There are a number of factors that come into play when it comes to pricing your property and maximizing your profits. If you are manually pricing, how often you should adjust prices for short-term rentals in order to maximize revenue?

Converting web visitors into paying guests is the goal of all vacation rental property managers. However, there are a number of factors that come into play when it comes to pricing your property and maximizing your profits.

The first thing that needs to be considered is the type of pricing model being used by the property manager and whether or not they are using revenue management software that helps automate changes in rates based on demand patterns.

Some rental property managers use a fixed pricing model, meaning that the rates are set for all periods of time. Others may have dynamic prices which vary depending on demand as well as other factors such as seasonality and occupancy trends.

The next thing you should consider is how often to adjust your prices. Set it and forget it style of pricing without using a rate management tool is not optimal. Understanding your market demand, taking holidays and peak travel into consideration, as well as factoring in events are critical and need to be reviewed on a regular basis.

What's the scoop?

1. Setting Your Rates: Know your costs and how many bookings you think you’ll have. You may not be able to charge as much if external factors are affecting the rates for vacation rentals in that area, but it's still important to know what all of those other contributors are so make sure they're accounted for when setting a rate based on an average daily price (ADR).
2. What's the Competition: In order to understand the competition in your area, consider not just other vacation rentals – which you can track through listing sites like Booking.com, Vrbo and Airbnb - but also hotels. 
3. Alternative Competitors: B&Bs are a niche market where guests are more catered to than short-term renters. While you should be aware of B&B rates in your area, their relevance also depends significantly on the type of property that interests you. Only eight percent of guests stay at a bed and breakfast for three days or longer so if you’re targeting two or three day rentals, the comparison will matter quite a bit but not as much if it's weekly rental properties instead.
4. Base Rates: Setting the highs and lows of your pricing can be a tricky task. It’s important to consider what others are doing in this respect, but also make sure that you take note of local market conditions as well. For example, if there is an anticipated event such as snowfall or hurricane season coming up soon it might behoove you to adjust rates accordingly before they arrive rather than waiting for them then adjusting afterwards when things have gone awry (i.e., people aren't buying due to bad weather).
5. "Be" The Guest: Look at your properties objectively. One of the most important aspects for any business is to compare and contrast their rates with those of competitors, either in a similar industry or within that same geographic location. By looking at it objectively though, you can see how certain features might justify differences between prices; if there's something about yours that just sets your place apart from other companies' offerings then maybe charging more makes sense! However, by studying these numbers closely too we may be able to pinpoint where our shortcomings are--perhaps not having enough amenities on-site could make one hotel less attractive than its peers even if they charge higher nightly rates?
6. Should I Automate: Automating the process of pricing your property with a dynamic pricing system will make it easier to stay current on market rates and generate more competitive price points, while simplifying the entire process. This means that when using these tools together you'll be able to automatically adjust prices across all marketing channels in nearly instantaneous time frames; giving you an edge over other properties managers who may not have this level of sophistication!
7. "I think my rates are too high." If the feedback you’ve received through inquiries has shaken your confidence, be careful you're not taking bargain hunters too seriously. FlipKey found that the average vacationer visits four vacation rental websites and inquires on seven different properties; travelers like to shop, so a request for a deal isn't necessarily a sign that your pricing is off - it could just mean they want something cheaper! You can reduce their rate if necessary without fear of lowering quality by constricting supply or deterring customers with higher prices.
8. “I think my rates are too low.” It's easy to fall into a problem with low rates: people may underestimate the value of their property or the cost of running a vacation rental, or new costs that don't fit in your budget can arise.

If the property is booked during less-busy periods where demand is low, then rates can be adjusted to maximize revenue and convert more guests into renters. However, it's not always necessary for a manager or owner to manually adjust prices if they're using an automated revenue management system that automatically changes prices based on supply and demand patterns.

Pricing your properties under management is complex to tackle, and there are many factors that go into determining when it's appropriate to change prices. The answer varies depending on the type of pricing plan you're using as well as other factors such as occupancy trends and seasonality. It's best for managers who want more control over their pricing to use revenue management software that will automate changes in rates based on demand patterns.