Hi everyone, February is now behind us. For me, it was a pretty good month for booking my properties. I think answering all of those inquiries in January paid off-- many renters have now come back to me and booked their dates. At this point, I stand at about 40-50% of my booking goals for 2008.

I always get questions from owners about screening guests. So this month's top ten is a lighthearted look at the types of inquires that send up red flags for me. If I get any of these types of emails, I typically dig a bit deeper before renting to these folks. In most areas of the country, spring break is sometime between March 15th and April 15th. If you are not booked yet for these weeks, be sure to respond to your inquiries quickly to capture those last-minute bookings. Happy Renting! Christine Karpinski

Trust Your Instincts: 10 Lines That Should Raise a Red Flag

1) “I noticed that your ad says ‘no smoking,' but cigars are okay, right?” 2) “We're not 100% that we're to go on vacation this summer, but we'd like to go ahead and book a week-- just in case. What is the last day that we can cancel without losing our deposit?”

3) “My twelve-week-old schnauzer puppy is pretty much house broken and only chews on the furniture when we're not watching him.” 4) “We have sixteen cats that we like to bring on vacation with us. However, we'll only bring as many you allow. What is the maximum number of cats that you allow your guests to bring?”

5) “We live in the area and would like to rent your home for one evening.”   6) “I am a very responsible 19-year-old college student and would like to stay at your property with 10 of my friends for spring break.”

7) “How often do you clean your light fixtures, dust your blinds, and clean under your refrigerator?” 8) “$1500 for one week is a pretty steep, don't you think? I'll give you $250 for the week.” 9) “Do you have washable paint on your walls? I ask because my two-year-old is going through an artistic phase and his favorite canvas is a bedroom wall.” 10) “I am a prince from Nigeria about to come into my inheritance…”

Recently Added Articles to the Owner Community

Small Property? How to Come Up with 12 Photos For smaller properties, it can be hard to find 12 photos to display. Here are a few tips.

How to Avoid Negative Reviews One way to avoid future negative comments from your guests is to understand their common complaints.

How to Work with a Travel Agent Travel agents can be a source of bookings and often work for clients who may not have discovered your property otherwise.

Should You Provide Paper Products? How important is it to have paper towels, tissue, and toilet paper available to your renters upon arrival?

Should You Provide Extras Like Shampoo, Soap, and Laundry Detergent? Insight into whether you should provide shampoo and conditioner, laundry detergent, dishwashing liquid, cleaning supplies, and coffee filters.

How to Avoid Early Arrivals How to alleviate the problem of guests checking in early.

Offering Specials and Discounts While it may be tempting to jump on any offer from a renter, consider these discount guidelines.

Buying Multiple Vacation Homes It's contagious! Your property is renting so well you that you want to buy another. Here are a few tips to consider.

Common Mistakes Owners Make When Buying a Second Vacation Rental Three common mistakes that a lot of owners make when buying and renting out a second vacation home.

Questions to Ask a Potential Real Estate Agent How to find your perfect match.

The Importance of Finding the Right Real Estate Agent The best way to overcome any obstacles when buying is to find an excellent real estate agent who's experienced in vacation homes in your targeted communities.

Financing Options for Vacation Rental Homes How will you use your vacation home—as a second home or as an investment property?

Preparing Your Vacation Home for Rentals Which items should be removed and which are expected?

Problem Solving When considering whether or not to rent their home, a lot of vacation homeowners worry about how to handle the problems that may arise.

Question of the Month This month's question: How much do you pay your housekeeper or cleaning service to clean your home between guests? Last month, we asked "What advice do you have for someone who is just starting out?"

Thanks to Mike (HomeAway #177737) for his insight: "Respond to inquiries ASAP!!!! Keep calendar updated Don't discount unless booking within 14 days of arrival or staying longer than usual Create an inquiry reply template to cut and paste into a reply email to quickly complete and send. Be sure to include a brief introductory statement, reservation details, check-in / check out policies and payment / cancellation policies and BOOKING INSTRUCTIONS. Create a guest agreement in pdf format and attach it to your inquiry reply And that's just replying to your inquiries…"

Christine's Blog Posts

February 25, 2008: Deviating from Your Process Well this week was much better than last week. No major dilemmas. Let me give you one little tidbit of advice: Don't deviate from your “normal booking process.”

February 22, 2008: One of Those Weeks Have you ever had one of those weeks where everything went wrong? Well, that was this week for me…and my poor renters…

February 13, 2008: Playing Catch Up Ok, I know I have told you this before but… I don't always practice what I preach. Toward the end of the year and the first part of the year, many of the articles were about organizing your vacation rental life, right?

Recently Added Podcasts

This month, you're getting a double dose of Ed Reese.  Enjoy! Selling a Vacation Rental Home Christine talks with vacation rental owner, Ed Reese, about his experience trying to sell one of his vacation homes.

One-on-One with Port Aransas Owner (and HomeAway CTO), Ross Buhrdorf Christine talks with new owner, Ross Buhrdorf, about preparing his property, starting the rental process and what he'd like to change about the HomeAway sites.   Buying an Investment Property in Steamboat Springs, CO This week, Christine interviews Steamboat Springs realtor, Randall Hannaway, about the vacation home market in his area. Virtual Tours Christine talks with seasoned owner and virtual tours expert, Ed Reese. Have a question for Christine? Leave a message at (512) 493-4340 and get an answer on the air.

Spring Seminar Schedule

Registration is open for the following seminar dates: March 1st: Birmingham, AL March 2nd: Atlanta, GA (Only 4 seats left!) March 27th: Toronto May 31st: San Diego, CA June 1st: Los Angeles, CA June 3rd: Phoenix, AZ

February Vacation Rental News

Visit the Owner Community for more February Vacation Rental News and 100s of articles in the Vacation Rental News archive.

Bids to tax short-term vacation rentals OK'd in Encinitas "If you can't ban them, make money from them. That seems to be the philosophy of the Encinitas City Council, which voted late Wednesday to put two initiatives on the June 3 ballot that would levy a “hotel tax” on short-term vacation rentals." SignOnSanDiego.com (2/22/08) Think Summer (a Warning) "LET'S start with the bad news. Thanks to the weakness of the dollar, staying close to home this summer is probably going to be more popular than jetting off to Europe — which means everyone you can think of will be competing for nearby rentals."  NYTimes.com (2/22/08) House Passes South Dakota Vacation Home Bill "Special regulations for vacation homes in South Dakota were approved Wednesday by the state House. Representatives gave 59-11 final approval to a bill that would apply to homes that are rented for more than 14 days a year." Chron.com (2/21/08)  Kauai bill bans new vacation rentals "After several years of wrangling, the county has a bill in place again to stop the proliferation of new vacation rentals blamed for destroying neighborhoods from Kekaha to Ha‘ena. The divisive community debate has pitted real estate agents against residents, property rights advocates against government officials, County Council members against each other." KauaiWorld.com (2/20/08)

HomeAway, Inc. Vacation Rental Owners Conference We're considering holding a 2-3 day conference in the next year where our vacation rental owners can connect, learn, and share.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the survey that we sent out in December.  The level of interest in the conference was overwhelmingly high, so we're now in the information gathering stage of the planning process. To help us move forward and to shape our conference program, we're going to need 3 types of participants:

1) Idea Generators. Would you like to join a team of owners to help guide the program/content development of the conference? Are you interested in brainstorming session topics, potential professional speakers, or products that you';d like to see at the event? If so, we';d love to pick your brain.

2) Presenters/Panelists. Are you an experienced owner or industry expert interested in presenting about a topic relevant to the vacation rental industry? Or would you be interested in sitting on a discussion panel? Let other owners learn from your experience.

3) Sponsors/Exhibitors. Do you have a product or service that you'd like to introduce to vacation rental owners? We're going to be pulling together a broad spectrum of sponsorship and exhibition options that will be sold on a first come, first served basis.

If you'd be interested in participating in the conference in one of the above capacities, please fill out this quick form and we'll be in touch with you over the next few weeks.

Learn more about the HomeAway Network or List your property today.

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