This owner's former vacation rental manager suggested trying Vacasa—and it paid off

There’s no place quite like Lake Austin, as homeowner Diana Z. will tell you.

“I love the water. I own a boat. I like to wakesurf,” she says. “It's like paradise, but you're just on the edge of the city. I can be in downtown Austin in 20 minutes.”

From wildlife to water sports, Diana and her guests can watch the lake’s vibrant parade of life from her expansive back deck. She loves it here—so much, in fact, that she lives right next door to her second home. And that means her vacation rental manager’s performance is constantly on display, too.

Finding what works

Diana knows what it takes to keep a successful vacation rental running—her partnership with Vacasa is not her first rodeo.

“I've worked with one other property management company and they were very disorganized. Their cleaning crews would show up one day and be missing the next,” she recalls. “I’d always wonder, ‘Okay, is it clean? Is it ready to go?’ Because I live next door, I'd come over to check, and it would not be clean. That was a problem.”

Diana knew she needed to find someone new to care for her home. The recommendation to try Vacasa came from a surprising source: her old vacation rental manager.

“Vacasa was very responsive and called me back right away,” she says. “The sales executive who came to see my home and talk about Vacasa’s services really knew the business. She made me feel like I would be in good hands if I entrusted my property to Vacasa.”

Consistency is key

Three years later, Diana is still with us. Why? In a word, reliability.

“The level of professionalism with Vacasa is very good. The local manager I work with on a day-to-day basis is responsive: they care about my property, and about my satisfaction with their services,” she says.

“Vacasa's housekeeping is superior. They show up on time, and they've been trained on how to clean and create a consistent guest experience,” she continues. “And if it's not just right they will come and make up for it before the guest arrives.”

She loves that her local Vacasa team thinks critically about what guests want out of a vacation at her home. Diana says her team’s even gone above and beyond to make a guest’s stay memorable, from arranging a flower delivery for a bride to replacing a lake raft in record time.

“It's hard to find people that care about the services that they're providing. And that is truly the thing I like best about Vacasa,” she tells us.

Beyond the basics

But there’s more to like about Vacasa than just a stellar local team, Diana says. She feels that working with an industry leader makes her a better vacation rental owner, too.

“What separates Vacasa from other vacation rental managers is the depth of experience,” she explains. “I've been fortunate to have the opportunity to tune into the Vacasa webinars for owners. They help give me a perspective on what's going on in the market from a higher level.”

“These insights enable me, as an owner, to be more effective in how I furnish my house and the things I offer my guests,” she continues. “Then the local team works with me to make everything as perfect as it can be. We work together on everything.”

Diana attributes her success, in part, to Vacasa’s exclusive dynamic rate technology, which epitomizes the blend of local care and deep industry expertise.

“The dynamic pricing tech looks at the demand, the season, and what's going on in the market, and then prices the property for rent accordingly. I've seen that it's really increased my income,” she says.

She keeps track of how well her home’s performing through her online owner account, which displays real-time earnings and year-over-year comparisons, among other essential tools for homeowners. Diana feels that Vacasa’s owner tools and communications make it simple for her to stay in the loop (without getting tied up in the process).

“I get a notice every time the house is rented, so I can go in and look at the calendar to see who's coming, how many people, how long they're going to be here, and what they're paying for the rental,” she tells us. “I like the monthly reports that detail the total income, the total expenses, and what the net is—the reporting is very transparent and easy to understand.”

Diana trusts in the strong partnership she's formed with a vacation rental manager who can help her get the most out of her second home. And she suggests that homeowners who want the same should follow her lead.

“Meet with a sales executive and understand all of the services that Vacasa offers,” she recommends. “You could interview other companies, but I would recommend you not waste your time—just hire Vacasa.” ⧫