Best practices for managing your properties with connected software

As an integrated property manager, you should rely on your software to manage your core day-to-day operations, because any inquiries or bookings from our site will process through your software.

It’s best to do the following in your software:

• Manage all reservations
  • Your software will process all bookings and inquiries from our sites, the owner dashboard calendar will not be updated. 
  • Make sure to confirm or cancel all reservations that come in through your software, do not leave in “unconfirmed” status. 
  • When necessary, cancel reservations in your software so that the calendar properly updates. 
  • Do not delete any reservations in your software; deleting reservations prevents our site from receiving accurate booking      records, which can result in negative impacts to your account and for your guests.
• Manage guest inquiries
  • Depending on your software functionality, you can respond to inquiries in your software or via email. 
  • We recommend replying to inquiries as quickly as possible within a 24-hour period to provide a better guest experience.      Guests may be looking at other properties at the same time they are inquiring about yours.
• Set your rates
  • Pricing, fees, and discounting rules should be managed in your software, and these features vary depending on your provider.
  • For questions about setting your rates, we recommend reaching out to your software provider.
• Add and update your rental policies
  • This includes pets policy, check-in/check-out times, cancellation policies, house rules, and more depending on the options available in your software.
• Process payments and issue refunds
  • All integrated property managers must use their software to process payments from bookings on our site.
  • Integrated property managers must also process refunds through their software for cancelled bookings from our site.
  • Collecting and remitting taxes and ensuring your regulatory compliance must also be managed through your software.
• Update your listing content
  • This may include photos , amenities  , and property descriptions depending on the options available in your software. 
  • We recommend you regularly audit your content to make sure all properties are up to date and complete — this is one of the most important factors for guests looking to book!

We work with our software partners to add new features and tools frequently. Stay in the loop with your software company about the latest updates.

All your core day-to-day business operations should be handled in your software. However, property managers using integrated software also have access to an enhanced multiproperty dashboard. Once you integrate your software with our platform, we’ll automatically update your dashboard to show additional features that can help you improve your performance on our site. Note that some features are dependent on performance criteria, and not all features are available in all global markets.

• Boost your properties is a feature available to property managers with price consistent properties that helps improve a property’s position on search for select days.
• Access ranking metrics to see a comprehensive performance overview of your properties, including data such as property views, bookings, and search results.
• View market insights data with MarketMaker.^TM  Access your market’s overall demand and occupancy data to get the insights you need to set competitive rates.¹ If you use Escapia software, you already have access to this data integrated into your Escapia dashboard. Learn more about MarketMaker.
• View billing reports and manage your commission settings as necessary depending on the functionality and availability of these features in your software.

Learn more about these features and how to navigate the owner dashboard in this article.

By using your vacation rental software to effectively manage your properties, you will be optimizing your business and delivering excellent booking experiences to your guests.

Questions about distributing your properties on our site? Contact our team at pm.partner@vrbo.com.

¹ Listings must be Price Consistent. Listings must have Nightly Rates or Length of Stay enabled. Listings must be located in the US.