As the weather gets warmer and ski resorts prepare to close for the season, most rental properties and Vacation Rentals by Owner (VRBO) in ski towns experience a dip in their bookings. However, many rental owners don’t prioritize this downtime. The off-season can serve multiple purposes for improvement!
R&S is here to help you during all seasons! We’ve compiled our knowledge on how to improve your VRBO and rental properties during an off-season.
Why You Should Care
During peak season, rental owners typically don’t get the chance to update their properties. Usually, it’s cleaned, refreshed with amenities, and ready to go for the next guest. Off-seasons are ideally challenging – a make-or-break situation for rental properties depending on the competition. Taking this time to prepare is an investment. The more effort put in, the more success you’ll receive through rental bookings, demand for your rental, and better guest experiences.
Improving Your Property
The off-season is the perfect time to start more significant projects and extensive repairs. Whether it’s new paint and hardware on the exterior or big interior renovation projects, the off-season would allow you to use the downtime in a productive and valuable way. Many ski rentals are building additional storage on the property for outdoor recreation gear (skis, mountain bikes, etc.), preventing potential damage inside the properties.
Minor enhancements are essential too! Increase the likelihood of rental bookings by refreshing linens and towels as needed between seasons and using higher quality amenities.
Online Strategies
Physical changes to the property are ideal during the off-season, as are your marketing and promotion efforts, such as updated visuals on listings and websites. Descriptions can sell a guest on your property far more if relevant information is added. Additional information in online listings can include upcoming events, nearby activities, and customized itineraries. Think of it as providing extra reasons for guests to stay at your property!
A significant advantage you can gain is studying your competitors. Checking out your competitor’s listings and websites can also help you gain ideas. Knowing what they’re offering, how they’re marketing their property, and what guests love about their rental (i.e. a private hot tub) could give you ideas worth considering in terms of improvement.
Booking in The Off-Season
However, if you’re searching for ways to boost bookings during the off-season rather than using the downtime, there are a few key ideas to implement. Adjusting your pricing and offer promotions such as lower minimum nights would allow your property to be available to more people.
Using the slow season to strategize and plan for the peak season is not only time-efficient but can also bring value to your property. Call the experts at R&S to help you achieve a deeper clean when you’ve finished your off-season improvements.
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