Although setting one price for your rental may feel like the easiest way to go, it isn’t the most competitive. When it comes to short-term rentals, you need to think a little outside the box. You need to strategize for the year and take in multiple considerations as you set pricing. For example, you need to look at the different seasons. When is your busy time/peak season? This will be the time when you can make the most profit. You can charge more and you can benefit from longer bookings. If you do things right, it can play out to be a pretty lucrative time. But, how do you stay competitive during this timeframe?
Take A Look At The Competition And Added Fees
Think carefully about your pricing structure. How does your pricing compare to what your competitors are doing? Don’t just look at the rental price, but also how they’re handling any added fees. Guests will look at the total they will end up spending, this means also browsing the extra fees. Try to keep your added fee structure simple. Too many additional fees may send a guest to book somewhere else.
Offer Discounts When It Fits
There are certain times when you can offer discounts even during your peak season. For example, you can encourage guests to book longer stays by offering a discount once they hit a certain number of days. You can also offer early bird discounts if they book in advance.
Keep Your Listing Up To Date
Your listing can make you more competitive. Make sure that it’s up to date with professional photos and great messaging. Also, take a look at your reviews, if they’re not great, it may be time to work on improving guest satisfaction to increase this rating.
Require Longer Stays
One of the perks of the peak season is that you can require longer stays than the off-season or the shoulder. So for example, if you require a minimum of a 2 or 3-day stay in the off-season, you might require 4 to 7 days during peak season. This is another time to look at what your competitors are doing and see what’s a reasonable expectation in your market.
Pay Attention To Holidays And Local Events
Holidays and special events allow you an opportunity to mark up your prices. So, take a look at the holidays during your peak season and increase the rate. Check out how much competitors tend to increase theirs during the holidays. Also, take a look at popular local events that people may travel to attend. These are another ideal time to increase the rates.
Carefully Consider Your Cancelation Policy
One of the ways to be more competitive nowadays is to have a good cancelation policy. If you offer no cancelation policy, people may not pay much attention to your property. One of the things the pandemic taught a lot of us is that things don’t always go as planned. Because of this, more people are looking for a little reassurance in case the unexpected happens. So, think carefully about your cancelation policy and make sure that it’s clearly spelled out for potential guests.
Be Adaptable
As with anything, pricing can go up and down in this market. It’s important to pay attention to current pricing and keep yours competitive. This means being adaptable as things change and able to adjust prices to meet that demand.
Focus On Guest Relations
One of the biggest ways to stay competitive is by focusing your attention on guest relations. You may have a similar price and offerings to someone else. In this case, your potential guest may be looking for other things that set you apart. They may ask questions to more than one property and choose to stay with the person who comes off the most helpful.
Your guest relations of course go beyond just the initial prospective questions too. Make sure that you provide guests with great communication during their stay. And, focus on anything that will help them stay satisfied such as ensuring the property is well-maintained before they arrive and handling any last-minute needs.
Partner With A Property Manager
Setting the right price for your property and staying competitive throughout the peak season can be challenging. However, when you work with a trusted property manager you gain the benefits of their experience and knowledge. You also get the perks of the high-end and reliable technology they have at their disposal. They can help ensure that your property always has the right price so that you can keep it competitive no matter what season you’re in.
As you can see there are multiple things to take into consideration as you work to keep competitive. We hope that you found these tips helpful and that you have a successful season. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at PMI when you need anything. You can visit our website to learn more at: https://www.propertymanagementinc.com/.
