Vacasa Hawaii vacation rentals tank amid new warnings and losses

Sometimes you just can’t catch a break, which seems to be true at longtime Hawaiian vacation rental company Vacasa. Vacasa recently faced a terrible headwind after suddenly laying off 17% of their workforce, including reduced revenue, increased losses, the loss of key people, an 88% share reduction, and more.

The great vacation rental industry remains under pressure, growing at a rapid pace and often without sound business practices. That plunged the stock market price from a recent high of nearly $10 a share to $1.13 in afternoon trading, a steep 88% decline. It seems like they announced an 81 percent increase in sales yesterday before today’s reality became clear.

Vacasa quickly grew to become Hawaii’s largest vacation rental company.

Vacasa’s website says it still manages, maintains and markets 1,164 Hawaii vacation rentals. But that doesn’t explain the problems he reported in the comments, and they’re being widely circulated. Problems became apparent in late 2022, as the company warned of skyrocketing costs, declining sales and management problems. Last month, Vassasa’s newly appointed chief business officer abruptly resigned after four months in the position.

BOH Seasonal Vacasa Hawaii Vacation Rentals.

There are obvious concerns for homeowners and vacation rentals at Vacasa. The company’s future seems uncertain, even in its own carefully crafted words.

Ahead of today’s earnings report, there was growing discontent among landlords and tenants as controversy surrounding Vacasa management grew. On Yelp reviews, Vacasa currently only has a 2.5/5 rating, with reviews swinging wildly between positive and negative. Google reviews on Vacasa Hawaii are entered at 2.1.

Vacasa’s status gives other vacation rental management companies an opportunity to improve their dwindling inventory. In the past, these same people have seen unusual challenges because of Vacasa’s money, influence, and technology.

Someone recently commented on BOH: “We rented a Vacasa property… and it was in bad shape when we arrived. We didn’t stay in the house and they didn’t give us a reasonable refund. I’m not sure we’ll use them again.

Another said, “It is no surprise that Vacasa’s stock has declined. I used them 2x. Needless to say, I was devastated when they changed weekly rentals to daily rental prices that were nearly double what they were before. So I basically paid for 4 days what I would have paid for 7. Especially since I had so many cleaning issues. A kitchen stove/fan with a bug/grease that can fall into your pot while cooking. 1 example only. I clean for a living, so it focuses on the really important details. I received a cleaning refund a year ago due to their team’s “terrible cleaning”.

Airbnb is the gold standard for renting Hawaii vacation rentals.

Most vacation rental managers and private property owners list their units on Airbnb, including Vacasa. It’s the go-to destination for buying Hawaii vacation rentals. Airbnb, unlike Vacasa, Airbnb is not a management company, so things like customer service, cleaning and maintenance are handled by others.

Vacasa is paying up to 35% of the total cost of the vacation rental for its services. The concept works well because it gives remote property owners a way to have an expensive yet hands-free operation.

Things went wrong at Vacasa.

In today’s latest company report, Vacasa said its revenue will contract this year. This is due to a cooling trend for Hawaii vacation rentals and the inability of the vacation company to keep up with the growth it has experienced in the past. Just two months ago, the company cut 1.3k jobs or 17% of its workforce.

“We face challenges that are fixable, but not yet fixed,” Vacasa said, without providing further details. The company said, “It is not yet known how the reduction in the size of our sales force and the adjustment of the sales strategy will affect the growth of our home.”

Vacasa found that they are not adding as many new properties as they used to and existing homeowners are leaving for greener pastures. We started to see an increase in the number of houses leaving our platform.

The company today reported a loss of a third of a billion dollars, fully doubling the loss of the previous year. They also believe sales will drop by 10 percent this year. But at the same time, investors are concerned about “Significant instability“In business and industry.