are updated automatically from it.
There should be a cc option in there, if you're looking in the Contact settings section. If you look at our support article for inquiry import, it walks you through: https://www.ownerrez.com/support/articles/inquiry-import#flipkey
Does that help?
Hello--I am new to this only because calendar sync between Airbnb and Flipkay was dropped, and this is the only way to re establish the syncing feature...I was given a new email from OwnerRez, but I do not see where FlipKey allows another email, besides my primary email..I am only given the option to change my email, which I do not wish to do..I am not especially tekkie, as I am older and basically like to keep things simple,anyone else experience this with Flipkey?
Sorry I wasn't' specific but you answered it! I'm learning the ins and outs of OwnerRez very by "trial and error" but all is good!
Jackie
Hi Jackie,
I'm not entirely sure what you mean when you say "does this work for" since this post covered a lot of different topics.
However, you can definitely select smaller down payments than 50%. You can set it to be $100 or $250 flat just as you described.
To do that for ONE PERSON ONLY, open their quote and click the Billing tab and set their 1st payment to that. This will ensure that it only affects their quote only. From that point forward, it will show what you set when they got to accept or on their booking information and emails.
To set it that way for everyone, you have to change it on the property rules. Then all new quotes from that point forward will have that 1st payment amount set.
Does that make sense?
Does this work for an initial payment that is less than 50%? I often allow guests who book far in advance to make a small initial down payment ($100-250) to hold the dates, then they make their bigger payment at some later point. I tried this with a guest this weekend but she said it wouldn't allow her to enter the $250, it only gave her the option to make the 50% payment.
Perhaps my guest did something wrong or misunderstood? Or did I need to modify something in her reservation?
Thanks,
Jackie Noble
noblebeachhomes@outlook.com
Great updates! Wow! love the image option and theme option.
We added a merge field for property image a few months back. Since then, we've been getting more and more requests to customize email templates, renter agreements, and the checkout process by adding your logo and other information to get merged automatically for display.
If you missed the property image, here's a quick rundown. Add images to your properties, and then use the {PIMGURL} merge field to insert them into emails. This will show the first image for the relevant property:
We've added a new Logo field on your profile. To populate it, go to your user profile page and select a logo file to upload:
Once uploaded, you can reference it in any template using the {MYLOGOIMGURL} merge field.
The logo upload is the first step, but if you had to go to every template and insert it, that'd be a lot of work. Instead, we've added a new Themes section in Settings that allows you to define headers and footers that will be applied across everything. You can define individual theme header/footers for emails, guest forms, and legal agreements.
To do this, go to the Theming section in Settings and hit the Change button next to the section you want to change. Inserting the logo here is a good start, but you could also add contact information or anything else you want applied everywhere.
Another quick mention of a related feature is Form Messages. These allow you to control the wording of messages during checkout, the messages in the blue boxes at the top. You can also add some confirmation information to be shown on the booking complete page.
Last but not least is the new booking files section. In each booking, you'll now see a Files tab that will allow you to upload files to be associated with the booking. You can upload anything relevant you want to store with the booking, like scans of ID's, pictures of property damage, or additional agreements sent. You'll also see the renter agreement signed during checkout here as well, if that was generated for the booking:
All files are stored in Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service). They've got 99.999999999% durability, so you can rest assured that any files you upload will be stored safely and securely.
It's been a great 2016 and we're looking forward to many more additions in 2017.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the OwnerRez team!
We continue to be amazed at the volume and quality of new listing sites that have been popping up recently. I've found that regional sites can be just as important as the big national sites. A regional site can be much more targeted to sales in a specific area, and can get a boost in search rankings by going for a local niche rather than a broad market clientele.
In that vein, OwnerRez just added full support for integration with several new listing sites, including Carolina Vacation Home Rentals and Spain-Holiday.com. We receive inquiries through our email parsing engine. We also support two way calendar sync through our iCal calendar import and export.
Once you get your listings set up on these listing sites, use the following guides to get integrated with OwnerRez:
If you use or own a regional listing site and are interested in OwnerRez integration, let us know and we can explore that process with you.
Great post... thank you for the updates!
yes, thank you:)
@BlueMtnCabins: I believe this has been addressed in another thread:
https://www.ownerrez.com/forums/general-help/templated-emails-no-longer-work-for-imported-bookings
Also seems I can no longer send an email form imported booking; used to be able to pick form templates, plug in email etc , Now unable to do it.
Marinas Edge said:
does the season mean the season in which the guest stayed for the trigger?
Thank you. Another question on triggers and season....does the season mean the season in which the guest stayed for the trigger? For example, I want to send an email 90 days after somebody stays offering them a 15% discount if booked for a week the following summer season. How would I do this?
This was a display issue on the editor. We've fixed it this morning and everything should be fine there now. It was showing the default value instead of the selected value when you went to edit, but no data was actually affected.
The fix is in place and everything should look correct in the editor now.
Maybe due to this roll out, I have noticed that some of surcharges/discounts criteria got strange changes. I have cleaning fee discount if stay is 7+ nights, it was set up as :
[number of nights] GREATER OR EQUAL [7]
That criteria all of a sudden shows:
[arrival date] EQUAL TO [7 nights]
I left it as is for you to look at for now but I ill have to Erector it soon in case inquiry comes in.
Hey...this is looking great! I went in to evaluate the trigger settings and noticed that a lot of my default settings have changed...instead of "Days before Arrival" on many it is "Days before booking is created".
Was this intentional? Seems like a potential error. I'm holding off on modifying until I hear back!
Thx
