Alternatives to Owners Direct

Share experience regarding ownership of property and/or living in Portugal.
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Alison
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Location: Haddenham, Bucks and QdP

Alternatives to Owners Direct

Post by Alison »

Thought it was time to start a new thread on this subject to canvass other owners experiences of alternative renting listing sites now that Owners Direct has wrecked their previously successful model: (see previous topic on this subject viewtopic.php?f=20&t=26943&start=15 plus trust pilot reviews of Owners Direct - an unbelievable catalogue of criticism which OD seem determined to ignore).

I have not renewed my OD listing and have signed up with SimplyOwners.net plus a couple of other sites (including this one!). As we've got a pretty full calendar of bookings already this year I'm not initially expecting much from any of them. A recent report on my new listing with Simply Owners showed 383 views of our property in the first 3 months. With very little availability this year I'll be more interested in what happens for next year.

Now that I've had to look elsewhere tho' there do seem to be lots of other sites with the potential to be successful and who operate simply as advertising boards for direct contact between owner and guest. There is a limit to the number of sites that I can be bothered to maintain however (New Year resolution was to get to grips with ical!). I have plumped for a few on a 'suck it and see basis' for this first 'non Owners Direct' year.

It would be useful to hear other people's experiences of any of the following over this next year?

SimplyOwners.net
LetsLetAlgarve
theholidaylet.com
Ownerholidays
PTBUXTON
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Re: Alternatives to Owners Direct

Post by PTBUXTON »

My Wife and I dumped O/D last October,enquiries and booking virtually disappeared over the 18mths prior to cancelling, H/L and T/D have provided us with quite a few booking,plus M/Dourado have helped on a number of occasions.
LICY
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Re: Alternatives to Owners Direct

Post by LICY »

I have only used holiday lettings which is part of trip advisor. I prepare my own advert, photos, prices, admin etc. I would not recommend HL's dealing with the admin side of taking the money as I feel I want the money when the guest pays. In addition they charge an admin fee to the guest over and above your rental price. The upside of them doing it is the advert is FOC. This year there was a huge hike in advert price to nearly £600 incl VAT. My place was booked for summer 2017 by 13 months before. Not saying that is just down to HL's but I think we have a good product which possibly sells easily. Sorry not trying to blow my own trumpet. We already have a booking for summer 2018. We did initially agree for our then management company to rent the villa back in 2012, but they charged 15%. Best of luck for 2018.
Alison
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Joined: Mon Feb 16, 2004 10:13 pm
Location: Haddenham, Bucks and QdP

Re: Alternatives to Owners Direct

Post by Alison »

LICY wrote:I have only used holiday lettings which is part of trip advisor
We have so far avoided the other 'big' operators (Holiday Lettings, AirB&B etc) who all seem to have gone, or be going down the same route as Owners Direct, though I know some owners find that these sites do work OK for them. I don't like the sound of their customer service, the fact that you don't get paid until after the guest has arrived, their requirement for everything to go through their system......

Just come across another newbie on the scene : Staysavr app for direct guest contact - see thread on the LayMyHat forum under Rental Listing sites. http://www.laymyhat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=27386 It is an app which overlays the 'big boys' "Book Now" button with the owner's contact details (which are normally hidden) allowing the guest to deal directly with the owner. Sounds interesting!
LICY
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Re: Alternatives to Owners Direct

Post by LICY »

Alison wrote:
LICY wrote:I have only used holiday lettings which is part of trip advisor
We have so far avoided the other 'big' operators (Holiday Lettings, AirB&B etc) who all seem to have gone, or be going down the same route as Owners Direct, though I know some owners find that these sites do work OK for them. I don't like the sound of their customer service, the fact that you don't get paid until after the guest has arrived, their requirement for everything to go through their system......

Just come across another newbie on the scene : Staysavr app for direct guest contact - see thread on the LayMyHat forum under Rental Listing sites. http://www.laymyhat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=27386 It is an app which overlays the 'big boys' "Book Now" button with the owner's contact details (which are normally hidden) allowing the guest to deal directly with the owner. Sounds interesting!
We don't let the money go through HL's/TA, but I am not sure if you are new advertisers whether you have the choice. I totally agree - I don't like that method of advertising when the company keep the money until the guest arrives and more to the point passes on an admin charge to the guest which they also pocket. The other plus (possibly) is they permit the guest to pay by card payment with no charge to the owner. Currently PayPal deduct a fee if the guest choses that method which we make clear we pass on yo the guests
.
Polli62
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Re: Alternatives to Owners Direct

Post by Polli62 »

Just come across these websites on facebook for advertising properties, not sure how good they are: http://holidirect.com/ https://www.holidayhomesdirect.co.uk/ http://www.letsletalgarve.com/ http://www.letstayanywhere.com/ http://www.theholidaylet.com/ https://www.ihacom.co.uk/ http://www.algarve-rentals.com/home
If you are a member of facebook there is also a facebook page re Owners direct , called anti owners direct service charge https://www.facebook.com/groups/AntiOwn ... =bookmarks
and another called https://www.facebook.com/groups/algarve ... cation=ufi where you can advertise your property.
another one called Association of rental property owners https://www.facebook.com/groups/algarve ... cation=ufi & https://www.facebook.com/PropertyOwnersBookDirect/
BTW have you read trustpilotreviews on OD/ HA, https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.ownersdirect.co.uk https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.homeaway.co.uk
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