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“Kathleen, 32 was thinking of spending some time together with her colleague John, 30. Since they were both on a budget they decided to take a vacation to the nearby tourist destination of Florida Keys. The area is known for its placid beaches and great night time events. They researched over the internet, asked among their friends and finally settled for a rental vacation. It proved to be a great bargain and saved them a tidy packet too as compared to hotel rents. What is more they enjoyed every minute of their stay and the rental property too turned out to be just what was advertised on the website.”
What is a vacation rental? A vacation rental is that someone owns a home, and they rent it out to you during your vacation. Very often a rental vacation as Kathleen found out, works out to be much cheaper than a comparable hotel stay. Hotels have higher overheads including regular maintenance and staff salaries. Since a lot of business is generated through the web, proper advertising of vacation rental property is a must to generate traffic.
When you advertise your property on a vacation rental site, you should ideally highlight the best features of the house, including details of the bedrooms, kitchen and even the furnishings. Remember to include amenities like hot tubs, pool tables, game rooms, tennis courts, swimming pools and nearby beaches or places of tourist interest. After all, you are in a competitive market and your rental property needs to stand out from the rest and attract renters.
In addition to free vacation rentals sites which offer free listings for your property for a limited period, there are websites which offer free listing subject to a percentage of the rent proceeds. Then there are vacation rental websites which charge some fees from those seeking to list their properties on the website.
When you register at these sites, you are typically provided with a webpage. It is important to utilize this facility and reach out to prospective vacationers. To attract renters, give your description a catchy headline. If your property is near the beach you can call it “The tan lovers’ favorite”. Add some good pictures of your rental property. It would be great if you could include an external view of your house, your kitchen as well as the bedrooms which will allow renters to have an idea of the sleeping arrangements. You should also have a couple of photos of external amenities like swings, saunas or a private pool and even a photo of the nearby beach (a sunset scene would be lovely).The whole idea of including pictures is to give prospective renters an idea of your property, and the highlights of its immediate area. You should also include rental rates, and your contact information.
It is true that vacationers surf both travel websites and vacation rental websites on the internet extensively before they finally select a property. Rental property owners often advertise on travel directory listings which offer free advertising listings. It’s wise to advertise your property only at relevant pages in the travel directory listings. Many property owners also promote their vacation rental properties through blogs and travel forums. It’s also a good idea to include the comments you have received from your old customers on your webpage. They reinforce your positive image and result in a call to action. Read more on vacation rental.