14 Best Property Management Blogs for Vacation Rental Hosts
Looking for smarter ways to grow your vacation rental business? These top property management blogs offer expert advice on Airbnb hosting, revenue, guest experience, design, and industry trends.
Key Takeaways
- Check top property management websites and blogs for the latest tips on short-term rentals.
- Learn which blogs are the best resources for property management, which focus on short-term rental news, which provide market data, and which offer design ideas for your next rental.
- Find real stories and experiences from hosts who have found success with vacation rentals and want to share their knowledge with the community.
Airbnb rental owners and property managers can find expert perspectives in various resources, such as property management blogs or podcasts. We’ve created a list of top STR industry blogs where you can learn how to rent on Airbnb and earn passive income.
We’ve covered blogs that specialize in a wide range of topics, from cleaning and general property management to running an Airbnb business, market trends, the latest news, and designing your rental. Learn from industry leaders and experts who share first-hand experience. Here are our top vacation rental blogs.
Why Airbnb Hosts Read Vacation Rental Blogs?
Blogs remain a go-to resource for ambitious vacation rental property managers seeking reliable sources. Some of the property management topics that owners and property managers read with interest include practical advice on running their businesses and guest management; achieving revenue goals and controlling expenses; financing new properties and finding profitable markets; and designing and furnishing rentals.
Most common goals are:
- Staying up to date with industry trends and short-term rental laws
- Learning practical strategies to increase occupancy and revenue
- Improving listing performance
- Discovering useful tools, software, and technology
- Receiving better guest reviews
- Getting ideas for property design, furnishing, and amenities
- Improving cleaning, maintenance, and turnover efficiency
- Learning how to scale from one property to multiple listings
- Benchmarking performance against other hosts and markets
The short-term rental industry is dynamic and competitive, so STR operators need trusted resources. Get ready to add some great blogs to your list.
1. iGMS Blog for Short-Term Rental Hosts
The iGMS blog is packed with practical tips and valuable information for hosts who want to stay ahead and grow their STR business. Since we’ve been curating this blog for years, we recommend checking it out occasionally to stay up to date on market trends, property maintenance best practices, STR insights, and the financial side of the business.
As a property management solution that helps Airbnb hosts automate their daily tasks, we understand that running a successful vacation rental business involves many moving parts, such as coordinating cleaning and welcoming guests, financial planning, and staying current with local and state laws. We distill all that into practical, easy-to-follow resources.
Check out our articles on DIY management, hiring property management companies, conducting market research for STR real estate investing, strategies for maximizing revenue, and marketing your property across multiple channels. And so much more!
2. Get Paid for Your Pad
Jasper Ribbers (STR Profit Academy's main instructor and co-author of Get Paid For Your Pad: How to Maximize Profit From Your Airbnb Listing) adds a new blog post about every week to his blog – Get Paid for Your Pad.
In his very well-known and great blog, he covers a wide range of topics that include the latest industry trends, vacation rental software reviews, and pricing tips. For hosts who are serious about increasing their wealth, this blog offers a wealth of tips and the latest trends.
3. Mashvisor
Mashvisor offers real estate investment data and insights to help investors identify investment properties. So, if you are searching for information on the best locations, purchasing and selling investment properties, and investment strategies, this is one of the best property management blogs.
The short-term rental and real estate industry relies on accurate market data, and Mashvisor shares a wealth of firsthand market data on its blog.
4. Optimize My Bnb
From listing tips to reviews, the Optimize My Bnb blog will help you to increase your Airbnb properties' earning potential.
Unlike many other property management blogs, this blog is written by a previous Airbnb employee who's now a successful Airbnb Superhost and owner of an Airbnb property management business. And, if you are not much of a reader, there is also a YouTube channel with loads of videos.
5. Rental Scale-Up by PriceLabs
Rental Scale-Up, brought to you by PriceLabs, a dynamic pricing solution, is a great resource for staying up to date with vacation rental industry news. This blog gives you a bird’s-eye view of market changes and where the industry is heading.
They publish articles about Airbnb and other booking platforms, pricing and revenue management, vacation rental tools, regulations, market data, and broader industry news. It’s particularly useful for STR real estate investors who plan to scale their business. Rental Scale-Up also reports from industry conferences and summits. They keep readers updated on short-term rental rules and restrictions across the US, the UK, and other markets around the world.
6. Vacation Rental Formula
This is the place where property owners and managers can find many marketing tips. Here the Vacation Rental Formula shares their formula for choosing the best vacation rental software, implementing digital marketing strategies and much more. There are hundreds of posts just about marketing.
7. Touch Stay
Touch Stay offers a digital guest welcome book service and shares many blog posts relating to welcome books, house manuals, and house rules. They might not upload new articles that frequently, but it is still a good blog to bookmark. From writing travel guides for your guests to writing a catchy title for your own Airbnb listing, these are just two topics that Touch Stay touches on.
8. GuestHook
GuestHook offers copywriting services that include property descriptions and branding. Considering that writing is where their expertise lies, it should come as no surprise that they also have one of the top property management blogs. If you are looking for help with writing your description, reviews and/or house rules, be sure to hook up with GuestHook.
9. The Lifty Life
The Lifty Life team manages vacation rentals throughout BC and Alberta, Canada. Their blog is full of great tips on Airbnb hosting. In addition, they write articles about market analysis and destination marketing articles that are fantastic examples of how to create SEO content that attracts both prospective homeowners and guests.
10. WeNeedaVacation.com
The team at WeNeedaVacation specializes in vacation rentals in Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. Their blog helps hosts to manage and market their vacation rentals but also shares news from time to time. The blog features marketing trends, management tips, guest-experience advice, and property-listing guidance for STR owners in that region and beyond.
11. Turno
Turno is a great resource for all things related to cleaning. The STR property management industry is obsessed with cleanliness because the guest experience lives or dies by how clean a property is. This company helps Airbnb owners find reliable cleaners through its cleaning marketplace.
On their blog, you’ll find thorough guides and resources for keeping your rental spotless, from basic cleaning tips to more specific topics such as pest control, as well as general advice on running an Airbnb business.
12. Different
Different is about taking care of homes and the people who live in them. It features a unique blend of experienced property managers, real estate agents, and tech industry professionals. Many of their blog posts offer insight into investment properties, property finance, and home maintenance. Different holds a real estate license in each state that they operate in and their experienced property managers are all individually accredited.
13. Yellow Brick Home
Kim and Scott are passionate Airbnb hosts in Chicago who have been sharing their journey with the hosting community. They’ve been renovating fixer-uppers and revitalizing old homes to turn them into stylish Airbnbs.
They also offer design consulting for hosts who aren’t sure how to approach their home design. On their blog, you’ll find a bunch of home design ideas and read great content about their real-life experience bringing those ideas to life. You can read about their approach to renovating and designing their properties, along with practical tips for running an Airbnb business.
14. Showplace
Showplace provides design and furnishing services for rental properties. Since interior design is their specialty, you’ll find plenty of Airbnb design case studies on their blog, with a strong focus on how design affects bookings, revenue, and guest appeal.
They also cover many market and regional design trends, so if you’re just planning an upgrade or renovation, the Showplace blog can give you plenty of ideas about which design trends and amenities are currently driving revenue for short-term rentals.
Grow Your Knowledge to Grow Your Business
Reading and subscribing to property management blogs will teach you some property management tactics. The best part is that you get completely free resources. The only investment required from you is a couple of minutes a day.
Also, with “fake news” on the increase, it's key that you read only credible sources. These property management blogs have been written by industry experts (and many of them are also hosts themselves). So, you can rest assured that the information shared in these blogs will help steer you on the right track. Enjoy reading!
In case you need to simplify property management, try iGMS as your property management software. Our tool assigns tasks to cleaners, automates guest communication, and uses the channels manager to update calendars. Plus, all the other features you can check for yourself.
