Oh…and just to entertain your question…join Say Yes to Houfy if you have questions about Houfy.
Questions illicit answers not entertainment. But not answering is also an answer, so thank you for clearing that up.
I hadn’t given much thought to Houfy, I’m doing more than fine with Airbnb and my direct bookings so don’t feel the need to branch out. But I did kind of think of it as something I could check out someday maybe; however, because of the posts I’ve seen on here, it just really has that funky pyramid scheme smell about it. I sincerely don’t hope that for you but it does really come across that way.
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Wrong. I am just not entertaining the crap. People sit on here all day and cry up a storm about an alternative. And here we are in a thread about alternatives where Houfy was brought up multiple times and even resurrected by Brian today. I wasn’t even discussing it at all. I hadn’t even looked at this forum recently. Then a couple of others and myself chime in about it. So…whatever. Who cares. I don’t care if you join Houfy or not.
It’s free. Look into it or don’t.
It’s a legitimate question. One that I would ask anyone who recommended a service to me. I was sincerely asking you but your defensiveness and lack of an answer has told me something in and of itself. You seem really sold on Houfy but I can’t tell if it’s because it’s been a great endeavor for you or if you are getting something out of promoting it - so of course I asked.
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First of all, no one has presented anything like a scheme and you know it. If you want anyone to take your questions seriously, then don’t approach people who share their personal experiences about other sites…as people who are scheming you.
I told you Houfy is free. If you want to know more about the site then join the facebook group. I am not paid by Houfy and the only other person I know who is paid by Houfy is Swapnil, the awesome programmer for Houfy. Yes, I am sold on Houfy. I believe in it. And you will be hearing about it, whether from me or someone else. Mark my words on that.
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You can also ask the others in this thread if they are paid by Houfy or are they just sharing their experiences.
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@JJD - Better yet… Thijs Aaftink is the owner of Houfy. He is very accessible in the Say Yes to Houfy facebook group. Feel free to ask him any questions at all. No need to ask any of us if we are paid for recommending something we enjoy. Just ask him directly. Then you will have your answer.
FWIW, it was a couple of clicks of a mouse to import most of it from my existing listing. I haven’t booked anyone through it yet but I’ve gotten a couple of inquiries. I like having the option of booking direct. The security doesn’t concern me because payment processing is through Stripe (or Square, or PayPal, or you make the guest mail you a check, or send bullion by carrier pigeon). All they’re providing is the booking part of it.
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Just to clear something up here - not sure if I am being asked this or not, but I am not being paid by Houfy. I don’t receive any kickbacks in any way shape or form.
I am just a happy user of their booking platform. No more - no less. I just love being in control of my listings and my properties. No big brother to tell me I have take certain guests, offer a full refund for some BS EC claim etc.
My property , my business, my rules.
I see this platform as a way to take back some control. It is a long game …it will not replace the big OTAs overnight. I know this but I am happy to play the long game.
If you are happy to stay with ABB etc - cool. That works for you.
I just want to diversify, have some say in the way my places are run and have an option to be able to take a direct booking and receive online payments( via Stripe).
I also want to have more independence because in the event of some crazy guest making a mad claim to ABB about goodness knows what and my account is suspended or whatever, then I at least have some way of continuing to take bookings.
Houfy may not suit everyone and that is fine, but it is working for me.
Cheers!
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No you weren’t being asked but I appreciate that you at least answered the question!
Yes, I am. It’s not perfect but nothing is really. I completely respect your needs and your business ideals, my viewpoint is probably just very different than yours. I pay very little for Airbnb to do most of the front-end work (marketing, payment, legal, website, branding, record-keeping, etc, etc). I don’t want to do all of that stuff, I have other stuff I want to do. The furthest I’m willing to go for “marketing” is to take exceptional care of my guests, keep racking-up 5-star reviews and nurture the relationships I have with past guests and recurrent guests. Overall seems like a really good deal.
I’m not sure if what Brian said is true or not - 6 bookings in 18 months? That doesn’t seem worth it to me personally. I got at least 6 bookings this week from Airbnb and was mostly doing other stuff I wanted to do when they came in. I know some folks that it would probably suit very well (like yourself it seems) but definitely not everyone.
Also, I live in my house that is a multi-unit house . I thought it would be fun to do Airbnb for awhile, as I’ve been an avid user of it since the beginning but I didn’t buy my house to do Airnb. Where I live, small single family homes are pretty rare but we didn’t want a huge Victorian to ourselves or a to live in a condo situation so we bought this big old house that has a huge yard and lots of extra rooms for my creative pursuits but also some other apartments. I have no dreams of real estate wealth, buying another property with my Airbnb earnings to expand or living out my years as an Inn-Keeper without an official Inn. I just have 3 extra apartments and Airbnb is a fun alternative to regular tenants.
I specifically like being part of Airbnb. I don’t particularly want guests from elsewhere. I only take direct bookings from past Airbnb guests and people they’ve directly referred to me. It’s not to say I don’t have my frustrations at times but I could count my frustrations with lots of things that I still don’t want to re-invent. Trader Joe’s has frustrated me recently but they are still awesome and provide goods and services that I want and am glad they do it - e.g. I don’t want to start buying groceries in bulk from wholesalers just because I have had some frustrations with Trader Joe’s.
That being said, I do truly understand that everyone else is going to have their own unique situation and needs and expectations and business plans and everything else. I don’t have any issues whatsoever with Houfy. In fact, I tend to champion under-dogs and would ultimately like to be supportive of fellow hosts and that includes Houfy if that’s something that my fellow hosts are benefiting from. It was entirely in the manner that it has been presented by the person I asked, that sparked my question. I’ve got no beef with Houfy at all; however pop-up ads are annoying and it feels like that sometimes. If she had been presenting something as simple as hand-soap or a pillowcase in the same manner, I would have asked the same question. It was a sincere and valid question that could have been answered simply with yes or no.
I do this too. The guests just pay me through Venmo/Paypal/check and my favorite, cash (!).
Truly, I am glad that it is working for you! And am impressed in your commitment and hard work for your business. I just don’t have it in me to do all of the extra stuff, perhaps my failing, but really just coming from a different place. However, I’m enjoying being in this crazy world of hosts and learning more about it all of the time.
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And that’s all you do with Houfy. That’s the point you are missing. People are portraying direct bookings to be some kind of “work and work” - just ask @Chris how much easier direct bookings are. Ask anyone who does direct bookings, and it is more control and simpler. No rules. No submitting and calling on hold with a rep. for blah blah. It’s so easy because you have control.
I knew it was coming and now Vrbo will start collecting tax for NC. So now…my paperwork has to be complicated. Yet again…big brother meddling in my business. So now I need to back out taxes that Vrbo has collected, etc. and it’s more work.
If anything, you should be using Houfy as a repeat booking site. Easy Peasy. Calendar sync, etc. But people are still holding dates open for cash. It’s not scary. Direct booking is easy.
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I’m not “making up stories”, I only asked a very simple and wholly valid question:
My question was avoided and never really answered.
But, no worries, I’ve found the answer myself:
Yes, Houfy is being pushed onto this forum. And, yes, @cabinhost seems to be getting “some kind of bonus or payment” for it, possibly in the form of ownership in Houfy but, at the very least, some Houfy benefits (for free) in the future that would be otherwise be paid for (there is another place on the Houfy site that mentions these future ‘specials/email campaigns’ that will cost an extra fee).
I guess I could be wrong about my interpretation, but it sure adds up when I read the information on the Houfy site. Here’s what I found, if anyone else is interested.
And on this next story or post, not sure which they consider it but it’s the same type as the ones that have been posted/linked continously to this forum. You can see where the page views are being counted at the bottom. Each of the “articles” that have been posted on here about Houfy, includes this view count. And if you have a Houfy profile, you can check your “score” on these views at the top of your profile (per the Houfy website).
I don’t have anything personally against Houfy but I do resent having free advertising injected into this otherwise helpful and informative forum and I believe that is, indeed, what these Houfy posts are - I do have something against that.
When one of our forum members posts Houfy “articles” (under the guise of it being informative for hosts who may be interested in joining the Houfy movement) the author gets points toward Houfy benefits when someone clicks on that “article”, not the least of which may be an ownership stake in the company.
Houfy article posted = points for the author = monetary reward = advertisement
Why not just pay for a banner ad at the top or bottom of the page? That is where the advertisements are supposed to be on this forum. I’ve seen everything from VRBO (!) to Pharmaca to a local university’s extended education program that’s there now. I think a Houfy banner would fit right in and give it some credibility too.
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Comes across as pretty low, to take advantage of fellow forum members without some element of disclosure.
Every time I see one of these Houfy post I’ll flag it as spam from now on, because essentially, that is all it is.
@cabinhost you should be ashamed of yourself and I think you owe the members on here an apology.
JF
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@JJD thank you. It is all as I suspected. Frankly, I think we all have enough problems these days separating fact from fiction, real from propaganda, without being unwittingly used in a multilevel marketing scheme.
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Well, I’ll apologize. I won’t be suggesting Houfy to any other forum members and I’m sorry I mentioned it in the last couple of days. I’ve been sent some information that doesn’t look good to me and I can no longer advise people put their listings there.
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And the typical crew comes out that has been trying to come up with something against Houfy. Possible ownership of Houfy if Airbnb’s proposal to the Securities Exchange Commission comes through…may be something that Houfy can offer. Airbnb is also offering possible ownership to their hosts.
And…that is all up in the air with the SEC. If @KKC, and @CatskillsGrrl and @JohnF and @JJD actually joined Houfy to learn about it, they would see this is all up for discussion and something that owners were asking for.
A site by the vacation rental owners and not by an OTA has been begged for in many book direct groups. The owner of the site said he would look into any possibilities to give owners what they have asked for. No different than how this site is custom made for owners and many requests are put in for changes that meet owners’s needs. This site is basically being made with owner input and the site owner has multiple vacation rentals in different countries. So he understands international needs as well.
Good try guys. I just said yesterday that I wouldn’t be sharing Stories on this site any longer and everyone could join Houfy to learn more about the site.
There are enough Houfy members on this site who know what the site is about.
The same typical bullying gang. Have fun! Since none of you are interested in Houfy, then quit obsessing about it.
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And just an FYI follks…Houfy is also a Social Network. I guess if you joined Houfy you would know that. The point about Houfy is writing “Stories” about your local area and sharing them … that’s how Houfy will build SEO and why it isn’t going to be throwing millions of advertising dollars at Google.
It’s not just a listing site and real estate, hotels, long term housing, etc. are all part of Houfy.
Don’t worry about me. Houfy is going to be mentioned a lot coming soon. I don’t need to talk about alternatives at all. Carry on with Vrbo and booking .com and that TripAdvisor site that we all get 2 bookings a year from…lol.
And the BTW - I am 100% into Houfy regardless if ownership can be shared amongst VR owners. The fact that it is a free book direct site is plenty enough for me to get others on board.
So when ABB starts charging 15% commission and everyone goes crying again…be sure NOT to mention Houfy.
You and your little gang should really be ashamed of yourselves for trying to all come in together with your little “performance drama acts” - that’s shame right there. And then try to set me up like I am behind a site 100% because an owner might offer possible future ownership to it’s members.
Seriously…pathetic
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Good. Because they are advertisements. And you know this because this is an excerpt from one of your “Stories”.
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Ha ha… Don’t worry about my Houfy tutorials @JJD. You do not have to read them at all. And you can also ignore all of my marketing tutorials too. On how to use Houfy to get direct bookings. Like I said… you’ll be hearing about Houfy no matter from me or others. Just ignore all Houfy. Nobody cares if you join the site.