If you plan to build an accessory dwelling unit or have already built one, one way to make the most of it is to turn your tiny house into a vacation rental property. A smaller size doesn’t deter an ADU from becoming a perfect refuge for travelers who prefer spending their vacation with all amenities at hand.
Building an ADU for guests is a win-win situation. Because the person living on your land plot receives a private room or a few as well as individual services, they do not need to share with other guests. At the same time, property owners can enjoy supplemental income from short-term rentals.
Find out about vacation rental sites like Airbnb and VRBO to learn more about perfect vacation rental strategies!
The vacation rental industry favors people who are good at marketing. Of course, it’s not that you have to obtain a degree to rent out your ADU, but at least some understanding is necessary for building a successful advertising strategy that brings consistent income.
When you get your ADU property listed on any short-term rental platform, keep in mind the following points:
Do you want your ADU to pop up first in the minds of guests every time they’re planning their next vacation? Then pay attention to the price recommendations for attractive vacation rentals.
How do you choose your price? There are two important things: market research and property management expenses. You have to calculate your spending on property maintenance to set the lowest point. Here, the quality of amenities matters. If you provide more services or offer a larger variety of means of comfort, you have every right to include them in the price. Then, by exploring and comparing rates that other local property owners offer, you determine your own service fee.
What you have to do first is make your rates flexible. When a high season comes, you are free to let them soar, but keeping them at bay in unpopular times seems like a wise choice not to scare off all clients.
Keep in mind that you can get more bookings if you offer strategic discounts. Lowering your price in low-demand periods is a great alternative to losing guests at all. So, if you know that the middle week is an unclaimed period of time, make sure to try your best and make use of it.
Is it possible to make a search engine recommend your rental property more? Actually, there are. What you have to do is apply a few tricks:
The title is the first thing potential clients see, and that is what they type into the search bar. Thus, your title has to be catchy and consist of keywords. Grasp the essence of what you are selling and highlight the uniqueness of your ADU. For example, ‘Spacious ADU with a Garden’ or ‘A small, well-equipped ADU near a Picturesque Lake.’
It’s preferable for a property owner to list all the important things that can convince tourists to pick their property over all other options. Make it as detailed as possible, especially focusing on features about your ADU that are rare or even unique. Does your ADU have Wi-Fi? An atmospheric garden fire pit? What makes your ADU stand out? If I were a guest, what would I search for? These questions are for you to answer in your description.
What is convenient about booking with VRBO and Airbnb is that they offer categories. Not only does it make your potential client’s search for your ADU easier, but it also makes your ad posting process less tedious. Just tag your ad correctly, and search engines will do the rest for you.
If the information about your vacation rental properties changed over time, don’t forget to make corresponding changes to the ad you posted. You don’t need your client to realize that the real thing does not match the picture you draw after they have already spent time and money on their arrival.
Creating a description that convinces people to pick your vacation rentals is something that anyone can do if they use some of the following captivating tools. You can build your structure in a complementary way if you:
Aside from all these points, you can also resort to good old-fashioned price reductions to entice guests to give it a try.
One way to increase the popularity of vacation rentals is to supplement the ads with good photos. But posting just anything without further ado cannot give your property the attention it deserves.
What types of pictures will lead to instant booking? First, add as much natural lighting as possible. Your ADU will look best when well-lit. It increases photo quality and creates a more complete understanding of the ADU layout and appearance. Also, don’t let anything block the view. You have to choose angles from which the interior and exterior parts of your ADU are clearly visible. Focus on the best features, showcasing what advantages your ADU has over the competitor’s forest or beach houses.
After taking plenty of photos, choose those that both complement your ADU the most and, at the same time, reflect the actual state of things. Remember that these photos are your ADU’s introduction!
When budget travelers reach out to you through Airbnb, VRBO, and other Airbnb alternatives, it’s only half the work. Because your potential clients might have written to several owners of short-term rentals at once to pick the most suitable one.
Thus, your next logical question is how to make them favor you. It doesn’t always depend on the amount of effort you’ve invested, but here are a few things that you can still do:
If you think over your answer too long, the client may just find another vacation rental whose owner replied sooner. Yet, you still have to look polite and accurate with your response. For this instance, you can prepare the introduction part of your message in advance. Some short-term rental sites offer the opportunity to save answers to widespread questions.
Pay attention to the personality of the potential buyer and demonstrate mindfulness of his specific needs. If they ask for information that your ad doesn’t provide, use this chance to present your ADU as having even more impressive features. For instance, if you have solar panels, specify that your ADU is eco-friendly.
Guests have to prepare for an upcoming trip, so it’s no wonder they want to know the specifics. Enlist the rent terms, the exact address, the routes to the property, and specific features and amenities.
To get additional income, a homeowner is supposed to be both a good property manager and a hospitable owner. There are a few ways to make the essence and quality of your short-term rental service match the agreement:
When organizing long-term rentals and short-term rentals, arranging a clear payment system is simply necessary. You can achieve it by setting prices that cover your ADU maintenance costs and bring you some revenue. Prices have to be competitive (comparable to the prices of competitors), reflecting seasonal demand and ADU conditions.
Stay committed to your arrangement. If there are no hidden costs or sudden fees, let it be this way. Otherwise, it will disappoint your clients because they have other expectations.
VRBO, Airbnb, and other alternatives to Airbnb provide you with the opportunity to get payments quickly and get a refund within the agreed period of time.
If your guests didn’t warn you in time about cancellation, you can contact VRBO, Airbnb, and the other best Airbnb alternatives you used to settle the dispute.
Sites like Airbnb provide both owners and clients with a convenient tool for dealing with issues arising from short-term rentals. So, how do you use it to your advantage in the case of a cancellation or other type of dispute?
And remember that cancellation is an experience from which you can learn! Maybe if you learn to go through this process seamlessly, these guests will plan their next trip with you!
Check out VRBO, Airbnb, or any Airbnb alternative to find more ways to make good money on shared spaces like ADUs. There, you can find tools and features to make your ADU rental process easier.
What does your selling strategy include? Start with the following:
ADU rentals are popular among people who don’t want to spend so much money on hotel rooms. Yet, that doesn’t mean you can’t make a lot of money on them. If, in unpopular times, you can set a low point value for your night rate, in better times (local events, summer vacation season), you can charge a monthly mortgage payment for a couple of weeks.
VRBO is one of the best alternatives to Airbnb. Be it a long-term rental (a month’s stay) or a short-term rental (3–7 days), these websites offer them both. Thus, renting an ADU is convenient with either of these two options. However, unlike Airbnb, VRBO offers only whole-house rentals. While Airbnb allows renting shared spaces like one room in the ADU or one floor if it’s a two-story building. Also, Airbnb charges a service fee, while VRBO gives a choice between a per-booking fee and an annual subscription.
Home management companies can indeed look after your property on your behalf. Yet, it’s not strictly necessary to hire them. In fact, not even every state allows anyone but a long-term tenant to live on the land plot when the owner doesn’t currently live there. So it makes little sense to hire someone when you live just a few feet from the place. Moreover, their services are also not cheap, so part of your income will go toward covering their fees.
