A One-Person Pricing Department
Alan and his business partner launched their vacation rental company in August 2023 and grew it to 67 listings on Topsail Island in just over two years. Alan ran lean: he was the only person touching listings, descriptions, and every rate decision, on top of daily operations. He came to RPM through his mentor and friend Joe, a fellow coastal North Carolina property manager who had already handed his own pricing to the same revenue manager.
“I knew that that meant something to Joe when he hired you guys, and I was immediately sold at that point.”
- Alan
What Changed
RPM went live in January 2026, with a revenue manager who already covered the Southeast and knew the Topsail market. On weekly calls the strategy took shape:
- Weekend rates pushed up and weekday rates eased as summer approached, matched to how coastal guests actually book
- An occupancy-first play for soft stretches and an ADR push for peak weeks, tuned month by month against market pacing data
- Custom pricing logic for a block of motel-style units, scaled off the occupancy of that portfolio set
Early Results, Before the Summer Even Starts
January through May are shoulder months in a beach market, and the peak season is still ahead. Even so, the first five months under RPM did $754K against $244K for the same months a year earlier, $510K added and 209% growth. May revenue more than tripled the prior May, and April nearly tripled.
The portfolio also nearly doubled during this window, from 67 to 129 listings, so the totals reflect both new inventory and stronger pricing on existing homes. Portfolio-wide occupancy averaged lower than the prior year, 40% versus 47%, because dozens of brand-new listings were still ramping. The comparable listings tell the pricing story: in April they ran 11.28% ahead of the prior year while the market fell 6.48%, an effective RPM impact near 19%, and March showed a comparable-set impact of about 23%. Through all of that growth, the portfolio held a 4.93 guest review average.
What’s Next
With pricing handled, Alan is focused on onboarding the next wave of homes and letting his small team run lean. The summer months, the ones that matter most on Topsail Island, are still in front of them.