For many of vacation home owners, the busiest season of the year is coming to a close. Hopefully, the summer went well and your pockets are well-lined. The off-season is the perfect time to plan how you are going to spend some of your newfound fortune to improve, update or maintain your vacation home.

Low Cost/Effort Tasks

Give your property a deep-clean. This is quite an undertaking so prepare to pay your housekeeper for a full day of work. A deep-clean should consist of routine cleaning tasks, as well as, once (or twice) a year tasks such as washing the baseboards, shampooing the carpets, steam-cleaning the sofas, and vacuuming the refrigerator condenser coils.

Assess trees and brush. If you have a property in the mountains or on a lake where your renters are “buying” a view, be sure that nature hasn't overgrown your wonderful selling point. While the late fall or very early winter is the easier time to actually trim—when the leaves are off the deciduous tress, it's important to mark where to cut while the leaves are still on. Update your décor. While you may have a good rental season, perhaps you don't have enough excess cash to change out big ticket items. There are some easy, less-expensive ways to update your home without breaking your budget. Consider adding colorful curtains or throw pillows to less colorful rooms. New knobs or pulls in your kitchen or on your dressers could do wonders. Sometimes adding new functional items such as placemats, decorative kitchen towels, or new shower curtain give an updated look at a very minimal cost. Watch some of those decorating shows on TV and I'm sure you'll get great, inexpensive ideas. Paint your home's interior. You can change the aesthetic of a room quickly and fairly painlessly with a couple fresh coats of paint. Plain white walls rarely photograph well. Add a little color to the walls and your property will sell itself.

Medium Cost/Effort Tasks Check the condition of big ticket appliances like your refrigerator, dishwasher, washer, dryer, A/C unit, and furnace. Watch for sales at your local stores, you'll almost always pay less when you plan the purchase rather than have to purchase immediately. Also, remember if your appliance breaks while you have renters in there, it could be costly to deal with upset guests. So if that fridge has been on the fritz all season, it's better to replace it in the off-season than to deal with unhappy renters with spoiled food next spring.

Super-size your beds. Where possible, consider replacing full and queen-size beds with the top requested king-size, especially in the master bedrooms. It's not simply about just buying a new mattress and headboard. You'll also have to replace your sheets, mattress pads, blankets, quilts, dust ruffles, and comforters. And as soon as you change all of that then your drapery won't match anymore and you will likely need to be replaced too.

Assess exterior paint and stain. Assess whether or not your deck, fence or exterior of your home needs to have a fresh coat of paint or stain applied. Keeping your wood protected will prolong the life and make your property look much nicer. During the fall, watch your home improvement store for sales fliers. When your brand of stain goes on sale, be sure to stock up! Install wear and tear protection. Areas that take a lot of traffic can be saved by swapping less durable items for more substantial materials. Consider installing tile or wood flooring in your high traffic areas such as entry ways, living areas and game rooms. Adding wainscoting or bead board to the bottom portion of the walls in your entry way could save your walls from those ugly dings and black spots caused by luggage, coolers or other things that your renters bring into your home. If underneath your breakfast bar is constantly filled with foot marks from little feet kicking you can add the wainscoting there too.

High Cost/Effort Tasks

Add amenities that will make your property stand out against the competition. In many areas, renters have a wide selection of vacation rentals to choose from. Differentiate your property by adding a hot tub or spa, a pool table, an HD flat screen TV, or even a high-end espresso and coffeemaker. Tackle larger renovation projects. While a little (okay, a lot) more costly than painting, renovating an older property can do wonders to your bottom line down the road, both with more rentals and property appreciation. And the off-season is the perfect time to do it. Consider adding crown molding, splurging on new cabinets and countertops, or tackling that bathroom renovation.

What is your post-peak season maintenance plan? "We always steam clean the couches and shampoo the carpets but this year we're going for the gold and, in addition to the regular maintenance chores, we're getting a plasma HDTV." - Jon R., Charlotte, NC.

Winter Lock-Up: How to Protect Your Vacation Property Against Pests Protect your property from unwanted intruders during the unoccupied winter months.   Seven Preventative Maintenance Tips To Consider It's always beneficial to be prepared. Here are some ways to equip your vacation home to avoid unnecessary maintenance problems. Managing Cleaning and Maintenance at Your Vacation Home from a Distance How to overcome the biggest challenge that you will likely face as a vacation rental owner.   The Extras: Which Amenities Will Set Your Vacation Rental Home Apart? From HDTVs to Air Conditioning, which amenities will help set your vacation rental apart from the competition?

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