General Discussion

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  Travel Protection and Accidental Damage Protection
  

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  Does anyone offer a CHOICE between damage insurance or a deposit? If so, how do you set that up on MyVR. I know that HomeAway/VRBO can offer that.

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  Vote for Features Update
  

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  Hi @Matthew-Giles, I'll add on here-

  First off, thanks for voting. We have been impressed by the participation from our customers using our voting tool, and to address one of your points: yes, absolutely it has been helpful in navigating our roadmap. The current vote tally is referenced during any roadmap meeting that pertains to new feature development.

  When it comes to features actually being produced, the equation does get more tricky, as we need to figure in a number of variables like: how large of an undertaking is it, what is available developer bandwidth, does it overlap (or even conflict) with something we are already working on, are there bugs that are better addressed with a feature enhancement, are there critical infrastructure (or other non-customer-facing) changes that would be delayed, etc. And in each roadmap discussion, most of these factors have shifted, meaning the roadmap loses certainty the further you look to the future.

  So while a rank-ordered list of feature requests as voted on by our customers is certainly a helpful tool for our planning, it is more a powerful contributing factor than a direct reflection of the roadmap.

  Best,
  Markus

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  Resorts and Lodges
  

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  Anyone on here a member of Resorts & Lodges? Anyone have any experience or thoughts on them and their value?

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  HomeEscape
  

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  @Chad-Service I have had one of my properties listed with them for over a year now. The results have been disappointing. I've had only 2 inquiries and no bookings during that time. They are now moving towards a subscription model. Unfortunately I cannot justify subscribing based on the current results.

  I've polled other owners I know who have also listed with them and most have had similar results. Those who have had better results flow all their marketing efforts to their HomeEscape listing. I'm not willing to do that. I'd prefer to drive people directly to my web site.

  -- Matthew

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  Do Not Rent List
  

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  @Chad-Service

  I maintain a file on "undesirable" renters who cause problems for me and/or my staff. It's just not worth the hassle because we are not going to please them and why should I intentionally torture the people who work for me? More space for those who appreciate and will enjoy my offerings!

  Darrell

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  SMS automation? Anyone use texting with guests?
  

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  Hi all,

  Definitely post back if you find an automated way to do text alerts through Zapier or another complementary service! For now, I'm moving this into general discussion to make it a bit more visible.

  Cheers,
  Danny

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  Guest Background Check Software
  

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  @Jenny-Oest No problem, I wasn't thinking you were being nosy, I am just not involved with that side of the business. Let me see if I can find out more details and get back to you.

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  Considering abandoning Homeaway to go independent. Anyone done this?
  

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  @Scott-Boerman - I think as the dust settles, the online screening process will become easier for all of us. In the meantime, you might also look at your inquiries (download them asap while you still can from your pre-MyVR days) to see how many of the inquiries you received might have just booked or escaped proper screening otherwise? It might be less than you think? Good luck!

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  Airbnb restrictions
  

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  @Chad-Service I know in Chicago the city has a list of prohibited buildings and they will remove or not allow owners to list if the condo is in one of them.

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  Expedia for Nightly Rentals?
  

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  Hi @Chad-Service,

  I have moved this to General Discussion to help increase visibility.

  Cheers,
  Danny

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  Exporting financials
  

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  No one has replied

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  Sharing templates
  

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  @Jenny-Oest Just wanted to thank you again for sharing your templates!!!

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  Direct Booking Best Practices
  

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  @Olivia-Inman

  My 3:00am thoughts are:

  professional photos! emphasize reviews to improve rankings use multiple OTAs use ALL social media options, and link back to your website. personalize your responses and respond to everything. don't be afraid of the telephone! integrate listings when you can - manually maintaining listings is time consuming! focus long term on listing site independence by driving traffic to your own website. never link back to a listing site from your website. blog! have a newsletter update content regularly.

  Going after the returning guests is a great strategy! Call past guests, even if from a previous owner, not with the intent to book, but to introduce yourself, ask them for their story / experience staying in your place, and to let them know you're there for them and how to reach you!

  Follow up with an offer for them to subscribe to your newsletter?

  Jenny
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  Solved How to create an Auto message with Custom Fields
  

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  @Sallie-Mitchell Hi Sallie - good question. My opinion, but I think the biggest question is whether to use a custom field in the first place. Generally speaking, a custom field is appropriate if:

  You intend to use the same value (text, file upload, html code) in more than one place. E.g. If you put your custom field "Wifi Password" in your booking confirmation email and your welcome email. You want a different value to show up for each property - either in an email or on your website. E.g. You have a custom field "Property Video Tour" you want to show up for each property page on your multi-property website; you have 5 properties but you want one welcome email template that has the custom field "Wifi Password".

  Also, for those wanting a few reference points:

  Tutorial for setting up custom fields (and where they can be used). Overview for using message/email templates Overview for setting up automation
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  Wafting Haze Affecting Guests?
  

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  @Mary-Beth-Ericson
  We don't have the problem with pot, but our Greek properties have the problem with guests who assume that since in Greece you can smoke everywhere, they are allowed to do as they please since "everyone else does".
  After learning the hard way early on, we've been able to counter the issue in advance (prior to arrival/booking) with strict wording in our agreement and our house rules:

  The booking contract says:

  ** SMOKING
  The interior of the apartment is NON SMOKING. Smoking is permitted on the balconies, verandas and the roof terrace (see house rules regarding the terrace). Guests are responsible for discarding smoking materials. Evidence of smoking materials anywhere in the apartment, balcony, terrace or veranda will result in a fee of $500.

  HOUSE RULES

  SMOKING
  The interior of the apartment is NON SMOKING. Smoking is permitted on the balconies, verandas and the roof terrace. Since AlphaPlus & Beta share the terrace, we expect you to respect your neighbor. Please do not smoke on the terrace when in use by them if you aren't all smokers.
  Guests are responsible for discarding smoking materials. Evidence of smoking materials anywhere in the apartment, balcony, terrace or veranda will result in a fee of $500.*

  We've had rules like this in place for almost 10 years and have not had any issues.

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  Upgrading to new plans from legacy
  

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  @Ghassan-Aboukhater
  MyVR's credit card processing fees start at ~2.99% on the new plans. These are only for transactions that go through your Stripe merchant account connected to MyVR.

  For Airbnb, there is no credit card processing fee charged by MyVR because we do not process the credit card transaction. So the cost at MyVR for Airbnb transactions is the 1.49% channel management fee.

  Airbnb charges a host fee which, I think is accurate to say, essentially covers their credit card processing fee. There is no incremental credit card processing fee at MyVR.

  Sorry, I know it's tricky because the channel integrations all work a little differently (based on what the channel supports), and WHO processes the money is not the same for each. Does that make sense though?

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  Collecting additional guest information
  

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  @Jenny-Oest
  Ah, yes, I have those setup - I just never noticed what they looked like when input into a template - I thought maybe there was a secret "key" to MyVR that had the "code" for extra data ... Like you, I am very much in need of the ability to create customized data pertaining to specific bookings

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  Using Word Press for Blogging Within MyVR
  

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  @sherry-woodhouse if I could find a word press theme that matched the MyVR theme I'd be able to do it.

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  Solved How do I decide between a Home Owner plan and a Property Manager plan?
  

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  @David-Illig Good question. Once you get to 3-4 properties, the question of whether to go with an Home Owner plan vs. a Property Manager plan requires some thought.

  Very generally, I'd start by figuring out which of MyVR's features you want to use and how many properties you want to accommodate for right now, as this will serve as the basis for which plan makes the most sense. Then I would use that to determine which Home Owner option and which Property Manager option (all options here) make the match your requirements best. With those two plans chosen, you can evaluate how they compare price-wise and make a choice.

  A couple key considerations:

  How rapidly do you see your business/number of properties changing? This could influence both which features you need and whether you can commit to an annual subscription term. Do you plan to advertise on both HomeAway/VRBO and TripAdvisor/FlipKey? With those subscriptions included in the cost of the Everything Bundle for Home Owners, the economics of that option can be very attractive.

  Lastly, I altered the title of your post so others looking for this information can more easily find it.

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  Creating forms
  

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  Thanks Danny. This was the thread that lead me as far as I've gotten I was hoping maybe someone could share their success and perhaps an example of what they use.