Is a channel manager really needed?/ 40 units

OwnerRez.com is great. You should also have your listings on VRBO and your own website

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JohnF, before making such a statement you should know some numbers, but you don’t. I have a vacation rental agency and charge a 25% management fee. Last normal year before COVID(2019) I billed below 120k. After taking care of the overhead; salaries, laundry, cleaning supplies, employees social security and specially taxes(nearly 50% here in Europe) what I made clean is not even close to what initially billed. It takes a lot of effort to run a company, and I look at every single penny my agency spends. For any company money is like oxygen, if you run out of it you die. Period.

Going back to the initial topic I guess Ill have to spend the money on lodgify. However I can’t really believe a proper calendar synchronization for only 40 units is worth nearly 3k a year. That is really nuts. We should start a new company which offers the exact same service for cheaper and smash every channel manager out there. :slight_smile:

Thank you guys.

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Debthecat, yeah, it’s really nuts but fun at the same times. I literally have hundreds of stories to tell.

And not only that, the properties are spread around the city, which makes everything much more complex in every single way you can imagine.

Hmmm—one more thing about Lodgify. Is Lodgify scalable so you can add more clients? If yes that can justify the cost because you need a product to support future growth (revenue/income).

If not scalable, find something else.

Annet, yeah but the more units you add the more you pay.

If that’s all you billed with 30+ units, in the Malaga area in 2019, then you’re doing something seriously wrong.

The hosts I know over there had a cracking season that year, busy right up until late October.

Anyway, you’ve already asked about CM’s, so no idea why you’re doing it again.

JF

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I don’t know about channel managers but when I’m trying to decide if something is “worth it” I think of what someone would have to pay me for me to do it. Since just a few overbookings could easily cost you over 3k with that many units the cost seems reasonable to me.

Online calendar management probably isn’t worth much so the developers add on other functions like messaging to make it worth their while. They “add value” without having to scale up very much.

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Since my management fee is 25% I made four times that, nearly half a million euro. On top of that you don’t know what size apartment I manage, nor in what area or condition they are…

Have you ever done software development? I think that given the size of their probable target market, the price is reasonable.

3000 for 40 units is 0,20 per day per unit…

And yes, you will get double bookings because iCal is too slow.

There are several options:

  1. Look for an other channelmanager that has an API connection with Airbnb

  2. Contact Lodgify and ask for a discount

  3. Raise your rates with 0.25 per day and stick with Lodgify

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I looked at pricing, Lodgify for 40 units is just over $300/mo, OwnerRez is closer to $200, seems like that would be a big savings. Following is my long list of everything I wish I’d known about OwnerRez before I signed up. It makes my life much better.

I started with OwnerRez a couple of years ago because I wanted reliable calendar syncing as I expanded my business to include a 2nd and 3rd listing. This has worked perfectly for me & I also love the ‘app’ on my phone, each properly is color coded on the calendar and I love being able to clearly see, even when out & about, which dates are booked by which guest at which property. But even better are the features I did not even realize I was missing:
*Templated communications (emails) send automatically with triggers, so instead of me remembering to send all my messages, they send at optimum times, automatically
*I added API in early 2020 mainly because I wanted all the guest info come over automatically so the triggers could work properly, but then VRBO had their crazy year of double damage deposit deductions and not paying hosts for weeks after the guests had stayed. I was eminently grateful that I was collecting the VRBO CCs myself. ABB still collects/pays their payments as per usual.

  • To reiterate for emphasis, if you use API, that connects your OR directly with the guests info and also payments on VRBO. You get the real CC info, you charge the card, you get paid immediately, you control the damage deposit (I use a hold on the card so less accounting ins and outs) and you control the entire transaction, not VRBO, which has been a huge benefit and stress reducer the past year.
    *I used Costco/Elavon for CC processing with rep Trevious.Grier@Elavon.com, she was very helpful about figuring out of I should sign up the last week of month A or the first week of month B, in order to get the best Costco promo. My promo means I pay $5/every month for Converge and have a $5 monthly minimum to pay, if I were to not process any CCs, but the initial $149 set up fee was covered with a $200 credit after 90 days. Fees vary between 1.65-3.35%, all depending on the card. If you are on VRBO PPB, you are also billed 5% after the stay by VRBO.
    *The emails I send through OR allow me to see if the guest has opened them, with some minor limits.
    *The rental agreement is sent automatically via triggers and connects with an e-signature set up that is included in the OR fees I pay, no add on e-sign fees
    *I can send an automatic email to AirBnB guests requesting a real email address so I can remain in contact in the future
    *There is the ability to see and utilize the AirBnB messaging from the OR dashboard via OR’s CRM function, VRBO should be coming soon.
    *All property set up, photos, listings etc. is done on OR, so one set up goes to VRBO/ABB, and the same with edits, updates, etc. You can set pricing differentials between the sites, but otherwise the pricing updates also goes out automatically
    *Having OR has allowed me to get very complex with listing options. I have two homes, right next door to each other. I offer each house by itself plus two homes together, plus another listing including a neighbor’s home. I would never pursue this convoluted set up without OR to ensure all the calendar mutual blocking works. I am even adding a third home to my group, meaning 4 one house listings, 2 two house listings, a 3 house and a 4 house listing.
    *Emails to remind me and the cleaner that guests are arriving and departing,first as a third party notification of each booking when it happens; then Chris helped me set up via FollowUpThen to receive an email showing the guests, the listing source, the number of guests, phone #, etc and to which property they are arriving/departing, it’s great. Every morning I have a guest arriving or checking out, the cleaner and I get an email. I use it adjust the HVAC.
    *Reports- there are all sorts of report options which I have not even fully explored. I still keep my little PC spreadsheet, because why not have a manual back up, and I have been small enough that I can see what is going on with rents and bookings, but as I grow, I will explore the report functions and, I am sure, learn more and be even happier
    *Widgets- I have a booking and calendar widget on my personal website, no need to update manually. All rates are set on the OR platform, with a plethora of options for differing seasons/taxes/holiday rates, etc.
    *Travel insurance option, I have this shown to all guests, so they are forced to at least consider it, it pops up when they sign the rental agreement
    *Doorlocks, my locking code is updated to RemoteLock automatically with each booking, sweet.
    *Customer Service, the guys are remarkably responsive. When you are doing anything on OR, assume you will hear back within 24 hours, but often it is quite quickly, even on a weekend. Almost all communication is via email.
    At the time that you set up your new OR account, I, personally, wish I had just used their concierge service, I think it is $300 for the first 3 and $80 per property after that. I was cheap and did it myself. I thought it was smart to try to learn it all, it would have been a wiser choice to let them set it up and learn the day to day functions first, then add the more complicated stuff. If you do it yourself, pick one area, for example the calendar syncing, and complete & understand that area before moving on to the next thing. That is my biggest helpful hint on set up and expanding your use of OR, master one area before moving on to the next, otherwise it takes much longer to master them all. Just keep a running list of your questions and then email them to the guys & assume you will hear back within 24 hours.

Note: There is a price increase coming in 2021, previously 1-2 properties were about $20 plus you could add on channel mgmt. for $10, so $30, beginning next year channel mgmt. is mandatory and the new price is $35. Mine will go from about $46 to $63, I am not sure if I could have imagined just signing up for something that is $over $700 a year “just to sync my calendar”; however, having used it for nearly 3 years, wow, I would not want to be without OR.

If you choose to sign up with OwnerRez and go via my link, I get some brownie points ☺
https://www.ownerreservations.com/?referredBy=oru5b14b45386x

OWNERRESERVATIONS.COM
Vacation rental software for property managers, innkeepers, BnBs and owners - OwnerRez

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Before anyone flags this post I’d like to point out that busymumsy has been a member a long time and this post has a lot of information. We don’t look kindly on folks who join the forum just to promote a site or link or to boost their own website but this referral link seems reasonable.

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Oh wow! I keep a running list of how I use OwnerRez as this kind of thing is a near daily question in my STR Facebook groups. I did not even think about that link being there, do you want me to remove the link and leave the info? Can I still edit here?

I don’t think there’s any harm in it, you’re upfront about the referral and it’s not as if you joined three days ago to post and run.

As far as I’m aware, @RiverRock uses OwnerRez as well so maybe he wants to add his referral link for a wee bit of balance :wink:

JF

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Great!! Thanks busymumsy.

I am going to take a look at OwnerRez. Setting up everything would take a lot of time but the savings may make it worthwhile. :slight_smile:

No, I don’t want you to remove your link. As John says, it’s the folks who join to promote themselves and don’t really add any value to the community that we look askance at.

Hi, I’ll answer your question. I use Ownerrez which costs me $35/month. Costs go down the more properties that you have. I pay $13 per stay for $500 Damage policy. You can opt for more coverage.
This PMS is VERY DIY. You read forums, etc to learn…,However, they have a Concierge Service to get everything set up for you. Absolutely PAY for this. As you have lots of properties, they are glad to help and their support ( can send them emails) is terrific. Been using for just over a year.
I’ve tried or looked at other PMS, and Ownerrez has more features and everything including API connections to both Airbnb and VRBO, BDC, etc.
I dismissed *Your Porter app - although it’s very inexpensive, because it didn’t have nearly the capabilities of Ownerrez.
I liked Lodgify but too pricey.

  • Hostfully gets very high marks for people who have a lot of properties and more luxury properties.
    **I’d check out Ownerrez and Hostfully. Both are ranked very high.
  • Let me add: I have a website and use Ownerrez widgets to offer Direct booking. Their calendar can integrate with Airbnb, VRBO, etc and my website. They can host your website too.
  • The only double booking that I had was an Airbnb system error.
  • I have a peer who can speak to you about Ownerrez and what the platform would do for you. Let me know if you’re interested.
    I make no money from this endorsement. My friend is an affiliate for Ownerrez.
    Chris and Paul run the platform.
    Hope this helps!
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Hi, there is a difference between basic channel management software, and a PMS app that is fully integrated with OTW’s, websites, processes payments, utilizes calendars, integrates with dynamic pricing, etc.
It also has room for the growth of your business, as was mentioned.
One place where you can manage everything that an OTA like VRBO, (not Airbnb because they still manage payments) will save you time which is money.

Look in to Concierge Setup. In your case, I definitely recommend it.
After a year I paid $200 for basic Concierge help to audit my settings, correct mistakes and discuss some settings that were not on par with other Owners like me.
I STRONGLY encourage this service if you go with them. Wish I had done this at the beginning. Cost runs maybe $400 for a Full setup. That is peanuts.

  • When I complained about all the features of OR ( which are vast and DIY…about 8 mos in to using OR only as a channel manager, and with the learning curve required), My OR friend said just use the features that you need right now. We’ll, OK, but I still wished I had paid for Concierge.
    That’s it for me.:v:

I did not use OwnerRez concierge, because I am cheap. I assumed it would take me a day or so, I had an 8 hour layover and figured I would get it all done then. (HA!) It was more like a month of weekends, not to be functional, but to keep adding features.

I would suggest you join the Facebook group Unofficial OwnerRez Support, there are many hosts there who can answer questions, and also offer help whilst you complete the set up. If I had had that page available, my set up would have been much easier. I do mention, in my list above, that concierge may be smart as I felt like it was so much info to take in, that I did not retain enough of it to be helpful, but now that I have read some discussions on concierge, maybe I am wrong, perhaps doing the work myself did get me familiar.

Two things about OR: For me the most difficult aspect about figuring out how to do something is determining where to begin, get me started and I can usually get it done.
The other thing that is pushing me is realising there are more and more things I could be doing, features I could be adding to my routine.

I am thrilled with how I look more professional and how I also get more time in my real life thanks to OR.