request for feedback on our VRBO attempt

[Tom King]

We decided to give VRBO a shot at getting rentals.  We've never done this before, so any feedback of what we could do better is much appreciated.  I really don't like this house much, but have put a good amount of effort into getting it to the point that we hope it can pay its own property tax bill.  Price is discounted to hopefully just get people in it.  It's a nice piece of property, but I still have a lot of work to do on it.

Here's the page.  I just uploaded a bunch of pictures we already had.  Some might be better left out, and some might be better taken a different way.

https://www.vrbo.com/1701335?adultsCount=8&arrival=2022-11-16&departure=2022-11-20

I just put it live a little while ago.

[Tpt life]

That is in line with what I have engaged on Air BnB. I might add local attractions and restaurants, but that is just for out of towners, to aid in research. 

[Tom King]

I was mainly asking about the presentation.  I'll see if maybe the Chamber of Commerce has a site about restaurants and such.  Not much for attractions other than the lake.  It's otherwise out in the middle of nowhere. 

I couldn't do much with the order of pictures.  Their software decided the order.  It didn't have anything to do with the order that I uploaded them.

[legenddc]

It's a shame your pictures can't be in order, but the rest looks good. I didn't see anything on the map part either. I would ask my wife to take a look but I'd end up poorer and with one less free weekend...

[Tom King]

They're supposed to add the map part automatically by the address.  It might not even be fully up operable yet.  SIL did a search and couldn't find it, even with specific things just to that one.  They probably have to review it, or something.

[JohnG]

In the About The Property section, I’d specifically say that it’s on Lake Gaston, and talk a bit about the land it’s on- direct access to the lake. Includes use of the point? Can they rent a boat at a nearby marina and use your dock? Are those canoes in the picture available for visitors to use? Fire pit available. Etc.

A few of the pictures are a bit redundant, but that’s probably better than leaving something out.

They typically load a non-precise map location, and only give the actual address in the days leading up to someone’s stay. 
 

 

[Tom King]

Thanks.  All that was supposed to be entered in the "details" section.  I'm not sure why a lot of it got left out.  They also changed the name of the place, or really just left the name off.  We named it Sunset Point.  I'll check with them tomorrow.  It might just be screwed up since I entered it on the weekend.

[Tom King]

Funny.  I hadn't put Lake Gaston anywhere on there.  Just did.  

This is supposed to be there.   Should I do this differently?

copied and pasted:

Large porch with grill,  2 acre point with over 1,000 feet shoreline. 4-1/2+ acres. Private beach for swimming with sand bottom.  Pontoon boat, and jet ski rentals available. Canoe,  Kayaks.   Large screen TV.  Wonderful view of main lake.  Well maintained state road with little traffic, great for walking, and bike riding.  Plenty of room for parking anything including a helicopter.  Garage.  RV hookup.  Owners live close by and always available.  Non-shedding small Pets okay on approval.  Handicap accessible with handicap bathroom. Fully supplied kitchen equipment. Dining room supplied for formal dining.  Stone fireplace with gas logs. Dining for 8 on lakeside porch.  Linens available. Real fire pit with firewood furnished and Adirondack chairs.  Puzzles,  board games, cornhole, crochet, noodle floats, ping pong table.  Dock with good ladder and boat tie-ups.   EV charging. Golf course, grocery store, and restaurants not far away.  Miles of trails and gentle petting animals within walking distance. Can drive anywhere on property, including all over the point and right to the waters edge at the beach.  Beautiful Sunsets!

[JohnG]

Looks like you already had it covered!  Might be some delay in entering the info and it being publicly available. They might review manually before approving. 

Might want to list what type of EV charging plug is available. J1772, CCS, Tesla/NACS? Or 240v outlet- Which type? 

[G Ragatz]

Tom - I'm curious why it's listed as a studio that sleeps 12 and no mention of the number of bedrooms. Thought I counted four bedrooms in the pictures.

Looks like a great place for a family getaway!

Gary

[JohnG]

Maybe some listing update issues. It previously stated 4br and the number of bathrooms. 

[Tom King]

Thanks for the alert.  I don't know why it's having so much trouble.  I had listed 4 bedrooms, what size beds were in them, and the 3-1/2 baths and what was in them.

[Tom King]

Thanks a lot for anyone's help!   I went back and added the details again.

edited to add:  I checked the link here, and it looks more complete now. 

[Chestnut]

I think it looks good there are a lot of good details. Being able to organize the pictures would be nice but if it doesn't let you that stinks.

[Tom King]

We hadn't heard a peep out of this since that day I first put the ad up, but woke up this morning with two bookings in Jan. and Feb.   I think it will go this Summer.

Friends were telling us that they had much better luck with AirBnb, so I put it up there too, but these bookings were from Vrbo.

Maybe it will pay for its property tax next year.

[Chestnut]

Not many people around here are thinking about lake front rentals.... i have a feeling that's most places during winter. Traffic should pick up in the spring.

[Tom King]

Yes, we really weren't expecting much until the season gets here.  The price will go way up then.  We feel lucky to have gotten these two bookings in the middle of Winter.  We mainly needed to get a few groups through there, and hopefully some good reviews.

[Coop]

On 12/1/2022 at 2:30 PM, Chestnut said:

Not many people around here are thinking about lake front rentals.... i have a feeling that's most places during winter. Traffic should pick up in the spring.

 

OMG! Your poor tomato plants and that poor mail carrier! 

[Chestnut]

Oh i was also going to say. I showed your listing to my wife just in case she wanted to take a trip to get away some time. The area your in looks beautiful.

[Tom King]

Woke up this morning with three bookings for this already, and I haven't even opened the availability past the middle of February yet.  I think it's going to be a hit.  No other place around has this much area. 

[Tom King]

Well, our first paying guests through VRBO have come and gone.  Vrbo says guests are supposed to leave the place like they found it, but this has gone the complete opposite way.  They said they would have 10 adults, but said nothing of any kids.  We don't know how many kids there were there, but more than a couple.  All the kids toys are strewn all over the kids room, mixed together.  Pam says she's throwing out all the puzzles because all the pieces are just dumped into a bin together, and some have been chewed on.

We don't do any fried food cooking at home, so are particularly aware of smells, and films left from cooking a LOT of fried food in the kitchen.  Kitchen is a mess.

Pam thought she would be able to do all the cleaning by herself on the inside, and I would take care of the outside.

The weather was as bad as it gets, so I expect they spent the whole time inside the house.  They said they had a great time, and want to come back......

Guests have to pay well before they get there.  Our first payout will be Dec. 31, and expect it to be in or account 5 to 7 days later.  VRBO takes almost 1/3 of what the guests paid.

The good thing is they are suggesting prices for seasonal rates, and it's more than double what we thought we would charge.

I think we're going to have to hook up with a cleaning service, because guests like these won't allow an afternoon turnaround between guests with us doing the work, especially since one of us has to stay at our house with my Mother.

The don't allow guests to leave a review of the host's place unless we leave a review about the guests, but we really don't want to leave a review of these.

It's an interesting start. 

We made a mistake by not noticing that these guests didn't have any reviews.  We'll chalk that up to experience, and know better next time. The ones coming next weekend have 2 5 star reviews.  It's good we have 2-1/2 days to clean before they get here.

[legenddc]

Tom, that's a horrible way to start it off. Every time we go somewhere the place is left just as good, if not better, than when we arrived. Even with our two kids or when we go away with my nephews. 

You might be able to go after them for more money if you cared to do so. 

[Tom King]

I'm not worried about getting money for it.  Nothing was broken.  They just won't be accepted if they try booking again.  We do get to approve each one, and will only approve ones with good reviews on them.  Other people renting here on the lake that we know have not had this trouble.  One reason is probably that our rent is so low right now, at the suggestion of VRBO to get a few rentals in, but don't think that worked to our advantage this time.

The Foxes, Possums, and Raccoons probably had a good night.  There was two truckloads of trash to take out.  At least they brought, or bought enough trash bags to use after they had used up the box we left there.  I just burned it,  drug out all the food as the pile burned, probably 20 pounds of fried chicken bones, scraps and french fries, and left the food by the burn pile.   All the food got cleaned up last night, so they had a good Christmas too.

There are small children handprints all over the inside of the glass wall looking out over the lake.  My mister sprayer has been a big help in sanitizing everything, but it still all has to be wiped down.

Pam is getting it done one room at the time, and is making good progress.  I'm going to go over and clean up all the debris outside from the strong wind we had for several days, but Pam has to get satisfied with what she's doing in the house, and come stay with my Mom while I go to do my part.

The next renters aren't coming until mid day Friday, so it looks like we'll be ready.

[Mark J]

22 hours ago, Tom King said:

It's an interesting start. 

Sad your first encounter was such a disappointment.   

[Tpt life]

As much as I would not wish this on anyone, I think starting with the worst experience will always set you up to be less judgmental of the ones who care, but miss a detail or two.