September RM Update: Best Month in Company History, GuestyVal Takeaways, and an Airbnb Story

Jasper covers the September 2026 portfolio performance update for Freewyld Foundry clients. September was the best month in the company's history: comparable units finished up 37% year over year while the average market was up 7.3%, putting Freewyld Foundry's measurable impact at 27%, the highest they have ever recorded. Jasper walks through the market breakdown, shares which markets were up and which were down, and explains why September showed such strong numbers year over year. He also shares observations going into October and Q4.

In addition to the numbers, Jasper shares takeaways from GuestyVal in Madrid, including what the industry is learning about AI in revenue management, what Airbnb presented about visibility and discounts on their platform, and the news that Vrbo is moving to a simplified commission structure similar to Airbnb's. He closes with a personal story: the first time in over 100 Airbnb stays that he left a listing before his checkout date, and what going through the guest-side resolution process taught him.

You will learn:

September performance breakdown - Freewyld Foundry portfolios up 37% YoY, market up 7.3%, impact at 27%, the highest in company historyWhy September was strong - Labor Day weekend shifted from August to September this year, and what that means for reading year-over-year dataWhich markets stood out - Gainesville and San Antonio were the biggest movers; beach markets in the Carolinas and a few Canada markets were down; Kansas City dealing with post-World Cup inventory hangoverWhat Jasper learned at GuestyVal - AI needs human oversight for judgment calls; the consensus is human plus AI, not AI alone; the human relationship will become more valuable as AI becomes more commonAirbnb on visibility - flexibility, availability, and discounts are the levers; Airbnb wants operators using their new promotions, and stacking discounts requires a channel markup to protect ratesVrbo commission change - Vrbo is moving to a single percentage model, dropping their fixed-fee plan tier, following Airbnb's commission structureThe direct booking share decline - OTAs are gaining market share versus direct bookings this year, counter to the trend of prior yearsThe Airbnb resolution process from the guest side - what it looks like to submit a claim, how the host responded, and what Jasper wishes he had done differently

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Portfolio count now at approximately 80 clients and growing, with several new clients signing up in Se