Renting a vacation rental property or room is one of the best ways to generate passive income. After all, owning unused real estate generates costs in the form of HOA fees, property taxes, and maintenance — and renting it out short-term can help you cover the costs and make a little profit!
Start making money with these tips for marketing your vacation rental property on sites like Airbnb, VRBO, or Glamping Hub while avoiding rookie hosts’ most common mistakes!
1. Research Your Competition
How many other properties are like yours? What do they charge on average? Which amenities are most common?
Researching your competition will help you answer these and many other questions. And that, in turn, will help you competitively position your listing.
Maybe that means charging slightly less in a bid to boost the number of days space is rented. It might also mean offering contemporary touches such as:
- WiFi, smart lights, and other connected features
- Bluetooth speakers
- A modestly stocked coffee station with a Keurig
Don’t forget to check out local hotels, as well. The hospitality industry spends a lot of money identifying the features that their guests enjoy most. Why not take advantage of their work to learn how to outfit your vacation rental?
2. Use Multiple Channels
In addition to your primary rental property service — Airbnb, VRBO, or another — take advantage of the tremendous traffic and visibility of channels like Instagram and Pinterest. Use these channels to highlight your property’s best features, including amenities, sleeping arrangements, and nearby attractions!
Having a thoughtfully-curated social media presence can give you credibility as a host, and it can also make it easier for guests to share your property with their friends!
3. Request Reviews
When it comes to figuring out how to market vacation rental property effectively, you won’t get far without addressing customer or guest reviews.
They are, in a word, crucial. Airbnb describes three reasons you should focus on them:
- They help drive business for hosts and increase trust throughout the rental property ecosystem
- They motivate communication with guests, helping hosts identify issues early in a stay
- They identify opportunities to improve your listing’s features
Gently encourage guests to review your property during and after their stay with a welcome guide, a handwritten note, or a short thank you email shortly after their visit. Additionally, shoot for all five-star reviews by ensuring you address guest concerns and complaints during and not after their stay!
A sample request may be as simple as this: “I hope you enjoyed your stay and can leave a five-star review. Please let me know if you have any feedback for me.”
4. Furnish It for Function and Comfort
Hosts take a variety of approaches on how to furnish a vacation rental. Getting this right can help your property stand out among all others, possibly more than any other step you take.
One way to furnish your vacation rental property affordably is by buying gently-used sets from a reputable furniture clearance center near you! Not only will you get quality furniture at great prices, but you’ll also find all-inclusive packages that create a curated, staged look without the effort of picking each individual piece yourself!
Add an extra special touch to your vacation rental with local flair. It doesn’t need to be fancy — charming yet inexpensive flea market items, for instance, can work very well.
- Renting a place near popular drinking spots? Consider a small collection of old beverage bottles of varying colors artfully arranged on a shelf.
- Offering space close to a hot music scene? Mount an old guitar on the wall. It doesn’t need to work — it only needs to look cool!
Putting thought into such small touches demonstrates that you understand the area and care enough about guests to share it with them.
Take Action for Passive Income
Ready to get active about passive income? Stage an appealing listing with furniture from CORT Furniture Outlet and start monetizing your vacation property or spare bedroom with minimal start-up costs!
