When VRBO first began, its success grew from creating a marketplace for direct bookings between homeowners and renters. People could get to know the owner, and explore the features of their home. The homeowner had the chance to screen guests, while offering a personalized vacation experience. Using a simple subscription program, owners paid a low annual fee to advertise on the forum. This cornerstone of Vacation Rentals By Owner worked well for all, and the market took off.
Enticing revenues attracted major corporations who then took over this homegrown marketplace. VRBO is now owned by the Expedia Group, who also owns Hotels.com, Travelocity, Trivago, Hotwire and others.
They infused added advertising campaigns with the new “ver-bo” branding, diminishing the focus on “by owner”. On the other hand, they injected layers of added costs for both vacationers & homeowners. Guests pay VRBO a “service fee” ranging from 6-15% on top of the rental, and most individual owners also pay a percentage on each booking. This is known commonly as ‘double ending’ revenue streams. The result is higher costs for all.
Following the Covid pandemic, vacation rentals became even more desirable as a safer alternative for families to get away together. This lead to very high demand in 2021 and 2022. Seeing the revenue opportunities, many buyers jumped into the market and the supply of rental homes expanded. VRBO was too often the only real marketing channel (apart from Air BnB which we’ll explore later) available.
So what’s the problem? Well, apart from burdening costs, there is another catch. Given the huge number of listings now active, rising to the top is essential – and more challenging. To do so, two things are required beyond an appealing home. One, you must instantly accept any rental request. Two, you need to be rated as a Premier Host. Otherwise, your ad will be lost toward the bottom of hundreds of listings.
Pajaro Dunes Resort’s marketing team has mastered the strategies to achieve success on this forum and maintains Premier Host status for all of our listings. We still screen renters and protect our owners from folks seeking a “party home”, fraudsters using stolen credit cards, and those who don’t respect our properties. We find the genuine guests seeking a family vacation and take exceptional care of them! When the want to return, they often re-book directly with us.
If you’re wanting to attract NEW renters, VRBO is an established & productive option. This can augment our bank of over 50,000 well know, loyal guests, and is especially helpful to newer members of our rental program. It must be done carefully and professionally – and that’s our expertise.
