Advice to increase bookings/decrease vacancy rate

Ben242
Level 2
Los Angeles, CA

Advice to increase bookings/decrease vacancy rate

today is 11/16/17

I posted my property 10/18/17

 

Per "Stats" page of last 30 days  (only posted for 28 days) I've had 11 nights booked => ~36% booking of available nights to date

 

I'm renting a 4br/2ba 2400 sq ft home on a 7500 sq ft lot w/ 6+ off street parking spots in East Hollywood (central part of Los Angeles) between Hollywood and Downtown LA.  Surrounded by very in demand areas (West Hollywood/Silver Lake/Larchmont Village/Los Feliz/Echo Park/Hancock Park etc.)  Compareable homes in this area rent for $250-300 per AirDNA and my own market research on AirBnB website.  I'm using wheelhouse for dynamic pricing.  My base rate is at $206/night and my minimum is $145 per night.  My dynamic pricing lately has had my pricing lower than the AirBnB price tips but still virtually nothing booking wise during weekdays.  Weekday pricing has been posted at minimum price level pretty regularly lately.

 

My property is older but I cleaned it up and had it professionally staged.  I took professional pictures and feel like it shows well versus competition.  I even had it landscaped (just finished that so no exterior pix yet).

 

I thought it was because 0 reviews but my GF has a new loft listing in Downtown LA for $130/night and she's booked 90-95% of her available nights.  +I have 5 reviews now.  4x 5 stars and 1x 3 star.

 

I'd like to get my booking rate up to approximately 70-80% (from the 36% I'm at now).

 

Any ideas/suggestions?

 

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/21414388?s=51

8 Replies 8
Linda108
Level 10
La Quinta, CA

OMG, @Ben242, what a lovely space!  Great price and pictures are super.  Some tweaks are:  add cable TV as not all your guests will be US young, web savvy people; add pix that promote the wonderful LA sites that your guests will be interested in; look at your base pricce which way lower than your calendar price; open your availability window for at least 6 months.  LA is an area that world travelers are interested in and they make arrangements several months in advance.  Hope this helps.

 

BTW, it could be that your GF listing is interesting to business travelers while your listing is more vacation oriented.

 

Also, be careful about your response to any negative aspects of a review.  Your audience is a possible guest.  Be courteous to the reviewing guest and demonstrate you are a caring and professional host.  Do not be defensive!

appreciate the reply lots of actionable advice there

 

what do you mean by "look at your base pricce which way lower than your calendar price"

 Your base price appears when no dates are selected while your calendar price is date specific.  Your base price is very low and your calendar price is 2 to 3 times higher.

@Ben242@Linda108's advice about your response to the "3.5 out of 5" review is spot on.

Your response comes off as a bit defensive and your closing sentence leaves a bad taste.

You can communicate the same message without the offputting tone.

For example, instead of "Aside from new construction unclear what type of additional "Frills" would have satisfied this guest who paid $125/night to accommodate 6 people in heart of LA"

you could write "A lot of people feel that being able to comfortably house 6 people in the heart of LA for $125/night is a terrific bargain."

I agree with the idea that your listing is a wonderful choice for vacationers, and this is the slow season for vacationing.

Your GF's loft is probably a good fit for the business traveler, which is a bit less seasonal.

BTW, your listing looks amazing! It looks like something from Architectural Digest. Simply stunning.

 

This is good advice for me too.  I sometimes get defensive.  It`s understandable.  We`ve all put in so much money, sweat and time into making our places nice places to stay, and then you get a crappy review.  It`s tough to take.

 

However, in order to get more guests.  We have to take the high road.

 

At times, I`ve succeeded in funnily refuting some of what a guest has said.  Other guests who booked after that commented that they laughed at what I had written, and booked with me.

 

So having a sense of humor about all of this is important.

Sense of humor is a great way to combat defensiveness in a number of aspects of our lives, @Kevin-s0.  Good for you!

Kevin-s0
Level 10
Minamiashigara, Japan

Yes and I need to remember this! LOL

 

Easy for me to say it.  But in the heat of the moment.

 

I`m trying to force myself away from the computer when I`m feeling angry.   Kind of like road rage.

 

Trying to take a breath and see the humor.

Kelly149
Level 10
Austin, TX

@Ben242 we have a very weekend heavy place. Our most recent attempt at weekday rentals involved creating a second listing (exact same space) bc that was the best way to tailor the very different needs of the two scenarios. 

Weekend allows more people, has more rules. Weekday talks less about the space as a vacation proposition & is priced starting at one guest. We’re still more weekend heavy but it has moved the needle some.