The vacation rental industry is projected to reach a value of more than $18.6 billion by the end of 2022. Whether you’ve already broken into the industry or are just thinking about purchasing your first vacation rental, you probably already know that it takes some hard work to make a property profitable. There are a number of challenges that come with vacation rental and Airbnb management.

From choosing the right property to landing bookings, some challenges are obvious. Others are less so. Keep reading to learn some unexpected challenges that every vacation rental owner needs to know—and how the right professional vacation rental and VRBO management company, like Vibrant Management, can help.

1. Communicating With Guests

You’ve prepared your vacation rental, stocking it with fresh towels and making sure that the floors are spotless. You took professional photos and perfected your listing. Then, you land a booking! With virtual check-ins, digital keypads, and online booking services, you might think that your work is done until your guests check out. But this is rarely the case.

Guests often have questions, requests, or concerns sometime between booking and checking out of your property. Maybe they need to change their booking date or let you know that more people will be staying with them. They may have questions about your property, like whether it includes a hair dryer or how many outlets they’ll have. Once in the property, they might need to know where you keep extra towels, or even simply want a suggestion about where to dine during their stay.

Communicating with guests outside of their booking in a professional and timely manner is important. It helps make happy customers and can help you avoid problems—or alert you when something goes wrong so that you can take action right away.

2. Pricing Your Rental

Before your first guests ever check-in, you have one big challenge to overcome; pricing your rental. This may not seem like a big deal. But in fact, it requires a lot of research and knowledge of the industry and your competition. Pricing your rental wrong can mean losing customers or losing profits.

If you want to perfectly price your rental to maximize profits on your vacation rental, it’s best to invest in Airbnb and VRBO management—like Vibrant Management.

3. Listing Your Property

Pricing your rental property isn’t the only thing you’ll need to consider when landing your first guests. Creating your property listing is technically simple enough. Platforms like Airbnb and VRBO make it easy to get your property in front of guests. But helping it stand out, especially when your rental is new and doesn’t have reviews, is more challenging.

Taking professional photographs of your property is important. So is crafting the perfect listing, including every feature that guests will want to know about, and highlighting what makes your property unique. The more time and effort you put into crafting the perfect listing, the more it will pay off in the long run with bookings.

4. Laying Ground Rules

All too often, vacation rental owners make one of two mistakes when setting rules for their property; they set too many rules, or they set too few. Setting too many rules can make it difficult for your guests to properly enjoy their stay. It can also turn away potential guests from your listing. But setting too few rules can wind up cutting into your profits when you have to fix damage or deal with late checkouts. 

It’s important to choose the rules that protect your property and the safety of your guests, while also considering the kinds of rules that would set off warning bells if you were checking into a rental. 

5. Overseeing Routine Maintenance

You’ve no doubt made a plan for keeping your rental property clean and fixing any accidental damage. If you aren’t planning to tackle those tasks on your own, you’ve likely chosen a rental management company to help. But don’t forget to also make sure that your management company is going to oversee routine maintenance, or that you’ll be handling it on your own.

It’s easy to overlook routine, necessary work. From replacing air filters to deep cleaning carpets, storing outdoor furniture in the winter, and stocking cleaning supplies, don’t forget to make time in your schedule and budget for this type of work—or make arrangements for your property management company to handle it.

Upgrade Your Vacation Rental and Airbnb Management

Managing a single vacation rental on your own can be time-consuming, stressful, and confusing. If you have a family, a full-time job, or other obligations, it can be even more so. Managing multiple properties or a whole portfolio on your own can wind up hurting your profits and tanking your rankings.

But partnering with the right vacation rental or Airbnb management company, like Vibrant Management, is the solution. We’ll handle everything for your property, from the routine to the unexpected, so you don’t have to.

Ready to learn more? Click here to learn more about our vacation rental management services.