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Christine's Blog: Offering Flexible Payment Schedules (4/16/2009)
Christine explains how her flexibility with payment schedules has helped her to secure more bookings.
Hi Everyone!
Hope this finds you well. It's been a slow week for rentals for me - until last night when I took 5 bookings! Not sure why there are such big spreads of ebbs and flows, but I was loving last night's flows! Though I was a bit worried, it looks like my open weeks during the summer are slowly but surely filling in.
I have had a lot of owners ask me if I have lowered my rates and the answer is a demonstrative NO! I think the one thing that has really sealed the deal with a lot of my renters is I am offering a flexible payment policy. I am requiring $200 upon booking, and then I break up the payments however they want. I have one lady who booked 12 months out and is sending monthly checks! Many opt for 3 or 4 payments spread over 3 months. One lady who booked last night got out her credit card statement to see when the end of her billing cycle was so we could spread the $2000 worth of payments over 3 cycles…Though it is somewhat of a risk on my end (not really requiring the full ½ payment ahead of time,) I understand people not wanting to dish out that huge check in these uncertain conditions.
Anyways, last week during my slow bookings, I utilized my time by checking into refinancing some of my mortgages. I cannot believe how low the rates are! I guess this is one of the positive parts of a tough economy. It looks like I can get a 30 year fixed rate mortgage for around 4.75% with zero points for my primary home! Though I think I would rather have a root canal than go through the mortgage process, I think the pain I'll endure rummaging through paperwork will so be worth the monthly savings.
Wish me happy refinancing!
Christine
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What types of payment schedules have you offered your prospective guests?
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© Copyright 2009 Christine Karpinski
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