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The best property management companies in the world aren’t just good operators, they’re also highly skilled in communicating with their owners and investors.
This is a key component of short term rental property management and, without it, it’s all too easy to lose homeowners to competitors.
Owners and investors don’t usually have access to the kind of data that demonstrates their vacation rentals are being run and marketed properly. They need to be provided with certain information to understand that the strategies their property manager is recommending make sense, and don't undersell their asset.
For example, a common trap is to think of occupancy as the ‘be all and end all’, when RevPAR (Revenue Per Available Rental) is ultimately the metric that provides a better overall perspective.
Modern owners want to be kept informed on performance and what to expect in the future. It doesn’t need to be complicated. In fact, there are three main conversations all STR property managers should be having regularly with owners, which will make retaining valuable inventory much easier.
1. How The Property Is Pacing
First, the Key Data Dashboard pacing detail report lets you isolate one or two metrics that give owners a good overview of how bookings and financial performance are shaping up compared to previous years. Year-on-year performance is the easiest way for owners to understand whether this year is going to be better or worse than last year from a revenue perspective.
If revenue has improved, then you’re unlikely to be facing difficult questions. However, if RevPAR has softened, that’s going to require some explanation — but it can also be an opportunity. If the data shows a decline in performance, that could be due to a multitude of reasons, from recession to environmental factors, but a property that hasn’t been updated recently can also begin to underperform.
It’s also common for proactive owners to get more involved in rental strategy than property managers would ideally like, and this can lead to strategies being imposed that lead to having a long enough minimum stay, being priced too high, or having a cancellation policy that is too restrictive. RevPAR declines can provide a good opportunity to have these broader conversations.
2. How Their Performance Compares to Competitors
The second conversation you should be regularly having with your owners supports those difficult conversations. Benchmarking performance against similar vacation rentals in the same destination helps to uncover the reasons why ADR, RevPAR, and pickup differ.
If the property needs maintenance, updating, or renovation you’ll be able to show your owner how worthwhile that investment will be based on the real revenues of properties they’ll be competing with once the work is done. DemandIQ® can assist in these conversations by providing insights into searches and trends, even before bookings occur.
3. What Can They Expect In The Future?
Third, proactive property managers use rental projections to demonstrate to owners that they’re watching over their investment with a long time horizon. Our forward-looking data means you see problems coming, giving you plenty of time to manage expectations with owners. By sharing your data-driven plan for the future, you can increase owner satisfaction and retention.
Key Data’s owner reports give information specific to their individual unit to provide a detailed look into the property. These reports can also be automated to keep the homeowner informed on a regular basis, minimizing manual work for your team.
Personalized reports complement all three of these conversations and can be produced effortlessly from within the Key Data Dashboard. They contain a snapshot of real-time data that means owners feel informed and in touch with the performance of their investment.
Learn how to bring all these tools together with a personalized introduction to the Key Data Dashboard.
