Short Term Rentals and Airbnbs For Sale
Short Term Rentals and Airbnbs For Sale
VRBO and Airbnb are the top two vacation rental platforms currently operating in the industry. They have both been extremely successful and both have a bright future in the industry. See our top VRBO vs Airbnb facts below.
While both VRBO and Airbnb are seen as a threat to the hotel industry they aren’t the same company. VRBO is owned by Expedia.com, as it was acquired in 2015 from HomeAway. Airbnb is a publically traded company so you can buy the stock on the stock market. The largest shareholders are still the founders of the company including Joe Gebbia, Brian Chesky, and Nathan Blecharczyk.
Both these companies operate as intermediaries for property owners to rent their vacation homes to third parties. They have differences in fees they charge both the vacation rental owner and the vacation renters. In addition to this, some areas are heavily VRBO and some areas are heavily Airbnb. Examples include the North Carolina beach areas which tend to have more properties on VRBO while Souther California has more properties available on Airbnb.
This is a question we get a lot from owners, is Airbnb or vrbo better for owners? They wonder which is the better platform to put their vacation rental on. We don’t believe it’s one or the other. If there are no restrictions, vacation hosts and owners should put their properties on both websites and even other platforms like booking.com. The reason is simple. You want to be seen by the most amount of vacationers and the only way to do this is to have visibility on both home-sharing platforms.
The truth is hard on this one because it depends on the specific property you are looking for. However, there is a great website you can use to compare the prices between Airbnb and VRBO. Check out hichee.com to find the best prices on a vacation rental. If you’re a host or owner you can also set up a direct booking with them or a price comparison widget on your website to help your guests find the best deal.
Yes, you can and if you aren’t on both home-sharing platforms you aren’t gaining the most visibility for your vacation rental. Booking.com and hichee.com are also other options.
Houfy offers a listing for free to hosts. It connects hosts with guests directly and charges no fees, in contrast to Airbnb and VRBO, for either the host or the guest. Houfy connects hosts (owners) with guests directly. Houfy is a platform that allows people to connect with managers, agents, property owners, and managers. This facilitates open communication and a better experience for guests and hosts. Houfy has significantly fewer properties than either VRBO or Airbnb as it’s still a relatively new home-sharing platform.
Listing your home on these home-sharing platforms is super simple. You can find Airbnb information here and VRBO information here. They provide step-by-step instructions on listing your property on their platforms and getting your listing live to millions of potential guests. Remember the majority of guests judge your rental by the pictures, so make sure you can take great photos or hire a professional photographer to make your photos pop.
VRBO was founded in 1995 compared to Airbnb which came later and was founded in 2008.