Do you keep an eye on the competition? I do.

[Kia272]

 In this area there’s plenty of business to go around. I simply like to read reviews to see what other hosts are doing right and what they’re doing wrong. We each have our own place in the market, so I feel like we’re not in direct competition. I cheer on the good hosts and shake my head at the bad ones. It’s just not that hard to supply a clean, comfortable, well-supplied property to guests. It doesn’t have to be fancy, it just has to be as promised. 

The interesting thing to me is that locally, many of these properties are managed by a local vacation rental company. However, on AirBnB, they are not listed as such. The “host” is simply a person’s name, so there’s no indication that there’s a company behind the property rental. I'm not sure what the AirBnB rules are about that. 

This “person” lost her Superhost status last year because the ratings for many of the properties went too low. “She” actually should have lost it before that, but because some of the properties were barely hanging on to Superhost, her other properties with low ratings got the badge as well, which really bothered me. I guess eventually that’s self-correcting, although AirBnB should do a better job of policing that for hosts with multiple properties. A property with low ratings is obviously not being “super” hosted and shouldn’t carry the badge. 

You see the same complaints over and over for these properties with no improvement. Low water pressure, smelly well water,  rickety furniture, poor arrival directions, access codes not working, not enough toilet paper, no trash bags, minimally supplied kitchens, hot tub not warm or clean,  even though these amenities are promised. The list goes on. Really? You’re going to end up with unhappy guests and poor reviews because you couldn’t leave a few extra rolls of toilet paper? Great way to piss people off, by not spending a few dollars on supplies. 

It’s pretty obvious that they kind of don’t care, as long as the money keeps flowing in. It’s also pretty obvious that many guests don’t read reviews, or they likely wouldn’t book in the first place. These places also tend to be priced at the top end of the market. Go figure. This company has its own booking site, and of course that site doesn’t have reviews available, so they likely get direct bookings, and are able to keep the dirty little secrets on the downlow. BTW, they get the same ratings and reviews on VRBO. 

There’s a new host who either purchased or took over management of several properties in the town of Ohiopyle early this year, which is a major focal point of the tourist draw to this area. As soon as I saw the listings I just went “uggghh.”  Low quality, really ugly furnishings and décor. Bad carpet, no upgrades, but perfectly centrally located. Her ratings are pretty dismal. Always a 5* on location though. You think that if she’d just spend some money making the places nicer, she’d be doing so much better. There is lots of room in her calendars for the fall season, which is super popular up here, and she should be solidly booked. You have to spend money to make money, IMHO. 

Another local family has entered the hosting arena with multiple properties. They can’t even get decent ratings for a hotel room! How hard is it to manage a decent hotel room? I suspect they’re about to lose their superhost status as well. They’ve gotten complaints at multiple properties, including guests finding dirty dishes, and the entire place not having been cleaned prior to guest arrival. Who manages a property and doesn’t check to make sure that the cleaners have shown up?? 

There are also many local properties that get rave reviews, and I'm always happy to see that as well. These seem to be managed directly by owners, which I believe makes the difference. 

Well, just some observations as to the local market. I’m curious if other hosts keep an eye on their local markets, and see the same patterns. 

Lengthy post, I know. Happy hosting, I hope. Kia

[Laura2592]

@Noel102 @Emilia42 @Kia272  I think there is a difference between obsessively looking at competitors and understanding what is going on around you. I have a bit of a habit of looking at new real estate listings in a variety of geographic areas. It definitely borders on the obsessive. Its fun to me, and that is part of the reason that I do it. I love old houses and am interested in real estate markets in general. I have been doing this for years. Its a nerdy hobby. I learn a lot about the varying areas and what is happening at different price points. And I like to window shop.  

As far as my ABB goes, I honestly don't think that what other hosts do or don't do in my area has a big impact. I get better ideas here and on Instagram following other hosts who have similar schoolhouse conversions. The only reason I dig into other local area listings are for pricing, and in that way its helpful to know what the going rate is for my bed and bath numbers. I don't identify listings as unsafe or undesirable because what would I do with that info? I can't warn future guests away from that place. I don't know who is choosing that place over mine, so I can't (and honestly would not) reach out and say "hey that listing is terrible. Stay with me instead." I take no pleasure when someone else gets a bad review. I know what the guests can be like in this region and its very hard to say that its actually one party or the other who is at fault. 

I do know a few local hosts with good reputations and cute places that I can direct potential guests to if I am not in their budget or they need more space. So in that regard, yes, its good to know who to send them to. 

I think if you look at "the competition" as sort of a hobby,  great. If you have relationships with some of those hosts that can help with overflow, great. If it helps you with pricing, great. I am not sure what is to be gained otherwise. 

[Kia272]

@Laura2592 

Everything mentioned in your last paragraph. 
I don’t have a direct relationship with any local hosts, but feel I could direct someone towards a good listing by virtue of the knowledge I’ve gained doing just this. 
I do look at pricing but have generally gone with my gut as to my own property, regardless of what other locals are priced at or what Airbnb suggests. 
Other than that it’s a quasi-hobby and learning experience. All good. 

[Emilia42]

@Kia272 @Laura2592 I think comparing pricing is huge. I don't want to be the cheapest place in town. When newer listings come on the market at higher prices, this will drive the rates up and I don't want to fall behind on that. The same is true when hosts similarly start decreasing their prices. I also like to read the listing text, house rules, etc. of other hosts around me. It gives me ideas to adjust and constantly tweak my wording. Another thing is that there is a common theme to the reviews in my area which further reiterate that I need to be vigilant in communicating what is important to guests before they even realized it themselves. 

I would say I have learned just as much about hosting from regularly looking at and comparing listings in my area, as I have from reading this forum. 

[Z-2]

@Kia272 Add some of my experience. My outer bank sound front house was bought as second home, not thinking about rental but for our vacation. After owned two years, I thought maybe I can rent it out to get some extra income. So we found a management company who can manage the house for us. So start the vacation rental. They take care of everything and get commission and management fee. They didn't doing very good and we actually not get too much money back. But it's OK, not really care since the house purpose is for our vacation. The house down turn in US gave me a chance to buy few more houses can do vacation rental. Then we get into vacation rental business, but still full managed by local management company. Outer Banks vacation rental market is dominated by local management companies for a long time. They only do full service, they don't just do clean, manage house job. They want the commission, not just clean, manage fee. There are a lot of vacation houses there, also a lots of visitor come in summer. A lot of owner might not depend on the rent income. They sometimes go there to live a few weeks. So basically, there is no good local management company in outer banks. If you search the local management company reviews, you may not even see one company have 4 stars or above. Normally, they don't do full cleaning, don't provide liner, paper product,... everything need extra charges. Recently few years, since Airbnb market shares get more, some management company (like the one I used before) start to allow me to do Airbnb and they will manage/clean and they also rent and get commission too if they can. But they initial setup is not for Airbnb, so the service is not as good. I finally find my own cleaner and handy man and not use management company anymore. But outer banks is so lack of the labor, especially in summer. I paid the cleaner more than what I get from guests, but the cleaner/handy man still might not do the good job every time, so it's a pain for me every time guests check in to see if they are satisfied for the cleaning. But sure, still better than the management company though. I think if I live locally, I am sure it will do better. But there is difference from city to city. My FL vacation house so far is much better because I find a reliable cleaner. The house is so clean and the pay is much less compared to Outer banks. When I go live in FL vacation house, I rather pay the cleaner for cleaning the house after me. But when I go to outer banks, I do deep cleaning every time to make sure the house is clean and the guest less complain. For the price wise, local management is cheaper if you go directly booking with them.

[Z-2]

@Kia272 My point is the management company is doing bad job because most of their clients are not really care or have no other choices. The management companies in the outer banks are too bad and so that force us to do our own. Otherwise, I will let them do it all.

[Kia272]

@Z-2  I generally don't like to pay for services if the provider is not living up to what they promised. Even a management company provides a contract and is supposed to live up to what they say they'll provide in that contract. 

Your post makes it sound like initially you didn't really care,

"But it's OK, not really care since the house purpose is for our vacation. "

and that's the standard they are counting on when they provide sub-standard management services to homeowners. 

I'm sure the Outer Banks is a high-demand market, and companies like that can count on demand being high enough that guests will accept lower quality rentals just because they want to be in the area. 

The bottom line is that guests are paying top dollar but not receiving top-dollar service. 

As I said, a homeowner who is directly managing a property is much more invested, and therefore is likely to provide an overall better experience for guests. 

It does help to be close to the property, as you can keep a very close eye on things. Good luck. 

[Z-2]

@Kia272 "But it's OK, not really care since the house purpose is for our vacation. "

That just means we didn't really care how the management deal with customers or how much they rented it out. When we bought vacation house, we didn't think about rent it out. So any rent income for us is extra, as long as when we go vacation, everything looks good. I had another vacation house never rent out, after we used for a few years, we sold it. But since we got into the rental business (long term or short term), we do care about guests and income now, that's why we took it over. But there are a lot of vacation houses and remote owners there in Outer Banks use the house as vacation house and use management companies to management their houses. They might just like us few years ago, never paid detail attention to the house and guests, even the rental income. Also local companies dominate  there and only do full services. There is no real competition from outside until recent year. They are doing better but still not good.

[Z-2]

Also the Outer Banks lack of labor, the local companies hire students or other labors from other cities and countries and bring them to outer banks every summer, which the Airbnb host can't do. But those two years, they could not do that because of COVID. It make the job market even worse. 

[Beth6237]

Hello Kia, I am a new STR owner close by, near Hidden Valley. We manage ourselves and I agree, unlimited toilet paper is not hard to do! We try to do whatever we can to make a wonderful stay for our guests. I do keep an eye on how pricing fluctuates and I try to price just right. I have not taken the time to look at reviews. It is interesting that you have observed many do not pay attention to them. I do not know what to expect as far as summer rentals since we just listed our property in September of last year. We were booked solid through ski season so I am wondering what your experience has been for summer. Should I be concerned that we are not beginning to fill up? We have a few summer rentals but those came in about a month ago and nothing since. You are the first from the area I have come across. Any insight you have would be appreciated! TIA! Beth

[Kia272]

@Beth6237 I'm lucky enough to be close to Ohiopyle and both Frank Lloyd Wright homes near here, so my market appeal is slightly different than yours. Obviously, winter is your season. However, I think there's a lot of tourist traffic overall to the Laurel Highlands, and everyone can benefit in some way. 

For your summer or "off" season, I'd emphasize your location relative to Falling Water and Ohiopyle, and even the Flight 93 memorial. Those are going to be the ongoing draw to the area. I know that Seven Springs also has stuff going on in the summer, so you can make a point of mentioning that as well. 

Overall, you might just appeal to a large family gathering at any time of year. But definitely emphasize your proximity to those places, as well as to  Ligonier. Are you close at all? 

The one thing I would do is utilize the caption feature with your photos. Your property is really large, and providing information in the photos helps people get a sense of how the house is set up. 

Last but not least, it seems like people are not booking as far in advance as they used to. I think we are in rebound from the pandemic, and travel patterns keep changing. I wouldn't worry about summer too much right now. I think people need to finish up the school year and the weather needs to warm up, and then they start thinking about summer vacation. 

I'm at the point where I kind of just go with the flow. I think you'll be pretty busy as your reviews build and you get more established. Good luck! 

[Beth6237]

Thank you so much Kia for taking a look and for your suggestions. I will do them!