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How to Compete Against National Players

•Local presence and use your personal relationships

•Knowledge of the market

•Realtors

•Pricing

•Vendor relationships

•Community presence

•Personal service with your owners and guests

•Answer the phone


If you want more ideas, check the review sites.



Notes from participants from the 2022 Barefoot User Conference.


Joel of Lexicon

· Lexicon worked really hard to win Wyndham as a client, only to lose their business when Wyndam was bought by Vacasa (which represented 60% of their business at the time).

· Normal churn for a PM is 15%. Vacasa churn is 25%.

· Vacasa is not worth $4 million anymore – they are now actually worth only $800 million.


Ben ten Haaf of Lizzie Lu’s

· Vacasa is losing in Anna Maria Island because they don’t have boots on the ground.

· Lizzie Lu’s has a 60-65% repeat guest rate because they do have boots on the ground and take good care of their properties.


Dawn of Coastal Resort Rentals

· Has adapted well to Vacasa being in the Ocean City market and turned it into a positive by emphasizing Vacasa’s weaknesses in their marketing.

· Doubled in size every year for the last 3 years due to Vacasa doing a poor job.

· Out of 2,000 rentals that Vacasa acquired in OCMD, it seems like they only have 1,100 left.

· Vacasa’s marketing is hard to beat – they are investing a ton of money into it and appear first in search results every time.

· Vacasa sets really low nightly rates so that they can maximize occupancy.

· Vacasa pays $52.50 per clean for a 2-bedroom unit in Ocean City (as opposed to approx. $90 or so, which is what other PMs pay)


June of The Killington Group

· Vacasa is undercutting the rental rates of their competitors, so they are getting more days booked and then they don’t want to actually take care of the properties

· Some HOAs have banned Vacasa because Vacasa’s guests tend to be noisier/rowdier and, as a result, the HOAs are having to take more after-hours calls (because Vacasa doesn’t answer their phone).


Chris of Luxury Rentals of Hilton Head

· Vacasa’s booking fees are very high, so if they book several reservations per week (instead of one) that means they are earning more fees.


Ashley Van Murphy of Sandpiper Rentals

· Vacasa’s cleaners aren’t spending long enough cleaning the properties and guests are showing up to dirty units and units that aren’t stocked with proper items.

Please feel free to use this:


Scenerio - 

2nd Row Beach Home

Generating $130k a year in Gross Revenue

18% Commission


Owner calls to say they are moving to "another company" because they offer 10% commission.

I advise against it due to lack of asset protection and excessive fees

I told him - I will see you in 3 years and he did not understand why.


3 years almost to the day he calls - 

My revenue is down to $45,00 this year can you help?


Go over and discover a complete mess. The place was nasty with grease all over everything, vents clogged with dust and dirt, walls completely scuffed up, window treatments falling off, TV's didn't work etc etc.


$50,000 in renovations later we got the property back to $110k in the first season and $140k second season at 18% commission.


So it not only cost him the $50k in renovations but also the $85k in lost revenue just in the 3rd year! Not to mention what he lost in year 1 and 2.


Moral of the story - you get what you pay for! If you use a discount broker to market your property you are not hiring an asset manager, you are hiring a revenue manager who could care less about your asset.


Chris Walker

Hilton Head Island

843.816.1640





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