Some of this might be interesting.
VRBO was the first in the game, and started with vacation homeowners renting entire houses. The business started about 20 years ago. They were acquired about 10 years ago by Homeaway, who had carved out a niche in what were more upscale homes. HA also own vacationtentals.com. HA was started by an experienced tech entrepreneur.
When you list your home, you can buy a "bundled" deal for both VRBO and Homeaway, which is why you often see indentical listings on both. They have also been pretty aggressive at going after rental agents and property managers to capture that vacation market. We find that every rental agent we know, in about a dozen vacation spots we return to, now uses both platforms to support their businesses. It's easy, it works, and it has tremendous reach. You don't get a better deal by approaching a rental agent and trying to book "directly." They would not risk losing their VRBO/HA contract.
We know a couple of younger couples who are just coining money as property manager/rental agents on the platforms. They have been really smart in terms of how they have gone about it. Adding all sorts of a la carte services for both owners and renters.
Airbnb started as a way to rent a room in your house. And they still have a great number of those types of listings. They also compete directly with the others on all sorts of homes, condos and apartments. One of my family members sent me a listing for a vacation home on the platform, as a joke. "Family Reunion?" The home lists for $15k a night!
Airbnb is growing like gangbusters. It's a hot employer with a market cap of something like $15Bil, I know a couple of people there. I was approached to be an early investor on all three of these platforms, and like an idiot, didn't. I didn't see the fact that this model would explode, and that they would become the base for so many businesses.
This isn't like EBay or Craigslist. The risk is really borne by the property owners and agents. They have no idea if the renter will trash the property. However it's evidently very rare, and if the renter does trash it, they will be prohibited from renting on the platform again. Plus, as mentioned reviews and ratings are everything. It seems to "just work", though there have to be a few horror stories out there.
You have the full horizon for owner circumstances. The occasional rental, to nearly full timers. As an example, we have friends who now own eight properties that they rent a ton. They spend two weeks or so a year at most of them. They really know their stuff. He is a retired high end residential builder/developer and she is an interior designer. They research, then buy right, improve things, and count the money. It's a great business.
We have friends who rent what is essentially a bedroom suite in their home, and they do well with it and have met some great people. All positive. It pays a lot of bills.
As I have said before, the losers are long term renters. The inventory keeps dropping in any vacation spot that has close to four season activity. It also seems like most of those locations are wrestling with how to manage the issues. Zoning, taxes, etc.
I really understand that issue as we have two adult kids in that squeeze. It's a real one.
As customers, we are all over using these platforms. Just had dinner with friends who were in Europe for six weeks recently. All through VRBO. No glitches.
I was a real skeptic about this at first. Lost that quickly. I am sure it does not work for everybody. We find ourselves staying in very nice accommodations and what we feel are value prices. We don't need the services of a hotel, for example.
Amazing to me to see how fast it's changed that world.
VRBO was the first in the game, and started with vacation homeowners renting entire houses. The business started about 20 years ago. They were acquired about 10 years ago by Homeaway, who had carved out a niche in what were more upscale homes. HA also own vacationtentals.com. HA was started by an experienced tech entrepreneur.
When you list your home, you can buy a "bundled" deal for both VRBO and Homeaway, which is why you often see indentical listings on both. They have also been pretty aggressive at going after rental agents and property managers to capture that vacation market. We find that every rental agent we know, in about a dozen vacation spots we return to, now uses both platforms to support their businesses. It's easy, it works, and it has tremendous reach. You don't get a better deal by approaching a rental agent and trying to book "directly." They would not risk losing their VRBO/HA contract.
We know a couple of younger couples who are just coining money as property manager/rental agents on the platforms. They have been really smart in terms of how they have gone about it. Adding all sorts of a la carte services for both owners and renters.
Airbnb started as a way to rent a room in your house. And they still have a great number of those types of listings. They also compete directly with the others on all sorts of homes, condos and apartments. One of my family members sent me a listing for a vacation home on the platform, as a joke. "Family Reunion?" The home lists for $15k a night!
Airbnb is growing like gangbusters. It's a hot employer with a market cap of something like $15Bil, I know a couple of people there. I was approached to be an early investor on all three of these platforms, and like an idiot, didn't. I didn't see the fact that this model would explode, and that they would become the base for so many businesses.
This isn't like EBay or Craigslist. The risk is really borne by the property owners and agents. They have no idea if the renter will trash the property. However it's evidently very rare, and if the renter does trash it, they will be prohibited from renting on the platform again. Plus, as mentioned reviews and ratings are everything. It seems to "just work", though there have to be a few horror stories out there.
You have the full horizon for owner circumstances. The occasional rental, to nearly full timers. As an example, we have friends who now own eight properties that they rent a ton. They spend two weeks or so a year at most of them. They really know their stuff. He is a retired high end residential builder/developer and she is an interior designer. They research, then buy right, improve things, and count the money. It's a great business.
We have friends who rent what is essentially a bedroom suite in their home, and they do well with it and have met some great people. All positive. It pays a lot of bills.
As I have said before, the losers are long term renters. The inventory keeps dropping in any vacation spot that has close to four season activity. It also seems like most of those locations are wrestling with how to manage the issues. Zoning, taxes, etc.
I really understand that issue as we have two adult kids in that squeeze. It's a real one.
As customers, we are all over using these platforms. Just had dinner with friends who were in Europe for six weeks recently. All through VRBO. No glitches.
I was a real skeptic about this at first. Lost that quickly. I am sure it does not work for everybody. We find ourselves staying in very nice accommodations and what we feel are value prices. We don't need the services of a hotel, for example.
Amazing to me to see how fast it's changed that world.
