Is Bigger Better?
These days it seems that we are constantly being bombarded with announcements of bigger and better is the answer to everything but is it?
In the vacation rental market, this seems to be a common theme these days. Big agencies are buying out smaller property managers and then touting that bigger is better, they have more properties and more locations. Vacation Rental software agencies are to the same. Beating these chest that they have more channel partners and more technology.
So we decided to go undercover and check it out for our selves. Are these big management companies and big software companies really better. These are conclusions.
Big Vacation Management companies such as Vacasa (backed by investors, not owners)
1. Impersonal. Lack one on one customer service with owner or renter. ( we had to wait for 5 days to get a call back)
2. Will not take the time to speak with you at length if you need it ( the rep kept referring us to the website and basically just wanted to get off the phone)
3. Control all aspects of your rental from rates to renter information ( the rates are set by the management company and they don’t give the homeowners the renters information)
4. Lack specific rental performance and reporting (Homeowner does not have a portal to run their own reports on how they are doing).
5. Do not look out for your best interest ( Since they control the rates many times they are low balling the rates and the homeowner is in a negative revenue position)
6. Do not provide industry updates to homeowner ( this speaks for itself)
7. Expensive
8. Inflexible. Ridged
9. Non-responsive and often times not accountable
Big Vacation Rental Software such as liveRez
1. Thousands of channel partners but only the 6 major companies provide all the reservations. The need to have thousands of channel partners is redundant and meaningless. Just “looks” impressive if you don’t know better.
2. More technology takes away from the human experience. It also is for the majority of property managers overkill and does not enhance the reservation experience for the renter.
3. Expensive
4. Inflexible. Ridged, Impossible to customize. Its a mold you either fit or you don’t.
5. Marketing is not customizable
What to look for in Vacation Rental Management Company and, a Reservation Software company.
If you are homeowner looking for a property management company keep these 5 points in mind:
- How accessible are the managers and customer service representatives? This should be 24/7
- How has the company grown, organically or through acquisition? The best is organically
- What type of Yelp and Google reviews does the management company have? The best would be many reviews with a minimum of 4-5 Stars anything less is very questionable.
- What type of social media presence does the company have? In other words, is the company is active (daily) on social media with a large following?
- Talk to them and ask lots of questions and see if they will make time for you and make you a priority.
When looking for a reservation software company as a homeowner keeps these 5 points in mind.
1.How long has the software been in use?
2.Who is using it. Ask for references.
3. Is the software intuitive and easy or are there so many bells and whistles that it’s overwhelming?
4.How easy is it to talk to a manager or customer service representative?
5.Look at the Google and Yelp Reviews and see what people think.
NomadnessRentals story from the beginning click to read http://bit.ly/2yCQdZq
From one condo to over 117 + more in the works. Expanding to Baltimore, Malibu and soon Steamboat Springs Colorado.Grown organically by offering good service and a great product. The software NomadnessRentals uses is NomadRez. State of the art, intuitive, easy with extensive reporting, at a cost of 4% per booking with all the key channel partners that deliver exception returns when it comes to reservation volume.
Have any questions? We would love to hear from you and chat as long as you need. Give us a call 888-472-5777 or email Millie@mammoth395.com