In the latest version of Vayoo for Hosts (3.0) we decided to show price recommendations only for the next 90 days. Although we might end up changing this and going back to the old system - 6 months in advance - we wanted to explain why we made this decision in the first place.
There are two main reasons why we thought that showing only recommendations 90 days in advance would be better for our users:
First of all, we wanted to help our users to make more money as Airbnb hosts. If you rent your property too early, you might leave money on the table. This is because, as you know, demand fluctuates throughout the year. Vacation rental demand for July today, is usually much lower than in a couple of months. At the moment, people are thinking about Christmas or even Easter but not really about summer holidays.
Also, some big events for 2018 haven’t been announced yet. So, if you rent your property now for a weekend in July, and you later find out that there is a major event during that weekend, you will realize that you have rented your place for a lower price than you could have. In other words, the later you rent your house, the higher rate you will be able to charge.
On the other hand, price recommendations became less accurate. The further we go on the calendar, the less information we have to calculate price recommendations. Keep in mind that tourism also has its trends and trends can vary from year to year or even within months. Barcelona, for example, has experienced a considerable decrease in the number of tourists due to the latest terrorist attacks and political unrest. Therefore, demand has gone down in less than one month.
We understand every user has its reality and what is good for some people in large cities, for instance, might not be as good for people with more seasonal rentals. Many of our users with beach houses have contacted us saying that they want to see price recommendations for the next 6 to 12 months. We understand their worry, and although we strongly recommend avoiding renting your property for more than 90 days in advance, we are actively considering about changing this.
In any case, we would like to advise all our followers that in case you don’t block your calendar for more than 90 days, you should price your listing very high. In this way, those who want to rent your vacation rental with so many months in advance pay for it. If you don’t follow this advice, you might be leaving money on the table.
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