Today in Vacay: The Short-Term Rental Debate

We created the Today in Vacay series to keep readers up-to-date on the rapidly changing trends and updates impacting the short-term rental space.

Here’s what’s happening Today in Vacay:

Good neighbors: the short-term rental debate heats up

Vacation rentals bring in business to local economies. It’s a good thing! But, in many areas, residents are up in arms because of what they see as the erosion of their neighborhoods. That’s the story in San Diego right now. For some (residents), the problem is that there are no on-site managers. When neighbors believe that the property guests are being too loud and have no one to call to get assistance, they get frustrated. How to remedy this? One idea is to provide neighbors with your company information. Just leave a flyer with information about your rental business and policies, plus a number they can call if they have a question. It will go a long way toward being a good neighbor.

Be the reliable kind

What would make your short-term rental properties exactly the kind people want to find? You could get the info by reading the reviews from all one million properties on TripAdvisor. But that would not be trip-advisable. Instead, find out what the people who read all those reviews for a living have to say. Frommers.com has the goods in a new article, 9 Tips for Finding a Reliable Vacation Rental. Yes, they said reliable. Not super exciting. But super predictable. According to TJ Mahony, the chief executive of FlipKey, “The consistent challenge we hear from travelers is predictability.” So how do you become the reliable kind of vacation rental property? Besides reading all the tips in the article, check out Kigo vacation rental software . It's all about making your business run reliably—for you AND your guests.

Crank up the rank on TripAdvisor

Ever wonder how TripAdvisor ranks your properties over others? It’s all in the algorithm! Yes, TripAdvisor looks at rankings as a big math problem, and they use a proprietary formula—which they’re not about to share with you—to solve it. But you can help them solve it in your favor with tips from the travel blogger Leonardo: How Trip Advisor’s Algorithm Works & How to Rank Higher. Once you read it, you’ll find the algorithm isn’t all that mysterious after all. For example, the more recent a guest’s ratings, the more priority it gets on TripAdvisor. That means you can raise your rank by regularly and promptly encouraging your guests to rate you. You’ll find lots of practical ideas in the article, so read the whole thing. And make your properties rank-worthy with a Kigo vacation rental management website.

Stay tuned for more short-term rental news updates from Today in Vacay!