Host, Christine Karpinski: I'm Christine Karpinski. Thank you for listening to the How To Rent Vacation Properties By Owner Podcast.

Today's guest is Robin Clapp. Robin is a vacation home owner who bought her vacation home a little while ago. In a minute she'll tell us her whole story. But, she's joining us today to give a different perspective about how she came to own her property, and some neat, interesting things she has done with her vacation home, and with her vacation home marketing that has really made it successful for her. Are you there Robin?

Guest, Robin Clapp: I am Christine, thank you.

Christine: Thank you so much for joining us. Can you tell everybody a little bit about yourself. You've got a fun story of how you came to buy a vacation home. You didn't look at this strictly as an investment, right?

Robin: I did not. We actually started out buying it as a second home, and I did it when our boys were first born. I have five year old twin boys, and they were infants when we started looking for a vacation home in New Hampshire.

Christine: OK, so wait ‑ you had infant twin boys, and you were looking to buy a vacation home. Did you get a puppy at the same time?

Robin: No, we've never had a puppy. But, we carried them from house to house when we were searching for homes.

Christine: Oh my goodness! That must have been a handful.

Robin: They're well traveled.

Christine: That's good. So, you bought this primarily to use it for your family correct?

Robin: That's right. We had actually had some friends when we were growing up that had second homes in New Hampshire. So, we had been exposed to it in the past. And then when I had my kids I thought, "Oh, wouldn't it be great to have a place that we go back to the same one every vacation," and that's kind of how it came about.

Christine: And so when did the whole thought process for renting it out come in?

Robin: Well, the same people that I had known rented out to friends, family, and friends of friends, and so it wasn't a strange idea to me. Although, I always thought, "Oh, I'll do it for a little extra money." But, once I started renting it out, I liked it so much-‑ I just opened it up.

Christine: Wow! And as far as renting it ‑ did you ever go through a property manager, or did you always just do it on your own?

Robin: Always did it on my own.

Christine: You're a buy owner purist, huh? So, you never had a property manager. How long have you owned your vacation home? Well, I guess five years, right? You said your kids are five now.

Robin: Five years. We actually had one first that we sold, and upgraded to the one we have now for about three years.

Christine: So, you started off smaller with something you knew you could afford, correct? And then moved up into a bigger place. Now, what about selling that home-‑ were there hassles in selling and buying another one?

Robin: There were some hassles. We had to pay taxes on it, because of the sale of a second home. It wasn't too bad, it was definitely worth it.

Christine: Great. And you didn't know about the Capital Gains Tax when you went to go sell it?

Robin: No, we did know about it. Actually, homes in New Hampshire are not very expensive, so the taxes weren't all that big. And we wanted to take that next step to a more modern home.

Christine: Excellent. Now, did you know about 1031 Exchanges when you were doing that?

Robin: Yes, I did research it. But, we bought the second one before we sold the first one. And so it was a much more expensive exchange, and it was actually more than what we were going to pay in taxes, so we just paid the tax.

Christine: So, that's a great example as to specific times when it's not as advantageous to do the 1031 Exchange when you're selling your properties. So, definitely you know you did the right thing. You did a lot of research, you weighed it out, looked at it from both sides and realized this wasn't the best way to go. Now, what do you find the most fun aspect of renting your vacation home?

Robin: It's definitely the guests. I get guests from all over, and I love talking to them on the phone, and finding out where they're coming from, why they're coming to our area, how they found our place, and they're just really interesting people. I love following up and finding out how happy they are after they've stayed at our place-‑ that just makes me feel so good.

Christine: I think that's probably one of the most common things that people say. And what about [renting is] the most difficult? What do you find the hardest thing about renting your vacation home?
Robin: When it goes un-rented-‑ like right now.

This has been a hard winter for us, because it didn't get cold like winter until two weeks ago. And usually people book my January and February back in November-‑ and it was summer‑like. So, we've had a rough go of the winter. It's definitely the worst winter I've had so far. But, they'll keep coming, so that's the hardest part. How do I market it, so I can pick this back up and move on?

Christine: Speaking of marketing, you do some pretty interesting stuff. You had told me prior to our interview here that you actually do a newsletter, right?

Robin: I do. I just sent out our March newsletter. We do it twice a year.

Christine: Tell me a little bit about it. You do it twice a year, and what sorts of things do you put in it, and who do you send it to?

Robin: I send it to all the people that have stayed with us in the past. Usually, like this one for instance, my husband wrote an article about fishing on the lake in the spring, and I wrote an article about Storyland, and just said Storyland is really closer than you think to our vacation home, and this is how you get there, because I'm talking specifically to them, so they know where my place is, and "just get right back on the highway and it's this far, " and then I talk a little bit about what a great place it is, because I've brought my boys there; and then just tell them when opening season is and what the rates are this year.

Christine: Excellent. And do you offer specials or anything for return guests?

Robin: Yeah, I do. Five percent or eight percent, depending on when they come, so I do a little reminder at the bottom, "If you want to come back, just remember that there is a discount, " and whatever new thing that we are doing, like now we are accepting credit cards for this year on a trial basis. So I'll say, "Even if it's last minute, go ahead and email me because I'm taking credit cards now." Or, "We just put in an Internet connection, so this is new from the last time you came." So I kind of bring those things up at the end, to summarize.

Christine: Oh neat, neat. And do you find that works? Do you find that people do end up renting your place?

Robin: Well, I probably send it to 40 people, and I think the last time I sent it I got two repeat guests. Or sometimes they just email me back, "Oh yeah, by the way, I used the Internet and it was great, so keep it up. I forgot to tell you this." Because sometimes I don't know whether or not they're using it, and I kind of want a survey of them, so...

Christine: Oh neat. If you sent out 40 and you got two rentals out of it, I mean, that's two rentals that maybe you would not have gotten; or perhaps, when those repeat renters wanted to call you again, maybe you would have already been booked and they would not have gotten that. So doing the newsletter is a great idea. It's a great way to keep yourself connected to your past renters. Now, is there anything rather silly or goofy or fun that our renters have ever done that you'd like to share with us?

Robin: Well, definitely our guest book has some really great entries. I went up over the fall, and they had started a story about a ghost‑‑one of the renters started a story about a ghost, which I thought was funny because usually really old homes... ours is only like five years old; but this ghost must be a lake ghost, and they saw it coming off the lake as they were sitting on the porch, and then the guests after that embellished the story some more and said they had a sighting as well, and then guests after that added to the story. So we have a lot of fun things that come out of the guest book, and I think that is one of the silliest. And that is usually a really good indicator of, that they have had a good time. I don't always get everybody's input, but just the person who rents it, not the other family members, so it's always fun to see what's going on.

Christine: That's actually kind of funny. Like, the next guest would continue on and continue on.

Robin: Oh, yes.

Christine: That is pretty funny. Now, tell us where your property is located.

Robin: We're in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire, on the southern part. We are just south of Wolfboro, which is where Mitt Romney has his vacation home.

Christine: Neat.

Robin: So if he becomes President we'll be the next Kennebunkport. But we're an hour‑and‑a‑half north of Boston, so I get a lot of weekend guests from the city that just drive up there.

Christine: Now, do you require a minimum stay of two nights or three nights during the off‑season?

Robin: Yes, two nights.

Christine: Two nights. Excellent. OK, Robin, thank you so much for joining. Is there one last thing you would like to add, maybe a fond memory that you have had with your family at your own vacation home?

Robin: Sure. Probably my fondest memory was the end of last summer. We had rented it every single week, so we hadn't had a chance to go up there and enjoy it, but I brought my boys up there before they went back to preschool for the fall, and the three of us just spent time on the beach and kayaking, and it was the reason why I bought it, just to get away from it all and relax.

Christine: Awww. I mean, it's so nice, because that is one of the things it's really difficult to do when you rent your vacation home, because as you say, it was rented so well, you don't get to enjoy it yourself; and to really stop and take the time to relax and enjoy your vacation home yourself, it's sometimes difficult but a very necessary step in renting your vacation homes. Robin, thank you so much for joining, and thanks for sharing your story.

I think that people will really be intrigued, and maybe even motivated, by your newsletter tactic for marketing. I think it's a great idea, certainly something you can do. And maybe just sort of to add on to it, I know that this would actually be a lot more work, but perhaps even asking people that inquire, maybe don't even rent but inquire, say, "Hey, I'm booked, but would you like to be added to my newsletter so that next year you might know about it?" It might be a great way to expand your mailing list a little bit more.

Robin: Absolutely.

Christine: Thanks so much, Robin.

Robin: Thank you, Christine.

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