Host, Christine Karpinski: Today's question comes from a homeowner. Howard asks,

Q: "Christine, can you please tell me the benefits of renting my vacation home by owner?"

A: Howard, I'll tell you that there are hundreds of thousands of people who rent their vacation homes by owner. Of course, the money seems to be a good motivator for a lot of people, but believe it or not, it doesn't seem to be the main motivator for all people who are looking to rent their vacation homes.

Most often, the home owners who rent out their homes themselves like to have complete control. They like to have control over who rents their property and the maintenance that's done on their properties. They like to control the vacancies or the bookings as far as when the renters are coming, what days they come in and how many days between each guest are left open. They also like to control their own personal use.

A lot of property managers may require you to sign a contract which makes it a little bit more restrictive for your own personal use. If you only want to rent out a few weeks a year, then renting by owner is a great way to be able to have your own personal use and rent it when you want to use it yourself.

The last reason that most people to choose to rent their vacation homes is that they like to have their money up front. They don't want to wait until 30, 60 days after the guests leave to get their money. Most of the renters are going to pay you up front, before they even step foot in your property.

But, let me tell you, there are some cons to renting your vacation home yourself. It's not like you can just take it over, you can put your ad on the Internet, and poof ‑ everything will be easy. I will tell you there are definitely some risks involved. It is work; there is a lot of work that needs to be done. You have to answer inquiries. You've got to answer your phone, and a lot of times it's at the most inconvenient times. Somebody might call you during dinner; might call you with a problem while you're enjoying your Fourth of July outing with your own family; or you might get a call for something that broke down or something like that. Certainly handling that is a challenge.

The other thing that seems to be the most difficult part of renting by owner is finding a reliable cleaning service, or a housekeeper that can just clean your property each time a renter leaves. Hands down, it's the most difficult part. However, it's achievable; there are people out there who do a great job. Sometimes it takes you two, three, four housekeepers to find the perfect one; however, it is definitely a challenge.

Managing the maintenance, again one of those things that you can do. I can pick up the phone from Austin, Texas and call to Destin, Florida, just as easily as somebody in Destin, Florida can call Destin, Florida. The phone doesn't work any quicker! So anyway, I think managing that maintenance again is a challenge; however it's not a hurdle.

The other thing is that you have to be able to visit your property a couple of times a year. Because you have to be there to follow up and to make sure that it's in good working order and that nothing needs to be replaced or repaired. You can depend on your housekeeper for a lot of things but certainly there's going to be a different way to look at it yourself.

The last thing that I always tell people is that when you're renting your own vacation home, one of the main risks is, be careful, it's contagious! Once you find that you're renting your own vacation home and you're doing really well with it, you're going to want to buy more and more, and rent more properties.

Good luck!