Pricing for your vacation home

In our guide you will learn how to calculate the correct price for your vacation rental and what you need to consider when calculating the rental price.

How high are your running costs?

When deciding on a nightly rate your vacation rental, it is important that you know your costs as the owner or manger. These include not only the expenses for the purchase and furnishing of your property, but also running costs such as loan repayments, management costs, utilities etc. Only when you know exactly how much your monthly expenses are, you can calculate how much money you need to earn to make your rental business profitable.

Find out the prices of your competitors

In addition to your running costs, you also need to consider the prices of your competitors in your calculation. Especially if your vacation rental is in a popular area, your prices need to be competitive. Look at the listings of other vacation rentals in your area on the major booking portals, see how your rental compares, and determine a reasonable rental price. When looking at the competition, be sure to look at rentals with similar equipment, location, and size.

Pricing and pricing strategy

Clarify basic questions

When deciding on a pricing strategy for your vacation rental, you think about some basic questions first:

• Is your price per accommodation or per person?
• Do you offer additional services for an extra charge or a complete price (all inclusive)?
• Are there any special offers (early booking discounts, last-minute offers, reduced rental prices for long-term stays, etc.)?

Do not set the price too low

It’s not advisable to simply undercut your competition. If you charge a much lower price for your rental than the average in your region, potential guests will wonder if there is something wrong with your rental. You also need to make sure that your rental business is profitable and that you are not paying more than you are taking in.

When can you charge more?

If your vacation rental offers guests more than other accommodations in your area, you can charge a higher rate. Your potential guests will understand that a vacation home right on the beach or with a great view costs a bit more and will gladly indulge for this luxury.

Different prices for high and low season

In addition, you need to consider seasonal differences. In typical vacation regions, there is usually a time of year when accommodation is particularly in high demand. In this high season, you can charge higher rates, because the demand is higher. In the off-season, to ensure a good occupancy rate, offer lower prices and special offers for long-term rentals. This way you can attract other target groups, such as guests who are looking for a vacation home for a workation.

Dynamic Pricing & Smart Pricing

If you don’t want to constantly recalculate and manually change your rental prices, you can automate your pricing. Several software solutions offer you the possibility to dynamically adjust your rental prices to be competitive in the region. All you must do is enter your minimum and maximum prices.

Airbnb offers smart pricing for this. Airbnb’s tool will only dynamically change your rental prices on Airbnb.

If you use a channel manager like Smoobu to manage your vacation rental, you can dynamically set the prices with tools like Beyond Pricing, PriceLabs or Wheelhouse for all your booking platforms. Then your rental prices will automatically be competitive, and you will be sure to always have an optimal price and save yourself unnecessary work manually changing the prices.

Conclusion

When setting nightly rates your vacation rental, you need to consider your running costs and the prices of your competitors. In addition, you should offer different prices for high and low season, so that you also achieve a high occupancy rate in less popular months. If this is too much effort for you, you can also adjust your prices dynamically. This way you save time and still make more sales!

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