“Rental Resurgence: Owners of Vacation Rentals Optimistic About Their Rental Business in 2011, According to New ...” plus 1 more |
| Posted: 11 Jan 2011 02:24 PM PST RISMEDIA, January 12, 2011—As leisure travel continues to rebound, owners of vacation rentals are expressing optimism about their bookings in 2011. In fact, HomeAway, Inc.—one of the world's leading online vacation rental marketplaces—finds in its latest "HomeAway Vacation Rental Marketplace Report" that eight of 10 vacation rental owners anticipate their rental business this year will be stronger or about the same as it was in 2010. The year is already off to a good start for some owners. According to HomeAway's seventh quarterly report, about 60% of vacation rental owners say their bookings for the first quarter of the year (January through March) are about the same or higher than the same time period last year. "It's clear an increasing number of travelers are considering vacation rentals as an alternative to hotels," says Brian Sharples, chief executive officer of HomeAway. "We've done a lot of work to promote the benefits of vacation rentals—extra space, added privacy and full kitchens—and that marketing and advertising is having an impact. More travelers are asking themselves, 'Why hotel when I can HomeAway?'" Good News for Travelers: Prices Stable, Choices Continue to Grow While rates look to be consistent in 2011, vacation rental inventory continues to grow. For the sixth consecutive quarter, Austin makes the list of the top 10 fastest-growing cities for vacation rental listings. Last year's list, comprised of three markets in California (Carnelian Bay, Santa Monica and Beverly Hills), three ski towns (Estes, Colo.; Truckee and Carnelian Bay, Calif.) and two lake destinations (Canyon Lake, Texas; Lake Norman, Illinois) is a change from this year's list that featured beaches and less traditional vacation rental destinations. In addition to a greater selection of vacation rentals, travelers will also benefit from owners' efforts to improve their properties and the experience that travelers have while staying in them. The report found that 59% of vacation rental owners are planning an upgrade to their homes in 2011. Of those owners who say they'll embark on an improvement project: "For most vacation rental owners, it's about providing a great vacation experience for their renters," says Sharples. "They're looking to create a little piece of paradise that brings families together." In fact, when asked how they describe their vacation home to travelers, 19% say they use the word "paradise;" 18% say "retreat;" and 14% use the word "peaceful." Other descriptors included: If they could afford to buy another vacation rental today, nearly half (49%) of the owners surveyed say they'd buy in a beach destination—more than any other type of destination. Fourteen percent would buy in a ski or mountain destination; 9% would buy near a lake; and 6% would buy in a big city like New York, Dallas, Los Angeles or San Francisco. The remaining owners would buy in a destination built around family attractions or a mid-sized city like Austin, New Orleans or Santa Fe. However, for those who are serious about buying vacation real estate with the intent to rent, Sharples says they should consider markets where travelers are looking to vacation. McCall, Idaho, was the fastest-growing destination among travelers looking for vacation rentals in the third quarter of 2010. The resort city in the southwestern part of the state is known for its annual winter carnival. The destinations with the largest year-over-year percent increase (from Q3 2009 to Q3 2010) in inquiries from travelers looking to rent vacation homes: -McCall, Idaho – up 467% For more information, visit www.homeaway.com. RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com. Have you heard about RISMedia's Real Estate Information Network® (RREIN)? RREIN is an elite network of leading real estate companies dedicated to providing consumers and their agents with leading real estate information, and committed to the belief that Information Share Equals Market Share. Having only launched this past June 2010, the RREIN network is already comprised of 40 leading brokerages, which make up 575 offices, 30,000 agents, 167,000 closings and represents over $41 billion in transactions. How can RREIN help your recruiting efforts and differentiate your company today? For more information, email rrein@rismedia.com. Copyright© 2010 RISMedia, The Leader in Real Estate Information Systems and Real Estate News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be republished without permission from RISMedia. Be sure to check out these headlines on RISMedia.com:  This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| Turning a Second Home Into Vacation Rental Posted: 11 Jan 2011 04:19 AM PST BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (TheStreet) -- As investors speculate whether the real estate market is about to make a turnaround, some are considering offering second homes as vacation rentals, which can supplement operating expenses incurred when the property isn't in use. But before you sign closing documents expecting it's as simple as creating an account with the popular vacation-rentals-by-owner site, VRBO.com, here are a few tips to make sure you know what to expect and are investing in a home people really want to rent. Do your homeworkYou've likely watched endless episodes of House Hunters in which buyers swoop in for 24 hours in St. John and buy one $1 million property from among three homes. That's not how it works in the real world. If you're planning to buy a second home for use as a vacation rental, do yourself a favor and plan multiple trips to your intended destination, researching and walking several neighborhoods to get the feel and mood of each. Keep in mind that you're not buying only a house; you're buying a neighborhood. Potential vacation renters look first at what neighborhood they want to be in, then what houses are available. Most importantly, whether you're buying or already own a potential rental, check with the city to see what type of permits are required (or even if short-term rentals are allowed), and with the holder of your homeowners insurance to make sure you're covered and for how much. The bigger the better While you may think there's no big difference between the three-bedroom/two-bathroom house and the one with four bedrooms and four bathrooms, in the rental world it can mean a difference of 30% to 50% in potential rental income. Try to find the maximum amount of bedrooms and baths possible so the home appeals to larger families and groups with more than one or two couples sharing the home. Most potential buyers simply do the math of dividing the room rate by the number of bedrooms to give the cost equivalent of staying in a hotel. Also, look at local hotel rates through the year for fluctuation between high and low seasons to foresee the ebbs and flows of your potential rental income. Photos are key Whether selling or renting your house, professional photographs (likely costing anywhere from $200 to $500) are just about the best investment you can make. Cheap, DIY photography can make an average house rental look terrible. Keep in mind that typically the more photos you post on sites such as VRBO, the more it costs, but also the higher your listing is placed in your geographic target market. Try for no less than 10 photos, with the best exterior feature of your property as the first or top listing image, followed by wide-angle lens interior shots and a few of the property at night. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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