Expanding your vacation rental business beyond Airbnb/VRBO into the world of direct booking, can increase your profit, make you less reliant on third-party OTAs, and give you more freedom. As a property owner, there are multiple paths to turn your vacation rental from a simple Airbnb listing into an independent small business.

Hire a Property Management Company

A professional property management company (PPM) specializing in short-term rentals is a popular choice for property owners who aren’t interested in the day-to-day tasks of managing a rental.

In addition to managing the ongoing activities of running a vacation property, PPMs also have the expertise and resources to provide services like marketing and promotion. Some PPMs offer services a-la-carte, and others specialize in full service property management, including booking, communication with guests, cleaning, and more.

Property management services can be expensive - typically, the PPM will keep 10%-50% of the earnings on the property. For hosts who are eager to earn income from their property, but don’t want the responsibility of managing the property, the cost might be worth it.

Want to learn more about PPMs?

Purchase a Property Management System

For hosts wanting to be more involved in managing their property, a property management system (PMS) is a less costly and more hands-on alternative to hiring a PPM.

There are a large variety of property management systems created specifically for short-term rentals. A PMS gives you access to the entire suite of tools that you need to take bookings, process payments, and communicate with your guests. Many PMSs include a website builder, helping hosts to easily create a vacation rental website with payment processing and booking capabilities. Calendar integration tools keep track of bookings from your Airbnb/VRBO listings as well as your direct booking site, making it easy to update your listing across multiple platforms.

A property management system is generally less expensive than hiring PPM, and since it includes everything in one package, is less labor intensive than sourcing each of these elements individually. Most PMSs also give you access to support teams and customer service to help you when you get stuck.

Usually PMSs require a one-time startup fee and a recurring monthly charge. Some hosts may prefer to save money by handling their direct booking capabilities completely independently.

Do-it-yourself

Managing your vacation rental without the help of a PPM or a PMS may be an inexpensive option, but it also requires a significant time investment.

The do-it-yourself (DIY) approach requires you to create your own website for your property and source your own calendar integration, payment processor, and other tools needed to take online bookings. Selecting a solution for each aspect of the booking process independently gives you complete control over your business and allows you to customize it exactly to your own needs.

Whichever path towards direct booking you choose to take, the Nofie Host Academy has resources to help you get there.