Have a whole house to rent? Dozens of sites can help you rent a house. And many of them are good alternatives to listing on Airbnb. What makes these sites better than the industry leader? Generally speaking, the fee structure. These sites let you list your home for a flat fee, which is far less costly than paying a percentage of every rental. That’s particularly true when you have a whole house to rent
Importantly, it’s not just cheaper for you. It’s also considerably cheaper for the renter. Airbnb charges homeowners just 3%, but adds almost 15% to the customer’s cost. So, if you charge $200 a night, you get $194. But your guest pays $228. At least theoretically, with a flat fee site, you could charge $214 a night and get $20 per night more. And the renter still pays $14 less than with Airbnb.
Here are four good fee-based sites to list your home for rent.
SabbaticalHomes
SabbaticalHomes is an educator-focused rental platform that helps academics (and others) list their homes — or spare rooms — for rent, swap, share, or a housesit. Tenants can also list to find people willing to provide accommodations. What sets the site apart is open communication between homeowners and renters and exceptionally low fees. It costs just $60 for academics to list a house on the site. (The fee is $85, if you’re not an educator, current or retired.) If you find a match, both homeowner and tenant pay $50. Learn more about SabbaticalHomes here.
HomeEscape
HomeEscape is much smaller than industry leaders Airbnb and VRBO. But it is available nationally and offers flat-fee pricing of $350 per year. It also pledges to find you at least 6 potential renters in a 12 month period, or you get another year free. Learn more about HomeEscape here.
BeachHouse
BeachHouse is a sales and rental site that focuses only on ocean-front real estate in the U.S. and a handful of international locations. The site’s formula is pretty simple. If you have a beach house to rent, you can buy a basic advertisement with 10 photos for $149 annually. If you want to add more photos; manage your calendar on the site; or get other bells and whistles, you pay more. However, this site is simply advertising your rental. You manage the rental from start to finish, listing your name and contact information in your advertisement. When you secure a rental, you check out the potential tenants and collect payment yourself. Learn more about BeachHouse here.
WeNeedAVacation
If the house you want to rent is in Cape Cod, check out WeNeedAVacation. It also charges a flat annual fee for listings– $389 and no one pays a commission. Learn more about WeNeedAVacation here.