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Vacation Rental Homeowner Blog

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Use Local Festivals and Events to Help Fill Vacancies. Still have availability for the summer or fall season?

Use Local Festivals and Events to Help Fill Vacancies

Consider promoting a local festival, fair or other fun event close to your home’s location! We’ve compiled an extensive list of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket events for download. Cape Cod Events – 2014 Summer and Fall Marthas Vineyard Events – 2014 Summer and Fall Nantucket Events – 2014 Summer and Fall Here are a few examples of how you might use a local event to fill vacancies with an Owner Special: Offer an exclusive dealOwner Special: OysterFest, Oct 18 and 19th. Consult the Events pages of our Vacation Planner for up-to-date event listings for your area. Did you like this? Household Supplies: What to Provide for your Guests. What's YOUR Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard or Nantucket beach?

Next to your home and property, what is it that draws you to Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard or Nantucket year after year?

What's YOUR Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard or Nantucket beach?

What calls to you when you are away? And, what compelled you to take on a home here in the first place? My bets are all in on the beach. From wide expanses of warm sand, to grass-spotted paths through the dunes, to mudflats as far as the eye can see, we’d like to hear about your favorites! Visit our beaches page and choose your area or town from the drop down menu. Decking Out Your Deck - Tips for Creating a Fabulous Outdoor Living Space. 100 Years, 100 Posts, and 100 Ways to Say "Thank You!" Get Your Vacation Rental Ready for the Summer Season - Spring Post Roundup. We’ve listed the best of our past posts on preparing your rental for the summer season in one place!

Get Your Vacation Rental Ready for the Summer Season - Spring Post Roundup

Find a variety of tips – from ideas for improving curb appeal, to checklists for a thorough spring cleaning, to smart updates you can implement now and save on utility bills later (without spoiling your vacationers’ stay!). Spring Cleaning Clean Sweep – Will your home pass the white glove test? Joan Talmadge talks with the owners of Cape Cod Multi-Services on the most important aspects of spring cleaning your home, including a comprehensive checklist. It’s That Time of Year Again…Spring Clean-up TimeGuest blogger Lee Bowman, Jr. at Joyce Landscaping in Marstons Mills provides a sytematic approach to tackling spring yard cleanup.

Battling Dampness and Mold in Your Vacation Rental HomeWe all know the challenges of maintaining an inviting and comfortable home in the middle of an oppressively humid summer on the Cod, the Vineyard or Nantucket. Curb Appeal Energy and Efficiency Updates. Are you social? Easy and Powerful Ways to Promote your Property Listing. It is important to know that Pinterest, Facebook, and Google+ have become even more powerful and popular ways to share content than email.

Are you social? Easy and Powerful Ways to Promote your Property Listing

We encourage you to share with your friends, followers, and social circles the link to your property listing. The 5 most prominent social sites – Pinterest, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, and Twitter – are all very accessible for you to link to right from your listing. Choose the social site that feels most comfortable to you, and get social! Here is information on the three social sites I think are most suited for vacation rental homeowners: Facebook, Pinterest and Google+.

For Pinterest users: There are 2 ways to share your listing using Pinterest. The green and blue ovals represent my “circles” and the ways I have distinguished my separate groups of people. I could write for hours on all this social media stuff… Got questions? Here’s what other homeowners have said about the experience of inviting me over. A Quick Update on the Proposed Vacation Rental Lodging Tax Issue. A recent article in the Worcester Telegram prompted me to look into the current status of any proposed legislation regarding the extension of the lodging tax to private home rentals.

A Quick Update on the Proposed Vacation Rental Lodging Tax Issue

For the past ten years or so, local state legislators (primarily from the Cape) have proposed extending this tax to include vacation rental homes. Currently hotels, motels, and inns in MA pay an 11.7% tax: 5.7% goes to the state and 6% to the individual towns. If this tax were to be imposed on vacation rental homes, rental homeowners would be faced with the decision of absorbing the tax themselves or passing it on to their tenants. Governor Patrick’s 2015 budget did include a measure to extend the lodging tax to private homes. When I communicated with Rep. Bloomberg Real Estate Report - Radio Interview with Jeff Talmadge. The Birth of WeNeedaVacation.com.

WeNeedaVacation.com Co-owners and Founders,Joan and Jeff Talmadge The year was 1997, and we were entering our second season of renting out our vacation home in East Orleans.

The Birth of WeNeedaVacation.com

Jeff was burning the midnight oil as he created an interactive website for vacation rentals. This was a time, mind you, when many people were totally unfamiliar with the Internet, never mind advertising vacation rentals through this vehicle. Five-line newspaper ads were more the norm! The next step was thinking of a name for our website. The next name we conceived of was “All Seasons Vacation Rental Network.” Now we needed a website URL. Why List Your Property on WeNeedaVacation.com Find a Rental Did you like this?

Considering Pets in Vacation Rentals - Part 2 - Yes, Fido can come, too! In our previous post, Considering Pets in Vacation Rentals, we mainly discussed the risks involved in accepting pets into your vacation rental home.

Considering Pets in Vacation Rentals - Part 2 - Yes, Fido can come, too!

But here’s some advice for those of you who, like me, are willing to consider allowing pets. Before we start, though, here’s something to consider when you’re making the “Do I/ or Don’t I?” Decision. The “Pets considered” option is fairly popular with vacationers, ranking 5th in popularity of non-location-related amenities (after washer/dryer, A/C, porch/deck/patio, cable TV, and Internet). The end result is that the supply vs. demand ratio is definitely greater from vacationers for pet friendly homes than there is a supply of them. Getting Started: Listing Your Property on WeNeedaVacation.com. Should I provide linens in my vacation rental? Homeowners frequently ask us, “Should I provide linens?”

Should I provide linens in my vacation rental?

Although there’s no right answer, I have to say that linens and towels are a very popular amenity, particularly for vacationers who are traveling long distances. Generally, those who rent the larger and more expensive homes expect to be provided with this amenity. Today’s vacationers like to arrive at their vacation home and start…well, start vacationing. But the benefits to vacationers of your providing linens must be weighed against the added time and expense it can create for you, the homeowner. One of the biggest problems is finding someone to do the laundering after the tenants depart.

Homeower Blog > Set yourself up for success with the Ideal Listing eBook! Our latest Press Release: Vacation rental prices increasing across Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. Announcing our new map search feature! » WeNeedaVacation.com Homeowner Blog. The Psychology Factor: Damage Insurance vs Security Deposits. At first glance, vacation rental damage insurance can seem like a great prospect: homeowners can provide guests with a convenient and easy way to cover themselves in the event they or someone in their party accidentally damages your property, and homeowners can save time collecting, managing and returning a myriad of deposits.

The Psychology Factor: Damage Insurance vs Security Deposits

But is damage insurance all that it’s cracked up to be? And can it effectually replace the psychological impact of a security deposit? Money Talks When I speak of the “psychological impact” of a security deposit, I refer to the fact that a deposit, by its definition, is a sum of money that potentially will be returned. That promise of the imminent return of all of their money creates an incentive for vacationers to take extra special care of a property. Here are some things to consider if you’re thinking about offering damage insurance: Though convenient and a reduced up-front cost for vacationers, damage insurance policies can be problematic for homeowners. Vacation Rental Photography – Saying “cheese” and “thank you” to the bunnies in your yard » WeNeedaVacation.com Homeowner Blog.

The most enjoyable aspect of my job with WeNeedaVacation.com is meeting homeowners at their rental homes, photographing their house, and coaching them to better market their vacation rental.

Vacation Rental Photography – Saying “cheese” and “thank you” to the bunnies in your yard » WeNeedaVacation.com Homeowner Blog

While it is not necessary for the homeowner to meet me during the photography shoot, it is much more fun and worthwhile. Over the past 7 years, I have met hundreds of homeowners while walking their halls, seeing their yards, and learning what is most special about their homes. Experiencing your homes has been incredibly interesting, especially when the value of a visit reaches beyond the bright lights and camera. Often, a photography session will lead a homeowner to discover some of their property’s most overlooked gems, like the family of bunnies that gather by the back shrubs every morning, or the golden slivers of sun that blanket the kitchen in the afternoon. Curbing "Vacation Waste" Mentality: How to Cut Down on Utility Costs without Spoiling Your Vacationers' Stays. Guest post by Chris Long at Home Depot: At some point, we’ve all done it – we’ve gone on vacation and said “forget about it!”

When it comes to being careful about indulging in everyday luxuries. We’ve cranked the thermostat as far as it would go, we’ve taken extra-long showers, and we’ve left the lights on in every room even when we’re not there. Mastering your Niche: How to Get the Most Value from Niche Marketing. Guest post by Matt Landau: In my previous post, “The Future of Vacation Rental Marketing: It’s All about the Niche,” I wrote about the superior value of niche vacation rental sites like WeNeedaVacation.com over their major, “big-box” competitors, HomeAway/VRBO and FlipKey.

The more targeted Power Search of WeNeedaVacation.com, for example, allows its rental homeowner to be a bigger fish in a smaller pond, preventing listers from having to pay the site extra to improve their search result rankings. And the locally-operated niche site is also able to provide information specific to the area (such as its beaches, activities, shops, restaurants, etc.), which is of great value to vacationers and, in turn, benefits the homeowner. Yet to be fully implemented by the vacation rental community is the bevy of impactful techniques that a niche site can help you employ. Here are 3 that can help get you started: Did you like this? The Future of Vacation Rental Marketing: It’s All about the Niche. Guest post by Matt Landau: The key to a successful vacation rental website lies in its ability to make a perfect match between its homeowners’ properties and its vacationers’ needs. There is no question that niche vacation rental sites are better designed to accomplish this goal than their larger, globally-oriented, “big box” competitors.

But, according to a 2012 industry survey, more than half (51 percent) of all vacation rental owners use major listing sites (VRBO, HomeAway, and FlipKey) as their sole form of marketing. This is a staggering number, especially considering that competition on these listing sites has increased exponentially over the past five years.