HOLIDAY HOME RENTAL - FINDING OR GETTING FOUND
Listing A Vacation Property for Rental
A
friend recently retired and has moved to a house in Provence in the south
of France with the idea of opening a bed & breakfast
or offering the home as a vacation rental, a “gite”, while
another friend often rents out his home in California to head off to
France or Italy on extended holiday where he rents a vacation house,
usually a chateau or villa. Okay my friend admittedly has refined tastes,
but whether tastes run to a garden house in wine country, English country
cottage or lordly manor house, they have two things in common, how to
find vacation homes for rent and how to attract potential renters to
get found. My friend in France, when he gets his retirement property
prepared and available may attract the attention of a site like Bargain
Travel
Europe to recommend his Provencal Bed & Breakfast to the world. But
hoping to be discovered by a travel site or by holiday vacationers passing
through the area with a sign by the roadside is not the most effective
way of getting a vacation property found by the discerning vacation tourist
How to list a vacation property for rental?
How
can a new vacation property for rent be found in a world of growing
popularity? A couple of good ways to get a vacation home discovered
by travelers
is
to contact
the
local
tourism
bureau or
association.
Another
way to
be found is to try to get listed on the websites of local attractions
as a local resource. I have discovered a number of the unique places
to stay on the website just that way. However, whether offering a vacation
property for rent or looking to swap homes for a holiday away by the
week or month, the most effective way to find renters or properties
is through a listing service. There are a number of such services,
and more
coming online all the time as the popularity of vacation home rental
rises (see Listing Vacation Rental with TripAdvisor).
Some of these listing sites are country and often language specific,
whether
France, Italy, England, South America, Asia. Some are
worldwide.
Many listing services charge a membership fee or a commission on every
rental. They range from the small, like Agriturismo in
Italy and Likhom in
France focused on individual properties to the large member associations
like Best Western and Relais & Chateaux, which
offer the recognition of brand but significant fees or revenue
sharing and are more focused on full hotel properties than individual
vacation home rental. Some services are local rental
agencies often found at local tourism boards. To
reach a wider audience web based listing services have been growing in popularity
like TripAdvisor.
Each individual property owner may have a particular way of doing
business and may want a service that allows for the personal touch
of direct
rentals. Home Away is a service for listing individual properties
for vacation holiday rental. For property owners, Home
Away takes
0% on Bookings. They charge a listing fee and allow direct management
of how the vacation
property appears and operates. They have home listings in 100 countries,
ranging from condos to castles and provide one of the easiest fastest
ways to locate a vacation property reach renters. And they offer
a money back guarantee. VRBO is
a similar popular service which stands for Vacation Rental By Owner.
Tips for Renting a Vacation Home
Reserve well enough ahead. Last minute is possible but may be costly. Make sure to confirmed arrival and departure dates, number of adults and children, any pets (if allowed), and any special needs. There should be a written contract agreement with the terms and conditions of the rental including terms regarding cancellations and refunds, especially in respect to required deposit. A deposit of 10% to 50% is common to confirm a reservation with full payment expected prior to arrival. The higher a deposit may affect the attractiveness of the property or be a factor of desirability of the location or quality of the offering.With the costs of hotels rising with the exchange rate, and a desire by travelers to enjoy a home away from home vacation experience trips to holiday rental homes is a phenomenon growing in popularity, though not everyone retires to a French chateau. © Bargain Travel Europe
These articles are copyrighted and the sole property of Bargain Travel Europe and WLPV, LLC. and may not be copied or reprinted without permission.
SEE ALSO:
EUROPEAN
TRAVEL ON A BUDGET
GETTING
MARRIED IN EUROPE
