Happy Halloween!

Hope you are doing much better than me! As many of you know, I had to cancel my Destin Seminars. My appendix decided it didn't want to be in my body any longer, so I had to have emergency surgery to have it removed. So the doctors grounded me and I was unable to travel. Thanks for all the well wishes; all things considered, I am doing well. The Destin seminars have been rescheduled for the weekend of December 1st and 2nd. Be sure to check out the Destin seminar page as we have added networking night and a couple small-group workshops. It should be a fun-filled and information-packed weekend—come if you can!

This month's newsletter is pretty skinny—between being on the road doing seminars earlier in the month and being out sick, we just didn't get too many new articles written this month. So we're bringing back some more oldies but goodies.

Happy Renting by Owner!
Christine Karpinski

Top 10 Things We Learned From Owners Last Month

1) Car decals can be a cheap and effective means of advertising that you have a vacation home for rent. 2) Craigslist can be great for filling last-minute dates, but watch out for bottom feeders and scammers. 3) While most magazine advertising isn't cost effective for the average vacation rental owner, university alumni magazines seem to work for some owners. They attribute their success with alumni magazines to the fact that many people keep them laying around for months (even years) after they come in the mail.

4) Do often have "orphan" days open in between two bookings? Contact the renters who are coming before and after the open day and offer them the day at a discounted rate. 5) Put open availabilty (i.e. "New Year's Still Open") in your listing headline. It really drives inquiries for those days and doesn't seem to turn away renters who are looking for different days. 6) Offering a 10% discount on a future stay to past guests is a great way to incite them to fill out a Review or to leave a comment on your online guestbook.

7) Have old toys laying around that your kids or grandkids have outgrown? Instead of selling them for 25 cents a piece at a garage sale, leave them at your vacation rental and advertise how "perfect for kids" your property is.

8) Consider having a twin beds in your non-Master bedrooms. This way you can cater to two kids (or adults) who'd like to sleep separately or can convert the twins into a king bed for couples. 9) Make your renters feel like they're a part of your home's history by putting a U.S. or world map up on the wall with push pins and strips of paper for guests to write their names and where they're from.

10) The Microsoft Outlook calendar feature is an easy way to keep track of bookings and payment schedules.

Recently Added Articles to theOwner Community

Amenities Checklist for Vacation Rentals What amenities are expected and which will help seal the deal?

How Do I Get My Property to Show Up in the Blue Box at the Top of the Location Pages? The answer is simple....

How Do I Get the Blue Box Around My Listing on the HomeAway Search Pages?
The scoop on getting your very own blue-boxed listing.

What Should a Fully-Stocked Kitchen Have in It? Which items should you provide before you claim to have a fully-stocked kitchen?

 Oldies-But-Goodies

How Important is the Quality and Size of the Beds in Your Second Home? You will never lose a potential renter due to a bed being too big.

Charging A Cleaning Fee vs. Having Renters Clean Many owners are tempted to just let their guests clean upon leaving a vacation rental property rather than hiring a housekeeper. But is this really the best thing?

How Much Should You Charge Your Friends For Rentals? Information on how much to charge your friends to stay in your vacation rental home.

Operation Off-Season: 11 Tips For Attracting Off-Season Guests Quick tips and advice for keeping your vacation rental home booked during the off-season.

The Benefits of Listing Your Vacation Home on Multiple Web Sites Exclusivity is not a good idea when listing your vacation rental property.

Seven Tasks That Should Be on Your Maintenance Schedule Regular maintenance of your property will provide a more pleasant stay for your renters and will increase the life of your home and amenities.

Question of the Month Last month's question: What are some of the stupid questions that you get asked by renters? Thanks to Melinda, Palm Desert, Boothbay Harbor, & Oceanside (HomeAway #113399, 121967, 122466, 148755) and Marcie, Sandestin for their contributions.

Here are a few of the questions from renters that were sent in:

• Pet Free Property: "Can we bring a small, well behaved dog?"
• Log Cabin: "Is this inside of the cain made of wood? I'm allergic."
• Garden View Property: "Is there a view of the ocean?"
• Beach Property: "Are there fish or any other kinds of wildlife in the water?"
• Ocean Front Property: "Will the waves keep me awake?"
• "We put the code into the door and it didn't open. Is it broken?" My answer: "Did you turn the doorknob?"
• "Can I bring x (fill in the number) more kids/guests and they can just sleep on the floor in sleeping bags?"
• "Can I pay the price of the “bronze” level property for the “platinum” one?"
• "Can I use bubble bath in the hot tub?"

This month we're turning the table on you guys: What questions would you like to ask your peers?

Local Rental Alerts October 24, 2007: Short-Term Rental Bill Pending in Las Vegas Vacation rental owners are encouraged to attend the city council meeting on Nov. 7th.

Christine's Blog Posts

October 31, 2007: On Cancellations and Missing Organs Christine talks about her recent appendectomy and her only seminar cancellation in 10 years.

October 10, 2007: Juggling Inquiries from the Road Christine deals with a situation where a renter sent an inquiry about a certain weekend and expected her to hold it for her without sending payment.

Recently Added Podcasts

Ask Christine #11: Is It Okay to Charge Renters for Utilities? Christine answers the question of charging your guests for electricty, gas, or water.

Ask Christine #10: Should You Break the Rental Rate Up into Rate, Fees, Taxes, etc.? Christine answers a question from an owner who wants to know if it's better to charge one all-inclusive rate or to break the rental rate into parts (cleaning fee, sales tax, etc.).

We're currently looking for guests for our How to Rent Vacation Properties by Owner podcast series.

Call for Podcast Guests:

• Do you own in a vacation market that no one has ever heard of?
• Have you fallen for a scam?
• Did you buy your property sight-unseen?
• Have you owned your home for more than 20 years?

Have a question for Christine? Leave a message at (512) 493-4340 and get an answer on the air.

Also, check us out on iTunes! If you like what you hear, please leave us a review.

Seminar Schedule

Registration is now open for the following fall seminars: December 1st and 2nd: Destin, FL For more information and to register, please visit the Seminar Schedule. Would you like Christine to give a seminar in your area?Take a survey.

October Vacation Rental News

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

10/30/07: 2 city bills aim to curb illegal vacation rentals on Oahu
StarBulletin.com

10/30/07: Flagler Beach revamps short-term rentals News-JournalOnline.com

10/29/07: N.C. beach house fire kills 7 students LATimes.com

10/29/07: County real estate weathering storm in Addison County, Vermont
AddisonIndependent.com

10/29/07: Florida passes $12 billion property tax cut plan Reuters.com

HomeAway Featured Listings

Just what exactly is a HomeAway Featured Listing? Take a gander at any HomeAway landing page (http://www.homeaway.com/Vacation-rentals/Missouri-vacation- rentals.htm for example) and you'll notice a blue box at the top of the page. The properties showcased in this box are Featured Listings.

What does a Featured Listing do for me? It gets you extra exposure (i.e. makes your listing appear in the top blue boxes) on your property's country, state, and local landing pages.

Do I need to be running a special offer to buy a Featured Listing? No. Unlike a Special Offer, you need not be running a special to buy a Featured Listing.

How much do Featured Listings cost? $29 for one month.

How do I sign up for a Featured Listing? Sign up for a Featured Listing today by sign in to your Owner home page and clicking "Buy" under Featured Listing or clicking "Buy Featured Listing" on the Special Offers/Featured Listings tab. Then proceed to checkout.

For more information on Featured Listings, visit the HomeAway Guide to Featured Listings.

Have a question or comment?Email us.