I don’t know how ‘active’ I am but I take a look now and then at listings that either seem competitive with ours and those that seem to be doing very well. By way of background our listing ( 3 bdrm; 1 bath) is in Worcester MA. It could be a tourist destination in my opinion but it just isn’t. People come here to visit family: that’s 90% of our bookings, some at our max of six, mostly 2-4 people (I think our sweet spot is four guests; hotels are a reasonable alternative if you have just two; we’re a little small for six though bookings for six have – surprising to me – said they’re very comfortable). July and August are typically fully booked; we do ‘OK’ in the shoulder season of May-June, Sept-October, with few bookings November through April. [People might not like the cold winters here. 
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The average daily rate here is about $100/night and we’re now at about $200 a night or more in high season. The number of listings has doubled in the last two years, which is slower growth than I’ve read in many other markets. So we’ve been lucky so far. This is meaningful income to us but a side income; we don’t count on it. We don’t use social media.
The listings that seem are doing very well accept children and pets, which we don’t. So we’re not in competition and it’s just a note to myself that if I were in this just for the money then in this market I’d buy a relatively inexpensive place and make it available to children and pets. 3 bedroom, 2 bath would be perfect. BTW, I find it surprising that despite the complaints or mentions of cleanliness issues, unpicked up dog poop in the yard, these listings have many many bookings at above average prices. Their ROI must be very high.
When I look at our competition we have no listings in our city with a pool. There are a few in neighboring communities, at least 15 minutes away but mostly much farther away and usually very different listings, not comparable to ours at all – like more bedrooms, more baths, estate like, much nicer than ours, but much more expensive, like 3X or more the price. My sense is that for most of our guests the pool is ‘nice,’ a ‘plus’ but not really their focus. [BTW, we inherited the pool with the house; it’d be more expensive to remove the 50-year+ old pool (not accessible to large equipment) than to maintain it.]
So then I look at listings similar to ours but without the pool. There are just a handful that look close. A couple are nicer in my opinion: a more walkable location (which I would highly value), a second bathroom (also something I think would be valuable). Some are just bigger, another plus. So, yes, I look at their pricing (which is often a little under ours) and how they present their listing.
I am especially surprised by one listing that is on a lake but then I read a few complaints how the lake is full of some weed that makes it disagreeable, how there is bird crap all over the patio and the place a little musty ], needing some work. It gets mostly 5’s, and the Host responded to one complaint saying that they live in CA and it would cost a fortune to fix everything! That is a stark contrast with how we’ve chosen to maintain our property, but it does reinforce what I’ve suspected: many guests are not willing to pay for the level of maintenance we provide.
As to the competitive listings that I like (I’d stay there but that’s not the test), I try not to be too far ahead in price. But the situation is that once they’re booked we’re the next logical choice for the well informed traveler, and vice versa. And these very comparable listings are fewer than five.
My biggest takeaway is that there are few comparable places, and that if we wanted to boost our bottom line we’d simply spend less money keeping everything looking pristine. Our strategy, though, is to get re-bookings and then get those directly. We don’t get many, which surprises us. Don’t people visit family every year? But of course they might rotate, have too many siblings ( ) or meet in a third city. Our direct site will be up and running this year and we’ll see if we get rebookings directly (our last guest just told us they want to come back again and again) – but we don’t expect to see it right away. It might be an every third year kind of thing.
So I’ve found it a worthwhile exercise to look at our competition and marketplace. Looking at competitors provokes questions to how we manage and price the listing, which I count a good thing. I share my thinking to expose its simplicity and lack of sophistication, hoping to gain some insights.
