Flip The Lid On The “Best” Airbnb Rental Agencies Cape Town

You are looking for the “best” Airbnb rental agencies Cape Town. Why not? 

You don’t want the risk of giving the keys to your beautiful Cape Town accommodation to a useless bragger. No. You need a real Airbnb rental agency Cape Town you can trust to deliver on your goals. 

But how do you know the best Airbnb Rental Agencies Cape Town?

Well, today we are going to flip the lid on a few Airbnb rental agencies in Cape Town. 

After reading this you will know what to look out for. I am not going to tell you which Airbnb rental agency is the best. But you will know what to look for.

What Criteria Will We Use To Help You Pinpoint The Best Airbnb Rental Agencies in Cape Town

As a homeowner, you need to read between the lines; what do short term rental agencies talk about and what are they shying away from? What don’t they want you to know? 

Let’s have a look at these criteria:

• • Common Goals: You want to read their website to see if they are focusing on your goals or their own goals. It’s easy to find out what their objectives are. 
  • Do They Have Public Reviews: Do they have public reviews from guests and homeowners? Do they brag about their reviews? Where are these reviews?
  • Are they SuperHosts? Airbnb recognises the best in hospitality. And rewards Airbnb’s top-rated and most experienced hosts.
  • Do they grow organically? Do they grow because people recommend them to their friends? Or do they grow because they advertise? There is nothing wrong with growing your business quickly. But then it must be done with the interest of the individual owner in mind. Again, if any of the above is not positive, it means you may be exposed.
  • 60 Day No Cancellation: Do they have a super strict 60-day cancellation policy? 
  • Host Cancellation: Is their host cancellation period 30 days, or are you stuck with fine print? 

Obviously, there are more criteria, but let’s start with the 6 above. 

The first one is the most difficult to identify; are their goals similar to yours? 

But the rest comes out in the wash; reviews, Superhost status, 5-star ratings, and organic growth will be the cherry on top.

How To Dig Deep In All Airbnb Rental Agencies Cape Town Reviews

You need to verify their Google reviews, Airbnb reviews, and Facebook reviews. Any proper agency should have these public reviews under their “profile” or agency name.

This is how I would do it:

Airbnb Rental Agencies Cape Town Google Reviews

1. Search on Google for the agency name. For example, if you search for CapeHolidays you’ll see we have 44 reviews from owners and guests at 4.9 out of 5. Not bad. But we need more Google reviews. Now do the same for Propr Cape Town; They have 24 reviews at 3.7 out of 5. Not ideal. The large Nox Rentals has no Google reviews. Airagents are at 4.1 out of 5 with 24 reviews. 
2. The next step is to read every review. In-depth. Remember, you need a trusting relationship with your agency. You need to, unfortunately, identify the negative reviews like this one below. I see that the rental agency, in question, did not even bother to respond. Also, read this review from one of their unhappy Cape Town owners: Also, read this review from one of their unhappy Cape Town owners:

Let’s accept it!

We all make mistakes. But it’s not the issue. The issue is how the responsible agency corrects it and how fast they correct it; do you take full responsibility? 

Airbnb Rental Agencies Cape Town Airbnb Reviews, Ratings & Superhost Status

Verify Airbnb Reviews

When we look at Airbnb reviews, we don’t read about owners’ experiences but rather how guests experience the agency as their host. We want to see their overall score out of 5, what guests say and if the agency is a Superhosts.

First, we have a look at their Airbnb profile. 

You want to find the profile by searching for their agency name and “Airbnb.”. 

CapeHolidays has 35 listings, are Superhosts with 1000 reviews at 4.9 out of 5. 

Let’s find “Airbnb” “Nox Rentals”. See below: They have +2000 reviews, are Superhosts and have 92 listings. 

Propr Agency seems to have a few profiles. But none of those I found indicated them as SuperHosts. That’s odd; why more than one profile? And why are they not Superhosts? Profile (1), (2).

Manageair is another Cape Town Airbnb agency, that spends a lot of money on advertising. They have 13 Airbnb listings. Which is not a lot seeing their advertising. They may have other Airbnb profiles. But the one I found shows they are not SuperHosts. They have more than 400 reviews. 

Tip: When you read the guest reviews; look out for the critical reviews and see how to agency responds to the guest. You want to see if they do respond to every guest and if they accept responsibility. If they treat their guests with respect, they should treat you well.

Airbnb Agency Superhost Status 

I have mentioned SuperHost status a few times. And we have seen two Superhost agencies and two without Superhost status. 

Deciding On Any Of The Airbnb Rental Agencies Cape Town You Need To Know What A SuperHost Is!

Superhosts are experienced hosts who provide extraordinary experiences for their guests. Each Superhost gets a badge like this.

And get’s accessed 4 times a year to highlight the most dedicated to outstanding hospitality. 

Here are the 4 criteria used by Airbnb:. And as an owner, you would expect your Airbnb agency to not only meet these expectations but to exceed them:

When you consider a Cape Town short term rental agency, use the above criteria to question them. They must be able to show you their overall rating, their cancellation rate, their response rate, and if they are Superhosts!

You must demand that they show you these statistics from Airbnb. Below is the award, dated October 30 October 2021, to Airbnb Agency CapeHolidays (Horak Clan).

CapeHolidays SuperHost Status

 

 

What Telltale Signs From Websites To Look Out For About Your Airbnb Rental Agencies Cape Town?

Tip! You have to read what your agency brags about. And what they don’t really want to make public.

Yes! They can brag. But will it make your life better? Let’s look at a few issues one agency highlights on their website. Unfortunately, it was easy to identify that their objectives may not be in your best interest:

They would say things like:

• Put your property on autopilot. Really? What is the intention here? Are they saying we do things automatically to limit human interaction? The fewer people interaction there is the cheaper it becomes to run. But at what cost to the property and to getting 5-star reviews from guests. Is this to their benefit or to yours? 

• We help 500+ properties maximise their yield. This is a quantitative measure. What does it have to do with quality? The fact that this Airbnb rental agency Cape Town is massive does not mean it’s the best. I don’t think so. Are they bragging about their goals or yours? There is some kind of proof in quantity but if they cannot support it with quality (points 2 and 3 above, i.e. reviews and Superhost), then watch out! You have to identify the quality before you agree.
• Physical welcoming of guests and 24/7 guest support. Interesting. They say nothing about greeting guests on departure. You may not see this as obvious, but saying goodbye to a guest may cost money, but it’s one of the best times to cultivate a relationship, address small issues they may have had, and, most importantly, ask them to give us a 5-star review.

What Do Airbnb Agencies Not Say To You?

They will not brag about being a Superhost if they are not, they will not share their overall review score if it’s bad, and their owner’s cancellation terms are somewhere in the fine print. 

When you read their content, you’ll know what’s missing. And these missing issues may just be the reason why they are not your best friend. 

Why Not Volunteer Their Guest Cancellation Policy?

The concern here is that most Airbnb Management Cape Town Agencies may not be informed of what the best guest cancellation policy is. Or even how to get the best policy. I believe not having the best cancellation policy can harm the owner’s interest.

Let’s look at why:

Airbnb wants to make bookings easy for guests. 

Even if it’s not in the host’s interest. In other words, Airbnb will hide critical host settings if using this functionality will make Airbnb less money. One of the options Airbnb hides away is cancellation policies. It defaults to the most relaxed option for guests, which is not ideal for hosts.

Let’s Look At A Nasty Cancellation Policy Consequence

During Cape Town’s peak season, you want to maximise income; you increase the minimum stay, and daily rates triple. The demand is high and the supply, for quality, is limited.

But what happens when oblivious agents (hosts) allow guests to cancel a week before arrival? Do you think they will fill your available spot in a week? No. It’s too late. And you could lose 25 to 30% of your annual income.

This can be prevented by an agency setting up all homes with a super strict 60-day cancellation policy. If cancellation occurs within 60 days of arrival, there is zero refund. And with 60 days, you have enough time to fill the gap.

Note: Airbnb has an extenuating circumstance policy that overrides the Super Strict 60 and is subject to abuse by visitors.

Check Your Chosen Agency’s Guest Cancellation Option

Have a look at the Airbnb cancellation policy options. And you’ll see why CapeHolidays only use Super Strict 60 days (SS60). When you verify your chosen agency, ask them what option they use. If it’s not SS60 it may not be to your benefit.

What Are Your Agency’s Owner Cancellation Terms?

The relationship with your agency is based on trust to meet common goals. Nothing else. When you decide to tie the knot, you may not have the best information yet. And unfortunately, you’ll learn when the rubber meets the tar. Too late. Therefore check!

If you realise they are useless, are you tied to a long-term relationship? Or do you have to pay a cancellation penalty? If you cannot cancel the contract penalty-free and within 30 days (no questions asked) then you have not read their T&Cs. There is no reason why any management agency wants you to stay when the relationship is stuffed.

Is Your Agency Paying To Grow?

You may know that a business can grow organically, and/or the business pays to grow!

Let’s have a look at what organic marketing growth means. Then, we can look at agencies that pay to grow:

Organic Marketing Growth

Organic word of mouth occurs naturally when people become advocates because they are happy with a product and have a natural desire to share their support and enthusiasm (Ref). 

The words “advocates,”  “happy”, “natural desire”, “to share”, “support” and “enthusiasm” are relevant.

Pay To Grow Their Business: 

The agency pays Google or Facebook to attract new owners. Therefore, owners are not referred by a happy friend. The objective is to grow the business at a faster rate than organic growth. In other words, the agency is not getting enough referrals from happy owners and prefers to pay to get attention. 

What Are The Consequences For The Owner When The Agency Pays To Grow?

• Is the number of owners who signed with the agency proof that the agency will meet the owners’ goals?
• If you had a choice, would you go with an agency that grows organically (word-of-mouth growth) or one that grows fast because of advertising? For example, the first agency grew to 500 because of word of mouth, and the second grew to 500 because they advertised. You decide.
• Is it possible that a paid-to-grow agency is focused on its bottom line instead of yours?
• Can they grow at a faster rate than what their system supports?

Compare The Best Airbnb Rental Agencies Cape Town

The table below compares some critical aspects owners should consider when choosing their Airbnb management agency.

Can You Now Identify The Best Among The Airbnb Rental Agencies Cape Town? 

Even if your chosen agency is not among the abovementioned ones, I believe you have the right tools and the best questions to ask. Correct?

You now know where to find what you need. Now, there is no reason why any Cape Town homeowner should naively accept what any agency promises. Use the criteria and eliminate those who oversell and underdeliver. And choose those who walk their talk. 

It’s simple. 

Have fun 

Johan Horak at Agency.CapeHolidays.Info where we are trying to be the best and not the biggest. We, will also rather turn you down today than disappoint you tomorrow. 

P.S. I started this post by saying, “How to blast the lid on the 4 “best” Airbnb rental agencies Cape Town”. It was not intended to list the best. But rather, how do you blast the list off any Airbnb rental agency? Do you agree that the above criteria/tools will make your life easier? Let me know.

Read more:

1. SEPARATING THE BOUTIQUE CAPE TOWN AIRBNB MANAGEMENT COMPANY FROM THE MASS PRODUCERS