Barefoot Technologies Blog- Vacation Rental Industry News

Common Reasons to Work with Vacation Rental Management Companies

Posted by Claiborne Yarbrough on Jan 13, 2015 10:16:00 AM

In parts of the country considered vacation hot spots, the amount of short-term vacation rental properties are on the rise.  It is a natural and obvious evolution as they have become more and more popular as vacation accommodations not to mention people looking towards vacation rentals as investments or ways to add to their income.  The problem with the increase, however, is that many properties are offered as vacation rental properties by owners without following the proper channels. 

In Boulder, CO, city officials in the zoning office took control of the situation and issued cease-and-desist orders to property owners who rent space in their homes via VRBO and Airbnb.  A Boulder Daily Camera News article from last week noted that “The city of Boulder recently sent cease-and-desist notices to 20 property owners who are renting out space in their homes through Airbnb or Vacation Rentals by Owner after complaints were received against them.”  Specifically, the article stated that the cease and desist letters came from the city’s zoning enforcement office and stated that the areas in which the rentals were located do not allow for hotels or bed and breakfasts or any lodging for less than a month. 

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Tags: Vacation Rental Management, VRBO Portal, Airbnb.com

Homeaway.com Launches Communication Management Update

Posted by Adam Zippin on Jan 9, 2014 4:19:00 PM

Over the past few months we have seen some scams and issues coming through a few larger portals because, on some level, the portals leave the deals up to the private parties. This will not be the case much longer as HomeAway.com has launched its newest communication management tool.  This isn’t a tool for HomeAway for professionals, or one that will even really compete with you at this point.  It is a security measure for individual owners.

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Tags: Scams, Vacation Rental Software, VRBO Portal, vacation rental scam, Security, HomeAway.com, Barefoot Technologies, HomeAway Portal, CRM

New Year, Old Scams: More Vacation Rental Scams

Posted by Adam Zippin on Dec 31, 2013 2:44:00 PM

Happy Holidays to everyone and we hope this holiday season treated you well.  Sadly with the ringing in of this New Year, my first post-holiday blog comes with some bad news.  Another market is being targeted by vacation rental scams, Lake Placid and the Olympic village has reported dozens of rental scams this holiday season.

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Tags: Vacation Rental Management, Barefoot, Vacation Rental, Client Expectations, Rentals, Rental Market, VRBO, Scams, Vacation Rental Software, HomeAway, VRBO Portal, rental industry competition, vacation rental scam, RBO, Security, HomeAway.com, rental industry

Blog Update: Why Airbnb Has A Tough Road Ahead 2.0

Posted by Adam Zippin on Oct 8, 2013 5:35:00 PM

 Back in May I ran a blog about Neil Warren who had rented his room through the popular site Airbnb.com.  This site has made news headlines a few times for its rental policies and the people who are avoiding laws and legislation while using the site.  One member found renting a room was violating her condominium complex’s policies.  Mr. Warren was in violation of several leasing laws for the city of New York.  He however, decided it was best to continue renting his apartment to quests.

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Tags: Vacation Rental Industry, Barefoot, Client Expectations, VRBO, Vacation Rental Software, VRBO Portal, rental industry competition, vacation rental scam, How to market vacation rentals, Property Management, Property Manager, Management Software, Property manager marketing, professional management, rental indusrty competition, Airbnb.com, Vacation Rentals, rental management business

5 Reasons Your Vacation Rental Business Must Use Portals

Posted by Adam Zippin on Sep 19, 2013 4:35:00 PM

I had a great phone call today with one of Barefoot’s portal partners and about halfway through the call, we realized that vacation rental managers seem to be very reluctant to utilize the opportunities that portal pages present.  After we hung up, my mind began racing as to why these property managers would not want to have their properties listed on some of the most popular rental listing sites on the web.  The ability exists with the Barefoot vacation rental software. Some reasons came to mind but none of them seemed to warrant missing out on the portal party. So here are the 5 most common reason people don’t want to use portals, and why you must!

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Tags: Vacation Rental Industry, Vacation Rental Software, HomeAway, VRBO Portal, How to market vacation rentals, Property Management Software, Rental management Software, HomeAway Portal, Rental Portal