Relevant to Taos Real Estate News Articles
Home Away Attracting Vacation
Home Renters
By AMY GUNDERSON - Published: June 13, 2007 - New York Times
Several years ago, after arriving at her vacation rental on Oneida Lake
in upstate New York, Christine Karpinski noticed that the house lacked an
essential amenity: a barbecue. “I called the owner and he agreed to
bring me one,” Ms. Karpinski said. “How can you rent out a place
without a grill?” Ms. Karpinski maintains the Web site How to Rent
by Owner.
In an increasingly crowded vacation rental market, high-speed Internet access, plasma televisions, and even 500-thread-count Egyptian cotton sheets can help distinguish a home and bring in renters. “It’s a marketing tactic,” Ms. Karpinski said, “but it could be just the feature that pushes someone to your listing over, say, the 50 other condos that are just like yours.”
Beyond offering search criteria like number of bedrooms or distance to
the beach, many vacation rental Web sites now have more search options to
narrow down a potential renter’s search. Properties listed on HomeAway.com
, a vacation rental site, offers search options that indicate the presence
of extras like a washing machine or cable TV, while VRBO.com, a for-rent-by-owner
Web site, allows rentals to be searched by keywords. This makes it easier
to find a house, say, within walking distance of a beach, with a stereo
dock for a portable music player as well as a well-stocked wine refrigerator.
While specific must-have amenities can vary by area (Smoky Mountain rental
homes often have pool tables, for instance), there is a checklist of essential
conveniences that most owners should offer when renting out their vacation
homes.
No. 1 is to make sure the house is comfortably in the 21st century, said
Carol Shore, the rental manager for Coldwell Banker Landmark Real Estate
on Martha’s Vineyard. “High-speed Internet access is becoming
more of a necessity,” Ms. Shore said, noting that even the most idyllic
property without a high speed Internet connection can be a tough sell to
vacationers who don’t want to be completely cut off from their workplaces.
“That can be a deal breaker.”
Yet while more owners are outfitting homes with technological comforts like
DVD players, iPod docking stations and 50-inch plasma televisions, it’s
important not to overlook the basics. A kitchen should be equipped with
an adequate number of place settings, as well as silverware, wine glasses
and a corkscrew. “If a house sleeps 8, have at least 10 settings,”
said Maureen Regan, the owner of Seaside Vacation Rentals in York, Me. A
coffee maker is required, but a coffee grinder is an added touch.
Bikes, kayaks, canoes and beach chairs can also be welcome amenities, but rental managers say they are not required. After all, such items can easily go missing.
There are certain features that can make or break a rental depending on the area. In the Hamptons, for instance, a pool heater can make or break a rental for the month of June. “One of the first things we tell people is to get a pool heater,” said Rik Kristiansson, an agent at the Corcoran Group in East Hampton. “June and even early July can be cool here.”
Making a house more appealing to families with children can also encourage bookings. Putting a fence around a swimming pool is one way to do that. And a beach house owner might want to spring for plastic beach toys and buckets to help ensure that other household objects, like serving spoons, don’t get turned into makeshift shovels.
Keith Schad, the owner of a two-bedroom condo in Destin, Fla., outfitted his apartment with several flat-panel televisions (including a 50-inch plasma model), two DVD players, wireless Internet access, an espresso maker, 400-thread-count sheets and an Xbox 360. Not only does he want his vacation home to be a retreat on a rainy day, but with such high-end items he wishes to attract a clientele that respects his home as much as he does. “My hope,” he said, “is that renters will take care of it.”
