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Christine's Blog: Being a Good Vacation Rental Owner (1/8/07)
There's a new type of vacationer on the rise-- the vacation rental newbie-- and it's important to treat them well to ensure your future success and the success of the vacation rental industry.
Hi All! Annnnnd we're off! The busy booking season is officially here! The email inquiries are flying in and my phone has started ringing off the hook (of course while we're eating dinner).
All of the sudden I feel like a travel agent! In the past, it seemed most or at least many of my renters were quite familiar with the area. They pretty much knew what and when they wanted and would ask some general questions (exact location, how many bedrooms, the silly questions, how many TV's, etc.), but now I'm hearing, “we've never been there before, can you tell me a bit about your area?”
I think the renter “landscape” is changing. It seems that there are a fair amount of people who have never rented a vacation home before. I feel it's my duty as an owner to be sure they have the best experience possible. This way they will continue to rent vacation homes and will likely tell all of their friends about the wonderful experiences they had.
So last week I got a phone call from a renter who had a really bad first time experience. Here's what happened: Last August, he reserved a condo in Destin for the month of February. He sent his deposit in a timely manner and sent his full rental payment per the agreed upon schedule. Then last week, he got an email from the owner who told him he had to cancel his reservation. Apparently the story was that this owner also has a property manager and they also booked the property for that month. Regardless of the “reason” for cancellation, it was still a pretty cruddy thing to do this to this renter!
So when the renter called me in desperation, I apologized to him and told him that most owners are NOT like this. And I would do everything I could to help him out. Thankfully, our condo complex has an email list. I sent an email to every owner in the complex and within minutes we were able to get this renter rebooked.
This little bit of effort that I took goes a long way for not just the renter, but for the industry. It shows that, yes, it's safe to rent vacation homes from private owners. All it takes is one bad apple owner to give us all a bad name. In the end, this particular renter finished on a positive note and likely that's what he'll remember…and tell his friends.
If for any reason you need to cancel someone's booking, I feel it's a moral obligation to help them find another place to rent. The owner who cancelled could have easily done exactly what I did prior to sending the note. How differently the situation would have been if he would have sent a cancellation note along with 6 or 8 other choices for a rental?
And I'll end with a bit of advice for you and the industry: Remember, the first to respond to an inquiry is most often going to be the first to get the booking! Make sure to respond to all inquires in a timely fashion and if you're booked, forward the inquiry onto another owner.
Happy Renting by Owner!
Christine
If you're interested in hearing Christine speak at one of her upcoming seminars, visit the Seminar Schedule for more information.
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