0 Shares Are You Welcoming Your International Guests? I was reading posts on Lay My Hat yesterday, which is my new favourite forum for vacation home owners. It’s a great read and quite illuminating in places as I would guess over 90% of the forum members have their rentals in Europe which gives a whole new perspective on the international rental industry to […]
0 Shares The High Cost of Buying Cheap When we travelled out from England to buy our first vacation rental home in Ontario, we had a week to close, furnish and set it up for rental. At that time, we didn’t have the big stores in UK like Wal*Mart and Home Depot -at least not where I lived – so we were like […]
0 Shares Leaving the Door Wide Open and Other Security Measures! How do your renters access your cottage? Do you mail them keys, or hide them under a flowerpot, in the barbecue or on a hook under the deck? I’m often amazed at the ingenuity of home owners in finding new places to conceal their keys, but wonder why on earth they don’t use a simple […]
0 Shares The WOW Effect – Creating A Lasting Impression For A Festive Break It’s 5am on Christmas morning and I’m in my favourite spot – curled up in front of the fire with a mug of Tim Horton’s chocolate. BBC Radio 2 is on – wonderful commercial free entertainment that reminds me of Xmas mornings back in UK – and my living room looks wonderfully festive and really […]
0 Shares 10 Small Appliances for a Well Equipped Kitchen A well-equipped kitchen will encourage returning guests and may inspire some great testimonials and reviews so ensure your property is ‘fully loaded’. This means supplying a good variety of small appliances and cooking aids. Here’s my top 10 list…. Coffee Maker – don’t go for the cheapest and if you buy a spare jug at the […]
0 Shares How Much Should You Pay for Property Management? I’ve been having some interesting conversation recently with the founders of We Check it Out. Angela Balan and Jeff Sopik have partnered to bring their unique business and management skills to cottage country in the form of a membership package. Their current plans are designed for owners who need occasional checks to be made on […]
0 Shares Are You Adding Value by Providing Linens for Your Guests? I’ve been in lively discussion with a fellow cottage owner about providing bed linens for guests. From my knowledge of the rental market here in Ontario, I would guess around 20% of owners supply sheets and towels, while the rest provide comforters, blankets and pillows and ask their renters to bring their own linens. Our […]
0 Shares Additions, Renovations and Improvements to Increase Rental Profit The time has come for some renovations at my cottage in the Kawarthas. We’ve been renting out Osprey Cottage for three years now and have had a lot of success, with full occupancy in the summer and decent reservation rates the rest of the year, but it’s looking a bit tired in places. We are […]
0 Shares 8 Ways to Attract Winter Cottage Rental Guests 1 Change the photos on your website to show winter scenes Potential renters are going to find your site more attractive if there are winter photos to motivate them to book. Next time you get a good snowfall, take some great pictures of the exterior of the property, before the snow gets trampled on. If […]
0 Shares Should Vacation Rentals be Licensed and Regulated? Here’s an interesting viewpoint on the fast growing vacation rental industry: “all vacation home owners who rent more than a couple of weeks in the year should be licensed and meet minimum standards for vacation rentals”. I read this on a forum recently and it has been niggling at the back of my mind ever […]
