Not that long ago, you stayed either with someone you knew or in a hotel when traveling. Those aren’t the only options anymore. In today’s sharing economy, homeowners and even those who rent, are turning their homes into accommodations for hire.
Services like Airbnb, HomeAway and VRBO enable everyday people to generate extra income by turning their homes into pop-up hotels for travelers from around the world. Some property owners only rent their places when they’re away.
Others are simply looking to make some money off a vacation home they’re not currently using. Still others stay on and act as host, welcoming strangers into their homes and looking after their stay.
For travelers, services like these open up whole new realms of possibility. With private rentals typically cheaper than hotels, it’s possible to cut travel expenses and travel to places otherwise unrealistic.
Many travelers even prefer staying in someone’s home or apartment to a hotel, as it provides more of a sense of what it’s actually like to live somewhere; experiencing life as a local by shopping and cooking as they would at home.
Like most aspects of the sharing economy, services like these are growing exponentially in popularity. Many homeowners are now looking into the possibility of renting out their property as a means of generating some extra cash.
So which service would be the best one for you? Here at Dealspotr.com, we’ve done the research so you don’t have to.
Airbnb is an online community marketplace that connects travelers looking for a place to stay with private rental listings around the world. Airbnb has nearly one million listings of apartments, houses and rooms in over 34,000 different cities and 190 countries.
HomeAway is an online classifieds site that allows vacation rental owners to pay to list their spaces. HomeAway has over a million listings and specializes in vacation rentals like cabins, condos, villas, beach houses, castles and even private islands.
VRBO is also an online classifieds site that focuses on vacation rentals. VRBO (Vacation Rental by Owner) has over 794,000 active listings around the world with an emphasis on entire homes and apartments. Most VRBO rentals are around 1,850 sq. ft. and come with a backyard.
On Airbnb, it’s free to list your property. If your place is booked, the service will charge you a 3% service fee. The price of renting an Airbnb varies, depending on location and type of property you are renting. However on the whole, staying at an Airbnb is usually cheaper than a hotel.
Airbnb does charge guests a 6% to 12% service fee calculated from the subtotal of the reservation. When a guest makes a reservation they must pay in full the entire fee for their accommodation. Hosts receive payment 24 hours after a guest checks in.
HomeAway charges property owners to list their spaces. Prices start at $349.00 for a basic listing and go as high as $1249.00 for a Platinum listing that will improve a property’s ranking in search results. Prices for a HomeAway rental also vary. Unlike Airbnb, HomeAway charges no guest fee.
VRBO offers three options to people looking to list their property. They can opt for an annual subscription plan, which starts at $349.00, pay a 10% fee per booking, or use an outside management service and pay a 13% fee per booking.
Many travelers prefer Airbnb for the social media-like online community feel it maintains. Airbnb’s service was designed to make the process of renting your home or staying in someone else’s easy and convenient
Airbnb is a community marketplace that:
Specializing in more luxurious, upscale vacation home type housing, HomeAway maintains less of an online community feel and resembles more of an online classifieds section.
Like a classifieds section, HomeAway:
VRBO has actually been in business longer than any other service of its kind. VRBO also focuses on renting vacation or second homes.
Like its parent company HomeAway, VRBO:
Airbnb has a review system that allows guests who have stayed in particular properties to leave reviews. After a guest leaves a review, they will have up to 48 hours to edit it before it goes live. Once a review goes live, hosts and guests have a two-week window to leave a public response to any negative reviews they receive.
Airbnb reviews are based on a five-star system that allows guests to rate various aspects of their rental like cleanliness, location, communication, and check in. Hosts may respond to guest reviews but not alter them in any way.
HomeAway allow guests to post reviews up to one year after their stay. When a guest leaves a review on a property, the service sends an email to the property owner and the review appears on the listing page within 48 hours.
Reviews on VRBO consist of a five-star rating system and comments box. Reviews allow potential guests to research a property based on the feedback of prior guests. Hosts on VRBO are not allowed to edit or remove reviews.
Airbnb has a four-tier cancellation policy system. Property owners can set their policy as flexible, moderate, strict and super strict. This system dictates the terms under which renters may receive a full or partial refund, before or after checking in. The cancellation policy for a particular listing can be found in the “Pricing” section under “Cancellation.”
Every HomeAway rental property has its own individual cancellation policy that depends on the rental agreement signed with the owner. HomeAway does offer a Cancellation Protection policy.
VRBO also allows property owners to dictate their own cancellation policy. Most don’t provide full refunds however the earlier you notify a host of any cancellation, the more likely you are to receive at least a partial refund. VRBO offers also offers a Cancellation Protection policy that’s similar to HomeAway’s.
The service that’s best for you will likely depend on the type of property you own, or the type of property you’re looking to rent. If you’re looking for an apartment in a hip neighborhood of Barcelona, you might try Airbnb. On the other hand, if a French villa is more your style, you might be better off with HomeAway.
