Sunday, July 4, 2010

“Vacation rentals: 9 things to know” plus 1 more

“Vacation rentals: 9 things to know” plus 1 more

Vacation rentals: 9 things to know

Posted: 03 Jul 2010 09:16 AM PDT

2. Timing your purchase. If you're in town for a special event, like a sports tournament or festival, it's never too soon to book a vacation rental. "Vacation rentals are more scarce than hotels and great vacation properties are even scarcer," says Chris Brusznicki, the chief executive of GamedayHousing.com, a site that specializes in rentals for sports events. But if there's no reason to be in town, you can run down the clock. One terrific new site that allows you to bid on "last minute" vacation rentals is a site called PackLate.

3. Finding out what you're renting. It probably goes without saying that you need to do your due diligence on a rental. "Do your homework," says Sylvia Guarino, who owns a rental home on Sanibel Island, Fla. (one of my favorite places) and a member of Second Porch, a Facebook application that connects vacation rental owners and vacation guests. "Vacation rental guests sometimes get too focused on getting a deal, and not focused enough on getting the information that they need, or authenticating the property. "How do you authenticate a property? Look at every piece of information available to you, including the owner's site, the vacation rental site, online reviews and what you find on social networking sites, like Facebook. Be sure the property is in good shape, is as represented and isn't in foreclosure.

4. Finding out who you're renting from. "Research the owner, not just the home," says Kelly Hayes-Raitt, who owns a rental property in Santa Monica, Calif. She includes a link to her Web site and biography in every correspondence with potential guests, "not just so they realize they are supporting my work with refugees, but so they learn they are dealing with someone who has been active in her community for 30 years and not likely to cheat them," she says. Not every owner is as forthcoming as Hayes-Raitt, but if someone is reclusive, it might be a warning sign.

5. Determining if the rental is part of an association or destination. That can make a big difference, according to Jon Ervin, a spokesman for the Cottage Rental Agency in Seaside, Fla. "Imagine you rent from Mr. and Mrs. Jones — nice enough people, but what if your air conditioning quits or some other concern arises?" he asks. "You most likely are going to have to work through the issue for your entire stay." Not if your rental is part of an association. There's someone on call to help in situations like that. My family rented a home at the WaterColor Inn & Resort in nearby Santa Rosa Beach, Fla., during the Christmas holidays, and we found that to be good advice.

6. Becoming a power user. For example, VRBO.com allows you to filter search results by area, bedrooms and the number of people it can sleep. That helped Kellie Pelletier find a vacation rental in Charleston, S.C. for her family. VRBO also shows which homes are available on your preferred dates. "So I didn't waste my time researching and contacting houses that were already booked for my week," she says. Pelletier knows a thing or two about being a power user. She used to work for Kayak.com, the booking site. "House rental sites are years, if not decades, behind other travel sites," she complains. "Please, won't somebody launch the Kayak of rental house sites?"

7. Avoiding group-think. Extended families like mine should be broken up into smaller housing units, such as adjoining condos, as opposed to fitting them into one house. It gives everyone more privacy and is easier on the finances, because you don't have to argue over the bill at the end. "Sometimes a big house works for some families," says Carol White, who runs a Web site about road trips. "But not others."

8. Reviewing the contract very carefully. You're not checking into a hotel; this is more like renting an apartment. Watch for contract language, such as cleaning options. Frank Discala, who owns a rental property in Nantucket Town, Mass., gives his tenants two options: either clean up after themselves, "Or they can leave the place without cleaning up and lose their $500 deposit," he says. "Ouch! No one has ever taken that option." (Discala knows about contracts; he's a lawyer.)

9. Staying flexible. Remember, you're renting an apartment or house — not a room in a hotel. "Some things may go wrong," warns Pauline Kenny, a vacation rental expert who runs a site called Slow Europe. "The plumbing may stop working, the kitchen stove runs out of gas. Some things may not be perfect — you bump your head repeatedly on that low doorway, the couch is orange, the parking space is almost impossible to get into." That's life in a vacation rental. "Suck it up and live with it," she says.

Needless to say, tenting a vacation has its challenges. "The process for finding a vacation rental home is more involved and sometimes even difficult," says Christine Karpinski, a director for HomeAway.com. "You have to not only search for the home, but you also have to email to inquire whether or not it is available and for a full quote. Sometimes the process can take a couple hours and sometimes it can take a week of back-and-forth with the homeowners. But the reward at the end is wonderful."

I hope she's right. I'll let you know what happens this summer.

Christopher Elliott is the ombudsman for National Geographic Traveler magazine. You can read more travel tips on his blog, elliott.org or e-mail him at celliott@ngs.org.

© 2010 msnbc.com.  Reprints

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Vacation rental owners: Truckee/Tahoe would lose appeal with regulations

Posted: 03 Jul 2010 02:05 PM PDT

TRUCKEE/TAHOE — Local vacation rental business owners are distancing themselves from restrictions like billing homeowners for law enforcement calls and banning minimum stay requirements, which are being considered in other parts of California.

"It could probably kill us in terms of desirability," said Charles White, owner/broker of Donner Lake Realty based in Truckee. "Who would buy a vacation place if they couldn't rent it?"

Similar restrictions have not passed in Incline Village, and are being considered by Santa Cruz County supervisors as well as areas in Southern California. The proposals being considered ask landlords to pay for the cost of law enforcement responses when problems arise, according to reports by the Associated Press, and ban big events like wedding receptions and eliminate requirements that guests stay at least one week.

Gordon Meyer, owner of vacation rentals based in Incline Village, agreed with White's assessment of the impact on real estate.

"It would have a negative effect on property values," said Meyer. "If owners can't get sufficient rental income, they won't be able to sell it as a potential rental property."

Meyer said if the local communities around the lake were not so dependent upon tourist dollars, regulations might not be as potentially harmful to business owners.

"It affects everything," said Meyer.

Meyer said responding to noise complaints or late-night parties is part of what residents pay law enforcement to do.

Nevertheless, he believes it is up to individual property owners to carefully screen renters.

"You have to rent to responsible parties," he said.

White said the people responsible for having the police come to the property — the tenants — should be accountable for reimbursement of law enforcement should any penalties be incurred.

"The people that created the crime should pay," he said.

Both Meyer and White said occasions of excessive parties, noise or criminal behavior are rare in Truckee/Tahoe, and usually happen around holiday weekends such as July 4, when such activities are not unique to vacation destinations.

"We would be hurting ourselves to allow things to get out of control," said White.

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