What services does Wanderways offer?

Wanderways offers a full cycle of services with the objective of increasing your house visibility, ratings and maximizing your investment. These services include marketing, guest screening, housekeeping, maintenance, and more. We highly recommend that you contact us to schedule time to walk through our services and value proposition, and to determine if your property is a good fit for Wanderways.

If we move forward, we will sign an agreement, confirm permits, do an initial inspection, compile your home’s online listing, and get your property ready for travelers.

What makes Wanderways an ideal choice?

Wanderways is not a catch-all-types of properties. Wanderways offers vacation rentals and experiences for adventure-driven travelers! We are a brand that combines our passion for travel, culture, and adventure with our diverse background and expertise in real-estate investment, hospitality, technology, and marketing.

Not every property is necessarily a good fit for Wanderways and vice versa. To ensure that we meet the needs of adventure-driven people and the high standards of international travelers, we want to make sure that only properties and owners that are aligned with our vision and goals become part of the Wanderways family of vacation homes.

How many properties does Wanderways manage?

Wanderways is a new company and we are starting only with our own vacation properties in the Gorge and Baja. Personally owning very successful 5-star rated rentals has allowed us to understand the high standards of travelers from around the world and how to properly maintain a home. We are partnering with the best cleaning services and technicians in each region to support growth.

How does Wanderways market my property?

Wanderways use a variety of marketing strategies and channels, including the biggest online travel agencies (OTA’s) such as Airbnb, VRBO/Expedia, Google Vacation Rentals, Booking.com, in addition to our direct bookings site, social media, paid media, email marketing, adventure partners websites, local community resources and more. We also optimize your listing with advanced SEO strategies and provide high-quality photography and custom-written descriptions to increase visibility and bookings.

So Wanderways manage Airbnb’s? What if I already list in Airbnb?

Yes, Airbnb is just one more channel that Wanderways uses to market your property. Wanderways is a full-service vacation rental management company and as such, we would recommend improvements and connect your existing Airbnb page to WanderwaysVacationRentals.com and take over payment processing and guest communication management, by adding us as co-host.

Where does Wanderways operate?

As we are getting started, we as owners want to be close to the operations, so we are starting with in the Columbia River Gorge (Hood River, White Salmon, Mosier, Stevenson, and surrounding areas) and La Ventana – El Sargento, Baja California Sur, Mexico. That said, we are open to adding vacation homes to Wanderways that are in other places. We just need more time to find the right local service providers to support local operations. If you already have them, then that makes it a lot easier and faster to onboard.

Does Wanderways have restrictions on how much I can use my home?

Not necessarily, however we ask property owners to block the calendar when they plan to use it for personal use, and to inform us ahead of time if they are blocking thirty consecutive days or more, or if they will exceed a total of 90 days per calendar year. We have set these thresholds to initiate a conversation with owners and understand if it is a one-time case or if they have plans to use their home a lot more. Lack of availability can hurt perception of guests and increase the bottom-line costs.

Does Wanderways manage mid- and long-term vacation rentals?

Yes! If the reservation stays within 6 months and the guest does not claim the home as their main residence, it is considered an extended vacation stay. This type of stays will offer a discounted monthly price and significantly help to increase occupancy and reduce wear and tear. Wanderways does not manage long-term rentals that are claimed as the main residence of the tenant.

What are Wanderways fees?

Wanderways is a full-service vacation rental management company and as such we charge industry standard full-service fees including commission, cleaning fees and maintenance and repair costs. However, we understand that some property owners want to continue managing certain operational aspects, so we have some flexibility. To better understand the options, please contact us to schedule time to walk through our services, value proposition and fees.

Do I have to sign a long-term contract with Wanderways?

The Wanderways Vacation Home Rental Agreement is valid for 1 year, however you can cancel the contract anytime with 60 days’ notice and are also responsible to honor the reservations within the following 6-month period, managed by Wanderways, after you have provided notice.

How does Wanderways keep owners informed and up to date?

With Wanderways’ advanced platform, homeowners will get regular updates on bookings, earnings, costs, and other important matters.

How does Wanderways manage maintenance and repairs?

Wanderways has a network of trusted local vendors who can manage maintenance and repairs. They also perform regular inspections and maintenance of equipment to identify and address issues before they become problems. The best way to gain high ratings and increase operational efficiency is to be proactive to maintain things functioning.

How does Wanderways screen guests?

Wanderways partners with Safely in the United States to screen guests, including background checks, credit checks, and reviews from previous hosts. In Mexico, we leverage the reviews from previous hosts, only accept credit card supported payments, and run a quick questionnaire to reduce the risk of scammers. All of this helps ensure that your property is well cared for.

How does Wanderways ensure a great guest experience?

Wanderways offers vacation rentals and experiences for adventure-driven travelers. As such, we do not only pay attention to the operational basics of a vacation rental, like a seamless and simplified reservation process, a pristine cleaning job, clear self-check-in and check-out instructions, a useful guest guide, and other things that ensure a good stay experience, but we also provide guidance and packages to experience local activities and attractions. All of these will create a wonderful experience for our guests.

What is Wanderways pet policy?

The pet policy is up to the homeowner. That said, there are two things to consider. The first is that accepting pets has great benefits. Pet-friendly vacation homes are in higher demand than non-pet-friendly homes. They will attract more visitors and increase revenue. Wanderways cleaning crews will put extra effort to ensure that pet hair, paw prints and dirt are removed and cleaned thoroughly. Guests will pay an extra fee to compensate for the extra time cleaning the house. The second, is that by law in the US, service dogs that support people with disabilities cannot be rejected. Emotional support dogs do not fall into this category.

How do you handle home related emergencies?

Wanderways offers 24/7 support in case of house-related emergencies, such as power outages, plumbing issues, and more. We have a network of vendors that can help with fixing issues at home, as soon as possibly available.

What is your reservations cancellation policy?

The cancellation policy can change by region or by home. Wanderways will recommend the best cancellation policy to property owners, based on the market. A standard cancellation policy in La Ventana is that payments are fully refundable until 60 days before arrival. A standard cancellation policy in the Gorge is that payments are fully refundable until 30 days before arrival. That said, statistics show that homes with fully refundable policies until 24 hours before arrival, get more reservations. Net revenue, however, changes by region.

How does Wanderways manage taxes and regulations in the US?

Since Wanderways collects payments and incurs the expenses related to the rental home, we are responsible for collecting and remitting taxes. We will stay up to date on local regulations to ensure compliance. However, the net income that homeowners receive after commissions and expenses must be reported by homeowners in their annual tax filing.

How does Wanderways manage taxes and regulations in Mexico?

Lets start with the easy part. Neither national or local governments (in Baja Sur) require you to submit a special permit to operate a short-term rental.

However, tax compliance in Mexico is more complicated. There are three types of taxes: Income tax, Sales tax and Tourism tax. The sales tax is 16% and should be included in the price of your rental. The tourism tax is 4% and should be added on top of the daily rate price. These two are paid by guests. For income tax, people have two options: 1) If you are a foreigner and don't have a tax ID (RFC), the government will withhold 20% of revenue as income tax through platforms such as Airbnb and VRBO. These assuming that you manage your rental directly in either platform. 2) If you are a Mexican national or foreigner with a tax ID (RFC), you will have to consult with your accountant on the business activity and business type that you should adopt ('Régimen' and 'Actividad Económica'). The recommendation is to setup as a business that offers hosting services through the internet and receives income through technological platforms. The income tax for this type of business is 4-8%.

All that said, if you work with Wanderways, Wanderways collects payments and incurs the expenses related to your rental home, so we are responsible for collecting and remitting business operations taxes to the Mexican authorities. But just like in the US, the net income that homeowners receive after commissions and expenses must be reported by homeowners to Mexican authorities. If you don't have an RFC, your accountant will have to submit 20% of your net revenue in income tax. If you have an RFC, your accountant will also help you with submitting taxes on monthly basis, but the tax will decrease to 4-8% if you are set as a business that offers hosting services through the internet. We can recommend an accountant, but note that the cost of accountants in Mexico is overall higher than in the US because tax compliance is more complicated and is reported monthly vs annual.

Lastly, on top of Mexican tax compliance you are still accountable to report the net income that you receive after commissions and expenses and the tax you paid in Mexico in your annual tax filing in your country. In the case of the US and Canada, there is a fiscal agreement that allows you to discount the tax paid to Mexico from your tax in the US or Canada.

Does Wanderways offer or has insurance?

Wanderways contracts with Safely to provide short-term rental damage insurance in the United States. In addition, reservations made through OTA’s like Airbnb and VRBO offer additional coverage. In Mexico, we charge deposits to our guests to cover costs for damaged incurred by the guest. That said, property owners need to acknowledge that some damage is part of the cost of doing short-term rental business, like cups and plates breaking. It is proven that charging small costs like these to guests deters them from making a reservation again at the same vacation home.

How does Wanderways determine pricing?

We will make pricing recommendations to property owners based on the home’s characteristics, such as number of bedrooms and amenities, as well as based on the season. We can also leverage AI based technology that determines the best pricing to maximize occupancy.

How do you ensure security and safety?

To offer seamless check-in and check-out steps and increase security, Wanderways will always use code enabled locks to either provide the keys to the house or install smart locks in the house, if internet reaches the main entrance of the house. Wanderways provides key locks. Property owners cover the cost of smart locks. Also, depending on local or community regulations, cameras facing the outer side of a gate or door can be installed. Cameras facing the interior of the house need to be disabled to comply with privacy regulations.