Vacation rental listing sites such as VRBO and Airbnb offer big selections, but you can save money by booking directly with the broker.
Like most real estate brokers and property management companies in the Ocean City/Ocean Pines resort area, Hileman Real Estate advertises its vacation rental properties on some of the mega-sites vacationers use to book their vacations. The primary draw for guests is that these sites show units from a lot of rental companies, all in one place.
The Cost of “Convenience”
Below is a VRBO price-quote screenshot showing a two-bedroom, two-bath unit in downtown Ocean City. This isn’t our listing, but it’s a great example of how much you’ll pay for one-stop shopping — a “convenience” many guests find overwhelming due to the volume of units available and guests’ difficulty keeping track of what they’ve seen.
The unit’s base rent for a July 1-July 8, 2017 stay is $2,204.00. With sales tax and Hileman’s administrative fee, you’d pay a total of $2505.42 (excluding a refundable security deposit) if this was our unit and you booked it on our website or by phone through one of our agents. Compare that to booking through VRBO, which costs a whopping $444.48 more — a nearly 18-percent premium!
Where Your Money Goes
VRBO and similar sites earn their money in two ways. First, they charge vacation rental companies a listing fee and/or a commission for each reservation booked. Second, they impose a service fee on guests. This is in addition to the administrative fee guests pay to the rental company.
Now let’s look at where that extra $444.48 goes for this listing. It’s comprised in part of VRBO’s service fee for guests, which VRBO says averages 6 percent but actually totals 6.43 percent in this case. In addition, this quote includes fees the rental company and the owner pass along to the guest to recoup some of the cost of listing on VRBO.
In this listing, the rental company is also charging the guest a cleaning fee that owners traditionally pay in the Ocean City/Ocean Pines market. Note that Hileman Real Estate guests never pay for standard departure cleanings.
More Benefits of Booking Directly With Hileman
You reap additional benefits when you book directly with Hileman Real Estate. We take an initial payment to hold your reservation, but you have until 30 days before check-in to pay the rest. VRBO, like most other listing aggregators and online travel agencies, charges you for the entire reservation at the time you book. So not only do you pay more; you also lose the convenience of spreading out the cost of your vacation.
Visit our website to start your vacation rental search. You’ll save money by booking with us directly, plus you’ll earn your choice of four Free Vacation Rewards good toward shopping, dining, and entertainment.
If you’d rather speak with an agent, we’d love to hear from you. You can reach the Ocean City office at 410-723-9450, and the Ocean Pines office at 410-208-9200.