Leaving Hostaway because of their booking fee?

Support for Invoice (Co-Host) Business Model within Property Management (PM) Module

Status: Requested 23 Votes
Nat S
Apr 4, 2023 10:06 PM
Joined Oct, 2022 14 posts

I'd love to see some reports developed within the PM module for companies that run on an "invoice" or "direct remittance" or "co-hosting" model.  My business started this way, as an Airbnb "co-host" and has grown very quickly under that model.  The property owners are paid directly by the hosting platforms (or directly by guests) and then I send a monthly invoice.

My monthly invoice includes:

1) Commission on accommodation/rent revenue

2) Reimbursements for expenses (housekeeping, maintenance, supplies, etc.)

I never remit payments to the property owners.  Since they all get paid directly, they all end up owing me money at the end of each month.  I realize this is a fundamental difference from the traditional property management model.  I suppose my business model is more as a technology consulting / housekeeping / guest concierge services business rather than a true property management company - but the reports seem easy to develop in theory.  Please consider it!

 

Zach S
Nov 28, 2023 11:37 PM
Joined Aug, 2023 9 posts

Me too. I manage the listing, but the owners collect the payment. I would like to bill the homeowner for the 20% of bookings

Ozark Stays
Dec 3, 2023 6:47 PM
Joined Aug, 2020 23 posts

Yes, this will become more and more necessary as people continue to use this model for various different reasons. In my market, and my level of service, I feel way more comfortable controlling the money supply. But for those of us who operate differently, this would be quite useful and shouldn't be hard to develop.

Trianglebnb
Mar 4, 2024 9:17 PM
Joined Nov, 2023 8 posts

Needing this as well!!

Jenna C
Aug 9, 2024 12:47 PM
Joined Oct, 2023 1 post

I would like this feature also

Nat S
Nov 15, 2024 3:42 PM
Joined Oct, 2022 14 posts

Anyone know if the new PMv2 release allows us to run reports this way?  https://www.ownerrez.com/support/articles/property-management-overview

Nathan
Dec 4, 2024 10:32 PM
Joined Jun, 2023 16 posts

Hi Nat,

+1 on this feature request.   

You seem like a wealth of knowledge. Would you mind share some best practices and tips for someone starting out with co-hosting/direct remittance vs traditional PM? I’m specifically curious about:

  1. Which booking platforms do you use to list your owners' properties.  Airbnb, VRBO, Google VR, direct bookings? I believe that Booking.com doesn’t allow multiple API connections unfortunately.

  2. When you send invoices to property owners, do you use OwnerRez to collect payments through its payment processor, or do you rely on third-party accounting software like QuickBooks? For guest bookings, I currently use Lynnbrook payment processing within OwnerRez.

thank you

Nat S
Dec 5, 2024 9:21 AM
Joined Oct, 2022 14 posts

Hi Nathan - check out my website StayInColumbus.com.  I have a page in the owner's section that highlights some differences between co-hosting and PM business models.

 

We help owners list to their properties on Airbnb, VRBO, GVR, and our own direct booking site.  Heard mixed things about Booking and haven't seriously considered it yet.

Using Stripe to collect payments from guests.  We have the owners create their own Stripe accounts so they can process their own payments and receive direct payouts from VRBO, etc.

We use Quickbooks and do our invoicing manually there.  It's definitely my least favorite thing to do each month!

BlueSky Getwaway
Dec 9, 2024 8:44 PM
Joined Mar, 2022 38 posts

Nate I have a very similar setup as you, OR has never really truly worked the way I thought it would at keeping track of everything in one place, I would love to be able to Invoice from OR and keep track of cleaners as well, I am not big enough to use another paid service for a cleaner, I think it should have been another module in OR instead of an outside integration. Hopefully OR will consider your suggestions, it would make my life so much easier.

Nathan
Dec 9, 2024 8:52 PM
Joined Jun, 2023 16 posts

Nate I have a very similar setup as you, OR has never really truly worked the way I thought it would at keeping track of everything in one place, I would love to be able to Invoice from OR and keep track of cleaners as well, I am not big enough to use another paid service for a cleaner, I think it should have been another module in OR instead of an outside integration. Hopefully OR will consider your suggestions, it would make my life so much easier.

Do you know of any other software that people are using successfully for Co-hosting businesses? I hear about people co-hosting 50-60 properties and they don’t seem to have these challenges but I’m not sure what software they are using. 

On the cleaners topic, I recommend Turno. It’s free if you integrate it with OR and use your own cleaners.