It’s been a busy year for Vacasa leadership. So far in 2018, Vacasa has acquired 21 vacation rental management (VRM) companies (including Mandoki Hospitality at Gulf Shores Plantation in Gulf Shores, Key to the Rockies in Keystone, Island Real Estate in Anna Maria, and Beachwalker Rentals on South Carolina’s Kiawah and Seabrook Islands), and the company is prepping for its IPO.
Vacasa’s latest acquisition is Mandoki Hospitality, founded by industry pioneer Pedro Mandoki who served as president of the Vacation Rental Management Association (VRMA) and chairman of the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA). Mandoki’s Plantation Resort Management was also one of the first VRMs acquired after the ResortQuest IPO in 1998. Pedro Mandoki joined the ResortQuest executive team, but after the company sold, he bought back the inventory in 2005 under a new brand, Mandoki Hospitality.
The vacation rental industry has not seen a management company IPO since ResortQuest in 1998, but Vacasa is moving in that direction.
Following nearly $104 million in funding last October to help fuel expansion, a Vacasa spokesperson reported that the company has added 3,000 properties to its inventory bringing its total unit count to 9,000 homes, villas and condos under management. By comparison, North America’s largest vacation rental provider–Wyndham Destinations–reports managing nearly 10,000 homes.
Recently, Vacasa added Lisa Jurinka as its new chief legal officer in preparation for an initial public offering. Jurinka previously worked to bring Epocrates and CafePress to the public market and served as general counsel at Jive Software and Innovari.
“Lisa’s global legal affairs background and public company experience aligns well with Vacasa and our future plans,” Vacasa CEO Eric Breon said in a statement.
In addition, Vacasa announced last week it has created Vacasa Real Estate, a network connecting real estate agents with buyers and sellers of vacation properties. “Vacasa Expert Agents” will receive marketing and sales tools including access to the Vacasa Real Estate network featuring guests and homeowners that are interested in buying or selling vacation homes, rental income projections, market trends and insights, one-on-one consultations with Vacasa experts to help refine income projections and discuss what home improvements could be made to increase vacation rental income, and 3D home tours and HDR (high dynamic range) home photography to professionally market and sell vacation rentals.
This summer, Vacasa will move into new headquarters in Portland’s Pearl District in anticipation of adding hundreds more Portland employees.
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