Vacation Rentals 101

Money Saving Vacation and Travel Tips - Kind Of

I love this article :Maximize Your Family Memorial Day Vacation Dollars because it is full of good advice. They even suggest booking a vacation rental by owner. They got the vacation rental part right, but the "cheaper because the don't pay management fees part wrong". Gone are the days when by owner rentals are cheaper than those by management company rentals. The differences are more subtle, and vary depending on the management company. The point to take away is that vacation rentals can provide great savings and value versus traditional hotels. You save money on multiple hotel rooms, on dining out, on parking, on service staff tips (though tips to housekeeping would still be in order).

: "Look for private owner rentals. Web sites such as www.vrbo.com
(Vacation Rental By Owner) offer bargains because the owners
are not paying management company fees, which are typically 40
percent of the reservation cost. Private owners may also
provide savings tips to renters such as local coupon books,
restaurant recommendations and tips to get discounted tickets
for local attractions."

What You Need to Know About Summer Rentals - Kiplinger.com

Excellent resource for those looking to rent a vacation home this summer or any time.

What You Need to Know About Summer Rentals - Kiplinger.com: "What You Need to Know About Summer Rentals
Follow these guidelines to ensure a fun and relaxing trip.
By Vera Gibbons
From Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, June 2007

A vacation home can be great for families and large groups. But know what you're signing up for. Here are five costs, policies and circumstances you should anticipate.
1. Beach? What beach?"

Vacation Home Sales Soft - Time to Rent One Perhaps?

In a recent LA Times Article we see that although prices for vacation home in California rose over 10% in 2006, sales plummeted. An excerpt:
"Sales of vacation homes sink 37% in '06
By Annette Haddad, Times Staff WriterFebruary 23, 2007

Monica Wilson loves her vacation home, an ocean-view condo within walking distance of the beach in Carlsbad, Calif.She paid $620,000 for the place 13 months ago. But since then, the California vacation-home market has gone soft."If I sold my second home right now, it wouldn't do very well," the Pasadena-based real estate agent said.Sales of second homes in California's top vacation markets dropped 37% in 2006 from the year before, another consequence of the state's overall housing slowdown, according to data released Thursday by real estate research firm DataQuick Information Systems"

Although this is a bad thing for owners who find themselves strapped with escalating ARM's or who were planning on flipping for a quick profit, it's not a bad thing for vacationers. Why not? This means more vacation homes on the short term rental market=more choice for vacationers=better prices or amenities for vacationers.

In just a year's time, many of my fellow vacation rental owners can be heard lamenting the inreased competition on the by owner listing sites like HomeAway, VRBO, and VacationRentals. In addition owners are becoming more creative to stand out on those listing sites. Only a year ago, I was unique in offering "free golf with weekly stay" in Palm Desert, now my neighbors, friends, and competitors are doing the same. This is a good thing for guests as long as they understand they'll still need to pay a "fair" price.

I've seen a new breed of bargain hunters looking for the bottom in vacation prices, but all it takes is a simple math exercise to understand that if the owners or agents go too low in price, they won't last and may be forced to sell or foreclose. After all no one can operate at a loss for long (except the extremely wealthy which you'll find most vacation rental owners are not or they wouldn't rent in the first place).

Now is a good time to be a vacationer! Enjoy your stay.

Labels: vacation homes, vacation rentals

Vacation Home Rentals - Why Do Some Swear by Them?

Ken Kurse of ivacatononline.com writes: "You can go to the mountains, the beach or to any major city and find a vacation home rental these days. Deciding if this relatively new way to spend your few weeks of time off each year is right for you depends on what your needs are. Many people swear by what is often called VRBO (Vacation Rental by Owner) and rely on this for all their vacations.

Vacation Home Rentals are usually set up by the week. You rent a home that is privately owned directly from the homeowner and have the right to stay in it and use all of the amenities for the duration of your stay. VRBOÂs vary in size from nice-sized condominiums to spacious homes that can comfortably fit up to twenty people. Why are so many people turning to vacation home rentals?" To see the entirearticlee got to: Is Vacation Home Rental Right For You? where Mr. Kurse lay out some very good points about how a vacation rental by owner can be an excellent choice and value.

I'd like to add a little perspective however:
Although renting direct from owner can ensure more personalized service, and a special attention to detail, don't assume that is the case. It can also mean a thrifty owner who will put you in grandma's old bed! Just as there are great owners, there are also great property managers. I know, I hope I'm both, and I know others... and I've seen bad ones of both too.

In addition to the authors fine points look for lots of revealing photos, ask lots of questions, pay with a credit card if you can (though seasonal owners won't likely accept them as they are too expensive) and DO NOT expect a rental direct from owner to cost less than from an agency: most owners charge the same, and put the extra money back into the place, not their pockets!

CNN Article Exposes Benefits to Both Guest and Owner with Vacation Rentals

Although this article makes using your vacation home as a vacation rental seem a lot simpler than it really is, the article is an excellent primer for both vacation guest and vacation homeowner alike.How I rent my summer vacation home - Dec. 22, 2006: "Hundreds of thousands of vacation properties are available for short-term rentals. HomeAway, alone has more than 70,000 properties available worldwide. These often are bargains for cost-conscious consumers."

I personally list all of my vacation homes on the homeaway network, and when I've rented other's vacation homes I've turned to their sites: www.greatrentals.com and www.cyberrentals.com for my own vacation stays. I've had excellent stays in New York City, Lake Tahoe, and Maui using these.

If you are planning on a stay of a week or more at any of the most popular spring break and summer destinations, it is not too early nor quite to late to do so. Don't hesitate though, as most of the best (or at least those from seasoned owners) fill up in January, February, and March for the following summer.

Vacation Rental World Just Got a Little Smaller

Business cycles are predictable. I just didn't expect this one so soon!

Today the vacationer who want to stay in a vacation rental that has some personality aka "vacation rental by owner" just had their work made easier...The industry "giant" just gobbled up the other industry giant: www.homeaway.com (the former cyberrentals, greatrentals, a1vacations, triphomes, holiday-rentals, and a few others) bought www.vrbo.com - although I received a soothing letter from the former vrbo owners, it is only a matter of time until the vacationer only need to know one name: www.homeaway.com when they want to go.

Be aware that owners are cautiously pessimistic about this merge, as we saw business from the last homeaway merger less than a year ago kill our inquiries as search engines rankings plummeted.

This owner, however is also a vacationer, so I hope their venture makes it easier to book my next vacation rental stay!

Read the article on the merger here:
Vacation rental site lands $160M, buys competitor - Austin Business Journal:

visit some alternative sites here:
www.vacationrentals.com
www.northcoastvillage.org (in Oceanside CA)
www.perfectplaces.com
www.vrconnection.com
www.licketytrip.com (for vacations in the next 2 weeks)
www.greatfamilyrentals.com (for rentals catering to families)
www.vacationrentals411.com
www.findrentals.com
www.pinkpavillions.com (for gay & lesbian travel)
www.christianhospitalitynetwork.com (for clergy and missionaries)
www.tenant.com

I hope that someone from this group emerges to keep competition strong and healthy.