You've prepared your vacation home with top-notch décor, high quality linens, and have your ducks in a row regarding insurance, contracts, and taxes. Now it's time to get your wonderful property out there for renters to find. Luckily, the Internet offers many easy and cost-effective vehicles to drive potential renters to your vacation home.

Portal Websites Portal websites range in size from local or regional sites (i.e. Grand Marais cottage rentals) with only a few hundred properties to large-scale worldwide sites like HomeAway.com and VRBO.com that have thousands of listings and millions of visits each year. Specialty Websites Specialty websites cater to the needs or interests of a certain group of people. Some are devoted to listing vacation properties specifically and some are not. Examples of specialty websites include Chamber of Commerce websites, hobby-specific websites like golf or scuba diving, and travel websites targeting particular groups of travelers like seniors or pet owners.

Personal Websites Personal websites complement your portal websites listings by allowing you to provide more photos and more detailed descriptions. The personal website is a great tool to help you seal the deal with potential renters by giving them all of the information they need to know that your place is the best home for their vacation needs. Your personal website can be a 360 degree showcase of your cottage, cabin, condo, or villa.  This Big White, British Columbia property website, for example, walks a potentail renter through extensive descriptions and a virtual tour.

Common Myths about Renting Your Vacation Home... Debunked    The truth about what it take to start renting your second home as a vacation rental.