Bill's Beneficial Blog

Year(s) In Review - Lodging Newsletter December 31, 2022

By Wm, May
Published: 12/31/22 Topics: Advertising, Education, Lodging Newsletter Comments: 0

I haven't done a "year in review" for many years, so maybe it's time for 2022. Or better yet, a three years in review because the last three years have been strange, startling, spooky and suspicious, too.

In February 2020, Covid arrived to teach us all the definition of the word "Unpredictable."

Although college was long ago, I remember my esteemed English literature professor's delight in explaining Shakespeare's "theory of nothingness." It seems "nothing" fascinated the bard as the presence of absence.

Professor Virginian Younger explained, when there ought to be abundance - of will, or judgment, or understanding - there was nothing. It looms large in the lives of so many of old Bill Shakespeare's characters, so powerful in part because it is universal. Not even kings are exempt.

King Lear: A third more opulent than your sisters? Speak.

Cordelia: Nothing, my lord.

Lear: Nothing?

Cordelia: Nothing.

Lear: Nothing will come of nothing. Speak again.

The scene is one of the tensest, most suspenseful moments in theater, a concentration of tremendous force in a single word - Nothing. It is the ultimate negation, tossed between the old king and his beloved youngest daughter, compounded and multiplied through repetition. Nothing. Zero.

So rather than pretend to predict, let's look back a few years in our little world of lodging. If the past was unpredictable, as Shakespeare wrote in 1505, surely the future will also be.

Don't think of this letter as doom and gloom. The future of our industry is ever upward. While the details are indeed unpredictable and the growth graph will have ups and downs, there is one certainty:

Guests will want to visit wonderful locations, will bring their families and friends, and will often prefer to stay in private vacation rental homes provided by professional vacation rental managers.

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Twenty years ago only 10% of the traveling public had stayed in a private vacation rental home, with the majority being in resorts or ski areas. By 2019 it had grown steadily to over 40%. That was predictable.

No one listened as Bill Gates warned the world of what a pandemic could do, until Covid overtook our lives in February of 2020. All business plummeted, especially travel, of course. We hoped for the best, but presumed the worst.

Just a few months later, humans (let's call them consumers) who could not fly around the world, and would not stay in common facilities like hotels, figured out they could break out by renting a private home at the ocean, the lake or in the mountains. They could bring their families, their pets and wander the area, while never seeing a soul.

Vacation rental lodging skyrocketed as did rental rates. Market awareness went to 60% very quickly, a growth of 50% seldom seen in business. Full-stack managers made more money for owners. And then real estate sales soared.

New second-home owners greatly increased the number of vacation rentals. Corporate vacation rental managers suspiciously promised owners ever increasing profit to list the homes. Software companies promoted the ease of being a landlord. It all sounded like a "Get Rich Quick" scheme.

Coincidentally, owner monitoring technology (Home automation) arrived promising noise, occupancy and other controls, all good things, without disclosing that managing vacation rental home requires boots on the ground, a trove of knowledge, and a genuine need to be hospitable.

All this happened while cities and counties continued their onslaught of new egregious and unnecessary regulations and even prohibitions, ignorantly that they were butchering the new tourism golden goose. Their false promise that stifling visitors would cause second-home owners to rent them as "Affordable Housing" was ignorant.

At long last, the "normalcy" of prior years has returned in predictable ways. Occupancy and rates are again subject to weather in the area, the quality of attractions, the inevitable inflation, and home purchase interest rates. Competitor rates, features and flexibility will intrude.

For that reason, full-stack vacation rental managers must again offer specials and discounts, must communicate more often with email and direct mail, can push for direct-bookings, but also must kowtow to monolithic vacation rental advertising websites. All to attract the flow of visitors, which is thinning.

And they must do all of that while retaining the latest technological tools they have adopted in recent years, while paying staff members more, while increasing instant guest services, while providing more guest and owner services and, in short making their "product" better at every opportunity.

Naturally, not all managers will commit to being great at their craft. Some will dawdle, be overly frugal and resist what is inevitable, believing they can live in the past. Some will not keep up. But now more than ever, while the future is as unpredictable as in King Lear's day, it is obvious that only those who embrace every possible opportunity will succeed.

That is what we've learned in the past three years.

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Author: Wm, May, Vortex VIP
Blog #: 0935 – 12/31/22

Sponsor: Vortex VIP – – VortexVIP.com

Economic Changes - Lodging Newsletter December 16, 2022 Special Edition

By Wm, May
Published: 12/16/22 Topics: Lodging Newsletter Comments: 0

Every now and then, we send out letters to property owners with news, information and reminders. This one discusses the effect that economic changes are having on the vacation rental industry. Everyone wants to know - what does it mean to their vacation rental income?

Vacation rental demand has gone up and down for decades. Occupancy, rates and inventory (the number of available homes) has risen for decades. In the past, major factors were the general economy, real estate recession and even 9-11.

It was a surprise to everyone that Covid caused a large jump, faster than ever before. Now that Covid has waned, industry research has begun to show a slow down, especially since September of this year.

Although nothing in life is predictable, we do monitor every possible factor and take steps to achieve the highest possible income for owners no matter the external circumstances.

Nothing diminishes the diligent work all staff members here do. But we do want to share what we observe in the industry over time.

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It is likely you have heard and read about large layoffs at tech companies in the Northwest, including Google, Microsoft, Meta (Facebook) and others. The giant travel companies, too, have laid off staff, including the large corporate vacation rental management firms, because they are so wildly unprofitable already. AirBnB and other websites are under fire with regulations and host dissatisfaction.

Several months ago, our usual newsletter titled "We Predict" described how inflation, interest rates, home sales slow down, and other factors have now arisen.

It must be said that the future is unpredictable, but our recent newsletter trumpeted the things we can predict - such as our continued dedication to keeping homes clean and safe, advertising absolutely everywhere, and in pursuing top income for owners - no matter what.

But if you are wondering how some of the economic changes are affecting the industry, our region, and our work in particular, that answer is this: Nothing has ever diminished our commitment, since starting decades ago, but by watching the "lay of the land" we can navigate the future better.

VARIABLES

There are general factors which are indeed hurting consumers, causing some to travel less. But there are specific details that are affecting vacation rentals in particular. Here are our observations:

Inflation - Vacation Rentals have always been heavily used by families, who may be sharing the cost. If one family member can't afford the trip, the entire family may decline to come. Vacation Rentals are still a bargain for groups of 4, 8, 12 or more. But no one has unlimited funds. Vacations are easier to cut than food for the family. Eventually, inflation may benefit rentals.

Gas Prices - Most of our guests "drive to" the homes they rent. Compared to the total cost of a 2- to 10-day vacation, the gas is only a part, but gas cost is very visible and some guests will avoid going to save that money.

Layoffs - This is a double whammy for folks affected by inflation who lose their jobs and then watch their living expenses rise. For years, it has seemed that tech travelers were immune to certain downturns. But most are highly paid and dropping 10,000 or 100,000 potential guests out of the Northwest Economy is being felt by every industry. Even the juggernaut that is Amazon, is affected.

Inventory - As rentals surged, many owners put their second homes into vacation rental for the first time (a national trend) and many others purchased homes to get in on the industry. Indeed, profits were high due to Covid and had remained so during the first 2 years.

Rates - During Covid, vacation rental rates were escalated by savvy managers, like us, who have mastered dynamic rates and yield management. Rates jumped, but at the time, guests were determined to travel and happy to pay the going price to rent homes.

Investors - There are always "experts" promoting what is new and, hopefully, good to buy, so they can make a buck. Many of our competitors fell into the trap of promoting homes as investments rather than as treasured family second homes.

Some investors paid more than historical profits. Perhaps those investments will still pay off for people who bought to profit rather than to enjoy. Although it has happened regularly, no one knows if rents will match the inflated home purchase prices.

Rent By Owners (RBOs) - Now as demand decreases another variable harms rates. People who self-manage their homes from afar and who rely on too few vacation rental listing websites, begin to panic and lower rates in hopes of corralling a share of the shrinking visitor pool.

Guests are more motivated by rate than ever and lowering rates becomes necessary to compete. What seemed to some RBOs as a "get rich quick scheme", turns out to be a work-all-the-time reality. Some appear to be in a "race for the bottom."

Markets - Because we operate in a number of regional destinations, we can see what others cannot. Some places are more affected by all these factors than others.

Locations closer to where the guest lives may do a bit better than those an 8-hour drive away. Destinations with festivals and events will draw crowds as usual. Those with lifestyle activities (such as skiing) will still bring in visitors, so long as lift ticket prices don't go into the stratosphere. Urban locations still seem to be getting a reasonable number of visitors, who often come for non-vacation reasons.

In the end, the ups and downs of occupancy between similar locations is impossible to understand or to adjust. But we watch it with a microscope.

COVID SHIFT

Shortly after Covid arrived, and as consumers fell victim to "Cabin Fever" (meaning lock down in their own homes), they figured out they could go to the mountain, lake or ocean to stay in a private home AND never see another human.

The percentage of Americans who had stayed at a vacation rental grew from 40% to 60% in short order, which is a market growth of 50%, a pace previously unseen.

With Covid, people could not travel long distances. Places like Europe, Mexico, Florida, and Hawaii were devastated. But those locations are a tremendous draw for visitors. Some are once-in-a-lifetime trips.

While unable to get to those places, guests stayed closer to home. "Drive-To" places benefitted from this change. But now travelers are anxious to go to places previously closed to them. Perhaps logically, airlines are reporting exploding growth to "Fly to" destinations for that reason. Long delayed trips are being taken - the economy be damned.

Doing the math, it is clear that local places benefitted from the lockdown and fear of Covid. Now the pent up demand for fly-to locations is drawing some travelers away from local vacations.

Over time, it is expected that the balance between drive-to and fly-to trips will adjust yet again.

FOR CLIENTS

So what can clients do to compete in this now more competitive vacation rental industry? The answer is the same as it always has been:

Use a manager who employs every possible onsite, advertising and marketing tool to gain guests. That is what we do and we do it better than others.

Maintain the home in great condition with quality textiles, furniture, kitchen wares and amenities.

Add amenities if you don't have them - like hot tubs, large TV's and more. This tactic has always produced income to pay for the costs and make extra profits.

Don’t shoot the messenger as we work overtime, pushing to maintain income and offset the economy.

THE FUTURE

It has always been our mantra to explain why someone should buy a vacation rental and why not. We don’t want to exaggerate or pontificate.

In our minds - the only reason to buy a second home remains - as it has been for decades - to do so to enjoy and use it. Families get to pick exactly what they want, outfit the homes as they like, bring family and friends together, enjoy activities together and get first pick of the dates.

And then - and only then - the goal is to have the home pay for some or all of the ownership costs. This has been a reliable process over the years. But it must be said, that after decades in the industry, it is obvious that profits go up and down due to many uncontrollable variables.

Nothing has ever decreased our commitment. We have never laid off staff. We advertise in every possible place. We manipulate rates tightly and provide round the clock guest services. Better yet, we have staff who love being in the hospitality business. In the end, that is why clients hire us and what will benefit your property.

But of course, vacation rental lodging managers have no control over any of these market variables, even though we confront and work to offset them vigorously every day. The economy may not be predictable, but our work is 100% reliable.

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Author: Wm, May, Vortex VIP
Blog #: 0936 – 12/16/22

Sponsor: Vortex VIP – – VortexVIP.com

Booking Window - Lodging Newsletter November 30, 2022

By Wm, May
Published: 11/30/22 Topics: Lodging Newsletter, Websites Comments: 0

In prior newsletters a good amount of space has been devoted to explaining our "Seasonal Strategic Distributed & Dynamic" (S2D2) rate setting super software.

When version 3.0 was released in January of 2020, it proved its mettle by predicting and HUGELY adjusting rates (unfortunately downward) when Covid hit in February. But weeks later, it jumped at the chance to pump up rates as guests flocked to vacation rentals.

FYI, we do govern the algorithm tightly each day to fine tune rates, such as last minute discounts or increases, far-ahead rates, and especially by comparison to comparable properties. It’s all about supply and demand to stay ahead of those trends.

There are several other factors that affect rates. Those include length-of-stay, per-person-occupancy, and even pets allowed. Others are Sales Window and Booking Windows. This letter discusses how we deal with those variables to increase income.

In prior newsletters and in printed materials, we have pontificated repeatedly on property details that make or break rates, occupancy and owner income - like great locations, attractive furniture and fixtures, HDR photos, 3D tours, plus customer service, instant onsite service and more.

The S2D2 system can also see and adjust rates based on length-of-stay, per-person-occupancy, and even pets allowed. But "Sales Window" and "Booking Window" may be other big contributors to profit.

P.S. Last month’s letter adopted the term "Full Stack" manager to describe managers who have every management arrow in their quivers, comparing the job of vacation rental management to that of a "Full Stack" software engineer.

A few engineers carped that there is no way that lodging management could ever be as complex as building a robust software platform or intricate website code.

We beg to differ and invite any of our engineer friends to come work with us for a month to see that what we do is every bit as complicated as what they do. Except that we do it 24-7-365 and in rain, sleet, snow, heat which no coder would ever want to do.

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Sales Window - All home owners want to pay management firms on a commission fee basis to link the manager’s goals to theirs. When revenue goes up, owner and manager both win. So it is necessary to set a length of time during which the management firm is obligated to advertise, market and pursue "Sales" (bookings for the home).

Like most businesses, management requires giant up-front time in meeting with owners and (dare I say) educating them on what to expect and how vacation rentals are operated for maximum results. Onboarding must be carefully done.

The giant listing websites, like VRBO, AirBnB, Expedia and others, want owners to believe that operating a vacation rental is a "Get rich quick" scheme. In fact, earning good profits is best when a professional Manager shoulders the entire role by investing many hours and lots of expense - all up front in anticipation of earning a commission.

Over time, profits for the business owner (property owner) grow, guests return, operations become smoother and interruptions fewer. A longer sales window, allows the manager to offer their lowest commission, then to rely on steady earning as they push the property forward.

Booking Window - The time between which a guest places their booking order, and the day they arrive is called the booking window. Hotels and resorts usually set that between 12 and 24 months, seldom longer for fear rates set far in advance may prove undesirable far in the future.

The Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas adjusts rates of their 6,800 rooms every hour, 24 hours a day. What could change that would affect rates in sin city? World news, competitor rates, and even if they booked a 5,000 person convention for a week next year.

Think of the Booking Window as a typical Bell graph that constantly moves forward on 12-month schedule, starting such as on January 1st, 2022. On that day, bookings are received for December, but proportionately only a few. As the year rolls forward the number of bookings for December will ramp up. But then as the number of available dates decrease, the number of bookings will decrease until, on December 31st when no more room nights are available

The bell curve graph changes constantly. During Covid it become terribly short. It has now lengthened but is not back to normal. And it varies by destinations. This means that having a reasonably wide window is how properties secure the maximum number of bookings.

Vacation Rentals - The optimum booking window for home rentals is between 13 and 24 months. Setting a shorter window ignores the bell curve demand. Setting a firm end date decreases bookings by losing guests who insist on planning ahead. Of course, once bookings are accepted it is not considerate and probably illegal to cancel bookings that guests make in good faith.

While a booking window is innately understood by hotels, it is a new idea to vacation rental owners who must plan ahead when they want to stop renting out their homes. It takes time to ramp up and start renting, but it also takes time to ramp down and be done with bookings. Plan ahead.

Managers set commissions based on a Booking Window that rolls forward. If a shorter window is desired, that is to be disclosed to the manager prior to engagement. Changing later could result in higher percentage and retroactive fees. Cutting short an agreed upon existing Booking window would require cancelling legitimate bookings and that must be avoided.

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Author: Wm, May, Vortex VIP
Blog #: 0934 – 11/30/22

Sponsor: Vortex VIP – – VortexVIP.com

Full Stack Manager - Lodging Newsletter September 30, 2022

By Wm, May
Published: 09/30/22 Topics: Lodging Newsletter Comments: 0

Today, I would like to introduce you to some brand new terminology. In the software industry, corporations are anxious to hire what are called "Full Stack" software engineers.

Surprisingly most software programmers don't know everything about the hardware or software they are creating, designing or working on. There is simply too much to learn.

Some programmers are skilled at building the interface you see on a website, but cannot create the databases necessary to power it. Other staff members can tweak databases to function fabulously, but don't know how to design a beautiful functioning website users will love. Then there are technical staff who manage the hardware, perform backups, connect to the internet, and speed up performance.

Each engineer spends every day just keeping up on scientific advances of their own narrow niche. Doing more requires excess study, comprehension and mastery.

So, it is the rare individual who can master every skill and grasp how to ensure all those parts work together seamlessly. That person is called a "Full Stack" engineer, the highest paid professional in the group.

Full Stack Vacation Rental Managers - Vacation Renting now requires Full-Stack Managers. Except every newly fledged property manager figures they have it all figured out. Even though they have no experience, no training, no education.

Of course, they did buy a book, they did watch some videos, they did stay in a rental, and they did read all these articles that promote how the vacation rentals are a road to "Get rich quick." (Books are not so foolish as to use those words.)

Is it the rare experienced, studied and intelligent vacation rental manager who has mastered every possible skill sufficiently to be called a "Full Stack" Vacation Rental Manager, and who knows the job requires a never-ending pursuit of more smarts.

This month's newsletter outlines why our partners are some of the few "Full Stack" firms around. And why you should hire us, if you have not done so already.

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Full Stack vacation rental managers study, train, evaluate, innovate and search for what's new and what works.

Hospitality - No one should manage lodging properties unless they love being hospitable. Frankly, not everyone is suited to the job of hosting guests to feel at home in the homes.

Staffing - Finding, nurturing and retaining people willing to work any day of the year, cleaning up messes, and doing it in bad weather while continuing to smile, is what keeps us going, while non-full stack managers have a revolving door of unreliable workers.

Cautious - Serving consumers requires managers to be careful with advertising, booking guests, preparing homes, providing customer service, while requiring guests to behave. Novice managers put homes at risk.

Education - There are books, manuals, videos and seminars for newbie managers (and owners), but they can contain self-serving "guidance" from authors only looking to promote themselves. No one method or philosophy works well in every geographic area, and we can prove that.

Commitment - People new to management learn this is not the usual 9AM to 5PM job. Online websites churn out bookings, inquiries come around the clock, guests text and email at all hours, electricity goes out, appliances fail. Managers who do not wok basically all the time, lose money for property owners. Full-Stack managers are responsible to handle such things 24-7-365.

Technology - Advertising on hundreds of websites sounds good but integrating rates, dates, details and credit cards must be accurate and timely, to avoid double-bookings and unhappy guests. Our on-staff engineers have been mastering this process for decades, while other managers rely on canned inflexible software so their clients lose.

Yield - Dynamic rates, determined by supply and demand telemetry, are new to vacation rentals, but Full-Stack managers use them to create the highest earnings per home. Even though powered by artificial intelligence, yield management is not "set it and forget it." If your manager does not have a rate guru, your income goes down.

Creativity - While others now proclaim the use these, we have used HDR photos, 3D Tours, graphics, printed materials, watercolor floor plans, and a custom booking website for every property well before anyone else. Non-full stock managers are not even aware this must be done.

Feedback - Full-Stack managers know that perfect is not possible, but must be pursued. Houses, advertising, bookings and guests are complicated. We motivate staff by never raising our voices, never belittling. We do great things and fix what needs it. Novices do not follow the Golden Rule, as we do, which is their mistake.

Flexibility - Although other managers have promised "full service" management, with momentous changes to our industry, most never did and still do not. Our services vary from a-la-carte to full service to fit each owners' preferences and with fees equally as flexible.

Our team is not perfect, but we are perfectly suited to strive 365 days a year to do just that.

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Author: Wm, May, Vortex VIP
Blog #: 0927 – 09/30/22

Sponsor: Vortex VIP – – VortexVIP.com

We Predict - Lodging Newsletter August 31, 2022

By Wm, May
Published: 08/31/22 Topics: Comments: 0

Can you believe it has been 1,000 days since Covid-19 erupted? And every vacation rental owner continues to ask, "What is the future?"

Our first office opened in 1964 and many staffers have been in the industry for decades. Well before Covid, we remember the 2008 real estate depression, the 9-11 tragedy, periodic bouts of inflation, and the effect of outrageously high interest rates. Dare I say, some of us even remember how the 1980 Mount Saint Helens eruption shut down the Northwest United States.

But we have always lived by the old slogan, "Be Prepared." And that allowed us to walk through the Covid shutdown, and then to sprint as guests came rushing back, when they realized they could still "get away" by renting a private home.

Since then, there have been fits and starts, with quarantines, vaccines helping, and variants intervening. Then, travelers realizing they could work from home or a rental home! But now, employers are demanding employees return to the office.

Twenty years ago, only 10% of the public had ever stayed in a vacation rental home. Over two decades, by 2019, the market share grew to 40% percent. But since Covid, the share has jumped up to 60% percent. An astounding growth of 50% in just two years.

But the number of homes available to rent has also exploded as interest rates plunged. The desire to own a second home has always been strong and the lure of having guests pay for it draws in an ever-increasing number of property buyers.

A thousand days ago, everyone in the world had to learn that the future is "Unpredictable." So what can be predicted? In this month's newsletter we brag about just a few of them:

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Eat desert future, the future is unpredictable. The economy, inflation, gas prices, more rental homes, and employees returning to the office, are impacting vacation rentals. And yet we can predict these things for sure:

At 2am a guest will call demanding help operating the TV remote control.

When guests get locked up, we'll drive out to help them get in.

When VRBO, AirBnB or the others change the rules yet again, we'll adapt.

When Visa tries to grant an unearned credit, we'll get it reversed.

When snowstorms block roads, we'll listen to guests cuss us out for it.

We will answer hundreds of phone calls about where the nearest bar is.

Garbage will be toted away. How can they eat AND drink so much?

Hundreds of booking websites will be built for every vacation home.

Thousands of miles will be driven to HDR photograph homes year round.

Drones will fly, 3D Cameras will turn, and Floor Plans will be designed.

Staff will climb on roofs to sweep away limbs from storms.

Massive sums will be collected in taxes and carefully sent to the Giovanna.

Experts will evaluate the 100,000 fresh competitive rates we import each morning.

Our S2D2 algorithm will parse rates to get maximum occupancy and income for owners.

Staff training and collaboration will continue. Which is why they earn nice tips.

When electricity goes out in the area, we will politely explain there is nothing we can do.

Guests will sob on the phone when warned to evacuate due to a forest fire.

We will wash thousands of towels, sheets and pillow cases.

Bookings will be audited, accounted for and statements issued accurately.

Phones will get answered every day of the year. The help desk will help.

Staff members will work every weekend and every holiday.

Our proprietary software will generate millions for property owners.

Our Esignature system will remind guests that there are rules.

Maintenance staff will get dispatched for instant service.

Staff will bustle to clean when guests depart late and arrive early.

A few guests will try to extort discounts when it rains.

And forgive me for saying - - -

Yards will be patrolled to pickup dodo from guests' best friends.

Floors, covered with sand and xbdwx! will be mopped.

We will scrape poop off of hundreds of toilets.

And sometimes off linens when youngsters have an accident.

And sometimes from places you don't want to know.

But luckily - - -

Owners will compliment field staff. And thank the help desk.

Owners will bank the extra money we send them.

And we will continue to love being hospitable.

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Author: Wm, May, Vortex VIP
Blog #: 0921 – 08/31/22

Sponsor: Vortex VIP – – VortexVIP.com

Parade Magazine - Lodging Newsletter July 31, 2022

By Wm, May
Published: 07/31/22 Topics: Lodging Newsletter Comments: 0

Parade Magazine, a newsprint tabloid, stuffed as a supplement into over 700 Sunday newspapers, has been published since 1941.

Over the years, the number of pages has continually shrunk to where it now is just 12 to 16 pages, mostly filled with ads and repetitive fluff.

Once a year, they publish a non-scientific survey of "What people earn" trending heavily toward celebrities, thinking readers want to know that Ben Affleck makes $55 million while new wife Jennifer Lopez pulls in a paltry $40 million.

Mixed into the article and photos are "Regular people", such as an "Intimacy Coordinator", "Doula and Lacation Consultant", and "Travel Nurses" - all of which serve to remind us all there is honor in all work.

Annual compensations range from $11,000 "Virtual Assistant" to $150,000 for a "TikTok Wood Chopper" (whatever that is), but the rewards are seldom commensurate to the skill, knowledge, hours or labor involved.

Without explanation, the articles never clarify if a person's income is gross for their business or net after expenses. The real question should be "What do they take home?"

Over the decades, "Get Rich Quick" schemes are innocently promoted by journalists anxious for a new "Story line" who are always "Late for a deadline."

That doesn't make their story thesis invalid, but it does mean "If it sounds too good to be true it probably is."

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This month's newsletter is about why you should buy a vacation home. And maybe why not. That decision is not based on the home, nor the vacation rental industry. It is determined by you, the buyer. Are your goals reasonable, based on reality, or just fired up by emotion?

LICK YOUR LIPS: Does the $327,297 annual income the Boise Idaho AriBnB host makes on four homes entice you? Does it sound like you can just rake in money after buying a house of your choice, with a modest down payment?

Maybe. But the article fails to disclose the unavoidable costs of ownership - mortgage payments, property insurance, utilities, housekeepers, preventative maintenance, and guest supplies. Did you know that AirBnB, VRBO and other websites will charge you a huge percentage commission?

SUCKERED: Those pesky websites have stealthily offloaded most of the rental duties to unwary hosts, requiring them to answer texts, emails and online questions every hour of the day, every day of the year, schedule cleaning, and in general give up your life to "be in business."

And for all that labor, you the owner get no salary. A VRBO survey said do-it-yourself managers spent "only" 500 hours a year. That means you work for free. While some homes produce a full cash-on-cash operating profit per year, not all do. And not after valuing your own home.

NO RISK: Smart owners hire professional managers to do those duties, because they can do the work more efficiently, operate nearby, handle the incessant guest services, reduce the risks, and will increase rental income in an amount that exceeds the fee they charge.

So, the problem isn't buying a vacation home, but it is necessary to understand exactly why you are doing so before you get started.

Although vacation rentals are a popular hot topic in consumer publications and websites, our advice to home owners has not waivered in the decades we have been managing properties.

BEST REASON: The best goal is to buy a home in the destination you love, where you want to spend vacations and holidays, where you can bring your family and friends, that you can outfit as you see fit (Think hot tub!) and get first pick of all the choice dates.

Then hire a "Full stack" vacation rental management company, to produce the highest possible net income, do all the work, and send you money every month - all without you lifting a finger.

HOBBY: This newsletter may sound self serving from we managers, but it is not. Just like our accountant and attorney, our obligation is to help every client do what is best for them.

When folks who have been self-managing walk in and demand our services, they mention many reasons, but the underlying problem is the same. They say something like, "It sounded like a hobby, but the non-stop needs of hosting is a real job."

To which we must say, yes this industry is a lot like a job - an all consuming position that will eat your time and pay you nothing in return.

There are no get rich quick schemes. But if you choose the right manager, follow their advice, and let them do all the work, you will have purchased a vacation home for all the right reasons.

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Author: Wm, May, Vortex VIP
Blog #: 0913 – 07/31/22

Sponsor: Vortex VIP – – VortexVIP.com

Technology Rules - Lodging Newsletter June 30, 2022

By Wm, May
Published: 06/30/22 Topics: Lodging Newsletter Comments: 0

Do you yearn for the "old days" when life was slower, more peaceful and serene?

It isn’t necessary to go all the way back to caveman day to realize how much lives have changed. Just a few comparisons are enough.

It was not long ago that telephones had dials, but it cost a dollar a minute to call from Seattle to New York. Cars had no seat belts and deaths in auto wrecks were far higher. Homes used far less electricity, but summers sweltered without air conditioning.

We were not interrupted with texting and emails and internet browsing, but the only way to find out most anything was to buy a book or visit a library for days on end. We are now better informed.

You may think that technical changes to the Vacation Rental industry are something new. You may not even have known of early changes that no one would abide by today.

There was a time when guests had to stop at an office and pickup towels and linens to make their own beds. There were cabins deep in the woods, where the toilet was in a smelly old outhouse. Some homes had no electricity, but, if you were lucky, there was a gas stove for cooking. Maybe you even had to pump water out of a well.

Long ago, vacation rental cabins were just a step or two up from camping. Nothing wrong with sleeping in a tent in the great outdoors, but today's travelers want far more.

This newsletter covers some of the changes we have been testing, installing and proving.

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The Vacation Rental Industry is no stranger to technical changes, but the pace of technology has accelerated. Avoiding new ideas risks fewer bookings, lower rates, and increased management time. Here is what is coming to a home near you.

DISTRIBUTION: It s not new now, but we were innovators in Advanced Programming Interfaces (APIs) that connect our properties to hundreds of websites, including the giants of AirBnB, VRBO, Expedia and others. It takes constant testing, oversight, fiddling, tweaking and alteration to give clients maximum advertising exposure. And all to generate higher income.

ELOCKS - Handing out keys or using keysafes has worked well. But elocks provide more flexibility and control. Owners, housekeepers and managers can have their own codes. Each guest can get a code good only for their stay. Unapproved early check-ins are avoided, because codes are scheduled to become functional at a certain time. Lock usage can be monitored and controlled remotely.

SECURITY: Owners may be tempted to put in cameras, microphones or even intrusive door bell cameras as they mistakenly think those will provide security. But as public spaces, courts have ruled that guests have a "Reasonable Expectation of Privacy" and landlords must not infringe on it.

SURVEILLANCE: Territorial surveillance cameras, such as those mounted high that point at driveways or streets, are acceptable. Any closer and guests (and their invitees) will rebel, demand a cancellation with refund, claim invasion of privacy, post belligerent online reviews, or even press criminal charges.

GUEST MONITORS: So how to maintain good guest behavior and avoid over occupancy? We are now recommending new legal devices that report calculated sound levels (a bit like decibels) inside and around homes. They also count the number of mobile phones and devices at the property, which can reveal excess occupants. All this is transmitted to managers, so they can intervene or even evict guests who misbehave.

WIFI - Offering Internet is no longer a luxury, but as necessary as water and electricity. But as guests bring more devices, they devour more bandwidth. So we are recommending a technology that "withholds" Wi-Fi modem passwords and instead requires guests to register for accounts. Not just the registered guest, but all invitees, too.

DASHBOARDS: All of the above tools can be displayed on dashboards monitored by managers. Should noise exceed reasonable levels, especially at night, should there be excess occupants, or if other rules are violated, bookings can be canceled and guests evicted.

Prior to the technical revolution, rule breakers were few, but we aim to make them non-existent. Better yet, when guests know of monitoring, compliance should be even better. The costs are low and the pay-back is fast.

LEGALITY: With the onslaught of ever changing permits, laws, rules and regulations from cities, counties and even home owner associations, we employ a dedicated attorney who follows the iterations, advises on application processes and even lobbies a bit.

By combining that oversight with technology, every house can be a good neighbor and all because we use technology to improve service further.

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Author: Wm, May, Vortex VIP
Blog #: 0912 – 06/30/22

Sponsor: Vortex VIP – – VortexVIP.com

Time To Reflect - Lodging Newsletter May 31, 2022

By Wm, May
Published: 05/31/22 Topics: Lodging Newsletter Comments: 0

Most vacation rental newsletters, like newsletters in most industries, are all about self-promotion and selling something to someone.

And yes, we are guilty of that, too, but we are allowed to be proud of the incredible work people here do for clients and guests 365 days a year. But today might be a good day for some reflection. Not just from the Covid cacophony, but because this, I am happy to say, is the 75th issue of our monthly diatribe.

It started with a short list but, the number of readers has grown. (I should say recipients because goodness knows if anyone reads them!) Some of you are subjected to it unwillingly, but I hope not regretfully. From others, I appreciate the comments, compliments and even the criticism.

I must ask however, please no more reminders that my use of the Oxford comma is sometimes a little sloppy or, as one reader claimed, a lot sloppy . . . . . . . .

Over 25,000 of these letters have been mailed and they haven’t gotten any returned with nasty remarks, so you must like them a little bit or find them good fireplace starter kindling.

I have been asked why do we send the letters by snail mail, when the rest of the world has gone completely paperless, blasting out email after email blaring about one topic or another. The answer is that writing the letter requires just a bit more time and thought. At least, I think so.

For you non-Luddites out there, we are going to start emailing copies of the newsletter, too, because mailing everyone is pricey. And with the price of inflation, we can save a few cents here and there. Plus, it will be easier for you to 'Unsubscribe" this letter out of your mind.

Speaking of records, we have now surpassed over 500,000 guests, which is not too bad considering we are a small band of the dedicated out there cleaning toilets, polishing windows and working hard to make guests love every property we work with.

So, enough self congratulations for now. On with the show.

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It was an absent-minded remark when, in April of 2020, someone opined "Since Covid, we have all truly learned the definition of the word "unpredictable". But who could have predicted that unpredictability would continue for over two years now? So, this letter is full of this and that.

Summer - Have you noticed that Summer is finally here? Guests are flocking to rentals and our staff are moving fast. The pundits say 2022 won't equal 2020 or 2021 in rental income. But let's remind everyone that it will still greatly exceed 2019, which was a pretty great year.

AirBnB - Has released its latest upgrade with a few backward steps. They now write the headlines for listings using strangely generic things like "House in Jonesville." Well, gee, don’t they understand that guests search by geographic area and already presume they are looking for homes in Jonesville?

Is Big Better - Although giant companies dominate the business press, the world has been built on smaller, more innovative and more flexible companies all doing great work. That is what we aspire to.

Acquisitions - Giant Corporations continue to buy up small vacation rental management companies. But small management firms still dominate 98% of the vacation rental management industry. While some people try the remote "Do It Yourself" route, managed clients make more money by working with professional managers.

Public - Several public vacation rental companies have seen their stock plummet this year, along with companies in other industries that want to promote themselves as tech firms. In lodging the key word is, and always will be, "Hospitality" not "Algorithm".

Inflation - Wasn't it just recently that no one remembered the dreaded Inflation word? Did the further refinements in Yield Management Dynamic Rates contribute? Was it gas shortages? OR has Covid made us all greedy?

Gas Prices - All the research shows that Americans' quest for travel has slowed, especially to "Drive to Destinations." Yes, we feel it, but there are still legions of travelers anxious to get out and about. Time will tell.

War - Not to reveal the age of some antiquarians working here, but some remember Edwin Starr's Vietnam song "War, what is it good for - absolutely nothing." We are all rooting for our Ukrainian brothers and sisters.

MountRainier.com - Our new central reservations service for travelers all around the mountain is up and running. It will be easier than ever for them to find great lodging. Just in time for the glorious summer sun.

Light Reading - If you missed any issue of our famous (or not) newsletter, remember you can read them online simply by registering free on our websites and logging in.

One Good Man - Allow me a short farewell to Fred Crowell. For 50 years he pumped joy in the 300,000 kids who attended his amazing basketball camp. After penning his inspirational book "Words of Hope", he passed last summer and a service was held in a packed auditorium over this Memorial Day weekend. Good Bye, Coach. We love you.

P.S. If you would like a copy "Words of Hope", ask and I would be honored to send you one.

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Author: Wm, May, Vortex VIP
Blog #: 0911 – 05/31/22

Sponsor: Vortex VIP – – VortexVIP.com

61,320 Hours - Lodging Newsletter April 30, 2022

By Wm, May
Published: 04/30/22 Topics: Lodging Newsletter Comments: 0

We must say that managing Vacation Rentals is fun and profitable. But I have some news - it is also a whale of a lot of work.

For example, our guest services "Help Desk" is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a week. For guest inquiries, owner assistance and unplanned property repairs.

If you do that math, that works out to a whopping 61,240 hours a year. I have been wandering around the industry for 22 years, so that adds up to 1,347,280 hours in total.

Of course, our first office started in 1964, so, let's do some more math. Looks like 3,551,920 hours. But think of it as 213,115,200 minutes. Or 12,786,912,000 seconds. (Did I do that math correctly?)

But there is good news - it will only take you five minutes to read this newsletter to get a glimpse into what it really takes to manage a vacation rental home 24-7-365.

So, how do you survive and thrive in that world? This week's newsletter tells how we came to be reliable for every second of every minute of every hour of every day.

Some do-it-yourself property owners try to cover all of that time themselves. But why would they when they can have professionals like ours take care of everything?

Oh, and we do that with no effective cost to the owner. Don't believe it? Call today and we'll show you how.

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We spend a lot of time polishing, perfecting and pursuing maximum rental income for clients. But we spend even more time taking care of properties to avoid late night issues.

ADVERTISING: On websites that we operate and on advertising website like VRBO, AirBnB and hundreds of others - guests are sold on every house's great features, but also told the rules and regulations.

CONTRACT: Guests may telephone to make bookings or submit orders online, but each is required to acknowledge the rules before their booking is accepted.

CONTACT: If they book on an advertising website, we contact the guest directly to answer their every question and to ask they accept the legal rules for the property.

ELECTRONIC: As the first lodging company to utilize online electronic signatures, we figure guests who rent your expensive home should sign a formal agreement to behave well and be responsible for any damage they cause - even if it's not intentional.

INSTRUCTION: Guests receive explicit instructions on how to find the property, how to enter, and how to treat the home with respect. They can call us 24-7-365 hours for just about anything.

NOTICES: Prominently displayed in the home are printed framed notices, reminding guests that there are rules and requiring them to adhere to those rules.

MONITORS: We now offer (Legal) devices that monitor noise and occupancy in every home. The system instantly notifies us if guests exceed either of those.

NEIGHBORS: When starting up a new rental, with the owner's permission, we contact neighbors, inviting them to call anytime they have an issue. (We may also send reminder letters every few months with our phone number (to keep that handy).

OWNERS: When properties need help, it tends to be needed quickly. We ask owners to contact the office rather than field personnel to ensure that every request gets acted on quickly.

HELP DESK: With the kind of preparation above, issues and problems are few. But our phones are open every moment of every day of every year.

DISPATCH: And what if the water heater stops heating.? The stove top stops heating or the frig freeze up? The help desk will dispatch a real live human to the home to diagnose and start solving the problem.

ENFORCEMENT: If a guest misbehaves, allows too many people, or brings unauthorized pets? The answer is, as skilled managers, we require guests to depart to keep neighbors happy. Few managers and almost no individual managers know to do this in the very unlikely chance it becomes necessary.

No one is perfect, but customers today demand polish and quality. They want easy access to a nearby manager, and they want repairs, or maintenance, or other kind of help - and they want it fast. If your manager can't provide it - you have the wrong manager.

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Author: Wm, May, Vortex VIP
Blog #: 0910 – 04/30/22

Sponsor: Vortex VIP – – VortexVIP.com

Rate Affecters, Mish Mash - Lodging Newsletter March 31, 2022

By Wm, May
Published: 03/31/22 Topics: Lodging Newsletter Comments: 0

Summer may not actually be here, but with advance bookings, changes in the marketplace, and better weather, your handy vacation rental managers are deep into summer already. It will be fun.

In April 2020, I concluded that maybe for the first time ever, the world began to truly understand the definition of the word "Unpredictable." First, Covid plunged travel, but then it unexpectedly surged.

Prior to Covid, perhaps 40% of the traveling public had ever stayed at a vacation rental home. We then began to notice what was later proven by industry statistics that the number surged to over 60%. Doing that math, it’s a 50% increase in market size.

But be warned - there are management companies promoting that owning a vacation rental home is a "Get Rich Scheme." Of course, they don’t say that and, in many cases, it can be true.

But with real estate prices jumping, with bidding on homes driving up prices, and with so many people buying vacation homes, will the supply outstrip demand? So far, the answer is no.

But profiting handsomely with a vacation rental should never be a home buyer’s primary goal. For many decades, families have sought a second home to love it, enjoy it, outfit it as they want, get first pick of dates, vacation where they most want. And then - and only then - yes, they can get guests to help pay for some or all of the costs.

With our kind of comprehensive management, many owners make an actual profit on the cash it takes to buy the home. Unfortunately, we hear from do-it-yourself owners and even owners from other companies who bought into the market recently with homes that are underperforming.

In short, vacation rentals are not a get-rich-scheme, unless hundreds of big and small things are done well every day. Those include selecting the right home, outfitting it fully, managing it tightly, providing 24-7-365 guest services, and then advertising it far and wide. And then, the financial outcome will be the outcome.

In other words, no one can promise you profit. But picking a manager who outlines and then performs as promised is the only way to be a vacation rental owner.

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On January of 2020, our ace programming staff completed version 3.0 of our technology-driven Strategic Seasonal, Dynamic and Distributed (S2D2) yield management software that every day revises rates looking forward up to 15 months.

We receive new telemetry about local, regional, national and global supply and demand overnight every day and the technology has been proven in two very different ways. (1) In February and March of 2020 every morning the computers were screaming "Where the hell did the guests go?" (Those days seem like a dream or nightmare.) (2) But by April, the software’s artificial intelligence (AI) began to raise rates, which it did over and over through Summer of 2020.

We let the suggested prices "ride" and that resulted in far higher income for houses in almost every jurisdiction (except those affected by airline shutdowns, border closing and catastrophes).

Competitors who relied on seat-of-the pants for rates, lost massive income for owners. Competitors with technology similar to ours, laid off 90% of the staff. With no one at the wheel to oversee the business, their rates stagnated and their sales plummeted.

As we approach summer of 2022, the question on everyone’s mind is, will the industry growth be maintained? Will guests continue to flock to private home rentals? What other factors may cause income to grow or shrink?

Yes, the Covid factors that exploded income, may indeed soften or reverse. And ups and downs will again be affected by things that have always affected income, such as:

Weather - At the home locations or at the guest’s primary home. When it rains in Seattle, guests presume the weather is crappy at the beach, even if it’s not. In winter, a big snowfall means giant crowds at the ski resorts. Low snow means a ghost town.

Events - Now that fairs, conferences and celebrations are returning, is your destination ramping up? Guests love to have a reason to visit.

On the coast of Washington, out-of-staters are perplexed to learn that a "Razor Clam" digging season on a weekend can double visitorship, or more.

Competition - If the number of rental homes continues to grow, will supply exceed demand?

Rate Panic - DIY owners always price their rentals too low, desperate for any bookings. They work twice as hard with half as much income. Will plummeting rates keep up if demand slows?

Booking Service - If guests book with us because you have a great house, we are all happy. If they book with us because we are the only managers answering the phone that is fine, too. (Of course!)

Big News - Wars, pestilence, protests - even if far away - cause people to pause their planning and travel can decrease.

We think of these variables every day. But the only solution is to love dynamic rates, react quickly, advertise massively, answer phones, emails and texts religiously and work like hell.

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Author: Wm, May, Vortex VIP
Blog #: 0909 – 03/31/22

Sponsor: Vortex VIP – – VortexVIP.com

Things Break - Lodging Newsletter February 28, 2022

By Wm, May
Published: 02/28/22 Topics: Lodging Newsletter Comments: 0

The surge of people purchasing second homes for their families continues and many are counting on vacation rental income they can earn. But becoming a Vacation Rental landlord is not for everyone.

Our methods of qualifying, educating, contracting, monitoring and serving guests go far in controlling the behavior of guests.

In the industry, the incidence of extensive damage in homes is rare and the occurrence of theft is virtually unheard of.

On the other hand, having people live in a home - whether the owner's family as full time residents, or renting to tenants long term (perhaps on an annual basis), or allowing guests to stay on a short-term basis (what are now called vacation rentals) - does subject the home to usual wear and tear.

Even with the most well-behaved, conscientious guests, homes may incur scuffs on the wall, broken glasses, lost flatware and other issues. So techniques are used to offset those costs.

When Visa/MasterCard objected to damages (or corresponding deposits) being charged on credit cards, the industry invented the "Accidental Damage Protection" (ADP) that pools small fees charged to guests to offset minor costs. Some advertising websites also offer such coverage.

Should significant damage take place, homes should have property insurance designed for short-term renting. That will kick in to restore the home for damages greater than the ADP.

Even with the cost of damage removed, however, there are other conditions every property owner should consider when becoming a vacation rental landlord. This newsletter discusses some of them.

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Issues that arise with vacation rental homes are rare, but they can be upsetting to new owners unaware of them when they begin. Here are a few to think about:

Wear and Tear - Even if you lived in the home full-time, scuffs will appear on walls. Hardwood floors can get scratched, light bulbs wear out, and dishes get broken.

Replaceables - Things break and not necessarily by guests. Be prepared for replacing kitchen and tableware pieces, towels and linens. Even when still serviceable, allowing amenities to age results in negative reviews and lost income. Be prepared to replace them regularly.

Upgrades - Sorry, but towels, linens, mattresses, sofas, chairs and even electronics do not last forever. Depending on age, be prepared to upgrade and improve furniture and furnishings to maintain guest satisfaction and, therefore, maximum income.

Cleanliness - Housekeepers are diligent but all homes differ, have "eccentricities", and some are very large. Out-cleans are thorough and done within a limited time frame, because new guests are likely arriving soon. Should something be missed, call us quick to fix.

Deep Cleans - While out-cleans cover guest cleaning, even your primary home needs a thorough deep clean twice a year. Be prepared for that cost and enjoy having a home that is well maintained.

Pet Friendly - Allowing dogs (never any other animal type) will increase income significantly. If you bring your own dog, it would be unwise to advertise the home as not dog-friendly.

Vendors - Whether for gardening, snow removal or other services, some vendors may make mistakes, fail to show up, or raise costs. Be prepared to have that reflect on your property.

Neighbors - No matter how well guests behave, be prepared for neighbors anxious to peg you as a out-of-towner capitalist. They will manufacture complaints and scream to regulators.

Regulators - When city or county officials in your area begin to add regulations or even prohibitions, be prepared to invest time and money to defend your property rights. You will need to attend hearings and lobby representatives.

Online Reviews - Now that every person is a "reporter", expect that most guests will love your well-outfitted, nicely-maintained and professionally-managed home. However, don't be surprised if a guest invents a complaint to extort a free stay.

Weather - Most rental homes are in recreational areas where snow, rain, flooding, wind and other events can cause cancellations and even delay housekeeping and maintenance. Be prepared for that.

Management - When issues arise, it may seem convenient to blame someone. But keep in mind, managers are also negatively impacted by the need to maintain homes in good condition. Working calmly and collaboratively retains the motivated people you need available 24-7-365.

Most owners seldom have issues, and when they do, those should be small. In the end, being a landlord is the only way to enjoy vacation renting and profiting from it. Expect the best, but be prepared for anything.

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Author: Wm, May, Vortex VIP
Blog #: 0907 – 02/28/22

Sponsor: Vortex VIP – – VortexVIP.com

Adobe 18 phone calls - Lodging Newsletter January 31, 2022

By Wm, May
Published: 01/31/22 Topics: Lodging Newsletter Comments: 0

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Author: Wm, May, Vortex VIP
Blog #: 0906 – 01/31/22

Sponsor: Vortex VIP – – VortexVIP.com