Nowadays, the vacation rental industry is on a high. People are investing in vacation rental property management software to cater to their rising demands around the world. With a large number of companies providing different kinds of software for different needs and requirements, it is understandable that you will get confused about which option to choose. This article will help you take an informed decision which short-term property management software suits your needs.
Property management software for vacation rentals, short-term rentals, and Airbnb. Boost your bookings, reduce cancellations and no-shows, and improve guest service by automating emails.
There are so many things to consider when managing a vacation rental property for your clients. Some things are easy to do, like booking reservations, taking care of minor maintenance requests, or ensuring guest satisfaction.But there are other areas where investment in quality, trustworthy software can help you succeed. A vacation rental property management software of the right kind can provide you with things that might be missing from other services – that little bit of software magic which makes it so much easier to market your available ledges and attract new customers.
If you own a vacation rental property, the last thing you want to do is waste hours manually entering information in a spreadsheet. Vacation rental management software will allow you to easily track current and past guests, manage transactions, set up reminders for your guests, evaluate performance of your property, send mass messages to guests and more. In this article we’re going to discuss some of the best vacation rental property management systems available as well as look at what you should be considering before choosing your short-term rental management software.
What is Vacation Rental Management Software?
In short, a property management system centralizes the reservations and operational tasks for your vacation rentals. Rather than logging into Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com separately to manage reservations and communicate with guests, a property management system lets you do it all in one place.
Most vacation rental property management systems offer these basic features:
- Multi-calendar: One calendar where you can see all reservations from all channels for all of your listings.
- Reservation management: The reservation system module or CRS as it’s called in more sophisticated hotel software gives the ability to change dates, prices, and other details for existing reservations.
- Channel management: Synchronizing rates, availability, and sometimes content across all listing sites such as AirBnB, VrBO, Homeaway and Flipkey. With a channel manager, you can change your availability in your property management system and let the change be sent across all of your listing channels.
- Booking engine: Booking software provides the ability to enter direct reservations booked offline (over the phone or in person) or online (via your own website or booking widget) and increase revenue coming from direct channels.
- Integrations: Most property management systems offer a library of integrations that range from payment processors to dynamic pricing systems to keyless entry solutions.
- Mobile app: Many vacation rental owners run their properties remotely so if you fit into that category you’ll want a dedicated mobile app to run your business on the go wherever and whenever.
Hostaway
Hostaway is a property management software and channel manager that focuses on growing vacation rental businesses through innovative tools. Along with its customer success team, Hostaway simplifies processes from communication and marketing to sales and reporting.
Key features:
- Channel manager
- Performance dashboard
- CRM and lead management
- Unified inbox
- Guest portal
- Occupancy reports
- Automated messaging and tasks
- WordPress plugin
Integrations: Hostaway integrates via open API to a variety of vacation rental software and tools. You can choose from categories like booking sites, contact management, business intelligence, and guest services.
Pricing: Contact Hostaway here for a customized payment plan.
Beds24
Beds24 offers all of the standard property management functionality (multi-calendar, channel manager), plus a booking engine and integrations with several ancillary services. It’s best for property managers who want to take full control of their operations and don’t need much guidance from support representatives, since Beds24 does not offer phone support.
Unique features: Beds24 allows for a lot of customization – you can add essentially any restriction, pricing rule, fee, and policy you want, and the system makes it easy for you to set up channel connections on your own without the assistance of a support representative.
Integrations: Beds24 offers direct connections to Airbnb, Agoda, Booking.com, Expedia, Vrbo, and Tripadvisor. Several other regional channels are also available, as is iCal import and export functionality. Beds24 also integrates with PriceLabs, Wishbox, Mailchimp, several keyless entry solutions (igloohome, RemoteLock), and several payment processors (PayPal, Stripe).
Pricing: After a 14-day free trial, a Beds24 subscription starts at about $10 per month for one property. Additional properties/units and links to channels cost about $1 each. If you have 5 properties listed on 3 channels each, your monthly fee will be about $20. If you have 50 properties on 3 channels each, the monthly fee is about $70.
Disadvantages: Unlike some other systems on this list that have invested heavily in user experience and building a sleek, beautiful interface, Beds24 is a bit clunky. But while it’s not the most fashionable system, it’s certainly functional.
Bottom Line: Beds24 packs a lot of features into a very small price. If you’re comfortable with a less user-friendly experience, this system is an excellent value.
iGMS
Since its launch in 2015, iGMS has grown to support over 100,000 listings with its property management system. You may know the company by its old name, AirGMS. In addition to a multi-calendar, automated messaging, and booking management, the system offers special functionality for automating cleaning team operations and notifications.
Unique features: Some systems only let you set up a direct Airbnb or Vrbo connection to one Airbnb or Vrbo account, but iGMS allows you to configure direct connections with multiple Airbnb accounts, which is a nice option for property managers who list different properties under different profiles. The cleaning management features also help to streamline cleaning operations at scale.
Integrations: Direct integrations are available with Airbnb and Vrbo (for rates, availability, and reservation); all other sites use a simple iCal connection. iGMS doesn’t offer much in terms of third-party software integration.
Pricing: After a 14-day free trial, iGMS offers two plans: a pay-per-booking plan with a fixed cost (around $1) per booking, or a monthly or yearly subscription with no fees per booking. The “Pro” plan costs $100 per month for 5 properties and includes 24/7 email and phone support. Under the same plan, 20 listings cost $360 per month with an annual subscription.
Disadvantages: iGMS does not offer a direct connection with Booking.com or Expedia, making it a less strategic system for property managers or hosts who want to distribute listings on sites beyond Airbnb and Vrbo. As of today, iGMS also does not offer a website builder.
Bottom Line: Professional property managers, rather than individual owners or part-time hosts, may get the most benefit from iGMS, especially if your business is focused on Airbnb and Vrbo and not Expedia, Booking.com, or direct bookings.
OwnerRez
Catering to the traditional vacation home market, OwnerRez brands itself as “built by owners, for owners.” The company believes in simplicity and transparency, but that doesn’t mean the system lacks functionality. In fact, OwnerRez offers a vast array of features, from a multi-calendar to a guest database to automated message templates and responders. OwnerRez is known for its clean, user-friendly interface and hands-on customer service. The company is open to suggestions and encourages users to let them know about any features they’re missing.
Unique features: OwnerRez offers their own damage protection and travel insurance products. The system also allows you to collect and analyze your guest reviews from a variety of different sites.
Integrations: OwnerRez offers integrations with dynamic pricing software (PriceLabs, Beyond Pricing, Perfect Price), several keyless entry systems (RemoteLock, among others), guest communication tools (Wishbox), and QuickBooks (extra fee applies). You can also add an OwnerRez widget to your website via WordPress, Weebly, SquareSpace, and WIX.
Pricing: After a 14-day free trial, OwnerRez charges a monthly fee dependent on the number of listings and a choice of add-on features. With no add-ons, the monthly fee for 5 listings is $28.99 (as of June 2020) and $131.99 for 50 listings. The plans include unlimited bookings. Add-ons include website hosting, channel management, and QuickBooks integration for a few more dollars per month.
Disadvantages: iCal imports and exports are included in the monthly fee, but for property managers who want to use the channel management functionality to sync rates, availability, restrictions, content, and policies to sites like Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, and Tripadvisor, you’ll need to pay extra. OwnerRez does not have an integration with Expedia (yet).
Bottom Line: OwnerRez is a great choice for cost-conscious property managers who want a lot of features, integrations, and input into the company’s development pipeline.
What are the Benefits of Vacation Rental Software?
Although property management systems do come with a subscription fee or commission, that fee is far less than what it costs vacation rental managers in time and lost bookings when trying to complete those same tasks without them. From the moment you set up your system and sync all of your channels, you can rest assured that you won’t receive a double booking or lose a reservation in the shuffle. These systems also allow vacation rental owners to automate many operational tasks from bookings to guest experience. For example, you can configure check-in templates to be sent automatically before arrival. You could also set up automated text messages for your cleaning staff to alert them when you need a new cleaning. Many property management systems also offer a booking engine, which lets you easily accept direct bookings with major credit cards and other mainstream payment methods to rely less on the online travel agencies.
Conclusion
Whether you’re looking for a vacation rental property management software or short-term rental apartment leasing software free, there are several things to keep in mind. The first is how easy the software is to use. Key features include designing your own payment receipt, as well as the ability to designate who has access to view and edit information about properties, tenants, and payments.
Easy, secure online booking for your guests, turnkey marketing and website solutions, calendar synchronizations, payment services, and a robust security suite for web and mobile. Professional property management software has never been easier to use.