Bookings lull: seasonal and other factors

Why is it bad advice? You don’t lower your prices during 8 months of low season in For Lauderdale?
I do. My low season and high season don’t even stand together . There is a huge difference between in prices . The only way I make my money on low season is renting long term

1 Like

I don’t agree that lower prices per se are a problem, they have to be for seasonal variations. I do agree that huge reductions from an already lower price is dangerous; perceived value from guests will be lower. I am talking about a modest lowering from our base rate of 5-10% during this low season. I suspect from what you are aging that your seasonal variations are more extreme for your particular market.

Yes we are here in South Florida have very high strong rent wise season from mid Dec we to end of March and the rest is very challenging .
My rate is almost twice lower during low season . Actually for me it’s the same wether rent it by day or month. It’s literally the same daily rent of 40$/night.

It might not be coincidence that few dollars lower got you rented

No I don’t. I raise the price for holidays and local events but I don’t lower it in the off season. We are near enough to the convention centre and exhibition venues so we can fill both apartments during the off season. The local convention & visitors’ bureau works hard to attract people to the area all year round. We certainly don’t have an 8 month low season. Traditionally September should be the slowest month but with it being restaurant month & spa month and because we get repeat guests who are visiting relatives and friends, we remain booked.

it’s the same thing . That’s what i meant just the other way around. I know where you are, we are 15 minutes away drive from each other. And we also are very close to airport and hard rock casino where there are events all the the. Still it doesn’t change the fact that 8 months a year hotels drastically reduce prices and I have no choice but go along if I want my room to be rented

Luckily I don’t base our prices on what hotels do. The two markets are very different. There are enough people coming here year round - for whatever reason - for us to be booked, even though we don’t reduce the prices. If we have the occasional day off (usually September or October) then we use the time for maintenance work.

Yes you have different type of listing than me but I do base price on hotels. That’s how I choose Airbnb when I travel ,first checking g hotels

I think that if I’m absolutely honest with myself I stay in Airbnbs to get ideas and compare them to mine :wink:

1 Like

I do the same and I definitely check hotel pricing when setting my own. Where I am we have two pricing seasons, cruise season, and non cruise season. Cruise season is about double what non-cruise season is

I am also near cruise port and we also have cruise prices

Lowering your price can work if you want to get the absolute maximum in terms of filling your rental. This means that you will have a stable income. Yes, it does require a lot of hard work and serious attention, but it is an effective strategy to follow if you have that gap period that you want to get filled. Also, the reality is that not every host has an exquisite place in an ideal location where they can afford never to lower their price. Ultimately you just need to have a pricing strategy that works for you. If you’ve found a model that works, that’s great. Stick to it and let your business grow.

2 Likes

This is true. But the important word here is strategy. I have known hosts who reduce their prices to such an extent that not only are they not making a profit, they are not even covering their costs and therefore it’s actually costing them money to host guests. This is often because they simply don’t have a carefully considered and calculated business strategy. Without this you cannot ‘get the absolute maximum in terms of filling your rental’.

This is one reason why you’ll hear hosts complaining about a damaged $7 towel or a broken $5 wineglass; because they haven’t allowed for wear & tear when calculating their annual costs and therefore their nightly price.Or they complain about having to wait an hour for a guest because they don’t factor in the cost of their time. Or they complain about having a few vacant nights because they figured on a100% occupancy when they did their calculations. Etc. etc. etc.

1 Like