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Why and How to use Contracts

By William May
Published: 07/15/05 Topics: Comments: 0

Some days I sound like a broken record. To question after question from well-meaning members I answer simply by starting another question: What does your contract say? I am still amazed at how many owners and managers will allow a complete stranger - someone they've never known - to occ Read more

Search Engines Hijacked by Rental Directories

By William May
Published: 06/03/05 Topics: Comments: 0

Long time vacation rental managers and owners have watched the Internet ebb and flow. What began as a strong new tool has recently lost its way in the ever changing commercialization of the web. What started out as a wonderful and effective service has fallen victim to the large companies who have Read more

Breathtaking Photographs Are Closer Than You Think

By Jonathan McIntyre
Published: 04/19/05 Topics: Comments: 0

Nothing, and I mean nothing, can help sell your rental more quickly to a perspective tenant than a great photo. There is little that ameliorates a poor website more than clear, representative and numerous photos highlighting the best your vacation property has to offer. Read more

Donate a Week

By Christopher S. Cain
Published: 04/12/05 Topics: Comments: 0

If you use or rent your vacation property 100 percent of the time, don't bother to read this article. If, however, you have some vacant weeks that you cannot rent, trade, or barter, here's another option: Give them away. Donate a week to your favorite charity. Many fund raisers hold events include Read more

Never tell Guests a Lie

By William May
Published: 03/21/05 Topics: Comments: 0

In 1989 Robert Fulghum, wrote a perfectly mundane and strangely earth shaking book. The gigantic best seller was called All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. I'd like to suggest you read it if you haven't already. And if you have read the book, take a moment to skim it aga Read more

Privately-Owned Vacation Property Offers Outstanding Value to Renters

By Christopher S. Cain
Published: 03/08/05 Topics: Comments: 0

In November, 2004, my wife Terry and I visited Paris for seven days. We stayed in a postage stamp sized hotel room in the Latin Quarter about two blocks from Notre Dame Cathedral. We toured the Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame Cathedral, Versailles, Sainte-Chappelle, the Arc de Triomphe, the Musee d Read more

Concierge Services Can Save You Money

By Emily Glossbrenner
Published: 02/28/05 Topics: Comments: 0

These are exciting times for anyone who owns or is considering buying a vacation rental property. After decades of somnolence - which at least one dictionary defines as a condition of semi-consciousness approaching coma - the vacation rental field is crackling with activity. A lot of t Read more

Information Please

By Christopher S. Cain
Published: 02/07/05 Topics: Comments: 0

If you are an owner renting your vacation condo, renters will often look to you for advice, counsel, guidance, and information. For example: Are there many nearby golf courses? Can you recommend some good restaurants? Where can we get the best steak in town? Are there any good seafood restaurant Read more

10 Words or Less - The Art of Writing a Great Listing Title

By Amy Greener
Published: 01/31/05 Topics: Comments: 0

You can have a fantastic vacation rental property. You can offer a tremendous value in the off season. You can have a super web page, with outstanding photographs and copy. You can also be sitting next to the phone or computer, waiting for someone to inquire about your rental. That's not a good Read more

Use Your Vacation Property to Barter for Goods and Services

By Christopher S. Cain
Published: 01/17/05 Topics: Comments: 0

Bartering began more than 10,000 years ago and precedes monetary systems and currency. This concept of exchanging goods and services to the benefit of both parties thrives today. As a vacation property owner, you have a valuable commodity to trade - vacation property accommodations. Get more value Read more

At Last - Property Insurance Designed for Vacation Rental Homes

By William May
Published: 01/10/05 Topics: Comments: 0

Like it or not, offering a home for short-term rental means you are in business, offering a very expensive asset to guests and their families. While your rentals may be booming, your rental income may be disproportionately low compared to the value of the real estate you allow guests to use. So, y Read more

When & How to Hire (or Fire) a Lodging Manager.

By William May
Published: 12/06/04 Topics: Comments: 0

This newsletter spends a lot of time discussing issues helpful to self-managed owners. However, the majority of vacation rental owners seek the aid of professional management firms to manage their homes. So today lets spend time explaining how to pick a good manager and, if necessary, fire a bad one Read more

How to get sued, without really trying.

By William May
Published: 10/11/04 Topics: Comments: 0

It is easy to become wildly enthusiastic about the money-making aspects of buying and renting your own vacation rental home, what with the many factors contributing to the rapid growth of private vacation rentals: internet advertising, low interest rates, an emphasis on leisure and the post-911 Read more

If there are Vacation rentals in Afghanistan, They must be here for good.

By William May
Published: 09/05/04 Topics: Comments: 0

I kid you not. The LA Times is reporting that Estullah Rooz, after years of fighting Soviets, rival Mujahedee and the Taliban, the man known as the Commander Mullah is going corporate. And how you say? Well, he's building the first Swiss designed and pre-fabricated Vacation Rental homes on Lake Qarg Read more

Vacation Rentals In Afghanistan

By William May
Published: 09/05/04 Topics: Comments: 0

Is Yours a Quality Home?

By William May
Published: 08/02/04 Topics: Comments: 0

Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind. To quote good old Bill Shakespeare, that long ago landlord from Stratford on Avon, in Merry old England. It's also a fine lesson for vacation home owners who want to get the best guests, highest rates, most occupancy and fewest headaches. Read more

Charging for the Extras

By William May
Published: 06/28/04 Topics: Comments: 0

There is a fine line between charging customers for the products and services you sell and nickel- and-diming them into submission. In recent e-mails, online groups and phone calls there have been a flurry of questions from owners about what they can and can not charge for. I've also noticed that a Read more

The Trouble with Suppliers

By William May
Published: 05/19/04 Topics: Comments: 0

Most owners focus 80% of their energy on creating more demand, upping rates and increasing occupancy. I can think of a hundreds Emails and phone calls where the only question is ;How to I increase sales? As all large companies know, lowering costs can be just as important to and much easier Read more

Be Selfish If You Donate Your Rental

By William May
Published: 04/19/04 Topics: Comments: 0

New owners of Vacation Rental homes quickly learn how many friends they really have. And I don't just mean cousin Jenny and her 12 screaming kids who would love to spend every week end at your lake house this summer chowing down on your hamburgers and chips. No, I am referring to all the truly great Read more

No wonder guests prefer Vacation rentals? Oahu Pick Pockets

By William May
Published: 04/06/04 Topics: Comments: 0

Usually we go to Kauai, but we want to see certain Hawaiian cultural places available only on the island of Oahu. They were great. Staying in a hotel that extracted every possible penny was not. Read more

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