Owner Direct compared to Property Managers
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Owner Direct compared to Property Managers

How is Owner Direct different?

Owners sometimes ask us what the difference is between Owner Direct Vacation Rentals and a property manager (or central reservations or a resort association). OwnerDirect works with many property managers as well as individual owners to market their vacation homes directly to guests. The explanations below list the benefits of Owner Direct compared to property managers.

Direct communication between guests and owners

Owner Direct guests enjoy the advantage of communicating directly with an owner to discuss details important to them. Owners build a rapport with their guests and therefore know who is occupying their vacation home. Property managers represent owners, so guests usually only talk to the property managers, not the owners directly.

Flexible standards

Owner Direct accommodates various standards of homes that owners submit, with the condition that the property be described accurately. As an owner, you can upgrade your property when you are ready, or you can add extras and accessories, and then promote this benefit over other rentals. Property managers usually represent all of their units as having the same standards (e.g. swimming pools, cutlery, TVs) which may require that the owners tailor their properties to a certain standard.

Flexible rates

Owner Direct gives you the choice of rates to charge – you can change your mind at any time. If the market is strong, you can increase your rates, and if you are not reaching your required occupancy you can lower them. Property managers have a consistent rate structure for each unit type that is published well in advance.

Groups, travel agents and tour operators

Although we do not market to groups, travel wholesalers, travel agents or tour operators, they frequently use our service. This is a great bonus to you as an owner, as we generate the traffic that is interested in your area. All you need to do is provide value!

Hours of operation

Owner Direct markets accommodations around the world. We work hard to ensure our site is informative, up to date, and easy to navigate. We constantly innovate, for example with map search, social media integration or search functionality. Worldwide guests appreciate this and because of our range of vacation homes, significantly more guests and owners find us. Word of mouth advertising is also responsible for a large part of our growth.

Owner Direct’s office is open every day of the year. A property manager’s office hours will depend on the size of their business and the activity during the varied seasons of the year. Some property management offices are not open in the off-season.

Responsibilities

Owner Direct specializes in finding guests for owners. The property manager is responsible for all rental services.

No discounts

With Owner Direct, property owners receive 90% of the quoted rent. There is no provision to allow the posted rates to be discounted for retail or wholesale travel agents.  They pay the full rate and collect their fee from their customer.

The marketing

Most property managers market just one resort, while Owner Direct offers services worldwide.

Are you a property manager?

Owner Direct works with many property managers and offers handy tools such as free listings, rate templates across several properties, cloning tools for site listings on similar properties and automatic synchronization of availability calendars. Learn more on our List My Property page.

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