Vacation Rental Hosting 101: Tips for New Hosts and Beginners

Vacation rentals can provide lucrative income to anyone. Whether you want to convert properties that you own or sublet some apartments for the business, good planning will help you make profits.

Various vacation rental listing and management platforms such as IGMS and Airbnb will not only bring in more customers but also will help you manage the properties. As a newbie, becoming a perfect host can be an uphill task, so let’s guide you on how to go about it.

Getting Ready to Invest in Rental Hosting

As mentioned, rental hosting is a great opportunity now that many people are looking for convenient and affordable vacation rentals. Before the investment, there are some important things to know. Here are a few of them.

·       Understand the terms – Before anything else, familiarize yourself with commonly used terms in the vacation rental business. Some of them include the ADR (average daily rate), RevPAR (revenue per available room), occupancy rate, and others. Since you are new, don’t worry as you will learn more over time.

·       Get a good vacation rental location – Do you have an existing property in a lucrative location that can be converted into a vacation rental property? Or are you planning to rent some apartments and convert them into rental properties? The most important thing is to have a strategic location such as one in a tourist attraction area, a business hub, or just a busy city. A good location ensures that your property enjoys a great occupancy rate throughout the year.

·       Prepare the finances – Setting up vacation rental properties is a big investment that requires good financial preparation. Therefore, make a budget and prepare the finances needed to start the business. Some people take out business loans, and others look for investors, while even others use their savings. With a detailed budget, it is easy to know the total investment capital that is needed to set up modern and enticing vacation rental properties.

·       Calculate the revenue potential – A focused host should know how much they expect from the short-term rental homes. This will help in providing the basic amenities, paying all the bills, and improving the rental properties. Most rental hosting platforms have calculators to help investors understand their business in more detail.

·       Understand the regulations – All vacation rental businesses are subject to local laws. As a good host, you should understand the local laws that affect you so that you can align the business accordingly. This includes getting the appropriate licenses, protecting guest data and maintaining privacy, paying taxes, and more. This will keep various challenges at bay while allowing you to become the best host and make more profit.

Select a Management and Hosting Platform

There are many vacation rental platforms for hosts and travelers. They bring together rental owners and holidaymakers. As a host, it is good to register your property on the best platforms to increase occupancy, make your guests comfortable and happy, and most importantly, build a reputation for your business.

Now that you have your property ready, here are the best platforms to consider.

·       IGMS – Before you can consider a listing platform, you might need software to manage your property. Nothing offers more professional services than IGMS. It also provides numerous tips on how to use the listing platforms we will discuss below including how to contact Airbnb and resolve any other dispute.

·       Airbnb – This is one of the popular vacation rental booking and management software platforms you can use as a host. Many clients know about Airbnb and prefer to use it to book their holiday homes. There are several guidelines to help you become a better host with Airbnb, so it is good to check.

·       Vrbo – This platform has evolved quite a lot and offers amazing hosting services for short-term rental property owners. It is a good platform if you intend to host families with kids and seniors because it encourages hosts to provide amenities for these guests. Also, it caters to people with premium properties in large or busy cities.

·       Atraveo – This is a great alternative to Airbnb in Europe. The platform takes advantage for rental property hosts a notch higher by providing them with an affiliate opportunity to market their properties. As a host, you will pay a fee of 15% of your bookings to the platform. It also has a set of guidelines to make you a better host and give your guests a memorable stay at your property.

·       Expedia – Most of us know Expedia as a popular travel website around the world. Apart from listing hotels, motels, and flights, it also lists rental properties. This gives your business an edge because it will be seen by international guests looking for other travel services. The charges for listing your property here may vary from 10% to 30%.

·       Booking.com – This is another popular travel services platform that is similar to Expedia in many ways. Similarly, it will list your rental properties side by side with hotels, restaurants, and airlines, to mention a few. Booking.com charges a fee of 15% for successful bookings.

Preparing Your Property for Guests

Whether you are converting your home, a rented apartment, or any other property into a vacation rental property, there is a lot you need to do to bring it up to standards.

The most important step is providing basic furnishings and amenities such as a functional kitchen, cozy bedrooms, and a comfortable lounge area. Internet, electricity, HVAC, and water are some bills you will incur every month.

As you prepare your property for vacation rental, remember to prepare a set of policies and a welcome book to guide your guests during their stay. You can perfect this with research, so the most important thing is to get started.

When it comes to payment processing, the booking and rental management platforms will process this for you. However, you might need a payment option for direct clients who do not use any listing platform.

Recommended: 8 Easy Side Hustles You Can Do Even While Traveling

Conclusion

Becoming a first-time vacation rental host is easy if you have the right information. This article is rich with information and insights to guide you. Take time to read and plan your investment well. Current hosts can confirm how lucrative this business is, and it is good to join their networks for more information.