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Renting Your Vacation Home by Owner FAQs
Rent by owner or use a property management company? Here are the most frequently asked questions.
Q: Why should I considering renting my vacation home?
A: The rental income is the most obvious reason. According to a survey conducted by HomeAway.com, owners who rent their second homes make on average more than $33,000 a year in rental revenue. Renting your second home just a few weeks each year could help off-set some costs, such as your homeowner's insurance, power bills, or HOA dues. In addition, many owners rent out their vacation home to keep it from sitting empty when they are not using their home themselves.
Q: How do I get started?
A: You can turn to a local property manager, or you can try to rent your vacation home “by owner.” Today millions of vacation home owners choose to rent their homes without the use of a property manager.
Q: Why should I “rent by owner” instead of use a property management company?
A: There are 2 main reasons to rent by owner instead of using a property management company. The first is the more obvious: It's money. You can net more money by saving the management company commissions. The second reason to rent by owner is having complete control of “who” rents your property. By talking to each renter yourself, you can better screen who gets to stay in your second home, whereas property management companies might not be so picky.
Q: How much money can I save by “renting by owner?”
A: That really depends on the market that your vacation home is located in. In some popular travel destinations (like Lake Tahoe), property managers charge up to 40% of your rental rate. This cuts into your bottom line really fast. You'll save on such things as linens, pools, credit card fees, and cleaning fees, since when you rent by owner, you charge the cleaning fee on top of the regular rental rate and taxes.
Q: What's the hardest part of starting the rent by owner process?
A: Finding a reliable cleaning service or housekeeper is probably the most difficult part of renting your vacation home by owner, because your housekeepers are your eyes and ears at your property. They are the ones that are going in there every single week, and they are the ones checking up on the renters, making sure that there was no damage or theft.
Q: Where can I find sample contracts or leases for starting my vacation rental business?
A: Within the Owner Community, you can find sample contracts, invoices, confirmation emails, credit card authorization forms, rental rules, deposit refund letters, and more. See the "Quick Reference Links" on the bottom left hand corner of the Owner Community site.
Q: How do I find a reliable housekeeper or cleaning service?
A: There are various ways. The best way to find a housekeeper is get a referral from a friend or acquaintance who rents their home in your market. If you don't know anyone who rents in your market, pick up the phone and call other owners in your area who list on VRBO.com or HomeAway.com (their phone numbers should be in their listings.) Other options include checking the local yellow pages, checking the counter at the local hardware store for business cards, asking around at local religious establishments and civic centers, and loitering in the cleaning supplies aisle at the local grocery store to spot individuals buying in bulk.
Q: How do I handle maintenance from a distance?
A: Maintenance is definitely a hurdle of long-distance rental management. You have 2 options: you can hire a maintenance company (sign a contract and pay a monthly fee to have someone on-call for your unit), or you can choose to handle it yourself. I am a by-owner “purist”. I do it all. I don't like to spend money on services that I don't need. If you choose the latter, for the most part, you won't get calls for little things.
Q: What's the best way to advertise my vacation property?
A: The best way to advertise is on the Internet. There are a lot of web sites available out there where you can post your property (like HomeAway.com and VRBO.com). It's really quick, really simple and very cheap (around $300 a year per web site) and you'll usually get enough inquiries and bookings from about two to three web sites to be able to fill your property to capacity.
Q: How much time does it take to rent by owner on a daily basis?
A: This is a realistic question. You must have some extra time, because there is work involved. Here's what you can expect: 5-15 minutes per day responding to e-mail and voice inquiries. During the busiest booking time (January to March), expect to spend up to an hour each day responding to inquiries-- This is when most owners get 80% of their bookings for the whole season. After you're pretty much booked (which is generally by April 1) expect to spend approximately one half hour per week sending directions and mailing deposit refunds. Also factor in time to fill out tax forms and cash the rental checks.
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