Houfy Rentals: 101 for Hosts

As a host, it's vital for you to list your property on top vacation rental sites to ensure you can maximize audience reach and attract your ideal guests. There are plenty of rental sites that travelers trust, so it's easy to get confused about which platforms you should list on.

One of them is Houfy, which differs from traditional OTAs like Airbnb or Agoda since it gives property owners a chance to do business on their own terms by connecting properties directly with guests. Read on to find out how Houfy rentals work and what benefits this platform offers to hosts.

Houfy Rentals: What Makes This Website Different?

It's always important to remember that relying on a single booking platform is not the best strategy for STR hosts because it can't guarantee consistent bookings. The secret to thriving in a competitive STR market is multichannel distribution. It allows you to boost your visibility, diversify your audience, and increase your chances of getting more bookings to maximize your revenue.

Listing your property on major OTAs, such as Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com, and creating your direct booking website will help you build a more resilient business. And use vacation rental software like Hospitable to automate your daily operations. You'll be able to diversify your revenue streams without increasing your workload, making your business more efficient.

Niche vacation rental sites also cater to specific demographics, regions, or preferences. Niche sites may be nice to have distribution channels since they allow STR hosts to reduce reliance on major OTAs and their unpredictable policies. Some niche platforms, such as Houfy, encourage direct bookings. So, should Houfy rentals be your next platform? Let's find out.

Houfy is an advertising platform for book-direct vacation rentals with over 60,000 properties worldwide. It was founded in 2015 and derives its name from "HOUse For You." According to Similarweb, the Houfy website attracts more than 85,000 monthly users, and its core audience is from the United States. Other top countries sending traffic to Houfy are Greece, Poland, Mexico, and Canada.

Houfy can be described as a market network combining social networks' main elements and marketplace features on one platform. The website connects travelers directly with property owners to book a stay directly without an intermediary.

Unlike Airbnb, which allows hosts to communicate with guests only within their platform, Houfy also encourages direct communication between hosts and guests. That allows hosts to get the actual customer data and improves all parties' experience.

It's important to note that no standardized booking or service fees exist, and Houfy isn't involved in transactions. As a result, STR hosts can set their payment terms, manage their payouts directly, save on fees, and offer their guests better deals. Hosts can also set a cancellation policy of their choice.

Listing your property on Houfy (and other niche sites) in addition to your listings on such global giants as Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com and your direct booking website can offer you an opportunity to extend your reach. Hospitable can help seamlessly sync calendars across various booking platforms and prevent double bookings with iCal imports.

Watch the video to learn how this Hospitable' functionality works.

You may also check out the article in our Help Center for more details about connecting channels with iCal Imports.

Houfy Rentals: How to List Your Property and How Much Does It Cost?

If you want to list your vacation rentals on Houfy, with the Free plan, you only need to pay a one-time host verification fee for unlimited listings (now $5.99). Houfy allows hosts to import their Airbnb or Vrbo listings. The process is quick; you can import all your photos, titles, property descriptions, and guest reviews. You can also create your listing manually using Houfy's self-guided building to enter details.

In addition to the Free plan, Houfy has two paid subscription plans, Lite and Premium, that offer additional features. The monthly subscription fees for these plans depend on the number of properties you want to list and may range from $8.99 per listing per month to less than $1.The more listings you manage, the less you pay per month to list a property.

For example, if you want to list only one property and choose the Lite plan, you'll pay a maximum of $7.19 monthly. But you'll pay only $3.00 per listing per month if you list three properties.

What Features Does Houfy Offer to Hosts?

All plans (Free and paid ones) include the following features:

• Instant Payments to your Stripe or Square account
• Calendar synchronization with Airbnb and Vrbo via iCal
• Multi-calendar
• The ability to upload unlimited photos of your vacation rental property
• A host verification badge
• Custom quotes
• Customizable short-term rental agreement
• Message notifications
• Sending scheduled messages to confirmed bookings
• The ability to share links in the Houfy messaging
• Creating custom links to use on social media
• Adding co-hosts (requires host verification)

You can take advantage of additional features if you sign up for one of Houfy's paid plans. For example, if you choose the Lite subscription plan, you can hide price comparisons and nearby listings on the listing page and can show external links and your email/phone number on the listing page.

Conclusion

As a large direct booking advertising platform, Houfy may be an option as a booking channel in addition to your direct booking website. But remember that you'll need to market your Houfy listings on social media channels actively. Of course, the platform offers paid features to increase your listing's visibility in search, such as Last Minute Specials & Featured Listings. Still, it's important to remember that the Houfy website doesn't attract as much traffic as top OTA websites, such as Booking.com or Airbnb.