Barefoot Support Desk

“It isn't that Vacasa has no competition in North America in vacation rental management, but there isn't a strong challenger at the moment after Vacasa bought out its strongest competitors over the last two years. In such a hot market, look for that void to get filled pronto.”

Dennis Schaal, Skift

National VRM = VACASA

WHAT VACASA DOES WELL

Branding/Visibility

•National VRM has money to invest in things that many smaller PMs can’t, such as vehicles, signage, and other branded collateral. Their marketing pieces (digital and paper) are beautiful, clean, and compelling.

•In the Bethany Beach, DE/Ocean City, MD area you almost can’t go anywhere without seeing their trucks and vans riding around town. This visibility goes a long way in promoting their business and giving guests and property owners a sense of security/validity.

•You can literally drive down Coastal Highway in North OC and see a string of National VRM signs one after another along “high-rise row.” As a guest or property owner, you’d probably start to think that National VRM is the only PM in town.

Multi-Unit Acquisitions

•In Ocean City and Bethany Beach specifically, National VRM has strategically acquired PMs who manage multi-unit buildings. There are so many benefits to acquiring multi-unit buildings where the units are the same or almost the same (see below) – this is likely having an exponential effect on National VRM’s success.

WHAT VACASA DOES WELL

Data: Having multi-unit buildings allows National VRM to be more fine-tuned with their rental rates because they have so many comps to work with. This means they have a treasure trove of data – and data is power. National VRM can be more effective in its projections to existing and prospective owners because they know with accuracy what their earning potential is.

Efficiency: Operationally, multi-unit buildings can be more efficiently cleaned and maintained because they’re like-kind units and they’re all in the same place. Cleaners and maintenance teams can plan ahead more easily and move through units much quicker (as opposed to driving through 10 miles of gridlock to get to each unit).

On-Site: As primary PM at a multi-unit building, National VRM likely has an on-site office to be their home base – great for handling guest/property issues. When guests need to be relocated due to a double-booking or property repair, National VRM can swiftly relocate the guest to similar unit in the building.

Preferred Relationship with Airbnb?