6 Must-Know Tips for Getting Started In the Vacation Rental Industry

As vacation rentals have become mainstream lodging options, you may be considering renting out your own property. Perhaps you have a friend that has made a sizeable income from renting out a spare room or vacation home. You may have an unused vacation home of your own that is sitting empty and draining money for upkeep. Whatever has driven your interest in starting your own vacation rental business, there are some keys that every beginner needs to know. 

If you haven’t noticed, the vacation rental industry is booming right now. According to a recent report, the global market will be worth $169.7 billion by 2019.

Although technology has made it easier than ever to enter the vacation rental industry, you should know these tips from BookingTeam.com to increase your chances of success. 

1. Find out the legal requirements and regulations. 

Before considering anything else, you need to verify that it is even possible for you to start a vacation rental in your area. Some homeowner organizations may not allow short-term rentals or there may be other local regulation and requirements that you’ll have to meet first.

2. Figure out your startup costs.

Like any business, you may need to invest some startup funds and time to get off the ground. 

You need to decide if the startup and management costs will pay off. Will you be able to attract guests and if so, will you host year-round or only for parts of the year? 

3. Outline and write down your goals. 

Why do you want to get started in the vacation rental industry? It’s not enough to say: I want to make some cash on the side. Be specific. Detail your financial objectives by designating a specific amount within a set period of time. One way to set a financial goal is to look at your costs to maintain and manage a property. Include housekeeping, mortgage payments, taxes, insurance and other costs. Then calculate how much cash you would need to generate to get back your investment and make a profit. 

4. Research the market and pricing. 

Pricing is one of the first considerations for new hosts. How much will you charge? How much is your rental property worth? The answers to those questions will vary depending on the time of year, size, amenities, location and other factors. To get an idea of how much you could charge, visit rental sites and search for similar properties in your area. Viewing the rates of your competitors can give you a baseline, but we recommend PriceLabs, a smart pricing technology that BookingTeam.com uses to set the best rates throughout the year. 

5. Post your vacation rental listings on multiple sites. 

It may seem simpler to only post your property on one rental site like AirBnB, because it is only one channel to manage. However, it is also riskier and limits your potential revenue. If your properties are only listed on one site, that means that your business is almost completely in their hands. For instance, if they decide to remove your listings, which has happened to AirBnB hosts in the past, they can. This is why at BookingTeam.com, we maximize the earning potential and minimize the risk of our client’s vacation rentals by sharing them to all the popular rental sites. 

6. Don’t underestimate the commitment. 

Posting your property on a vacation rental site and earning money may look easy. Don’t be fooled. It takes much more than simply snapping a few photos, adding them to AirBnB and waiting for the guests to roll in to attain sustainable success. There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to vacation rental management. You have to quickly answer inquiries, communicate with guests, resolve guest complaints, clean and maintain properties, and much more.  You are going to eventually need some help, especially if you decide to scale your business or want to have a sustainable revenue. 

BookingTeam.com takes much of the property management workload off your back. Our technology combined with our 24/7 team of booking specialists make it easier to manage all the day-to-day requirements of running a vacation rental business.