General Help and Questions

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Hi Rich,

You could copy the model we use in integrating with QB, only do it yourself manually with the Desktop version. Basically, each booking is turned into an invoice in QB and then each payment is turned into a QB payment against that invoice. The invoice date is the arrival date of the booking so that the income is not realized until the month of the booking. That allows you to wait to pay the tax until the month of stay has booked in case the booking gets cancelled. I don't know of any tax authority that will give you a refund.

We are going to be changing (or adding) the model to use something that accountants like better which is to have a QB invoice for each payment that occurs with a final "close out" invoice once the booking has arrived to realize the income. There are several benefits to this model and, as I said, the accountants we work with have said this is a better model.

I would recommend talking to Ximplifi Accounting which we have mentioned before on this forum. We can send a recommendation email for you if you'd like. They have helped a bunch of OR users already and understand what OwnerRez and QB can both do.

Airbnb and HomeAway have a chat/text-based communication only with clients thru their system. When using ownerrez hosted websites, is there a way to do that with direct book customers?

I actually prefer to use the instant book model with chat, rather than having people call me whenever they want (I have a day job!)

Hi,

Certain months I have a 7 night minimum stay and others I have 5 nights. What's the best way to enter this in the system? I think I currently have it set to 7 nights always and I can't figure out how to change it.

Thanks

We have free parking in summer, but paid parking during the winter. Is there a way to automatically adjust the template emails we send to correctly indicate based on the booking period?

I look forward to the housekeeping updates! :-)

Yep, Airbnb only gives the phone and platform email for their guests, but physical address and real email address are required on the OwnerRez e-signing process, so you'll have them on file once the guest does complete the signing process.

I don't think you can push offsite reviews to VRBO in bulk, but you can send the guest a link to review on VRBO. Send them a link like this:

https://www.vrbo.com/123456/reviews/write

Where 123456 is your listing number.

Okay, I thought one of my Airbnb guests signed and her info didn't come through. I went back and can see that she didn't. Thanks!

No physical address is coming through on Airbnb bookings and the email is the Airbnb one so I am not getting direct guest emails. -Of course it looks like Airbnb guests don't want to sign contracts either so not sure I'll get much of anything anyway.

Physical address and email address are already required on all contracts automatically, so you're good to go there.

If you want to add additional fields to the signing process, here's how: https://www.ownerrez.com/support/articles/capture-additional-fields-on-checkout-quote-acceptance

Why would they let someone transfer non-OTA reviews to an OTA? That seems like it would be ripe for abuse

This is excerpts from someone (2017) that seem to apply to the Google Vac Rental effort. Little dated, but:

"a Google card will be required for each vacation rental. Vacation rental managers can get ahead of the curve by providing business information with unique URLs for each home or unit under management. Becoming an early “owner” of the business information for each property will provide an initial competitive advantage as Google rolls out its vacation rental product.
In addition, working with channel managers who are partnering with Google will make connectivity easier in the coming months."

"potential consequence for OTAs and online marketplaces affects the rates they are able to charge to travelers. Airbnb charges travelers a 6-12 percent “guest service fee” on top of the rental amount, while HomeAway’s “service fees” can add over 15 percent to the rental cost for travelers. Google’s results will display comparative pricing, possibly making it more advantageous for travelers to book directly with the property manager.

"disclosed that the vacation rental beta program has encountered challenges along the way. “The Google platform was not set up for vacation rentals, so they’ve had to make modifications,” For example, only one URL is currently offered for each Google card making it difficult to display key-level inventory. Other challenges include the ability to index each property geographically for search and mapping, connectivity with booking engines, channel limitations, and traffic limitations during the beta period."

Thank you! By the way, when I hit "reply to inquiry" my template is similar to yours wherein it gives info about the house, things to do in the area, etc. and there is a quote at the bottom with the clickable links.

I guess my question was if the "reply to inquiry" automatically includes a quote anyway, why the need for the "quote only" email?

Thank you!

Thank you for taking time to answer (both of you!)

Chris, you said:
"There are two different emails you can do -- one answering just the inquiry, one sending the quote."

Yes I see that, and I always choose "reply to inquiry" which automatically includes the quote box at the bottom of the email. That's what confused me. Because after I send it, the system prompts me to send the quote again. I guess in my mind, I'm thinking I just sent the quote as part of the reply, but now I realize that maybe the system doesn't realize that it already included a quote in the first reply.

I will ignore the prompt to send the quote a second time.

Thank you again for your help!

I thought I knew how to do this but now I can't find the directions. Can someone point me to it? I need to add mandatory address and email to my contract since I just learned that Airbnb doesn't pass those through.

Thanks!

Hi,
is there a way to transfer OwnerRez reviews onto HomeAway/Vrbo Reviews?
Thanks, Claudia

Fantastic! Need help on testing?

Yep, all of the above!

It won't let you delete an owner statement if there's already a payout recorded against it. First delete the payout, then you can delete the statement.

We got delayed on this because our HomeAway API integration took a bit longer than expected. That's in beta now and releasing in a couple weeks, so the SMS stuff will be coming very soon!

Thanks @BlueMtn! Some more details:

1) The comments field is used for any guest comments that they include in their inquiry -- if it comes from a widget or listing site that supports it.

If you don't want to include that field in the response, edit the inquiry response templates and delete that field reference

2) There are two different email you can do -- one answering just the inquiry, one sending the quote. Many people like to do a simple inquiry response and then a detailed quote email to minimize the potentiality that they get blocked out by spam filters. Or maybe they want to respond to the inquiry but not send over the quote yet because they need more details.

If you just want to send one email, the easiest way is to edit the inquiry available response info to include the {QCTAB} quote charges merge field and then don't send the quote response.

Yep, they've got a big process there for signup and certain requirements on the properties they'll allow.

Last I checked, booking.com distributed to those ads, so that may be the easiest way to go for now.

Once they open up the API a bit, we'll investigate -- here's hoping they will go to a full channel process with their tooling.

Thank You! It looks like I created the custom template under the wrong area. Set up a new one under triggered and it looks like I'm set! Appreciate the help!

I would have sworn there was a recent post on Google's new direct booking for hotels, but cannot find. And they are also working on a VR equivalent.

Anyway, this was on a bed and breakfast owners forum about it and PMS integration:

"XXX is working with Google’s advertisement to allow for direct booking, “Google Hotel Ads”. We’re currently waiting on Google at this point. We don’t have an ETA from them but we’re hopeful we will hear back from them soon so that we can continue down the development path to support Google Hotel Ads. It’s been a long drawn-out process for us as we started reaching out to Google about partnering with them back in 2015 when Google Hotel Ads was released. We’ve made some progress with them recently, however!"

You can. You need to 1. set up an email template that you cna copy from "send lease to guests" system template. But five it a name, such as "SENDRA" or whatever you like. 2. You need to set up a trigger under Automation - email triggers. condition - as soon as booking is created and specify your "SENDRA" in what to send box. done.

Ah, yes, most of my bookings are imported. (For now) I was hoping to have it automatically send when the booking imports. It's not a big deal as I just go click a button to send it after a reservation comes in but trying to automate as much as possible. :-) Thanks!

You need to set up trigger 1st. Trigger should be "as soon as booking is created". But generally, lease gets signed in the process of booking (part of check out process). so unless it is for imported booking., or you need to get it resigned again, why do you need a trigger to send it?

Now that I'm comfortable that my lease agreement is working well and I can collect online signatures, I'd like to trigger it anytime a booking comes in. When I go to email triggers, the form field doesn't allow me to choose anything. (It's blank but has arrows like it should be populated. Is that a feature that's in a different plan than I might have or is there something else to set to allow those to pull in?

because you used a "reply to inquiry" instead of "send quote" for your manual reply possibly?
here is the template i Use for quote ( here in forum it is not formatted but real template has boldface, highlights, bullet points, links, property photo etc) :

Hi {CFIRST},

Thank you for your inquiry about {PDISPNAME} ({PIMGCAPTION}). Our cabin is a private vacation home, rented out by owners Victoria and Todd (we do not use a management company or an agent).

The quote is shown below for the dates you requested.

First, please review Booking and Rental information for our cabin:

NO smoking ~ NO pets ~ NO house parties.
Must be at least 25 years of age to rent, and be present during the entire stay (No third party rentals). Minors under 18 can only stay with parent, legal guardian or responsible adult.
No occupancy above total {PXOLIMIT} persons (which includes all children ages 0 and up), with maximum {PXMAXADULTS} persons over 14 years of age. Our quoted rates are the same for one guest or {PXOLIMIT}, but we do not permit over limit occupancy.
{QFPAMT} is due to reserve the property; Balance will be due {QSPDAY} days prior to check-in date. If reserving within {QSPDAY} days from check-in date, the full amount is due immediately.
Availability is real time and may change after this email is sent. Property is not reserved until deposit (or full balance) is paid and booking is accepted.
Rental Deposit of {PXDEPOSIT} will be refunded/released within 14 days after check-out if there are no damages or excessive cleaning required (See the Rental Agreement for more details).
Rental Agreement must be signed by primary Guest if you decide to book.
Guest signing the Agreement must provide valid photo ID which matches the name on the credit card used for payment. If not returned within 72 hours from booking acceptance, we reserve the right to cancel your booking and issue a refund.
60 day cancellation policy (full refund if cancelled by renter 60 or more days before the scheduled check-in).
We strongly recommend to protect your trip by obtaining Travel Insurance, especially if your stay is during winter months.
Payments accepted: Venmo, PopMoney, Zelle, major credit cards, personal or cashiers check, money order (at least 35 days prior to check in date), PayPal. Credit card convenience fee may apply.
Address, driving directions and check in instructions will be provided after balance is paid and few days prior to check in. See distance from the cabin to popular area destinations.
Owners reserve the right to install and operate security/image capture devices on the property outside for the express purpose of securing the property, driveway, entryway, parking, dwelling and its contents and ensuring occupancy/pet rules compliance.
Check in is {PCHECKIN} ET and check out is {PCHECKOUT} ET unless pre-arranged otherwise in advance. Late check outs may be subject to docking of the deposit.
WI-FI is available via satellite service (typical speed up to 12 Mbps; Connection speed/availability is not guaranteed).
Property has yard, fire pit and ample parking.
Questions? Check our Vacation Guide, FAQ and What is provided
See the Reviews of our cabins.
'Like' {PDISPNAME} on Facebook - we post updates, specials, or availability due to last minute cancellations.

{QPROPAVAILOTHER}
Please use the buttons at the bottom to view more information about the quote or to accept it and checkout. Our checkout form is simple to use and very secure.

{QHCTAB}

JTVR - I'd prefer answers, not suggestions about my lack of understanding. Perhaps you can revisit my questions and give specific (and useful) comments?