Portland, Oregon-based Vacasa has completed its acquisition of Turnkey Vacation Rentals, a vacation rental-property manager in more than 80 markets across the U.S.
The goal of the acquisition is to “create a premium standard for vacation rentals,” said Matt Roberts, CEO of Vacasa, in a press release. He said the combined companies’ technology will “optimize the vacation rental experience.”
Vacasa takes care of managing customers’ vacation houses and renting them out. In addition, the company vows that those who rent its homes can “book vacations with peace of mind, knowing they’re going to find exactly what they’re looking for.”
In addition, Vacasa said, it can help vacation home buyers “invest smarter — from where to buy a property, to which amenities will earn five-star reviews.”
Vacasa inked the Turnkey deal in early March. According to the release, “when fully integrated, Vacasa will manage approximately 30,000 vacation homes throughout North America, Belize and Costa Rica.” Turnkey is bringing in 6,000 of those vacation rentals.
With the new acquisition, Vacasa will employ 6,500 people across the markets it serves. The rental management company will have “central support offices” located in Portland; Boise, Idaho; Ft. Walton Beach, Florida; and Austin, Texas.
The release said that, “according to a recent Skift survey of vacation rental users commissioned by Vacasa, 52 percent of respondents said they plan to stay in a vacation rental more often in a post-pandemic environment.”
“The continued demand we are seeing for vacation rentals is staggering, and we don’t see this changing anytime soon,” said John Banczak, co-founder and CEO of TurnKey.
Jamie Cohen, Vacasa’s new chief financial officer, told PYMNTS in an interview that it is important to work on collaboration and communication to strengthen workflows like accounts payable and payroll. Looking ahead, Cohen said, one thing Vacasa has in its favor is that the vacation rental industry has remained strong during the pandemic.
Still, she added, “the role of finance is critical to projecting the payback of our investments and opportunity costs (along with) the risks of not modernizing.”