Real Estate
(520) 204 - 5450 US
Five Tips For Profitably Renting Your Vacation Property Online
Tip # 1: Study the competition.
Before you begin to prepare a listing for your vacation property,
take the time to analyze what’s being offered by your competition.
There are many Web sites devoted to vacation rental advertising.
(The Yahoo directory’s “Lodging>Vacation Rentals” category includes
literally hundreds of them.) But for the broadest, most
comprehensive sample, go to the leaders in the field, such as
A1Vacations,CyberRentals, GreatRentals, and VRBO.
As you review listings posted by your competitors, put yourself in
the shoes of a prospective renter. Pretend that you’re searching for
a place to spend your next family vacation. Which listings do you
find most appealing and why? What are the rates? How do the owners
handle deposits, cleaning fees, and other charges? Print out the
property listings you really like and use them as a model for
creating your own listing.
Tip # 2: List your property on the leading vacation rental Web
sites.
You’ll need to list your property with several vacation rental sites
in order to generate all the bookings you want. To get the most bang
for your advertising buck, we recommend starting with the sites in
Tip #1. They cover vacation destinations throughout the world—not
just for a single region or for a particular vacation hotspot. And
they’ve all been around long enough to have developed a loyal
following of vacation travelers, who check these sites first
whenever they want to search for rental properties.
Depending on the location of your property, you may eventually need
to list with one or more region-specific and special-interest sites.
But avoid the temptation to accept all the “free listing” offers
that come your way. Five or six listings are quite manageable.
Venture much beyond that and you’ve got a major project on your
hands each and every time you want to change rates, add an amenity,
or make other modifications to the information you present about
your property.
Tip #3: Take the time to shoot lots of really great photos.
In the vacation rental business, photographs are crucial. If your
property is in a highly competitive location, the quality (and
quantity) of the pictures in your online listing can make all the
difference in the world. Remember, most of your guests will be
renting your property sight unseen. So the more you can do to show
them its charms and eliminate their doubts, the better.
Make an effort to “dress the set” for each shot. You might even want
to consider hiring a professional photographer. A pro will have the
knowledge and equipment to advise you on composition and to properly
light each scene. We also recommend that you take lots of pictures.
In the future, you may want to pay to add extra pictures to your
online listings. Or you may want to create your own personal Web
site. Either way, you’ll be glad to have those additional photos.
Tip #4: Write a wonderful description of your property.
Sure,
easier said than done. Many people freeze up when they have to write
something. That’s why so many of your competitors’ property
descriptions are so bad, so short, and so thin on details. Here’s a
trick you can use to overcome writer’s block and get your creative
juices flowing:
Imagine that you are describing your vacation property to a very
special aunt and uncle. They’ve never seen the place before, and
you’re thrilled that they’re coming to stay for a week. What would
you tell them? Why do you love the property? The location? What joys
will they (and your renters) find there? Put some personality into
your property description to set your place apart from every other
“2BR/2BA Condo w/Ocean View.”
And remember: You can always go in and edit or add to the text
descriptions in your online listings.
Tip
# 5: Offer an online availability calendar and guest book for your
property.
Prospective renters like to see immediately whether the dates they
want are available. You’ll increase bookings and minimize the time
you spend sending out “Sorry we’re already booked that week”
messages by using the free Universal Availability Calendar offered
through Rentors.org.
Providing enthusiastic customer testimonials is also a surefire way
to boost prospective renters’ confidence that your property will
live up to their expectations. The Rentors.org Universal Guest Book
feature (also free) makes it easy for renters to record their
comments and help spread the word about the great experience they
had renting from you.
Conclusion
In the computer business, people are always searching for the
“killer app”—the application that makes it essential to buy a
particular piece of hardware or software. Well, for current or
prospective owners of second homes, the power the Internet provides
for renting out those second homes, with or without an agent or
management company, is the killer app. But you’ve got to do it
correctly. The five tips presented here will get you started in the
right direction. By Alfred and Emily Glossbrenner.
I have multiple listings for time share properties in the Baja area. Contact me today for more information.
Call Today (520) 204 - 5450 US
Email Me: Julie@Juliekershner.com
