Vacasa is by far the biggest name in the short-term rental property management industry, but are its services really worth it for investors and owners? The short answer is: Not necessarily!
In our Vacasa property management review, we’ll focus on the company structure and mission, Airbnb management services, market coverage, eligible property types, standard and additional fees, contract terms and cancellation policies, and reviews by real customers including both hosts and guests. With this Vacasa review, we aim to help you make an informed decision whether this is the best choice for your needs or you should look somewhere else for the management of your Airbnb portfolio. At the end, we’ll conclude with the 3 best competitors of Vacasa for owners who’d like to explore further options before making a final decision.
Meanwhile, if you’re searching for top-ranked, personalized, flexible, end-to-end vacation rental management services, check out Checkmate Rentals. As your trusted STR management partner, Checkmate Rentals does all the legwork while co-hosting properties with you to boost results. And all this, at industry-low fees starting at only 15% of monthly revenue.
Vacasa Company Overview
Vacasa was established as a full-service short-term rental property management company and quickly turned into the largest Airbnb manager in North America. Eric Breon and Cliff Johnson started Vacasa in 2009, immediately after the launch of Airbnb, in order to address their own pain points as vacation rental owners.
The company mission is to provide a forward-thinking approach to property management that relies on technology and data to enable local teams to take good care of homes and guests and to increase revenue for owners. Vacasa has its headquarters in Portland, OR but manages STRs across the US as well as in a few international markets.
Since 2009, Vacasa has grown to manage more than 40,000 Airbnb properties in 41 US states, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Belize. The company hosts over 3 million guests per year.
What Vacasa Does for Vacation Rental Property Investors
Full-service vacation rental management has always been at the core of property management services that Vacasa provides to real estate investors and second home owners. This means that the company aims to take charge of all tasks and activities that are needed to operate an Airbnb rental business in order to allow owners to enjoy passive income from their real estate investments. At the same time, performance is expected to be improved due to professional hospitality services, dynamic pricing, and experience in the industry.
It’s important to note that many of the services provided by Vacasa are extras, which means that owners can choose whether to use them, and in case they do, they need to pay an additional fee. Meanwhile, there are certain services, such as interior design and furnishing, that remain outside the scope of work of the company. This means that owners need to work on their own to get their properties ready for listing before hiring Vacasa to manage them.
In addition, recently Vacasa launched Vacasa Guestworks, which operates as a half-service property manager for Airbnb rentals. This product allows hosts to continue managing and supervising their vacation rentals while benefiting from dynamic pricing, hospitality services, and property damage protection.
Moreover, Vacasa has an Extended Stay Program (ESP), equivalent to long-term rental property management. The company manages properties that are rented out for 29 nights or more at a time, allowing owners to access higher occupancy rates, reduce wear and tear, save on repairs, and earn more income.
Vacasa Property Management Services
Our Vacasa review focuses on the Airbnb property management services provided by the company.
Vacasa offers the following:
- Full-service property management for Airbnb
- Half-service property management for vacation rentals
- Property management for long-term rentals
Let’s take a look at the exact services that go into each of these three packages:
Vacasa Full-Service Vacation Rental Property Management Services
The main services that Vacasa provides to second home owners are related to the end-to-end management of their properties when rented out on a daily basis.
Vacasa full-service Airbnb management includes:
- Owner-driven onboarding
- Creating and distributing listings on all major short-term rental websites including Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, Expedia, Google Vacation Rentals, Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy, and others
- High-definition photography
- 3D virtual home tours
- Custom copywriting for Airbnb SEO optimization
- Digital marketing to increase bookings
- 24/7 guest communication and services
- Dedicated reservation agents
- Guest screening
- Dynamic pricing delivered via proprietary technology
- Cleaning and guest amenities restocking between stays
- Property inspections
- Maintenance works
- Assistance with taxes and short-term rental permits
- Payment processing
- Access to online owner account to review reservations, track monthly and annual performance, request maintenance, and book property for personal use
- Property damage protection
As a result of these services, Vacasa-managed properties attract 33% more bookings than comps in the same market, on average, as reported on the company website.
All these tasks are covered by a single property management fee that Vacasa charges on a monthly basis. Ongoing monthly fees are commission-based, depending on the actual income generated by the property.
Our Vacasa property management review shows that services are delivered via local teams in each market, which leads to inconsistencies in the scope and quality of services across locations, as revealed in customer reviews.
Additional Vacasa Services
Besides the standard property management services outlined above, Vacasa offers a few extra services that are optional and are not included in the regular monthly fee. They aim to help owners in the preparation of their property for listing as well as providing continuous protection to both the home and its guests over time.
Based on our Vacasa review, the following services come as add-ons that hosts can choose to use or not:
- Smart home program: Installation and management of smart locks, noise monitoring devices, and a wifi router with a Vacasa-branded network for enhanced security, control, and convenience
- Hot tub maintenance and management: Regular hot tub maintenance including water testing, chemical levels balancing, water draining and refilling, cover checking, and specialized repairs arranging to help owners earn 15-20% revenue
- Linen program: Providing hotel-quality linen, changing sheets and towels between guests, and replacing them with new ones on an annual basis
- Accommodation protection program: Short-term rental insurance including $1,000,000 in real property damage, $25,000 in personal contents damage, $1,000,000 in liability, and $15,000 in bed bug remediation
These extra services aim to supplement Vacasa’s core property management work for even more passive vacation rental investments. However, they add to the overall cost, which is already rather high as reported by customers in their Vacasa reviews on various websites.
Vacasa Guestworks Services
Vacasa also provides half-service property management for DIY hosts who’d like to maintain control over the overall management and operations of their vacation rentals. Services included in Vacasa Guestworks aim to help owners optimize and protect their investment while keeping them in the driver’s seat.
Vacasa Guestworks services comprise:
- Customized, optimized listing on 50+ booking channels as well as Vacasa’s website
- Dynamic pricing automation based on demand, supply, and comps
- 24/7 guest support
- Reservation management
- Guest screening
- Airbnb smart locks management
- Property damage protection
- Owner app access to monitor bookings and performance
Meanwhile, owners remain responsible for housekeeping, post-stay follow-up and guest review collection, inspections, maintenance, and revenue management. They can choose to perform these important day-to-day tasks on their own or build a local Airbnb property management team.
Vacasa Extended Stay Program (ESP)
Finally, Vacasa helps investors to switch from short-term rentals to long-term rentals where the latter is the more relevant and more profitable strategy. It’s important to have this flexibility taking into account the tightening Airbnb laws and regulations in numerous US markets. This is done under the Vacasa Extended Stay Program (ESP). The property manager defines long-term rentals as properties rented out for more than 29 nights at a time.
While Vacasa does not provide a detailed list of their long-term rental property management services, they generally cover pricing, housekeeping, tenant care, and others.
Property Management Services That Vacasa Does Not Provide
Coming back to full-service short-term rental management, Vacasa does not provide vacation rental design and furnishing services, like some competitors. This means that owners need to furnish their properties themselves or work with a professional Airbnb design and furnishing company to prepare their rentals for listing in line with trends in the hospitality industry and the local market. Having your property well-designed and furnished, including popular and unique Airbnb amenities, is a must for ranking higher in guest searches, attracting more bookings, boosting daily rates, getting a better occupancy, and generating more 5-star reviews.
Vacasa Property Management Market Coverage
As the biggest North America Airbnb property manager, Vacasa operates in select locations distributed across the entire US market. In specific, Vacasa property management services are available in 41 US states. The states where Vacasa is not present include:
- Connecticut
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Nebraska
- North Dakota
- Rhode Island
- Ohio
- West Virginia
Meanwhile, some of the largest markets for Vacasa-managed short-term rentals include beach and ski destinations and other popular vacation spots such as:
- Aspen, CO
- Big Bear, CA
- Big Sky, MT
- Breckenridge, CO
- Destin, FL
- Gulf Shores, AL
- Lake Tahoe, CA/NV
- Mammoth Lakes, CA
- Maui, HI
- Panama City Beach, FL
- Park City, UT
- Southwest Florida
- Steamboat Springs, CO
- Stowe, VT
- Summit County, CO
- Sun Valley, ID
- Sunday River, ME
- Tampa Bay, FL
- The Florida Keys
- Vail Valley, CO
- 30a, FL
This market coverage and focus on top travel destinations makes Vacasa a potentially viable option for investors owning vacation rentals in the most popular tourist locations.
Property Types That Vacasa Manages
Vacasa works with a wide range of properties that get rented out on a short-term basis as well as long-term basis. The company doesn’t list property eligibility criteria on its website. Since Vacasa does not engage in interior design and furnishing, rentals need to be ready for welcoming guests before the company can take over their management. The Airbnb manager can provide some help with short-term rental licenses and taxes to comply with legal requirements in each market.
Some popular types of properties within Vacasa’s portfolio include:
- Rentals with swimming pools
- Lake houses
- Homes for family vacations
- Condo rentals
- Snowbird rentals
- Pet-friendly vacation rentals
- Oceanfront vacation rentals
- Golf vacation rentals
- Resort properties
- Wellness retreat properties
- Desert escapes
- Vacation cabins
- Winter getaways
In general, Vacasa encourages hosts to have a hot tub, when possible, because it can bring 15-20% of additional income. However, this is not obligatory in any way. The company can help with the maintenance and management of a hot tub for an extra fee.
Vacasa Property Management Fees and Costs
Contrary to most of its competitors, Vacasa does not specify its property managemtent fees on the company website. What is clear is that the company charges a percentage of monthly rental income for the standard Airbnb management services. The rate varies and depends on the location, the number of bedrooms, and the available amenities.
In their Vacasa reviews, hosts who have worked with the company report that fees frequently exceed 35% of revenue, mainly as a result of various hidden costs.
In addition to the monthly fee, the property manager also charges a range of additional fees for extra services. The additionally paid services include the smart home program, the linen program, hot tub maintenance, and the accommodation protection program. The cost of these extra services is not known except for the accommodation protection program. Getting extra damage protection for a vacation rental via Vacasa costs $7/booked night for homes with 0-2 bedrooms and $8.54/booked night for homes with 3+ bedrooms in the US market.
All in all, our Vacasa property management review shows that this is one of the rather expensive Airbnb management companies operating in the US market. In their online Vacasa complaints, many customers and ex-customers consider Vacasa fees to not be worth it, taking into consideration the provided services.
Vacasa Property Management Terms and Conditions
Though property owners need to sign a written property management contract with Vacasa, there is no long-term commitment. According to the Vacasa policies outlined on its website, hosts are free to cancel services as soon as they are not fully satisfied with the quality and the results that they obtain. This just needs to happen with a 90-day notice, and reservations already made within this 90-day window need to be honored.
Vacasa Reviews by Owners and Guests
There are more than 24,000 online Vacasa reviews on trustworthy third-party websites, written by both hosts and guests. The overall ratings of the company varies drastically from one website to another, as do the reviews by owners and guests. One important trend to take note of is the difference in the experiences of owners and guests in different markets. Due to the large geographical and portfolio spread, the corporate governance of the company might be failing to ensure high quality of services across locations and teams.
You can find Vacasa reviews on:
- Trustpilot: 4.3/5 stars from 14,751 reviews
- BBB: 4.34/5 stars from 5,830 reviews
- Yelp: 2.3/5 stars from 2,164 reviews
- Sitejabber: 1.1/5 stars from 1,256 reviews
- PissedConsumer: 1.4/5 stars from 84 reviews
- BiggerPockets
Happy hosts praise the comprehensive property management services, the good and timely maintenance works, the adequate fees, and the efficient communication. At the same time, unahppy owners write about understaffed teams, non-compliance with owner preferences (no pet policy), extremely low daily rates, unnecessary delays in owner payouts, potential scams, painful insurance claim processes, and frustrating communication practices.
Positive reviews of Vacasa by guests focus on the great locations, the excellent properties, the comfortable furnishings, the level of cleanliness, the pleasant stays, the easy check-ins and check-outs, and the helpful staff. Negative Vacasa reviews by guests, meanwhile, reveal poorly prepared properties, dirty houses, disgusting experiences, lack of sufficient towels, broken appliances and amenities, and lack of proper response on behalf of the customer support team.
Before deciding whether to hire Vacasa for your Airbnb property management needs, it’s a good idea to check out reviews in your own specific market as services seem to vary across locations.
How to Get Started with Vacasa Property Management
To get started with Vacasa, interested Airbnb investors can use the available online calculator to estimate their expected income, fill in an online form to ask for more information, or directly call the company.
Top Vacasa Competitors and Alternatives
While Vacasa promises full-service vacation rental property management, the negative Vacasa reviews by some owners and guests and what seem like rather high management fees might push some hosts to look for other options. Luckily, there are dozens of alternatives in the US, ranging from small, local property managers to large, national companies. But what are the best Vacasa competitors for different types of properties and hosts?
The top 3 Vacasa alternatives are:
Vacasa vs Checkmate Rentals
Checkmate Rentals offers personalized, yet truly comprehensive end-to-end management services for short-term rentals across the US market. What distinguishes Checkmate Rentals from other Vacasa competitors is the co-hosting model, under which hosts own their listings forever. This means that even if you decide to cancel services, you retain all listings and guest reviews so that you don’t have to start your Airbnb business from scratch.
Checkmate Rentals provides full-service management that includes but is not limited to listing creation and optimization, distribution across the best short-term rental websites, digital marketing, dynamic Airbnb pricing, revenue management, 24/7 guest communication and support, access to dedicated reservation agents, professional cleaning, guest amenities restocking, regular inspections, maintenance support, Airbnb insurance, payment processing, and more. In each case, the exact services are matched to the specific needs of the property and the preferences of the host. When working with Checkmate Rentals, you can use your property as much as you want, with no restrictions imposed by the company.
The vacation rental property manager can operate in any US market by building a team of vetted local professionals before signing properties there. Meanwhile, Checkmate Rentals charges the lowest full-service fees in the industry, starting at only 15% of monthly revenue, with no hidden fees whatsoever. Importantly, owners don’t need to sign a long-term contract, so they remain free to leave as soon as they want.
Vacasa vs Evolve
Evolve is another major STR property manager operating nationwide, but unlike Vacasa and Checkmate Rentals, this is a half-service vacation rental management company. This means that Evolve provides the technology and support to automate and optimize many of the tasks associated with managing Airbnbs, but hosts remain in charge and still need to perform a lot of work on their own or build a team.
In specific, Evolve focuses on listing creation and distribution, marketing, dynamic daily rates, guest assistance, reservation management, risk protection, owner support, and payment processing. The company can also connect owners with vetted local contractors from its network to do some of the work not covered by the company.
Evolve property management is available in most top locations for investing in short-term rentals in the US. Pricing is either 10% of revenue for Evolve Core or 15% of income for Evolve Plus, which offers a few extra services. While these fees seem low, it’s important to remember that they cover only partial property management, with plenty of tasks remaining for the host.
Vacasa vs Awning
Awning is a close alternative to Vacasa as it is a full-service short-term rental management company that also works with long-term rentals. Awning is significantly smaller than Vacasa in terms of portfolio though.
Awning services cover listing, distribution, dynamic pricing, guest communication, booking management, housekeeping, inspections, property maintenance, owner assistance, payment processing, and property protection. Unlike Vacasa, Awning provides interior design and furnishing services for vacation rentals, which is an important way to boost performance from the get go.
Awning has the capacity to manage STRs nationally, via local teams. Fees start at 10% of revenue and go up with additional services.
Bottom Line
Our Vacasa property management review shows that the company could be a good choice for investors who are looking for comprehensive services and are not operating under tight budgets. Being the largest Airbnb manager in the US comes with both pros and cons for Vacasa. While services are available in top vacation destinations, the quality of operations varies from one market to another. If you think that this firm might be the right fit for your needs, it’s important to check out Vacasa reviews by owners and guests in your specific market and also try to connect with local hosts who work with the company to get additional information.
Meanwhile, if you’re searching for customized, end-to-end short-term rental property management with consistent quality and accountability, check out Checkmate Rentals. As your trusted vacation rental management partner, we co-host properties together with you so that you own your listings forever. And fees start at only 15% of revenue.
