VRBO Fees

Here are all the fees to expect when booking and listing on VRBO.

VRBO Service Fees

For Hosts

Property owners are charged a 10% booking fee of the total rental fee, excluding taxes, fees, and security deposits, due the month after a traveler has stayed at their property. The fee accounts for 7% commision of the rental amount, which could include extra fees like cleaning or pet fees, and a 3% payment processing fee, which is applied to the total payment.

Owners with a subscription listing do not have to pay a booking fee.

Owners are refunded the initial processing fee for the deposit upon refunding their guests.

For Guests

Below is a list of the transaction items that may appear in the guest's payment statement.

Pay*HomeAway or Pay*PropertyIDNumber - the rental amount
Pay*DamageProtection - Damage Protection insurance policy
Pay*CarefreeRentalGuarantee - Carefree Rental Guarantee
Pay*CancellationProtect - Cancellation Protection insurance policy

VRBO Security Deposit

The security deposit is an amount of money that is credited to a guest’s account in case of property damage during the time of the reservation. Because of damage risk, VRBO recommends that owners or property managers regularly inspect their properties for damage after each rental stay.

For Hosts

How much money should I set the deposit for?

Security deposits are typically around $200, or 10% of an accomodation’s total weekly rental rate. The amount is completely up to the owner’s discretion.

How do I make a claim for the security deposit?

If there are any damages, VRBO recommends documenting the damage with pictures, receipts and detailed records.

If homeowners discover damage to their property, they can opt to withhold all or some of the deposit (whatever amount it takes them to repair the damage). VRBO recommends withholding the deposit only if the damage is above $100 due to the occurrence of regular wear and tear on a property during stays.

For Guests

When is the Guest charged the Security Deposit?

VRBO recommends that their owners charge the security deposit only after sending renters a rental agreement.

VRBO Cleaning Fee

The owner chooses the cleaning fee rate, which varies market to market. The more bedrooms the property has, the more expensive the fee will be, typically.

The HomeAway coomunity has shared the calculation below to help guests anticipate the rental fee and to help owners know what to charge. Please note that 'BR' stands for the number of bedrooms and 'BA' stands for the number of bathrooms.

Cleaning Fee= $20 * (Sum of # of BR + BA)

Additional VRBO Services for Purchase

VRBO offers a few optional services for purchase:

Cancellation Protection: This service protects owners in the event that the guest needs to cancel the booking. To benefit from this security, guests must pay a small fee, usually less than 5% of the amount of the protection they'd like to buy. Owners do not need to pay anything. This covers up to $50,000.

Carefree Rental Guarantee: This HomeAway product guarantees 100% of a traveler’s payment and is available to all travelers who book on VRBO. This covers up to $10,000.

Damage Protection: This insurance product helps protect travelers who purchase it from additional expenses should accidental damage occur to the rental during their stay. This covers up to $5,000 worth of damage.