Revenue management, answered

What minimum nightly price should I set for a slow-season market without killing bookings?

Set your floor at the lowest rate that covers the owner's fixed costs plus a margin that keeps the listing competitive without signaling desperation. In slow season, a floor that's too high kills pace; too low trains the market to wait for deals.

By Jack Murphy, Head of Revenue Management at UpRev. Running pricing for US vacation rental managers since 2017.

Build the Floor from Costs Up, Not Comps Down

Start with the owner's hard costs per night: mortgage or financing, utilities, HOA, insurance, and management fees. Layer in a modest margin above that baseline so the property at least breaks even on occupied nights. Comps matter, but anchoring your floor to costs first prevents the race-to-the-bottom trap that erodes RevPAR across your whole portfolio.

Segment Your Floors by Property Tier

Not every unit in your portfolio carries the same cost structure or demand profile, so applying a single floor across the board is a mistake. Segment properties by bedroom count, location tier, and amenity set, then assign floor tiers accordingly. A well-appointed four-bedroom near a lake can sustain a higher floor even in slow season than a basic studio three miles inland, and managing them the same way leaves money on the table.

Use Pace and Lead Time to Test the Floor

Monitor booking pace at the 60-, 30-, and 14-day windows heading into slow season. If a property is consistently sitting empty past the 30-day mark, your floor may be out of range for current demand, not just slow market conditions. Adjust floors reactively based on observed pace rather than dropping them preemptively, which protects rate integrity while still capturing last-minute fill.