Hi all!

This week represents this official end to spring break! I hope you and your homes all survived, had tons of great renters and no beer-drinking, college spring breakers.

Within the next few weeks, our next wave of inquiries and bookings should come rolling in for the busy summer rental season. If you're already booked-- great! If not, now's the time to start thinking about attracting the next wave of travelers: Change your headlines, alter your descriptions, make sure your rates and calendars are up-to-date and your photos are the best!

I have reassessed my ads and all's well except I'll have to write some new descriptions and get new photos of my cabins.

Remember a few months ago when I wrote about buying new beds? Well this week they are scheduled to arrive. This news sent me frantically shopping for new linens (remember I'm switching my beds from queens to kings, so this means all new bedding too!). The first place I went was Costco. I found that King sheets were between $65 and $100. Wow, that's much more than queen sets.

Next, I let my fingers do the walking on the internet to do some price comparison shopping. The best prices for good quality sheets I found were on SmartBargains.com. For $40 I was able to get 400 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets w/4 pillow cases (I love the bonus pillow cases, since it seems like I replace pillowcases sooner than sheets.)

The benefit of buying Egyptian cotton is that-- yes, they are very nice sheets-- but now I can advertise my homes as having luxury sheets. I am hoping this will piqué the interest of a couple of renters that would have maybe otherwise glanced passed my property.

After sheets, I needed new blankets, quilts, pillow shams, dust ruffles, and mattress pads. I was able to find all of these items reasonably priced on SmartBargains.com as well. So I purchased everything in one shot and had it shipped to my housekeeper. The total damage to my pocketbook was a mere $280 per bed (including shipping and taxes), which included 2 sets of sheets (one on the bed and one spare), 4 pillows (2 for sleeping and 2 for the shams), a blanket, mattress pad, quilt, shams and dust ruffle. I think I did pretty well! Hopefully they'll make it at the same time as the beds.

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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Preparing Your Second Home for Vacation Rentals    Which items should be removed and which are expected in your vacation rental cabin, condo, or villa?

How to Write Your Ads for the Search Engines, too!    When writing your advertisements, use search engine optimization (SEO) to attract more renters.

Sample Directions for Your Vacation Rental Guests    Learn how to make your vacation rental directions clear and thorough.

Top 10 Most Common Cleaning Problems at Vacation Rentals    Avoid some of your renters' biggest complaints.

Post-Peak Season Maintenance Plan for Vacation Rentals    After 12 weeks of continuous use, your property probably deserves a little TLC.

How to Fire Your Housekeeper    When the cleaning staff is pulling you underwater instead of helping you swim, when should you cut the line?

How To Handle Laundry For Back-to-Back Rentals    With a limited amount of time between back-to-back rentals, cleaning the sheets and towels in a timely manner can be a challenge.

Ten Ways to Sell Your Vacation Home Faster    Tips for selling your vacation rental home in the cooling housing market.

Top Ten Things Vacation Rental Owners Should Know About the Average Traveler    What the typical traveler is looking for when they search for a vacation rental.

Traveler's Thoughts...Revealed    A “behind the looking glass” perspective into travelers' likes, fears, and annoyances about renting vacation homes.

Obtaining Feedback from Your Vacation Home Renters    Easy ways to encourage your guests to provide constructive criticism

Christine's Blog: Buying New Beds for Your Vacation Rental Property (1/30/07)    Christine vents her frustration with the myriad of choices to made when buying new beds for her vacation homes.

Christine's Blog: FVRMA and Takeaways from Traveler Focus Groups (5/21/07)    Christine sounds off on why she's attending the Florida Vacation Rental Manager's Association conference and what she learned from focus groups conducted by HomeAway this past week.

Christine's Blog: Whew! Taxes Done (4/16/07)    Christine is glad to be done with her taxes and checked in at her cabins on the new beds and linens that she recently ordered.

The 2nd Edition of Christine Karpinski's Book, How to Rent Vacation Properties by Owner    Christine talks about the new 2nd edition of How to Rent Vacation Properties by Owner, which includes over 150 pages of new material and is now available on her website.

Amenities & Furnishings   From beds to barbeques, hot tubs to appliances, guestbooks to high-speed internet. A look at the many niceties you should consider for your vacation rental.

Often Overlooked Amenities: Pens and Paper at Your Vacation Home    With the many uses for pens and paper, it's a great idea to stock your vacation home with writing utensils and scratch paper.

Where to Find the Best Deals on Linens, Towels, and Decor    Vacation rental owners chime in on where they find the best deals on linens, towels, silverware, and decor.

How to Create a Gourmet Kitchen at Your Vacation Rental    Learn how to make your kitchen a destination in itself.

Buying Linens for Your Vacation Rental Home    Tips for choosing long-lasting sheets that your guests will love.

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Tips for Furnishing Your Vacation Rental Home    Guide to choosing new furnishings for your vacation rental home.

Buying Towels for Your Vacation Rental Property    Tips for buying affordable and long-lasting towels for your vacation home.

Should You Provide Extras Like Shampoo, Soap, and Laundry Detergent?    Insight into which extras you should provide for your guests.

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