Help Center

Short-Term Rental Management

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🚀 Getting Started

Up and running in minutes.

1

Add Your Property

Click + Add Property on the main page. Enter your property name, address, nightly rate, and platform links. You can manage multiple properties from one account.

2

Connect iCal Feeds

In the property Settings tab, paste your iCal URLs from Airbnb, VRBO, and Booking.com. Bookings will sync automatically every night at 3am, or you can hit Sync Now any time.

3

Review Your Calendar

Open your property to see all bookings on the visual calendar. Color-coded by platform so you can see Airbnb vs VRBO vs direct at a glance.

4

Add Direct Bookings Manually

Got a direct booking that won't show up in iCal? Click + Add Booking, fill in the details, and it appears on the calendar immediately.

5

Track Your Profitability

Open the P&L section to see revenue vs expenses, occupancy rate, and net profit for any date range. Run the report and email it to yourself or your accountant.

💡 Tip: Use Calendar View for visual planning and List View for editing. Both show the same bookings — just different formats for different jobs.

📅 Calendar View

Visual overview of all your bookings at a glance.

What does the calendar show?

Every booking across all platforms for your property, color-coded by source. Blocked dates show with diagonal stripes. Year dividers separate years so long-range planning is easy.

Why are some months missing?

The calendar only shows months that have at least one booking or block. Empty months are hidden to keep things clean. You'll always see the current month even if it's empty.

Can I edit bookings from the calendar?

No — editing is done in List View to keep the calendar uncluttered. Use the toggle at the top to switch between views anytime.

What do the colored bars mean?

Each booking spans its check-in to check-out dates. The color tells you the platform — red for Airbnb, blue for VRBO, dark blue for Booking.com, orange for direct/manual. Hover over a booking to see guest name and details.

💡 Tip: Use the calendar to spot gaps between bookings. A 1-night gap between two bookings is usually impossible to fill — consider blocking it to avoid a last-minute scramble.

📋 Managing Bookings

Add, edit, and delete bookings in List View.

Adding a Booking

When do I add a booking manually?

For direct bookings that don't go through a platform, or to correct a booking that synced with wrong details. Most platform bookings come in automatically via iCal — you shouldn't need to add those manually.

How do I add a booking?

Click + Add Booking, enter check-in/check-out dates, guest name, platform, and revenue amount. Hit Save and it appears on the calendar instantly.

Editing a Booking

How do I edit a booking?

Switch to List View, find the booking, and click the ✏️ Edit button. You can update dates, revenue, guest name, notes, and platform. Changes only affect your local record — not the source platform.

Will edits survive the next iCal sync?

Revenue and notes you add manually will persist. If the sync sees a date change on the platform, it may update the dates. Platform-synced fields generally reflect what the platform says.

Deleting a Booking

When should I delete a booking?

Only for test bookings or manual entries that were made in error. For cancelled platform bookings, wait for the next iCal sync — the platform will remove it. Manually deleting a synced booking means it will re-appear on the next sync.

⚠️ Deletion is permanent. There's no undo. For cancelled bookings, blocking those dates is usually better than deleting.

🚫 Blocking Dates

Reserve dates for personal use, maintenance, or gaps.

What's the difference between a block and a booking?

A booking is a paid guest stay. A block marks dates as unavailable without a guest — for maintenance, personal use, owner stays, or buffer days between bookings. Blocks show with diagonal stripes on the calendar.

How do I block dates?

Click 🚫 Block Dates, select your start and end dates, choose a reason (Maintenance, Personal Use, Owner Stay, etc.), add optional notes, and click Block These Dates.

Do blocks sync to Airbnb/VRBO?

No — blocks in this platform are local only. To block availability on the actual platforms, you need to block dates inside each platform's own calendar. These local blocks are for your tracking and planning.

Can I block a cancelled booking's dates?

Yes — this is the cleanest way to handle a cancellation. Block those dates with reason "Cancelled" or "Relisting" so you remember why the dates are flagged while you relist on the platform.

💡 Tip: Block the night before and after long stays for turnover. A single buffer night gives cleaners a full day without scrambling between back-to-back guests.

🔄 iCal Sync

Your bookings from Airbnb, VRBO, and Booking.com automatically.

How does iCal sync work?

Every major booking platform publishes a private iCal feed — a URL that contains all your bookings in a standard format. Paste that URL here and the platform reads it daily, importing all bookings automatically.

How do I get my iCal URL from Airbnb?

In Airbnb: go to your listing → Availability → Sync calendars → Export Calendar. Copy the URL. In VRBO: go to your listing → Calendar → Import/Export → Export. In Booking.com: go to your property → Calendar → iCal export.

How often does it sync?

Automatically once per day at 3am. For an immediate sync — if you just got a new booking — go to the property Settings tab and click Sync Now.

Will it create duplicate bookings?

No. The sync checks for existing bookings by confirmation code and date range before importing. Duplicates are skipped automatically.

A booking isn't showing up — what do I check?

First, hit Sync Now in Settings. If it still doesn't appear, verify your iCal URL is still valid (platforms occasionally change them). Re-paste the URL and sync again. Bookings more than 2 years old may not appear in the iCal feed.

💰 P&L & Reports

Know exactly what your property makes and where the money goes.

What does the P&L section track?

Revenue from bookings, platform fees, cleaning fees, operating expenses (supplies, maintenance, utilities, insurance, mortgage), and net profit. You can filter by any date range to see monthly, quarterly, or annual performance.

How is occupancy rate calculated?

Booked nights ÷ total nights in the period × 100. A 70%+ occupancy rate is generally considered strong for STR. Blocked dates count as unavailable, not vacant.

Can I send the report to my accountant?

Yes — enter an email in the Send Report field and click Send. The report includes all income, expenses, and net figures for the period in a clean, formatted email your accountant can use directly.

Is STR income reported on Schedule E?

It depends on how many days you personally used the property vs rented it. If you rented it fewer than 15 days, the income may be tax-free. If you rented it more, it generally goes on Schedule E. Ask your CPA — the rules are specific and the stakes are real.

💡 Tip: Log your expenses as they happen — cleaning supplies, maintenance, platform fees. The report is only as accurate as the data you put in.

👤 Guest Management

Track your guests across all properties and bookings.

Where do I see all my guests?

Click 👤 My Guests from the main navigation. This shows every guest across all your properties, with booking history, total revenue, and stay dates.

Can I mark a preferred guest?

Yes — in the guest profile you can flag a guest as preferred. Great guests who've stayed multiple times and treated your property well deserve a star. You can filter by preferred guests when reviewing booking history.

Can I add notes about a guest?

Yes — open the guest profile and add internal notes. These are private, never visible to the guest. Use them for things like "brought a dog," "needed extra towels," or "arrived late — text ahead next time."

How does guest data come in?

Guest name is pulled from the iCal feed or entered manually when you add a booking. Full contact info typically isn't available via iCal — you'd enter that manually for direct bookings.

🎨 Platforms & Colors

How bookings are identified by source.

Airbnb — Red. The world's largest STR platform.

VRBO — Blue. Popular for whole-home rentals, family-focused.

Booking.com — Dark blue. Strong international traffic.

Direct / Manual — Orange. Bookings you enter yourself.

Blocked — Gray diagonal stripes. Dates marked unavailable.

Platform Tips

Should I list on multiple platforms?

Yes — most successful STR operators list on at least 2 platforms. More visibility means more bookings and less reliance on any single platform's algorithm. Use iCal sync to prevent double-bookings across platforms.

How do I prevent double-bookings across platforms?

Export your iCal from each platform and import it into the others. For example: export Airbnb's iCal and paste it into VRBO's calendar import. This way each platform sees the other's bookings as blocked dates.

📖 Glossary

STR terms, plain English.

ADR (Average Daily Rate) — Total revenue ÷ number of booked nights. Your average nightly rate actually earned.

Blocked Dates — Dates marked unavailable without a paying guest. Used for maintenance, personal use, or buffer between bookings.

Direct Booking — A booking made outside a platform — typically via your own website, social media, or word of mouth. No platform fee on your side.

iCal — A universal calendar format (.ics) used by Airbnb, VRBO, Google Calendar, and others to share booking data. Paste your platform's iCal URL here to sync automatically.

Occupancy Rate — Booked nights ÷ available nights × 100. A key performance metric for STR operators.

Platform Fee — The percentage Airbnb, VRBO, or Booking.com charges for facilitating the booking. Typically 3–5% for hosts. Reduces your actual revenue.

RevPAR (Revenue Per Available Room) — Total revenue ÷ total available nights. Combines ADR and occupancy into one metric.

Schedule E — The IRS form where rental income and expenses are reported. STR income generally goes here unless you're in the hospitality business (then Schedule C may apply — ask your CPA).

STR (Short-Term Rental) — A rental of fewer than 30 consecutive days. Subject to different tax rules and local regulations than long-term rentals.

Turnover — The process of cleaning, restocking, and preparing a property between guest stays. Buffer days are often blocked for this.

🔎 Can't Find Something?

• + Add Property → Main page header
• Property Detail → Click property card on main page
• Calendar / List View → Toggle at top of property detail
• + Add Booking → Property detail header or calendar view
• 🚫 Block Dates → Property detail header or calendar view
• iCal Sync URLs → Property detail → scroll to iCal section
• Guests List → Main page → 👤 Guests button
• Guest Profile → Click any guest name in the guests list
• Vacation Admin (P&L) → Main page header → 📊 Vacation Admin
• P&L / Bookings / Annual / Expenses / Occupancy → Tabs inside Vacation Admin
• ⭐ Preferred Guests → Vacation Admin → Preferred Guests tab
• 🛡️ Damage Claims → Vacation Admin → Damage tab
• 📧 Email Reports → Vacation Admin → Reports tab
• Quick Tools → Bottom of Vacation Admin page

Underground Landlord · STR Management Help

Contact Support

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Why Underground Landlord’s STR Management Is Built Different

Most short-term rental tools are built for automation. Ours is built for profit.

If you manage vacation rentals on Airbnb, VRBO, or Booking.com, you’ve probably looked at the big names — Hospitable, OwnerRez, Guesty, iGMS, Lodgify. They all promise the same thing: automated messaging, channel management, dynamic pricing, and a monthly bill that keeps climbing.

But here’s the problem nobody talks about: most STR hosts don’t actually know if they’re making money.

They know their gross revenue. They know their occupancy rate. But when you ask them “what did you actually net on that 4-night Airbnb booking after cleaning, platform fees, laundry, supplies, and your mortgage?” — silence.

That’s the gap we built Underground Landlord’s STR Management to fill.

We Track True Per-Booking Profitability

Every booking gets broken down into what actually matters:

Gross Revenue → nightly rate × nights + cleaning fee + pet fee + extra guest fees

Minus Platform Fees → Airbnb takes 3%, VRBO takes 5%, Booking.com takes 15%. We track each platform’s fee structure separately so you see the real cost of each channel.

Minus Variable Costs Per Turnover → cleaning crew, laundry, supplies, restocking. These hit you every single booking. A 2-night stay costs the same to turn over as a 7-night stay, which means short stays can secretly destroy your margins.

Minus Fixed Monthly Costs → mortgage, insurance, property tax, utilities, HOA, internet.

What’s left is your true net profit per booking. Not gross revenue. Not “estimated income.” The actual dollars that stayed in your pocket.

Most platforms show you a revenue number and call it a day. We show you where every dollar went.

A Guest CRM That the Platforms Won’t Give You

Airbnb owns your guest relationship. They hide last names, filter messages, and make it nearly impossible to build direct repeat business. We built a private guest database that lives on your terms.

Every guest in your system tracks:

• Total stays and lifetime revenue across all your properties
• Average stay length and booking lead time so you know their patterns
• Host rating — your private 1–5 star score on them as a guest
• “Would host again” — Yes, Maybe, or Never. Three words that save you from bad repeat bookings
• Platform profiles — Airbnb URL, VRBO URL, so you can cross-reference
• Preferred Guest status — flag your best guests and invite them back directly

That last one is key. The Preferred Guest Invite-Back System lets you identify your best guests, tag them, and reach out for direct bookings next season. No platform fee. No algorithm. Just a relationship you built and you own.

No other STR management tool gives you a private guest rolodex with rating and invite-back built in.

Damage Claims Tracking That Actually Exists

Here’s a feature you won’t find anywhere else: a dedicated Damage Claims Tracker.

For every claim you file, we track:

• Security deposit collected vs. deposit kept
• Claim amount requested vs. claim amount received
• Resolution status and timeline
• Running totals across all properties

Most hosts lose money on damage claims because they can’t remember the details 3 months later when the platform finally responds. We keep the receipts.

Platform Fee Decomposition — Know What Each Channel Costs You

You list on Airbnb and VRBO. Great. But do you know that the same booking on VRBO might cost you 2% more in platform fees than Airbnb? Or that a direct booking saves you the entire fee?

We store per-platform fee percentages for each property and automatically calculate the true platform cost on every booking. Your P&L reports break it down by channel so you can make informed decisions about where to focus your marketing.

iCal Sync Without the SaaS Tax

The big channel managers charge $20–50/month per property just to sync your calendars. We pull bookings directly from your Airbnb, VRBO, and Booking.com iCal feeds — automatically, every night at 3am. Paste your URL, hit sync, done.

We’re not trying to replace your Airbnb listing dashboard. You already know how to manage your listings. We just need the booking data centralized so we can do the math that matters.

It’s Part of Something Bigger

This is where Underground Landlord pulls away from every standalone STR tool on the market.

Your vacation rental doesn’t exist in isolation. You probably also own rental houses, maybe an apartment building, maybe a commercial space or a mobile home park. The same landlord running an Airbnb in the mountains is also collecting lot rent on 24 mobile home pads and managing a fourplex downtown.

Underground Landlord is one platform that manages all of it:

• Rental Houses — property tracking, tenant management, payment status, repairs, P&L
• Apartment Buildings — multi-unit management, ledger, leases, Schedule E tax prep
• Commercial Spaces — NNN leases, CAM charges, rent escalations
• Mobile Home Parks — lot rent, park-owned homes, owner financing with amortization
• RV & Campsite — spot management, seasonal rates, utilities
• Short-Term Rentals — everything described above

Same login. Same design language. Same help system. Same quick tools grid that links everything together. Your tenant who rents a house from you and also manages your Airbnb cleaning? They exist in one system.

Name another STR tool that does that. You can’t, because they don’t.

Who This Is For

Underground Landlord’s STR Management is built for the 1–5 property owner-operator who:

• Manages their own listings on Airbnb and VRBO (no co-hosts or property managers)
• Wants to know their actual profit, not just their revenue
• Values guest relationships and wants to build repeat direct business
• Also owns other types of rental property
• Doesn’t want to pay $50/month/property for automation they don’t need

If you need automated guest messaging, dynamic pricing, and a team dashboard for your 47-property management company — go with Guesty. We’re not competing with that.

But if you want to know exactly how much money your vacation rental actually made last month, which guests you want back, and how it fits into your broader real estate portfolio — you’re in the right place.

The Bottom Line

The STR management market is flooded with tools that optimize for automation. Underground Landlord optimizes for clarity.

We don’t send automated messages to your guests. We don’t dynamically price your listings. We don’t charge per-property monthly fees that scale with your success.

We tell you the truth about your numbers. We give you a private guest database the platforms can’t touch. We track the damage claims everyone else ignores. And we connect it all to the rest of your real estate portfolio in one place.

That’s what being a step above looks like.

Ready to see your real numbers? Sign up at Underground Landlord and add your first vacation rental in under 5 minutes.