New Year's Check List for Vacation Home Owners

Here is a list of items each vacation home owner should have on their New Year's Check list:

• Review your advertisements on your listing services. Are they worth the money you are spending?
• Check the content on your listing services. Is the information about your property still accurate?
• Study the competition. What are they doing that works?
• Consider adjustments to you nightly, weekly and monthly rates. Are you charging your renters the right amount?
• Review the preformance of your property managers.
• Evaluate your personal website for your vacation rental. Are you making the most of your website?
• Consider using the tools of the internet to generate clicks, inquiries, and booking to your own vacation rental.
• Are you staying in touch with people who have expressed an interest in your property through email and other means?
• Consider using a customer relationship management tool. How do you stay in touch with the people who have stayed with you?
• Finally, Study the industry. Where is this business of Vacation Home Rentals going in the larger context and are you prepared for this direction?

Vacation Rental Owners

The Bad News: Sub-prime crisis, eroding real estate prices, increasing foreclosure rates, increasing interest rates, rising gas prices, slowing economy, lower amount of disposable income, rising cost of home owner's insurance, rising cost of maintenance and ever increasing competition for bookings to your vacation rentals.

The Good News: The vacation rental market place represents an exciting an potentially rewarding market opportunity for individuals with the financial means and business skill to build an income stream while simultaneously building equity in their real estate portfolio.

I will not advise folks on the best real estate market opportunity but, I believe I have many ideas on how to help Vacation Home Owners and Property Managers use the Internet to increase the number of bookings to their vacation homes.

I have served this market for some time and I have been able to create a fairly accurate generalization about vacation rental owners:
"They are entrepreneurial, web savvy and good business people."

My hope is to create a place where these people can learn how to build a better vacation rental business by using the power of the Internet. I also understand I can learn allot from vacation rentals owners and would appreciate researching topics or hearing your ideas on the most effective ways to increase business. Please send your questions and comments to vrowebsites@gmail.com.

Thank you,

Vacation Rental Owners