While there are many ways to increase your vacation rental home profitability, they mostly fall into one of two categories. First, manage/reduce costs and second, bring in additional money by attracting more renters.
A growing number of vacation rental owners are investing in vacation rental automation because it helps solve both objectives. It provides valuable tools and oversight so they can reduce expenses. And it gives added comfort and convenience for their guests, so they leave glowing online reviews and tell their friends and family about their excellent experience. This naturally leads to new and returning renters to impress.
How Lack Of Automation Costs You
Let’s look at what vacation rental property owners have to deal with before automation, and how it can reduce their profits.
Physical Entrance Keys
These can be costly over their automated versions in the following ways:
- A renter loses the key and you or someone on your staff has to physically drive over, let them in, and pay for a new key. The costs here are monetary, (fuel and locksmith fees), time, and drain on your emotional batteries.
- Or, let’s say your renter leaves and forgets to lock the door, leaving your property vulnerable for thieves.
- There are rekey costs and hassles if renters don’t return the key after their stay.
- Less common, but possible nonetheless, a renter illegally makes a copy of the key. Then returns later and steals items from your property.
Unrestricted Temperature Controls
Let’s start with pool heating. Guests are known to crank up the pool heat when they rent. Renters also carelessly leave the pool heater on when they finish using the pool. Besides the reduction in profit due to a higher energy bill, the expensive pool heating unit wears out faster under that kind of demand.
In addition, pool heat complaints are among the most often found in dissatisfied renter reviews. Negative reviews lead to fewer bookings. Traditional pool heat controls don’t automatically notify you when they malfunction allowing you to address the problem right away.
How about the thermostat inside your house? Guests seem to enjoy keeping the windows open so they can talk back and forth with each other as they walk inside and out. They also like to set the temperature to their comfort. Neither of those are a problem by themselves, but both at once can siphon away your profits. Similar to the pool heat problem, you’ll receive a larger energy invoice and your HVAC equipment will be taxed unnecessarily. Repairing and replacing that kind of equipment is costly.
A Few More
Other ways traditional setups can sap profits include:
- WiFi that can’t keep up with all of the guests devices leading to complaints and 1-star reviews
- Flooding from clogged toilets and other water sources undiscovered before causing massive damage
- Exterior property damage by careless guests that might have been deterred by surveillance cameras
Ways Automation Saves You Money
Look at the ways technology can help you reduce expenses.
Smart Electronic Locks
We install Yale Real Living motorized push button deadbolts for our clients. They look great, are strong and easy enough for anyone to use. Some of their features include:
- Z-Wave Secure Beaming – technology that makes the battery in the lock last a very long time and respond immediately to unlock requests
- Auto relocking (field selectable)
- Motorized Deadbolt
- Illuminated keypad
- One-touch locking
- Low battery indicator when batteries need to replaced
- Tamper lockdown
- Designed to meet ANSI grade 2 quality standards
- 2-year warranty
This type of system gives you wonderful insight into who comes into your home because of individualized door codes. Your renters codes expire after their checkout time, making their checkout experience easier. And they will love not having to remember a physical key during their stay. Renters, too, feel more safe and more secure in a home with security and see it as an added bonus. It’s often mentioned in glowing reviews.
Pool Heat Control
Reduce energy costs by gaining control of your pool system.
It’s costly to send someone out to your home to flip a breaker off then back on.
For some, those trips come with a service fee. Here’s a better way to manage your pool system and associated expenses.
- SmartPhone and Browser remote management
- No more unexpected high energy bills
- Reduce or eliminate pool related complaints or guest recovery costs
- No longer worry if the pool heat was left on after check-out
- No longer depend on someone to manually turn on and off the pool heat
- See and control pool and spa temperatures (two separate set points)
- Provide spa heat only (no need to have both the pool and spa heat on)
- Control pump schedule (have full control of your pump right from your login)
- Integrates with Alarm.com, Building36 or PointCentral systems (same app, same login)
TamperProof Pool Controller
There are challenges that come with protecting your pool system from being tampered with. We developed and manufacture a variety of Pool equipment locking hardware to eliminate pool equipment tampering.
- Reduce damage to pool system equipment
- Reduce repairs and service call costs
- Protect your breaker panel from unauthorized access
- End tampering of pool/spa selector switch
- Protect your heater controls
- Reduce energy waste
- End tampering of actuator valves
- Stainless steel hardware
- Made in America
Smart Thermostat
Getting control of this single appliance could reduce your energy costs as much as 25%.
- Simple three button design
- Door left open A/C cutoff
- Minimum set point limits
- Arming and disarming (occupancy based) control
- Remote management
- Monthly efficiency report
- Instant system service alerts
- Humidity monitoring and control
- No thermostat menu options to be tampered with
Almost everything can be performed online. Here are details of all of our automation products.
Home Automation Attracts More Guests
The vacation rental business can be quite profitable if you make your rental home stand out from other properties for all the right reasons. Setting up smart automation is an excellent way to cater to your guests in a personalized way, making them want to leave valuable and glowing reviews about their stay.
Home Automation Boosts Your Profitability
When you add smart technology to your vacation rental home, you can stay ahead of the competition by making your home more desirable–providing an extraordinary experience.
By upgrading your vacation rental home with home automation, you provide a huge advantage to guests and a boost to your bottom line. If you’re not getting the most out of your rental property, call (863) 420-2900 so we can thoroughly assess your current technology, uncover any deficiencies, and help you achieve greater profitability.
