0 Shares VR Owners Questions –“What happens if renters trash my place?” The Cottage Life Show in Toronto each spring is a great place for vacation home owners to check out cottage-related products and services and the five halls in the Exhibition Centre were packed with everything an owner might need from docks, boats, composting toilets, all manner of patio furniture and cottage kitsch to realtors, insurance […]
0 Shares Top Vacation Rental Insurance Tips for Property Owners This is a guest post by Phil Schofield of Schofields Insurance – a UK specialist in holiday letting insurance. Your vacation rental is a valuable asset and I am sure you have spent a lot of time on making the property perfect for your guests, and that you want to keep it that way. Letting […]
0 Shares The Perils and Pitfalls of Renting from a Distance Years ago when we purchased our first property in Canada, we were still living in UK. Romanced by the idea of owning an idyllic waterfront cottage that we could vacation in when we wanted, and rent it out at all other times, we gave little thought to the logistics of managing a vacation rental from […]
0 Shares How to profit after rental income is maximised We are in a happy position with Osprey Cottage – sort of….because we seem to have reached our maximum occupancy potential. Over the last two years income has been pretty steady with 44 bookings in 2010 and 42 this year. Considering we had closed the place down for renovations for a couple of weeks each […]
0 Shares Is Your Vacation Rental Adequately Insured? Getting insurance to cover renting out a vacation cottage can be tough here in Ontario. Some companies won’t touch short term rentals, others impose restrictions on the annual rental period or occupancy levels, and rates can be eye-watering. However, finding a good insurance broker who is prepared to do the leg work can uncover a […]
0 Shares Shopping Local – Are You Sharing Your Secrets With Your Vacation Rental Guests? Do you have a nearby farm stand that sells the best garlic or free range eggs? Is there an out of the way bakery that does the best pies ever? Where can your guests watch maple syrup being made? When are the farmer’s markets held? Every area has providers of fresh local food but sometimes […]
0 Shares Vacation Rental Maui – A Guest Perspective on Arrival It was a long day yesterday. A five hour flight to Los Angeles, then a two hour wait for the next leg – the five hours to Maui – but we are all here safe and sound in our wonderful vacation rental condo on the ocean. This is a small two-storey complex of one, two […]
0 Shares Do’s and Dont’s of Responding to Vacation Rental Reviews The use of live reviews is a controversial topic and this guest post from Dan Weisman at Flipkey is timely since a recent article on the Forbes blog highlighted the drawbacks of review systems on some of the major vacation rental by owner sites. The Do’s and Don’ts of Responding to Reviews Everyone appreciates […]
0 Shares Is it Time to Update Your Welcome Manual? We all want our guests to be self-sufficient in our vacation homes; use them in a respectful manner and leave at the end of their vacation with minimal breakage, damage or untidiness. Often this is a case of guest education, and since many are new to the concept of vacation rental, it’s a great idea […]
0 Shares Reporting from the Vacation Rental Managers Association Conference The VRMA is the largest organisation of its kind representing vacation rental agencies and brings together owners, managers and staff from hundreds of agencies in North America to an annual conference, this year in San Antonio, Texas. For me, it’s a great finale to our road trip before we head back to Ontario for the […]
