Hi Jamie and Jennifer. I'll echo what others have shared around the "new normal" of more competitive listing landscapes, which will only continue to increase in scale until we get a correction in the STR space where more folks sell off or shift back into the MTR/LTR market. That's inevitable based on the fundamentals out there today, but will take time to unfold. As always, occupancy's your most essential metric, so you're right on to be asking about that.
I'm not local but familiar with the region and so take the suggestions below in the spirit of help/ideas, not criticism. You have a beautiful home, let's help you showcase the best of it. Some quick thoughts:
1. You need a new primary/first photo. That shot looks like a patio, but it's a chess board lacking color/pop and doesn't help me as a potential renter know what I'm actually renting until I swipe in at least 3x. Picture #4 does show your home and, even better, looks amazing! Change up that photo order and consider what those top spaces/attributes are to start with right up front. Most folks are booking on the go, meaning your "cover shot" may be the only thing they ever see. Make those first 3 pictures really pop. Add a nice colorful outdoor carpet and maybe some greenery to that outdoor patio to help it really stand out.
2. Consider reordering your photos to make them a virtual walkthrough of your space. You've seen this in design magazines and great home listings: here's the wide angle house/yard, let me show you this slightly open red front door, here you have the inviting living room, etc. Consider how you can arrange your photos in an order of how someone entering your home would proceed. Walk your prospective renters through your home room by room. Show them around. Yes, AirBnB provides room tagging, but that's like parachuting into a maze: it's not the same thing as the kind of virtual walkthrough a great listing will feature.
3. You have a great rating, but low review count. That means folks love your space once there, but may not be clicking into it enough to book. That's actually a good problem to have because it reinforces the value you're providing, if only more folks could see it. Why don't they see it? Go back to those first 3 photos. Add some color. Grab my attention. Make those spaces really pop. To illustrate what this means for your market, open a private/incognito web browser (critical) then run a search for similar 3BR/2BA/8P rentals. What comes up first? What looks amazing? Of those top 10 listings, focus on the top 3-5 will the most reviews. That's your competition. Now show us what's different/unique/better about your home over those others. If that sounds complicated, it's not. It's about knowing what sets you apart from your competition, which will only get more important the greater the number of actual listings there are out there. There's a reason AirBnB's highlighting the X-Mansion, Doja Cat, and Kevin Hart on their land page: they're unique and impossible to ignore.
4. You're currently listed with 50+ photos. Drop 20 of them to get it down to 20-30 great shots. Focus, focus, focus. I realize there's thinking out there that more is better, but it's mistaken. No one's swiping 50x for a single listing so whatever's shown at the end of those 50 photos is simply never seen. In your listing that means all the area amenities that you want folks to know about. This is the listing equivalent of "below the fold" in webpage design: most visitors won't scroll a webpage so it's best practice to keep any call to action right up top.
5. Below the fold also applies to. your description, which is currently cutoff before it gets into any of the value you're offering in your home. Consider how to summarize those top feature, amenities, and attributes before anyone clicks into the "Show more" link. Most never will.
Lots here I know so take what you like and feel free to ignore what you don't. Just perspective from a fellow host who's found myself doubling down on strategy and optimization in a world where every booking is a battle.
