Rex Brown

Newsletter gets amazing results restarting my rental after lockdown
Like many short term rentals around the world, we were locked down in my Seazen rental in Melbourne. How could ...

Three smart things to do when you have no guests
So what do you do when there are no guests? The pause in bookings may go on for as long ...

Maximising short term rental bookings during Coronavirus uncertainty
Everyone is uncertain about travel right now. No one really knows how the coronavirus will affect them. Should I take ...

The guests stole our coffee machine!
Our friends were amazed. They had been renting their apartment on Airbnb for the last year for the times they ...

How Will Coronavirus Affect Your Rental?
The short answer of course is we don’t really know, but it may not all be bad for everyone. We ...

The Value Of A Newsletter In Hard Times
You know you are doing something right when 11 of the next 13 days booked are from past guests who ...

Trivago found guilty of deceptive advertising
Gradually the internet giants dominating accommodation bookings are being reeled in by consumer watchdogs. The travel aggregator Trivago is the ...

Your Newsletter Can Be An Asset In A Crisis
Do you have a newsletter email list that you can use in a crisis? It is a valuable asset. This ...

Will Listing On Booking.Com Penalise My Pricing?
This week a friend said she hadn’t listed on booking.com because she was worried they would control her prices. Is ...

OTA Report – Calendars and Pricing
Calendars are at the heart of short term rental operations. Get them right, all goes smoothly. Get them wrong, it ...

OTA report: Co-hosting
The online travel agencies (OTAs) are responding to industry demand for ‘Co-hosting’ for short term rental property owners. In the ...

Growing direct bookings from 10% to 65% – Case study
Short term rental owners often think they are locked in to the online travel agencies (OTAs) like Airbnb for all ...

Outstanding performer – Points South
Continuing our series on outstanding performers in our industry. Bryan James operates Points South, a group of 3 self-contained cottages ...

The strange things that guests do
Yesterday a friend with a rental was shaking her head. “You won’t believe it. They’ve put my stovetop coffee maker ...

Deconstructing world class performers – are you one?
I have a tough ask of you, my readers. I’d like to hear from you if you are doing some things ...

When the only cleaner in town leaves – Train
Through tears my cleaner Lesley said “I’m leaving, so sorry”. Yikes, this was very bad news! She knew she was ...

Do you ask this critical question?
Sometimes, vacation rental owners have to know the really important question to ask your guests. This came to me when I was ...

Wow guests with 360 Photos
360 degree photos get you to the next level of quality in displaying your rental property, giving your future guests ...

The Airbnb creative cockroach may lift your fees
Creative cockroach? The Airbnb founders were from design school where they learned to be creative. Their early inspiration to make ...

Direct booking discount – or irrational gimmicks?
A vacation rental colleague told me a surprising story of how a return guest declined her direct booking discount, and ...