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Newsletters #2- Jul/30/2001
Tips for Vacation Rental Homeowners
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========================================================================== Copyright (C) 2001, 2002 Rentors LLC and the individual contributors. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form requires written permission. ========================================================================== This newsletter is emailed 6 times annually to 1,844 owners of vacation rental homes who have registered for a free universal availability calendar at: http://www.rentors.org TO UNSUBSCRIBE: See Article #12, at bottom of newsletter. 1 - Please Update Your Availability Calendar Today 2 - Fit for a King? 3 - The Price is Right 4 - Rain, Rain, Go Away! 5 - That First Impression 6 - Ring, Ring, Triple Your Bookings 7 - Charge It, Please 8 - We Can't Eat Out Every Night? 9 - Tools of the Trade 10 - Rentors.org Sponsor Information 11 - Please Refer a Friend to Rentors.org 12 - How to Unsubscribe ================================================== 1 - Please Update Your Availability Calendar Today ================================================== Your self-service universal availability calendar at Rentors.org has no value if it is incorrect. Please follow the link below to login to Rentors.org and update your vacation rental calendar today. RENTORS login: http://www.rentors.org/login.cfm If you've forgotten your Rentors.org PASSWORD, check the bottom-left text in the yellow box at the login screen. =================== 2 - Fit for a King? =================== If your vacation rental home does not include at least one very comfortable king-sized bed, then you're probably losing at least some bookings to competing properties that DO. Many vacation rental parties include at least one guest taller than six feet. If you cannot accommodate tall guests with a king-sized bed, then your competitor will. And if your beds are not comfortable, then this year's bookings will never return. Include comfortable bedding, with at least one bed that's truly fit for a king, in your vacation rental! And if a king-sized bed simply won't fit in your largest bedroom, then you should include a queen-sized bed instead. -- Brian Raub, A1Vacations ====================== 3 - The Price is Right ====================== Make sure that your price is competitive with other COMPARABLE properties that are available directly FROM OTHER OWNERS - these are your competitors. Don't base your prices on what travel agents or management companies charge and expect to get a lot of inquires. Renters who spend time to locate your ad on the web are doing so because they expect to save some money over renting from a management company or travel agent. Share some of the savings you get by renting it yourself with your renters - If you do this, you will increase your total income because you will have get more nights rented. If you're just getting started, it's better to set your prices a little lower and get your property rented, rather than setting your price too high and having few rentals. You can easily raise your prices later if demand is too high. Know your peak and off seasons - set prices accordingly. Most vacation locations have peak and off peak seasons, your prices should vary based upon the demand for each season. Offer a discount for weekly rentals - Multiply your nightly rental rate by 5.5 or 6 to come up with a discounted weekly rate. If you offer a weekly discount, you will get more weekly rentals, save on cleaning charges, book more nights and make more efficient use of your property with fewer empty mid-week nights. Vacationers often make travel plans 3 - 4 months in advance, only a few plan earlier than that. If your peak season is still 6 months away, don't be too concerned if your volume of inquiries is still low, however, if peak season starts in 2 weeks and you still have few prospects, you have already missed your best market (don't wait this long to take appropriate action to reduce your prices). -- David Clouse, Vacation Rentals by Owner ======================== 4 - Rain, Rain, Go Away! ======================== Indoor activities provide a nice change of pace for active vacationers. In addition to staples such as cable TV/VCR, CD/tape player, provide your renters with board games (Scrabble, checkers, chess, etc.), cards, puzzles, music, books, and videos. Be sure a table is easily accessible for their enjoyment of these activities. Of particular interest are books and music with a local flavor including guidebooks and coffee table books. Your guests will certainly appreciate these additions, especially on rainy days. -- Pat VanVoorhis, Great Rentals, Inc. ========================= 5 - That First Impression ========================= Nothing starts a vacation off better than a welcome note accompanied by a vase of flowers, a bottle of wine or a basket of local food items eg. maple syrup, vineyard jelly or a local wine and cheese. This "welcome pack" may include a list of favorite restaurants and attractions; useful maps; a guestbook. If you are not available nearby, perhaps your property manager or house cleaner, as a standard part of the rental set up, may "prep" the house with this welcome pack. -- Dave Bollinger, CyberRentals ==================================== 6 - Ring, Ring, Triple Your Bookings ==================================== Most internet vacation rental prospects inquire about several rental possibilities. Most book a rental within 24 hours after they first inquire about a rental property. Our 5+ years of internet vacation rental advertising experience shows that you can triple your chances of booking your rental prospect if you phone prospects back within 12-24 hours of receiving an inquiry. Fast telephone followup adds a personal touch to your internet advertising ... and is far more effective than email followup. If it's too expensive for you to phone a very distant rental prospect, then you must find a lower-cost long-distance service provider. Our phone services allow us to call nearly anyone in the world for less than $.20 (US) per minute ... Less than $1 for nearly any telephone call-back! -- Brian Raub, A1Vacations ===================== 7 - Charge It, Please ===================== If at all possible, get yourself set up with a "Merchant Account" so you can take credit cards. If you have this, then you can forget about having to get a security deposit and get their signature approving the charging of any damages to the credit card. That way you don't have to remember to return a damage deposit when they leave, since you should only rarely have to charge for damages. Most renters do take good care of the properties, you just want to protect yourself against the few bad ones. For US citizens, the best place I know to set up a merchant account is Costco or Sam's Club. Don't pay to buy or lease a credit card terminal. Instead, purchase the software that let's you run your charges through your computer via your modem (you may have to disconnect from the Internet first). -- David Clouse, Vacation Rentals by Owner ================================= 8 - We Can't Eat Out Every Night? ================================= A well-stocked kitchen with basic cooking tools makes meal preparation easy. A good set of pots and pans, small and large sauce pans, and non-stick skillets are a must. Renters will also find a large 5-8 qt. pot, a broiler pan, a roasting pan, baking sheets, a 9" x 13" baking dish, a colander, and microwave safe containers very handy. And don't overlook small kitchen essentials such as wooden spoons, ladle, spatulas, measuring spoons/cups, vegetable peeler, can opener, bottle opener, corkscrew, and scissors. Be sure to include specific cooking tools for preparing local specialties. -- Pat VanVoorhis, Great Rentals, Inc. ====================== 9 - Tools of the Trade ====================== Have available a small set of tools. This kit should include a hammer, pliers, a wrench, screwdrivers, string, tape and some nails and screws. The well equipped vacation home should have a safety kit. Include bandages, gauze, tape and ointments. Also, a basic sewing kit of needles and thread with various buttons may save the day. -- Dave Bollinger, CyberRentals ==================================== 10 - Rentors.org Sponsor Information ==================================== Rentors.org is sponsored by these experienced vacation rental advertising services. All will be pleased to help you advertise your vacation rentals on the Internet. Why not join all four sites to promote your vacation rental? The Rentors.org availability calendar works on all of them, and you'll have just ONE calendar to maintain! CyberRentals Home: http://www.cyberrentals.com Join: http://www.cyberrentals.com/signup.html Great Rentals Home: http://www.greatrentals.com Join: http://www.greatrentals.com/Admin/Posting/Post.html VRBO - Vacation Rentals by Owner Home: http://www.vrbo.com Join: http://www.vrbo.com/global/owner.htm A1Vacations Home: http://www.a1vacations.com/ Join: http://www.a1vacations.com/advertise/ ========================================= 11 - Please Refer a Friend to Rentors.org ========================================= This "Tips for Vacation Rental Homeowners" newletter was emailed to members of Rentors.org -- which offers FREE online availability calendars for vacation rental property homeowners and property managers. Please refer a friend to: http://www.rentors.org
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