Using Data to Optimize and Grow a VRM Portfolio

"In a market where most people are not relying on data, being the one that does really allows us to stand out from the crowd”

Casai is a property management company with over 400 properties in Mexico and Brazil. Their name comes from ‘casa inteligente’ or smart home, as their mission is to integrate technology into all of their properties while maintaining the flavor and uniqueness of the wide array of properties they manage. 

Casai partners with ready-to-go solutions but also has a large tech team in-house developing personalized solutions. The company is expanding into the leisure space with the recently launched ‘Getaways by Casai’, which manages larger properties in beach destinations like Tulum, Puerto Vallarta and Cancún. While the global pandemic still ravages the industry, Casai’s occupancy levels are almost back to pre-pandemic rates. Their exceptional performance even during uncertain times has helped them raise $48 million in funding.

The team at Casai was looking for a way to benchmark themselves against competition and general market performance. This became increasingly evident as they started to scale up and needed a more in-depth understanding of market trends to successfully grow. The use of data in this space is not widespread, which makes it even more powerful — their market is not always equipped to react fast to changing conditions. Having access to data helps Casai find and deal with inefficiencies, which build up to improve performance across the board. AirDNA’s Data is paramount when tailoring and optimizing their listings.

Go-To Solutions for Dynamic Pricing and Benchmarking

In order to track the performance of their portfolio and ensure profitability, Casai uses AirDNA’S API to extract data on daily revenue and average daily rate figures for each market and neighborhood their properties are based in.

This data allows them to analyze the performance of individual markets over time and determine whether or not they need to adjust rental prices accordingly. By automating this process through an API, Casai can save time by not having to manually enter this information into Excel or Google Sheets every month.

The information has given Casai the ability to better understand their customer base; which properties are performing well, which ones aren’t, where their customers are coming from, etc. This information allows them to make strategic decisions about where they should be opening new locations and what types of properties they should be targeting next.

The data has also been a key tool used to discover and investigate potential new markets to expand into, allowing them to target locations with greater potential in terms of occupancy and revenue.

“Speaking of data specifically, I can say that keeping track of fluctuations in the market and relating it to take the steps in terms of pricing was imperative. 

The Casai team researches the markets to check the most competitive property pricing and look into properties that are charging desirable rates to see performance and trends. The AirDNA tools are also used for comparing how the larger markets are doing against smaller and less professional ones. 

While many companies have hard rules around property prices, especially in relation to larger events and public holidays, most of Casai’s operations are driven by data and their flexibility around pricing. Casai utilises realtime market data from AirDNA that enables them to hit the ‘sweet spot’ between prices and occupancy. Casai tracks increases in interest for the market to adjust their properties’ pricing according to real demand and changing guest expectations. This has given them the competitive edge to follow the occupancy curve and get ahead of their competition - even during tumultuous market conditions. 

How did they approach challenges posed by Covid-19?

Casai excels in creating a consistent experience of excellence through all of its tech-savvy properties. Having access to market data during the pandemic helped them to be agile and make informed decisions based on data from real guest behaviours. This data allowed Casai to adjust pricing based on market demand and allowed them to increase their occupancy during a time when most of their competitors were just guessing what was happening. With access to AirDNA data, Casai was able to see the market occupancy curve, the huge drop off from a year before, and the subsequent slow recovery. Having data intelligence on the pace at which the market is recovering is an important data point allowing them to set realistic expectations and always keep improving in that regard.

Using Data to Optimize and Grow a Vacation Rental Management Portfolio

How did Casai use AirDNA’S API to set the perfect price for their properties? Find out now.

Using Data to Optimize and Grow a VRM Portfolio

Using Data to Optimize and Grow a VRM Portfolio

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