As the vacation rental industry grows, more and more travelers will be renting vacation homes for the first time. To ensure new renters become “vacation rental enthusiasts” it's important that we do our best to make them feel comfortable and trust that we are legitimate, and our homes really do exist. Here are a few ways to ease these newbies in:

1) Use professional-looking photos. Include a timestamp on your photos to show they are recent. Just be sure to update them at least once a year. 2) Keep your calendar up-to date. 3) List your name in your ad's contact info box. 4) Fill out your listing as completely as possible. 5) Accept credit cards.

6) Encourage past renters to write in your guestbook and complete a review. 7) Use a rental agreement. 8) Charge sales taxes. 9) Respond quickly to inquiries by following up with a phone call. 10) Avoid using free email service providers (Hotmail, Yahoo, etc.) for correspondence. These are often used by spammers and scam artists.