Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION 1 Why Should You Read This Book? 1 1 IS RENTING FOR YOU? 3 The Costs of Recreational Home Ownership 4 Is Renting for You or Not? 5 2 THE BIG QUESTIONS 11 What Do I Want to Get Out of It? 12 How Much Time Do I Want to Spend Doing This? 12 Do I Want to Market the Rentals Myself or Use a Rental Agency? 12 Who Will Look After the Property When I’m Not There? 13 How Will I Take Bookings? 13 iii iv Renting your recreational property for profit Can the Cottage Be Rented Year-Round and If So, What Are the Implications? 13 How Much Am I Willing to Spend to Increase the Rental Opportunities? 14 What Are the Tax and Insurance Implications of Renting? 14 How Will This Affect My Family? 14 3 SETTING GOALS 16 Your Vision 17 Financial Goals 18 Forecasting Expenses 19 Capital expenditures 19 Electrical costs 20 Telephone 21 Satellite TV 22 Property management and maintenance costs 23 Insurance 24 Marketing, promotion, and advertising 24 Contingency funds 24 How Many Rental Weeks Will You Have Available? 25 4 WHAT IS MY RECREATIONAL PROPERTY WORTH? 28 Location 29 Size 30 Amenities 31 Will It Rent as It Is? 34 Making Changes 34 Calculating the Bottom Line 36 5 GETTING READY FOR RENTING 38 Getting It Right from the Start 39 Property Audit 41 Furnishings and Appliances 41 Bedding 44 Personal Items 46 What to Supply? 47 Toys, Books, and Games 49 Guidebooks and maps 52 Adding Value 53 Special Occasions 54 Christmas, New Year’s, and other festive occasions 54 Theme weekends 55 6 EMERGENCIES AND CONTINGENCIES 56 The Emergency Section of Your Guest Guide 58 Medical/fire emergencies 59 System breakdowns 60 Power outage kit 61 7 BOOKING SYSTEMS 63 Frequently Asked Questions 65 Holding Period 66 Rental Periods 67 Booking Form and Rental Agreement 68 Party members 72 Rental Period: Dates and Times 73 Payments and Deposits 73 Cancellations 74 Damage/Security Deposit 75 Additional Clauses 76 8 SEASONAL RENTALS 78 The Market for Seasonal Rentals 79 Research the Competition 79 Contents v How to Price Your Seasonal Rental 80 Security/Damage Deposit 81 Screening Renters 82 The Contract 82 Payment Schedules 83 Overholding 84 What Is the Downside of Seasonal Rentals? 84 9 MARKETING YOUR VACATION HOME 85 What Is Marketing? 86 The Power of the Internet 88 Your Own Website 88 Your web address 90 Working with a web designer 92 Site content 94 Site structure 94 Writing for your website 95 Photographs 97 Testimonials 99 Getting your site seen 100 Search engines and directories 100 Online advertising 101 Rental listing sites 104 Link popularity 105 Ease of navigation 105 Availability calendar 106 Cost 106 Print Advertising 107 Creating Your Own Literature 108 What to put in a leaflet 108 Printing your brochure 110 Distribution and mailing lists 111 vi Renting your recreational property for profit Privacy of Information 111 Monitor Your Marketing 112 Frequent Guest Incentive 112 Newsletter 113 Open-House Weekend 114 10 RENTAL MANAGEMENT AGENCIES 117 Types of Agencies and Services 117 Booking agencies 118 Full-service agencies 118 Agency rates 120 Viewing 121 Additional services 121 Smaller agencies 121 Choosing an Agency 122 The Contract 123 Duration of agreement 124 Responsibilities 124 Exclusivity 126 Agent’s fees 126 11 MANAGING YOUR PROPERTY YOURSELF 127 Pros and Cons of Self-Management 128 Management Options 130 General Maintenance 134 Meeting and Greeting 136 Cleaning 138 Cottage Security and Key Issues 139 12 GENERATING RETURN VISITS 142 Exceed Expectations 143 Accurate description of all aspects of the property 144 Contents vii Up-to-date photos 144 Clean, clean, clean, then clean again! 144 WOW your guests from the moment they arrive 144 Stay in Contact — With Their Permission 144 Birthdays and anniversaries 145 Activity breaks 145 Ask for Their Feedback — Then Thank Them for It 145 What to Put in a Questionnaire 146 Ask for testimonials 147 Keeping in Touch 147 13 HANDLING COMPLAINTS 149 Serious Complaints 151 14 THE GUEST GUIDE 152 Contents of the Guide 154 Index 154 Welcome and introduction 154 Phone numbers 154 The local area 155 Arriving 155 Systems 156 Appliances and operating instructions 157 Outside the cottage 157 Fire pits 158 Keeping the critters at bay 159 Bugs and other flying creatures 160 Garbage disposal 161 Places to eat, and things to do and see 161 Departure 162 15 WRAPPING UP 163 viii Renting your recreational property for profit SAMPLES 1 Creating a Vision 18 2 SWOT Analysis 35 3 Rental Calculator 37 4 Cost of Furnishings 42 5 List of Supplies 50 6 Vacation Rental Agreement 69 TABLE 1 Pros and Cons of Management Options 131
