Do you know someone who can build me a great cheap website for independent bookings?

So Cabin, I’m all signed up and on Houfy. My listing is live and I am now working on Guides etc. A lot of reading involved and a steep learning curve regarding SEO’s but I can see this being a great thing for taking control of my business in the future. There are only 3 listings in New Zealand so a lot of potential still.
I am yet to work out a few little things like why the price doesn’t change for additional guests over 2 even though I have an extra person fee.
I need to put aside a lot of time to work on content for posts and guides but I will get there.
My next big task is to take the tutorials on Vacation Soup and get my website going with them. Taking my own payment via cc rather than PayPal is also on the list.
Thanks for spending time explaining theses sites. I can see these are going to be great for hosts in the future. It will be a long road but it is good to be getting in now and learning how it all works.

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You just said it! You have to put in the effort if you don’t want another entity controlling your business. No stork is going to land on your doorstep. Any technical questions you have about how Houfy works can all be asked on the Houfy Facebook group. I cannot express enough how responsive the owner and his partner are. They take all feedback, and things are adjusted so quickly! Like I said…this is all in testing and development stage, and you are correct in joining while you help make a difference.

Vacation Soup also has technical assistance. And I too am trying to build a new website to replace my previous one.

Find me on Houfy and follow me, and I will follow you back.

In the search bar type “Bridget and Carl”

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I’ve joined Houfy’s FB page and have learned a lot from there. The developer is really responsive and helpful for sure.
I’ve already found you and am now following. Great content! A great way to learn what to add…read other people’s guides.
I need more hours in the day to do all the research and add posts etc.
Excited now to get my website ready.

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@cabinhost - I’ve heard about Houfy, but I have built our own website and our villa has a unique name so it’s easy to find our website if you look for our villa name. I’m not trying to be obtuse, but if a potential guest can find our website and book directly with us, what is the advantage of listing on Houfy?

I know you aren’t being obtuse Piton. But good question. Guests may not always be able to find you on the OTAs in future. The search algorithms with Air and HA change all the time. I’m sure you have read the horror stories of HA outright hiding properties from searches during their A/B tests. And claiming they can do this even though you paid them $499 to list. It’s insane. If HA moves to a 100% pay per booking model, then they will have that right to show your property whenever they want. So if they think most Safari users wouldn’t book your property, they will only surface yours if it’s someone using Chrome, etc. Or what if Air delists your property with no explanation, no reason given…someone made a false claim for discrimination because you charged them for damages, etc. This is why it’s important for owners to now join other alternatives and help them to grow, instead of being at the mercy of sites that can show your listing whenever they please. The import tool allows you to import all listing info, including your reviews from either Air or VRBO within a matter of seconds…in case you decide to no longer do business with Air or VRBO. You can also sync the site with any new reviews that come in from one of those sites.

One major advantage is that Houfy is also a social site where you will be able to actively engage with your guests who join. They can comment on your guides, share them on social media, and guests can even write their own guides. You can write guides about anything you want: supplies, directions, arrival info, weather updates, etc. Plus, if a guest does join and “follows” you, (once notifications are implemented) - they will receive notification of every time you post about your area…long after they leave. Of course you could do the same with your own website and blog on that, create a newsletter etc. But Houfy makes it extremely easy for those who can’t dedicate the time now, to figure out how to do all of that on their own.

Another advantage to listing on destination sites like Houfy and Vacation Soup, is that these sites will eventually move up in Google, due to the amount of owners collectively writing about their destinations. Alan Egan touched on it above, and how these destination sites will become more interesting to Google. Plus, you have a lot of control over your own writing and how well you can possibly rank on Google. I understand writing isn’t for everyone, but if you can write an exceptional post about a topic that people are googling for your area…and your post is found on the first page of Google - visitors will click on your post and then see your listing there. This is more exposure to people who are thinking of planning a visit to your area, versus people who are only looking for accommodation on the OTAs. Even if you never write a post, if a traveler stumbles across the site through someone else’s post…then you will still have exposure as they compare accommodations.

Houfy will eventually be adding a real estate section (no middleman), and will include long term rentals too. So it’s definitely more than just a vacation rental listing site.

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This is fantastic. Thank you so much for taking the time to share. Will be taking steps to implement.

For those folks who want someone to professionally create a website for them, the best priced one I know of is Red Starfish. They are outsourced to India as far as I know. Heard good things about them.

B

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PS Not affiliated with this company at all. Have heard of them a few times and they were also recommended through talks put on by our local tourism entity.

@cabinhost - Excellent answer! Thank you.

I’m still not convinced that the guests have a strong demand for a website like Houfy. AirBnB and Homeaway have key aspects many guests are looking for - Instant Booking, flexible cancellation policies, and “traveler protections” of some sort of another.

But it make sense to diversify as much as possible (within reason) and it sounds like Houfy has support from a portion of the owner community, so it’s probably the best non-OTA site to get “in bed” with.

Thanks again for taking the time to post such a helpful response!

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Guests will able to instant book on Houfy. The difference is that you will get paid upfront instead of Airbnb holding your money. The funds will go straight to your bank account. If someone now is on Airbnb or Homeway, with a flexible cancellation and wants to import into Houfy they are welcome to do so. Owners create their own cancellation policy.

Houfy is also going to be implementing more payment options (than what the OTAs offer) in the future such as PayPal, various credit card options,and is looking into transferwise. Transferwise alone will be huge savings for both sides versus paying international credit card fees. So if a guest sees that an owner on Homeaway is going to bill them for the 5% international CC fee…then booking that listing through Houfy and using Transferwise - will likely be the much cheaper option. In addition to not paying service fees to the listing sites.

So really Houfy is going to offer listings, etc. similar in the same way that HA does, but with more options, and owners are in control of their policies, payments, etc. And it will be better because it is also a social site, and a site for real estate transactions with zero commisson. And more options like long term rentals, etc. are likely coming too.

Houfy is the site that owners have been screaming about to get built. If you are in the Say No Facebook group, you know every week someone new posts about owners banning together to create a site, so they aren’t at the mercy of the OTA rules (that are not in the best interest of the owner). It’s in high demand for owners. Owners can create their own destiny, but it will be up to them. They can either sit back and just do nothing as OTAs take more of their income, or be part of a site that they have been begging for. They don’t need to leave the OTAs…they can still use those too. But the changes coming with the OTAs aren’t going to suddenly be about charging less money, give owner’s more say so - it’s going to get worse.

As far as guest protection, their credit card gives them protection against fraudulent listings anyway. We know Homeaway doesn’t really offer any protection to guests, since the only way Homeaway’s “guarantee” will kick in, is only if the credit cardholder does a chargeback through their bank, and the bank denies the chargeback. The chances of the bank denying something like that is very tiny. So travelers on that site are paying a service fee for the privilege of using the credit card protection they already can use for free.

Now Airbnb…sure they have their protection of extenuating circumstances. The issue is that owners (with certain type properties) cannot run their business this way, and that’s why many want to leave Air and are seeking out alternatives. Just recently saw a post in another group of the owner losing $2,000 because Air was allowing anyone in the state of Florida to cancel for free. The guest was nowhere near any storms.

So a guest has the option to pay Airbnb up to 20% for the privilege of being able to cancel due to illness, weather, etc. OR they can book through Houfy (with zero service fees) and purchase their own travel insurance, or take the chances and not purchase it. Or if their own credit card offers travel insurance, then they’re covered anyway.

As far as damage deposits go, the guests are still protected if they use their credit card. The owner cannot just take whatever money and keep it. The credit card companies have specific rules where the cardholder must be notified of damages after they have occurred. And then the cardholder must give consent for their card to be charged. No matter what an owner has in their rental agreement about being given consent…doesn’t matter. If a merchant accepts a certain card, they must play by the cardholder’s rules.

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After reading this thread a couple of weeks ago I looked into Vacation Soup, thanks @cabinhost
It took me a bit longer than it should have probably but I did it, I built my VR website and I think its pretty awesome. I am working on a Google PPC campaign now to drive traffic. My place is right on the main road coming into town and I have a sign with web address, I also have rack cards at my real estate office and will link to my real estate website which has over 125 people a day and over 4000 leads overall searching for houses to buy up here and these same people visit here often. I think it will take time and money but I have a decent shot at driving traffic to my site and eventually getting the majority of bookings direct. Here it is, still needs some work but its live www.IdyCabins.com

RR

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Some very helpful stuff, one of the big issues is the facility to control reviews, not be open to blackmail.

To be honest there are thousands of web designers and agencies that can design and build a website.

Be interested in why you feel this company stands head and shoulders above the rest.

Which software do they use for buliding their sites. What sort of budget? @Bedsidecottages.

Do they also have a good understanding of marketing and SEO??

Sorry @Helsi, you may not have seen my PS message. I do not work for this company nor have I used their services. It is just a name that has come up more than once from very reputable people in the field.

When I get a referral, I do my own research on the company to make an independent and informed decision. Sorry @cabinhost, I guess I should have been more informed to offer a suggestion. If you help with instructions, I am happy to remove the reply.

I just realised you were not the OP. You must be wondering why I tagged you. In any case, thank you for taking the time to reply!

This post from owner of Houfy was just too funny to pass up. My favorite line is the part about TA/Flipkey being “quiet” - lol. I sometimes forget he owns rentals and also lists with the OTAs.

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@cabinhost Glad to see you again! Started our own site 1/1/19 and have three bookings so far. Baby steps but not too darn bad! :slight_smile:

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Wow!..3 within the same month?? Did the guests happen to mention how they found you? Like did they say what they googled, or are they googling the name of the property after finding you on one of the OTAs? I have seen an uptick in that recently. I have been receiving more actual phone calls.

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They found me on ABB and/or FB and googled to research the house and then requested to direct book. It saved one person ~$300 in ABB fees another $100 and another $150.

It is nice having a name, email, etc to check the guests out, bc if they attempt a chargeback, etc, at least I have a signed rental agreement, address, name, email and phone. I like ABB and still get most business there but I feel much more comfortable knowing at least something about my guest in case there is a problem or a chargeback. Being denied that information by ABB when I was a newbie and got my house trashed was NOT helpful.

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I’ve also had three bookings through Houfy. Guests have found me through other sites then either booked direct through Houfy or emailed me directly and I’ve sent the Houfy link. They have booked and payed online securely just like the other OTAs. Guests have been fantastic and very happy about saving quite a few dollars on fees. I love having control over my listing/property. No big brother to worry about. Baby steps for Houfy but I feel it is definitely a step in the right direction in terms of an independent alternative.

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