Starting out in the short term rental industry can be overwhelming. Hosts want and need to be as informed as possible so they can make the best decisions regarding their properties and finances. When starting a rental business and even years down the line, Hosts will often consult various resources to get the information they need. Here are some of the most helpful online resources for hosts that we find to be the best and most informative.
Great Informative Websites
- AirDNA – Allows Hosts to gain valuable insights into the performance of over 10 million vacation rentals across 80,000 cities worldwide. Hosts are able to study the critical trends in their market over the past three years to understand exactly how the short-term rental industry is evolving.
- Skift – A great news source for Hosts. Hosts rely on in-depth reporting, exclusive interviews, and breaking news coverage and Skift reports on all of this, helping Hosts make decisions and get ahead of competitors.
- Short Term Rentalz – Hosts should be checking this website out regularly! Short Term Rentalz provides news and intelligence for the fast-growing and rapidly-evolving short term rental industry.
- VRM Intel – The site is laser focused on the professionally managed vacation rental sector. They provide relevant, factual, timely industry-specific news, information, and resources to help vacation rental professionals build their businesses, to address the challenges and opportunities in the industry, and to positively contribute to the vacation rental ecosystem.
- Phocuswright – The leading authority in travel, tourism and hospitality market research. They are the most quoted and trusted source for data, information and analysis.
- LinkedIn – Great for Hosts who want to follow and reach out to industry experts. Whereas setting Apple news drips can often give you the click-bait information about Airbnb parties or jaw dropping rentals to look at, LinkedIn is a great source of business related news in the STR space.
- Facebook Groups: By hosts for hosts, these different Facebook groups are great for getting the latest recommendations, asking how to deal with unruly guests, the ins and outs of Airbnb policy and sharing your unit for feedback. Here are some of our favorites…
- Clubhouse – Discover rooms filled with fascinating conversations. Hosts can follow us, other groups and STR leaders. Clubhouse allows for Hosts to hop in and ask questions on the go!
Some STR Products / Services Worth Looking Into
We are very hesitant to make blanket suggestions to people about Property Management Software or Pricing Software because there are so many nuances and it really depends on your business needs. If a host is running 5 units and needs a website for direct bookings, their software needs are very different from a host running 50 units and also needing to use a channel manager.
That said, a few companies that are worth looking into if you’re just getting started are:
For Pricing Software check out:
- Price Labs, Wheelhouse
- Beyond Pricing
- HostGPO Members who connect an account with Beyond will receive a free 30-day trial on the platform as well as a $50 credit towards their first bookings using Beyond’s Dynamic Pricing tool (up to $5,000 in gross booking revenue). Sign up Here!
Great Additional Resources for Hosts
- Thumbtack – Perfect for finding cleaning services, handymen etc. Hosts can shop around for different offers, ensuring they get a competitive price.
- Quickbooks – One of the largest and best resources for keeping track of your expenses and income and to know how your business is doing. This will also be a big help when tax time rolls around.
- Divvy – If expense is a problem for your business, this is a helpful resource. It allows people to have multiple digital credit cards so you can have one per property or one per utility to make your accounting easier.
Podcasts
- Short Term Rental Secrets – This is a great training & mentorship program to help new and seasoned real estate investors launch, automate & scale their short term rental portfolio and fast track their journey to financial freedom. The conversations are to the point and offer insight for new hosts to even the most experienced. Listen to our Podcast with them Here!
- Thanks for Visiting – Annette & Sarah have got the business-side of hosting-with-heart down to a science. Get the latest every week from them (and their special guests!) on the podcast. Listen to our Podcast with them Here and read our Blog with them Here!
- Get Paid for Your Pad – Jasper has compiled a free report for hosts that will help them save time and get more bookings using his six favorite Airbnb tools. His podcast will help Hosts learn how to improve the results from their Airbnb listing. Listen to our Podcast with Jasper Here and read our Blog with him Here!
- Live Let Thrive – An amazing resource for Hosts looking for short term rental help. Steve and Myka discuss the shareconomy in general and share their experiences in hosting and guesting. Listen to our Podcast with them Here!
- Bigger Pockets – With multiple podcast options available, they feature off-the-cuff interviews with investors of various backgrounds, niches, and experience levels.
We hope these services and podcasts help other Hosts like they helped us! Let us know of any other resources Hosts use that we have missed and we will be sure to check it out and revise!
