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This is from the support page, good place to start
https://www.ownerrez.com/support/articles/hosted-websites
Julie,
Have you looked at the examples that Chris posted on Feb 12th in this thread? I imagine you could achieve similar look/feel. If none of those work, what feature(s) are you looking for?
I'm going through this myself right now but creating my own website. It's a lot more work and time since I don't do this professionally, but it's a fun project that interests me.
Are there any preexisting templates available in OwnerRez to use, or would I have to design my own site (or hire someone to design it) while using the OwnerRez plugins and widgets to create the functionality?
I understand that the bones of building a site are present, but what platform is used to achieve it? What design options do I have? Yes I need a website, but I also need it to be attractive, and that's the part I can't get any grasp of via the existing information.
If I want to add another unit, what should I do first
a) set up on VRBO/AirBnB and then in OR where I can import lots of info?
b) set up in OR and then after I get VRBO setup, import/overwrite info?
I'm not quite ready to spend the time on VRBO yet, maybe in a few weeks, and the rentals will only start May 1st. Just want to avoid having to input information first in OR and then again in VRBO
Getting close to completing the first round of imports (260 rentals across 5 years)
I've had a variety of (mostly self-inflicted) issues, here's a list for others to watch out for:
- Must have all template columns, and (I think) the headers must match exactly
- Must have the sheet named same as the template (eg: Bookings)
- Don't have garbage data on trailing rows (my replacement operation accidentally added thousands of zeroes in otherwise empty rows)
- Must have a last name (first name can be empty)
- Double check for having duplicate Booking IDs (my mgmt company split bookings that spanned end of month)
- Payments must be no less than $.01 (I had a bunch of $0.00 bookings for some reason, probably personal use)
I sure appreciate having all my historical data in OR !!
I haven't used it on my properties yet, but we've gotten some great feedback from other users who've had great results and really increased their bookings.
Right now you can only map one product/service to rent. We do have a per surcharge product/service mapping.
What would you be using the mapping for? The best way to break things up per property is to use class/location mapping.
I was able to reproduce this by pasting in an email ending up with some extra whitespace at the end. Just pushed up a hotfix that will clear out any whitespace. Does it work for you now?
You can also submit a ticket by emailing help@ownerreservations.com
Hello, I am looking at using a Dynamic Pricing tool. I"m looking for feedback regarding Pricelabs. Anyone here using them? I figured I'd start there since they work with OR. Thanks!
Oof. I forgot about that 😬 -- if you don't put any name or contact info, the import will treat it as a blocked off time.
To fix this, put in Imported as the last name.
I emailed y'all the test file I'm trying. I used the template, kept all of the column headers as is and just added my own info, using just 2 rows as a test.
The import failed with status 'Invalid' for each of the two rows, and the issue is listed as 'Charges aren't allowed for blocked-off time'
I don't have any blocked off time in 2014 (or anywhere else for that matter) so not sure what the issue is.
I have currency values (eg: $123.34) in three columns: RentTotal;Total;HostFee
Thanks Chris; I'll be in touch. I need to set up a mail account with Siteground for my domain name.
The columns need to match exactly, so start from our template, clear out all of the data, and then copy/paste from yours into the standard template.
Chris - Just getting around to this, I pasted my column headings below, are these sufficient? I kept them in the same relative column order I think, and I have all of the required (colored) columns.
Your Booking Id OwnerRez Property Id BookedDate ArrivalDate DepartureDate Adults Children FirstName LastName RentTotal Total HostFee ListingSite Notes
I tried to use a contact us form, but got error messages that was not a proper email.
I used two different emails, and I can guarantee they were proper form. I took screenshots, but this shouldn't be hard to reproduce. This was on Android using the Chrome browser
No I didnt. but I'll follow Jesse up.
In the meantime - In the General settings of the Quickbook Integration - Rent mapping - I want to be able to select more than 1 product, how can I do this?
The contact over there is Jesse Ehret -- I sent you both an email a couple days back with full contact info, did you get that?
Thanks Chris - who is your contact there as I've not heard anything from them. And have also put in a contact request through their website
Thanks for the quick reply Chris !! All makes sense
We both do -- we'll send you directions to update your DNS to authorize us as an allowed email provider for your email address. Once you do that, we'll set the FROM on our end so the email starts flowing that way.
One requirement is that you need to use a private or business email address instead of a Gmail one. In other words, you can do this:
misty@mycabins.com
but not:
misty@gmail.com
This is because you have to own, or be able to control, the domain name so that you can set DNS records in place. This is a technical requirement of being a Verified Sender and it helps with deliverability (not having messages go to the Spam folder).
Do you have access to a business or private email address that you can use? If so, email us at help@ownerreservations.com and we'll get the process started.
Sure thing, some answers:
- "Your Booking ID" is just a reference code for later. It's not required, but if you do a bookings import first and then a charges or payment import later, that's an easy way to link them up -- looks like that's your column G
- OwnerRez Property Id is the OwnerRez ORP number found in the Properties list. You can also use the name of the property in OwnerRez as long as it exactly matches
- BookedDate is required, if you don't have it you could use the arrival or pick some other date
- Adults and Children you can leave 0 if you don't have them
- First/Last Names are marked as required on that sheet because they're highly recommended but you can leave them blank if you want
- If all you have is Total and Commission, I'd set Rent and Total columns to the Total (your column D) and leave the Surcharge/Discount etc columns blank and and then set the HostFee to the commission amount.
- Host fee is used to track stuff like booking site commissions so it's not exactly matching a management fee but it's the best way to keep those separate. If you put in a discount, you'd end up with a lower total showing up in reports later.
- Listing Site can be the Rental Service Name (column F). First go to Settings > Channel Connections and add a Custom Source for that -- it'll match up by name.
The Charges import lets you get more detailed on an invoice. It's basically doing the same thing as the Rent/Discount/Total columns in the Booking import, but lets you specify names, tax status, etc. You don't need the Charges part if you don't have detailed information -- just use what's in the booking import.
You do probably want to do a Payments import. If you don't the bookings will all show as unpaid because they have an invoice but no payments. Easiest thing to do here is to put one payment for each booking, link by Your Booking ID (your column G), and put the full amount and use the payment date the same as the booked date you pick.
I have years of data with the cols below. I can massage an excel spreadsheet into whatever format is needed.
(listing columns as rows for clarity)
A Unit = 1234
B Arrival Date = 1/1/2017
C Departure Date = 1/3/2017
D Total Paid by Guest = $331.02
E Commission Paid to Rental Service = $151.03
F Rental Service Name = Mountain Resorts, LLC
G Booking ID = 3G93849
Seems like there are imports for Payments, Charges and Bookings.... Here's my assumptions, please comment
(UPDATED - I realized there are reqd columns)
1) Please confirm I should only use Import Bookings, not the other two
2) Please confirm these mappings:
Your Booking ID -> G
OwnerRez Property ID -> G (same as 'Your Booking ID' ????)
BookedDate -> B (I don't have this field, so seems best to make it obviously fake to avoid confusion in reports)
Adults -> ??? don't have this data, can I use zero? Or best estimate (2 adults)
Children - > same question as for adults ??
First Name -> should I use same name for all (eg: FakeFirst)? Or uniquify? (eg: FakeA, FakeB, etc)?
Last Name -> should I use same name for all (eg: FakeLast)?
ArrivalDate -> B
DepartureDate -> C
Total -> D
??? -> E *** see below
ListingSite -> F ???
*** Column D (Total Paid by Guest) is useful to me because it will help in future rate setting
Column E is about 45% which is what I paid for a rental service for years (was fully staffed service with front desk, maintenance team, etc)
I'd really like to preserve Column D, but also account for Column E as a sunk cost. Maybe use DiscountTotal? Hostfee? GuestFee?
Thanks Paul; I'm interested. Question, who does the configuration, OwnerRez or myself?
I talked to SafelyStay on the phone. Basically for $29 per guest (3 days), you get:
Verification of Booking person (200 databases, yada yada)
Up to $10,000 of contents coverage damaged by guest for pretty much any reason, deductible only $100
$100,000 liability and building coverage.
There are higher coverages, but this is a nice supplement to a difficult building I have (part commercial spaces)
Yea, I had looked at Party Squasher - but both my properties are right next to others, in town. I think that is good for out in the country
I'm not sure if it does, but you can select rentals as one of the categories on Google Play if you would like to select in settings that you occasionally accept business payments. Which is the setting that I currently use. I haven't looked any deeper...
Yes, do that under your global Files. Click the Account button drop-down (top right) and Files. There you can upload any type of file. Once uploaded, the button on each file will give you a "copy link" you can use in any email or renter agreement. BlueMtn is also correct that you can embed/upload inside any email or renter agreement at that moment.
Thanks for the recommendation! We'll look at them. I met with the Party Squasher guys last week btw. Interesting device.
The old "Google Wallet" product was something we were going to add, as another version of PayPal you could accept, but the Google Wallet terms specifically forbid lodging/vacation rental type business. So we never moved forward since VR users would end up having it turned off by Google. I dunno if Google Pay has the same requirements, but I bet it does.
The fees do not push over at the moment. That is coming - we have that on our QB To Do list - but at the moment only charges and payments get synced across. We recommend syncing payments to "Undeposited Funds" and then manually creating Deposit records in QB with the appropriate payments and fees to match your bank statements.
