One of the oldest and largest travel websites is TripAdvisor.com. They are presently positioning themselves to take over the number one spot presently held by homeaway.com. for vacation rental listings. Their new vacation rentals listing site is Flipkey.com
We were approached by Flipkey in February of 2010 to list our vacation rental with them for a 60 days free trial listing. This was an opportunity to get more exposure with what I thought to be one of the best travel related sites. We were contacted by Flipkey again at the end of our 60 days with instruction on how to pay and keep our listing. I wrote back and expressed that we had not received any viable inquiries because we did receive two inquiries but none of them had phone numbers. We do not count inquiries without phone numbers as serious or true inquiries because anyone could be sending them in. They came back with an extended sixty days and then we finally received several more inquiries with phone numbers and booked one of them. We continued to get inquiries and soon realized that most of our inquiries were coming from Flipkey.
I started to research them and realized that not only was my listing on Flipkey but they had also added a vacation rentals tab to TripAdvisor.com and were also showing our listing and we were receiving inquiries from TripAdvisor.com also.
They do something very unique in that once someone inquiries about a property they also offer up other options to send the inquiry to. This is great because if someone inquires about another rental in the same area they offer up our rental asking if they want the inquiry to come to us also.
VRBO and Homeaway have gotten bad raps for the way they handle the testimonials site allowing the owner to pick and choice which ones are posted, Flipkey has a process in place which we also like as they allow us to select who we want to ask for a testimonial and they post it once received.
With their ten million plus visitors to their websites I think these guys are poised to take the number one spot for vacation rental listing site in just a few more months or by 2012.
What this means to all property owners is that they are the site to list with, so run do not walk over to the site and get your property listed for the ten million plus visitors they have to offer.
Get your Sixty Day Trial Today
Al & Nelida Rios
Owner Operators
Villas de COSTA MAR
Monday, January 24, 2011
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Rentalbot Tools & Services Walk Through
RentalBot offers Vacation Rental owners an unparalleled array of Property Management tools and services to keep you organized, on time and invest only on sites that are providing you with inquiries and bookings. Below are a few and how they work to help you…
Inquiries Script: Saves you the time it takes to enter inquiries into Rentalbot to build a marketing customer database.
Task: You can setup all task associated with said rental client like Contract Due, flight Itinerary recorded, email maid, Return Deposit any other task associated with said rental client. You also have:
Inquiries Script: Saves you the time it takes to enter inquiries into Rentalbot to build a marketing customer database.
Book It: A fast and easy way to convert an inquiry to a reservation.
Reservation: Payments – add and remove payments that add up to your rental fee. You can also add the refundable deposit collected and also add the refund as a negative number for easy tracking.
- Date Due:
- Date Received:
These allow you to document and keep track of funds received and due as their names state.
- Remind Me Date:
You can set a reminder for each payment date you setup to receive a reminder email.
Expenses: You can use these to keep track of all expenses for said rental client. Maid, Property Manager, Repairs any other expense which may arise. You also have- Due Date
- Date Paid
- Remind Me Dates
- Check #
Task: You can setup all task associated with said rental client like Contract Due, flight Itinerary recorded, email maid, Return Deposit any other task associated with said rental client. You also have:
- Complete by:
- Date Completed
- Remind Me Date
Other tools will be covered in blog and next newsletter…
Rentalbot E-Connect
If any members are blogging and have an article they would like to share please forward it to me for review and publication. Communication is important in any business and I want it to flow both ways so email me your concerns, stories and suggested topic.
I will include a link back to your website or blog in your stories so it’s a win for you when your stories are published.
Stories must be relevant to subject matter of vacation rentals…
We will also do walk through of tools and services and how they can help you better manage, organize, and get a ROI.
I will include a link back to your website or blog in your stories so it’s a win for you when your stories are published.
Stories must be relevant to subject matter of vacation rentals…
- Properties
- Management
- Marketing
- Maintenance
- Location
- Tenants’
We will also do walk through of tools and services and how they can help you better manage, organize, and get a ROI.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Vacation Owners & Property Managers?
How do I keep track of my rental guest?
When is my next rental payment due in?
Who has paid up to this point in time?
What still needs to be done for this rental?
When are they arriving, what date?
Where are my inquiries coming from, what listings?
What listings are providing me with the best ROI?
Which listing should I renew next year?
How do I get in contact with past guest?
How can I get in contact with past inquirers?
How can I continue to market to them all?
What is the best way to manage all this and stay sane?
Who has all the answers to these questions?
How can I stay in touch and on top of it all?
Who is asking all these questions and why?
Property managers and owners that do not have; a RENTALBOT.com account!
That’s who!
When is my next rental payment due in?
Who has paid up to this point in time?
What still needs to be done for this rental?
When are they arriving, what date?
Where are my inquiries coming from, what listings?
What listings are providing me with the best ROI?
Which listing should I renew next year?
How do I get in contact with past guest?
How can I get in contact with past inquirers?
How can I continue to market to them all?
What is the best way to manage all this and stay sane?
Who has all the answers to these questions?
How can I stay in touch and on top of it all?
Who is asking all these questions and why?
Property managers and owners that do not have; a RENTALBOT.com account!
That’s who!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Hotels & Timeshares Vs. Vacation Rental Homes
Hotels & Timeshares Vs. Vacation Rental Homes
With a standard hotel, you get:
•One room with a bed and a bathroom
This is particularly difficult setup for families with small children. When the kids go to sleep, mom and dad's have no option but to go to sleep for fear of waking the kids. They are limited, as the whole family is sharing one room.
However, with a timeshare, you typically get full living accommodations like a condominium unit. A typical timeshare offers:
• A central living room (usually with a sleeper sofa)
• One, two, or three bedrooms
• Dining area
• A kitchen area with stove, oven, microwave as well as pots, Pans, utensils and dishes
• One, two, and sometimes three full bathrooms
• Washer and Dryer
• Balcony or Terrace sometimes both
• TV, VCR & Stereo system
With a timeshare, mom and dad can put the kids to bed in one bedroom and continue to enjoy themselves in the spacious living areas or retreat to the comfort of a master bedroom.
However, with timeshare come the monthly expenses and maintenance fees that are usually associated with many timeshare agreements. You are locked into that place and if you want to venture to other locations, you had better book early in order to guarantee that week.
Vacation rentals by owners offer you the best of both worlds. You get the amenities that timeshares provide without the monthly expenses or yearly maintenance fees. Some even do better as most vacation rentals provide DVD players, Cable TV, local phone service and internet access.
Most rental owners use their vacation homes one or two weeks out of the year and if they want to go somewhere else, they do vacation a rental swap with other owners. Owners are a great source of information for your next vacation rental stay as there are vacation rental homes all over the world.
Vacation rental homes are fast becoming the best way to go especially with the increase price of Hotels and timeshare fees that have to be paid each month. Most families looking to get away are looking to vacation rental homes as their vacation home. Vacation homes provide them with all the comforts of home and the cost savings that timeshare owners have to pay.
A great source for information on vacation rental homes is “Rentalbot’s website ( www.rentalbot.com ). They have the most comprehensive list of vacation home rentals in the world. They cover the United States, Hawaii, Caribbean, Africa, Central America, Mexico, Canada, South America, Asia, South Pacific, Europe just to mention a few.
So when planning your future vacation stays keep vacation rentals at the top of your list, for all the comforts of home for you and your family. If you are ever looking for rentals in Puerto Rico visit Villas de Costa Mar's website for information on all the amenities this little island paradise has to offer. http://www.villasdecostamar.com/
Alberto Rios has worked in the financial arena for over thirty-five years. His interests in real estate investing lead him to his two most recent purchases in Dorado Puerto Rico. I enjoy my vacation home at least three weeks out of the year. We are always looking for new vacation rental places to visit.
With a standard hotel, you get:
•One room with a bed and a bathroom
This is particularly difficult setup for families with small children. When the kids go to sleep, mom and dad's have no option but to go to sleep for fear of waking the kids. They are limited, as the whole family is sharing one room.
However, with a timeshare, you typically get full living accommodations like a condominium unit. A typical timeshare offers:
• A central living room (usually with a sleeper sofa)
• One, two, or three bedrooms
• Dining area
• A kitchen area with stove, oven, microwave as well as pots, Pans, utensils and dishes
• One, two, and sometimes three full bathrooms
• Washer and Dryer
• Balcony or Terrace sometimes both
• TV, VCR & Stereo system
With a timeshare, mom and dad can put the kids to bed in one bedroom and continue to enjoy themselves in the spacious living areas or retreat to the comfort of a master bedroom.
However, with timeshare come the monthly expenses and maintenance fees that are usually associated with many timeshare agreements. You are locked into that place and if you want to venture to other locations, you had better book early in order to guarantee that week.
Vacation rentals by owners offer you the best of both worlds. You get the amenities that timeshares provide without the monthly expenses or yearly maintenance fees. Some even do better as most vacation rentals provide DVD players, Cable TV, local phone service and internet access.
Most rental owners use their vacation homes one or two weeks out of the year and if they want to go somewhere else, they do vacation a rental swap with other owners. Owners are a great source of information for your next vacation rental stay as there are vacation rental homes all over the world.
Vacation rental homes are fast becoming the best way to go especially with the increase price of Hotels and timeshare fees that have to be paid each month. Most families looking to get away are looking to vacation rental homes as their vacation home. Vacation homes provide them with all the comforts of home and the cost savings that timeshare owners have to pay.
A great source for information on vacation rental homes is “Rentalbot’s website ( www.rentalbot.com ). They have the most comprehensive list of vacation home rentals in the world. They cover the United States, Hawaii, Caribbean, Africa, Central America, Mexico, Canada, South America, Asia, South Pacific, Europe just to mention a few.
So when planning your future vacation stays keep vacation rentals at the top of your list, for all the comforts of home for you and your family. If you are ever looking for rentals in Puerto Rico visit Villas de Costa Mar's website for information on all the amenities this little island paradise has to offer. http://www.villasdecostamar.com/
Alberto Rios has worked in the financial arena for over thirty-five years. His interests in real estate investing lead him to his two most recent purchases in Dorado Puerto Rico. I enjoy my vacation home at least three weeks out of the year. We are always looking for new vacation rental places to visit.
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