Are you looking to make some extra money by renting out your property? Short-term rentals are a great way to do this, and there are many platforms available to help you. But which one is the best for you? In this article, we'll compare the features, fees, and services of the top short-term rental sites, including Airbnb, Vrbo, Expedia, Vacasa, Atraveo, and 2nd Address. Airbnb is the most trusted vacation rental site. It's the first place most people will look to when searching for a short-term rental, and it's also one of the most reliable platforms for this type of service.
Listing your property on Airbnb allows you to take advantage of that trust. As for commissions, Airbnb doesn't charge you to list your property. But when someone books, they will take at least 3 percent of the fee as a commission. In some cases, that rate can go up to 15 percent.
If you want to promote your listing, it's worth taking the time to create a quality Airbnb listing. Vrbo (formerly VRBO and Homeaway) is another great option for hosts. One thing you should know about Vrbo is that it only allows you to list entire houses or apartments - in other words, only private spaces. In addition, Vrbo tends to cater to a larger audience, making it an ideal choice for properties that are suitable for children or that offer other amenities desired by families. For this reason, Vrbo is an excellent choice for those who have premium properties in busy locations. Expedia is another popular platform for short-term rentals.
Fees tend to be slightly lower on Expedia than on competing sites, although the range is still between 10 and 30 percent. The exact charge will change based on your ad, and it's something you should check before publishing on Expedia. Vacasa recently acquired TurnKey to provide a full short-term rental property management service. That means that, in addition to advertising your property for possible bookings, Vacasa will also take control of the delivery of your property and ensure that it is ready for the next guest - freeing them from this responsibility. However, if your goal is to make money, this may not be the best site.
Vacasa charges 35 percent of the nightly reservation fee for its services - which is considerably higher than anywhere else. But if you want to make some money and not deal with the work and stress of managing the property, Vacasa can work perfectly for you. If your listing is in Europe, Atraveo hosting might be a better option than Airbnb. It's a platform very similar to Airbnb but very popular in Europe. Perhaps the best thing about Atraveo is that the ad with them connects you to their affiliate network - which means that your property could appear in ads shown on any number of around 50,000 sites.
The fees for advertising on Atraveo are 15 percent for each successful booking - which is quite normal for the course. Managing multiple listings can be difficult and can lead to double bookings - which hurts your reputation with a site and can even cost you money. If you want to publish on multiple sites and don't want the headache, use Uplisting - which combines all your listings into one easy-to-use platform that allows you to manage your short-term rentals.2nd Address offers free services such as tenant screening - including facial recognition and extensive background checks so that hosts can rest easy. A host receives payments prior to the guest's arrival - if the move-in date is in the near future 2nd Address delivers payment to the host about 24 hours after the guest pays online; if a reservation is made well in advance payment is processed one week before the scheduled move. Airbnb charges a percentage-based rate for each booking - host service fee is usually 3%, but may be higher for hosts with a super strict cancellation policy. This fee is calculated from the subtotal of the reservation (the nightly rate plus the cleaning fee and additional guest fee) but does not include Airbnb fees and taxes).
For guests there is a service charge ranging from 0% to 20% of the reservation subtotal - so keep in mind that whatever price you publish your guests will see that price marked when they book. Airbnb hosts are usually paid 24 hours after the scheduled check-in time - if a guest stays 28 or more nights payments for that reservation are released monthly. Airbnb provides basic background checks on guests including public criminal records sex offender records and OFAC list (including terrorist designations).In order to rent your property as much as possible and make the most money it's important to list your property on several sites. But before committing it's important to explore all options and think about your strategy - do you prefer vacationers who stay one or two nights or long-term guests who stay a month?Weighing up all these factors will help you decide which website is best for you - whether it's increasing bookings paying lower rates or having someone to call in case of an accident.
