Today, we’ll be diving deep into the STR industry to break down booking windows, booking curves, and booking pacing for you.

Highlighting 5 unique vacation rentals that you should visit to draw some inspiration from in 2024.

The landscape of the short-term rental industry has changed dramatically over the last five years, but in no other realm have there been more changes than in the legal sphere. More and more, towns and cities are enacting legislation that limits the way that vacation rentals can operate. In New York City, for instance, a series of regulations came into effect in September of 2023 that prohibits owners from renting out their properties for less than 30 days, among other restrictions.

Traveling is for everyone, even those who have disabilities that require special accommodations. More and more these days, the hospitality industry is leaning into accessibility, and that couldn’t be more true than in the short-term rental industry. Not only have both Airbnb and Vrbo added in filter categories to cater to those who need accommodations, but there’s also the fact that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires accommodations to be provided in certain very specific short-term rental situations as well.

In the short-term rental industry, beauty often wins out over features and functionality. After all, most people are choosing vacation rentals based upon a handful of photos, so those that are the most visually appealing typically have an edge over those that aren’t as focused on surface appearance. This is why staging your home for photos is such an important, and yet often overlooked, step in the process of listing your home or updating your rental listing.

The relationship between the real estate market and the short-term rental industry is one that should not be overlooked or ignored by vacation rental owners. During the post-pandemic travel boom, for instance, the supply of short-term rentals jumped significantly due to investors who took advantage of shockingly-low interest rates to purchase property, and this had a major impact on the vacation rental industry as a whole.

Running a short-term rental business is not all sunshine and roses–sometimes, there are situations where you’ll be ready to pull your hair out from frustration. One area that often can cause points of tension is dealing with difficult guests. People come in all shapes and sizes, but sometimes your personality or way of doing things will clash with someone staying on your property, and that can cause big problems if it’s not handled properly.

If you’re not an expert in the hospitality industry or have never rented out a vacation home before, the amount of industry terms and acronyms you’ll encounter can be a bit overwhelming in the beginning. But the first step to becoming an expert is gaining the basic knowledge and fundamentals, and that’s why we’re starting a blog series titled “Know Your Industry Terms”--to help owners like you to further understand how the short-term rental industry works.

Everyone’s heard of huge national events like the Superbowl and Coachella, but what about smaller, more localized events like the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival or the Kimball Art Festival in Park City? Every year, thousands of travelers head to destinations to attend highly-localized and yet still widely-known events. As a vacation rental owner, you’re in exactly the right position to leverage these local events to maximize your revenue and potentially earn yearly bookings from travelers for the foreseeable future.

Floods, mudslides, hailstorms, tornadoes, wildfires, earthquakes–these are just a handful of the different types of natural disasters that can occur without warning and cause damage to your short-term rental. Plus, the additional stress of having guests staying at your vacation rental when a natural disaster occurs can be nearly insurmountable.

Chances are, your vacation rental is already booked for the holiday season ahead, but there are an infinite number of ways to make the holidays more special for your guests to ensure that you have a strong and profitable season. If you’re located in a mountain town or winter getaway, like Breckenridge or Park City, this is your best season of the year, so it’s vital to make sure that all goes according to plan.

The first snows have begun to fall across the country, heralding the end of the fall season and the beginning of the cold winter months. For many vacation rental owners, the busy time of year is about to begin as travelers flock to mountain towns for a bit of cold-weather fun, so now’s the time to prepare your vacation home for the season ahead.

Owning a successful vacation rental is a numbers game, but with so many fees and costs associated with running one, it can be hard to get yourself out of the red when everything is said and done. However, one solid strategy for ensuring profitability is to minimize the costs that you take on as a short-term rental owner, which will leave you with a much bigger chunk of change at the end of the day.

Establishing a successful business in today’s day and age can be tricky, but one thing that will give a leg up in the short-term rental industry is building a brand. Branding is no longer just for large companies looking to stand out from the crowd–it is now a necessity for growth and long-term profitability for any business. But what if you’re a newbie to marketing and aren’t sure where to start?

Vacation rental marketing is harder than it appears–it’s not just a “if you build it, they will come” type of situation that it was in the beginning of the short-term rental boom. But with so much competition on the market, how do you differentiate your rental from everything else out there? And how do you do so in a way that directly aims at the guests you most want to attract?

Creating an enticing and attractive Airbnb listing is an art, but if you’re not a professional writer, you might be feeling a little overwhelmed and out of your depth. Many short-term rental owners struggle to come up with a title that is both eye-catching and within the short character limitations that Airbnb imposes, but there are a few ways to ensure that your listing title stands out.

In the short-term rental industry, there’s always been a lot of chatter about the best minimum nightly stay requirements as a means of maximizing revenue. However, one strategy that most vacation rental owners overlook is allowing longer stays.

In the beginning of 2023, predictions for the short-term rental industry were all doom and gloom. With a possible recession on the horizon, soaring supply, and falling occupancy rates, the signs did not look at all promising for vacation rental owners, but fortunately, almost none of the predicted “Airbnbust” has come to pass. But there have been changes in the industry, along with signs of more things to come, and it always helps to be ready for any shift in the economic headwinds.

On vacation rental listing sites like Airbnb and Vrbo, it’s essential to earn good reviews from guests who have stayed with you. But one feature of these sites that often goes ignored by owners is the ability to leave reviews for guests. Many hosts only utilize guest reviews when they need to report a bad experience or problem guest, but there are multiple benefits to writing reviews for your guests.

Owning a unique property could be a boon to your short-term rental business and it can even help keep you afloat during tough economic times. Today, we’ll explore the benefits of owning a unique vacation property and give you a few tips on creating the unique vacation rental of your guest’s dreams.