Navigating the Transition From Traditional Leasing to Short-Term Rentals

Traditional leasing strategies can provide long-term revenue stability and consistent cash flow. However, short-term rentals can provide better profit margins and a better overall return on investment. The question is, how do you turn your leased property into a short-term rental? Here are some tips to help you jumpstart the process. 

Tips for Turning Your Portfolio Into Short-Term Rental Properties 

Turning your portfolio into short-term rental properties is a multi-step process. To navigate the journey successfully, you’ll need to:

Conduct Market Research

Take a deep dive into each market where your properties are located. Identify key attractions and amenities that short-term renters would find appealing, such as theme parks, access to state parks, and basic supplies like fuel and groceries.

You’ll also need to research the competition. Pay particular attention to homes similar to yours and make a note of nightly rental rates. You’ll need these insights in an upcoming step. 

Identify Your Target Audience

Next, you need to determine your audience. Are you going to cater to families with young children, the party crowd, or older vacationers looking for a break from the hustle and bustle of city living? 

While you can certainly target multiple niches, it’s difficult to make your short-term rentals appealing to everyone. You’ll probably enjoy better results if you focus on a few groups. 

Get Your Short-Term Rentals Ready 

Now, it’s time to revamp your properties to align with the needs of short-term renters. Long-term tenants only need basic amenities like appliances and functional lighting. Conversely, short-term rental guests want (and expect) extras such as a coffee maker, fire pit, and other add-ons. 

Make sure to include location-specific amenities, too. For instance, if one of your rentals is on a canal or river, consider offering kayaks for guests to use. These small adjustments can go a long way in making your rental property stand out from the competition. 

Set the Perfect Price

Under the traditional leasing model, you are often forced to price your properties similar to those around you. While this holds true for short-term rentals as well, there are ways to drive up demand and justify a higher price. 

For instance, offering lots of bonus amenities, extra beds, and other accommodations can encourage guests to pay more to stay at your property. However, you must still set competitive prices if you want to maximize occupancy rates. 

Create Policies to Protect Your Investment

Chances are you already have a detailed leasing agreement for your portfolio of properties. While this document can serve as a foundation for your retinal strategy, you should tweak much of the language to reflect the nature of short-term stays.

For instance, it’s a great idea to create a deposit and cancellation policy. Collecting a portion of the rental fee at the time of booking can discourage last-minute no-shows and help minimize revenue losses. 

List Your Portfolio

When you are ready to list your short-term rental properties, you should focus on mainstream platforms like Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, and Expedia. However, if you serve a niche demographic or have a very unique property, consider listing it on other sites, too.

Remember that you can list your portfolio on more than one platform. This tactic can maximize visibility and get your properties in front of more potential renters. 

Communicate With Guests

Frequent and consistent communication is critical in short-term rental management. Guests expect you to keep them in the loop, promptly reply to their concerns, and share vital information about the property. 

Fortunately, many rental platforms have user-friendly apps that include messaging tools. Make sure you familiarize yourself with these tools before renting your properties. Also, enable notifications so you can quickly reply to any messages from your renters. 

Analyze and Improve

The best rental platforms have a ton of tools designed to help you succeed as a short-term property manager, including analytics software. 

These technologies gather and break down data such as occupancy rates and demographics about who is renting your properties. Use these resources to identify what you are doing well and how you can improve the guest experience. 

Common Challenges Associated With Managing a Short-Term Rental Property 

There are a few hurdles you’ll encounter during your transition to a short-term rental property manager, including:

Insurance

Changing up your business model will require a new insurance policy. It’s important to protect your properties from intentional damage, neglect, and the other dangers associated with short-term rentals. 

Safely has got you covered. Our customizable policies ensure you get the protection you need at a price that makes sense for your bottom line. Get a free quote for Safely short-term rental insurance. 

Guest Screening

Another hurdle associated with short-term rentals is guest screening. Many listing platforms have lax background check policies, and you likely don’t have the time to manually screen every guest.

Once again, Safely is here to save the day. Our automated guest screening solution integrates with top rental platforms and provides you with actionable data so you can decide whether someone is a good fit for your property. Just check out the Safely Score and make a booking approval decision in seconds. 

Keeping Up With Renter Trends

If you want to stay ahead of the competition, you’ll have to keep up with renter trends and preferences. This means offering in-demand amenities that are both practical and appealing to potential guests. 

Create unique experiences for guests that add value to their stay. Focus on cost-effective options that will appeal to a wider audience, such as grills, hot tubs, and streaming services. 

Unlock the Revenue Potential of Short-Term Rentals

Making the switch from traditional leasing to short-term rentals can be a wise move that boosts revenue and maximizes the earning potential of your portfolio. However, it’s important to do your homework and familiarize yourself with the competition. Also, you should obtain the right insurance and other tools to protect your investment.

With a little diligence, you can unlock the revenue potential of short-term rentals.