Tagged With: best practices
The Vacation Rental Revolution
It all started with the internet. Like many other industries, the vacation rental business came into its own with the advent of the world wide web. Finally, vacation rental properties could be marketed to the masses. Local property managers were the first adopters and soon every vacation rental business had a website, with online reservations soon to follow. … Continue reading
Building Your Company’s Vacation Rental Inventory
Building a vacation rental inventory for your management company follows many of the same techniques that real estate agents use for obtaining new listings. It’s all about building your professional and personal contacts, networking, farming, salesmanship, and performance. Search Engine Rankings Maintaining a high rank in the search engines is crucial to successful property recruitment. New prospects will want … Continue reading
A Day In The Life Of A Vacation Rental Manager
I live in the San Bernardino Mountains of Southern California, specifically Big Bear, about 100 miles east of Los Angeles. It’s a very competitive rental market with many unique challenges. Our winters are usually nothing compared to other parts of the country but every once in a while we get big storms and lots of snow. Several … Continue reading
Make Your Vacation Rental Stand Out From The Competition
The stagnant real estate market is forcing property owners to produce income instead of selling and new vacation rentals are coming on the market every day. So what can you do to stand out? Here are a few suggestions for gaining an edge over the competition. Update your description and photos. Re-write your rental listing’ headline and description to evoke … Continue reading
Difficult Guests and Negative Reviews
Now matter how well you treat your guests or how professional your operation is, sooner or later someone is going to complain. With the advent of online reviews, if a disgruntled guest wants to retaliate they now have a place to do it. You must have a plan in place to handle the unexpected breakdowns and misunderstandings that arise out of your … Continue reading
Create A Welcome Book / Users Manual For Your Vacation Rental
One of the best ways to help your guests enjoy their stay at your vacation rental is to create a comprehensive “Welcome” book. Chances are your guests will be unfamiliar with your property and the surrounding area and will appreciate all the relevent information you can provide. Here’s a few tips for creating a custom welcome book for your vacation rental. Start … Continue reading
Preparing Your Property For The Vacation Rental Market
The vacation rental market is one of the fastest growing segments of the lodging industry. The slowdown in real estate sales has forced property owners to look for creative ways to generate income in order to wait out the market. If you own a home in a popular resort area you may want to consider converting … Continue reading
Vacation Rental Marketing – Internet and Social Media
The growth of the vacation rental industry is a direct result of the internet phenomenon. It has never been easier to reach out to potential renters and advertise vacancies. The trick is knowing where to spend your time and money for maximum effect. The following is a primer on internet marketing. If you don’t have an … Continue reading
Vacation Rental Marketing – Getting Started
In todays competitive vacation rental market it’s all about marketing. You can’t just list your property with a property manager or on a directory and expect the same occupancy rates you were getting in years past. You have to be creative, innovative, consistent, and focused. Here are a few tips to get your marketing campaign off the ground. The … Continue reading
Vacation Rentals, the ADA, and Preditory Lawsuits.
Here Comes The Judge! When two local Big Bear property managers were contacted last year by an individual looking for an ADA compliant rental they had no idea that they would end up in federal court, being sued for thousands of dollars. The agents advised the caller that they did in fact have wheelchair accessible properties … Continue reading