Every year, we plan for the Homeowner Forum the same way: by asking ourselves two questions.  First, how can we best help our homeowners? And second, how can we change it up from last year’s Forum? This year, we decided to break our presentation, “Gaining the Competitive Edge,” into two sections: marketing and managing.

Becky Fischer and Tyler Pyburn took the marketing section and created our “Roadmap for Success.” It’s a step-by-step guide designed to help homeowners separate themselves from their competition. If you prefer to listen, here is a podcast that Becky and Tyler recorded about the same topic. For the full story, read our Homeowner Blog post on Marketing Your Vacation Rental - http://blog.weneedavacation.com/2016/11/15/marketing-vacation-rental-roadmap-success/

Vacation Rental Marketing Roadmap

At this year’s Homeowner Forum, Gaining the Competitive Edge, we examined new as well as tried-and-true ways to distinguish your vacation rental property from your competition.  In his recent blog post, Tyler Pyburn described how the first half of the Forum discussed the steps we should take to make our listings stand out and how we can increase our listings’ exposure to vacationers.  The second half of the Forum, however, focused on ways we should manage our properties: With a small amount of effort, we can assure the comfort and enjoyment of our guests so that they either return the following year or at least post a glowing review to entice other vacationers.
Here is a podcast that Tyler Pyburn and Elizabeth Weedon recorded about the same topic. To read our blog on this topic, please visit http://blog.weneedavacation.com/2016/11/23/2016-homeowner-forum-manage-rental-marketing-mind/

The Mind Of The Vacationer

In our 19 years in business, the vacation rental industry has exploded. In fact, it wasn't really called an "industry" back in 1997. It is fascinating to think about the many ways owning a vacation rental has become more competitive, high-tech, and formalized. In this podcast, we speak with Roselle Levy, a Martha's Vineyard homeowner, who talks about the changes she has seen as a vacation rental homeowner for over 20 years. Hear her personal perspective on how the vacation rental industry has grown and developed.

How has the vacation rental industry changed over time

How and when should you reach back out to your guests from last season?

Outreach To Returning Guests

Until recently, I have been a strong advocate of requiring that vacationers send rental funds by check rather than by credit card. I was concerned about having to pay extra fees and daunted by having to learn how the PayPal process works. Plus, I had never, in 30 years of renting, lost a booking because I didn’t accept credit cards.

Vacation Rentals and Electronic Payments

One of the difficult choices to make when managing a vacation rental is whether or not to charge a cleaning fee, refundable or not, over and above the rent. There really isn’t a right or wrong answer – but let’s discuss a few options and considerations to help you make a decision that’s right for you.
A general rule of thumb is that fairly high-end homes tend to include the cost of cleaning, although this is not always the case.

Should you charge a cleaning fee for your vacation rental?

Your pictures are the first impression for your listing and are CRITICAL to the success of your rental business. We spoke with our staff photographer, Becky Fischer, on how to update your photos even in the off season.

The Importance of Fresh Vacation Rental Photos

As homeowners, we try to learn as much as possible about our potential guests to make sure we feel comfortable with them potentially staying in our homes. However, its important to dig deeper and find out if our home is a good fit for them.

Is Your Vacation Rental a Good Fit?

Email? Phone number? Text messages? All of the above? We break down why it is so important to be accessible to potential guests in your vacation erntal

Why being accessible is so important to potential guests

Looking to extend your rental revenue past Labor Day Weekend? The fall continues to grow in popularity with vacationers, but they have tons of homes to choose from. Tyler Pyburn sits down with Lauren Binder from our Homeowner Support Team to discuss ways in which homeowners can edit their listings slightly and hear other tips to attract more fall bookings.

Attracting more Fall Vacationers to your rental

There has been an interesting trend on the Cape and Islands when it comes to vacation rental inquiries. It seems as if more and more people are booking several months in advance. This has led to an increase in the number of inquiries from vacationers the last two Fall seasons. Jim Reese and Tyler Pyburn sat down to discuss why this trend might be taking place.

Fall vacation Rental Trends on the Cape and Islands

At the end of every year, we like to look back and see what kinds of changes have taken place in the industry. There are typically a few small updates and changes to the way we as homeowners conduct business, however this year, was the first time we saw monumental swings that completely change the industry as a whole.

Trends in the Vacation Rental Industry

Many major vacation rental websites like AirBNB, Homeaway, VRBO, and Flipkey now require additional booking or traveler service fees when you book online through them. This means that you will pay more than the posted rental rate for a home. The team at WeNeedaVacation.com breaks down the fees and what to look out for.

Booking Fees In The Vacation Rental Industry

In this evolving vacation rental industry, it’s more important than ever to create a top-quality listing to successfully market your rental home.  Listen to our recent podcast, in which Tyler Pyburn discusses with Elizabeth Weedon some tips about how to make your online listing more competitive. And, if you are listed on WeNeedaVacation.com, learn what they have to say about our relatively new feature, the Listing Quality Audit, and how it provides you with quick access to helpful advice about your specific listing.

The Importance of your listing's quality

The lodging tax has long been a topic of conversation here on the Cape and Islands but this time it looks like it may go through. Here's an update.

Lodging Tax Update on Cape Cod

While the booking season on the Cape and Islands has typically kicked off after the start of the new year, there are some interesting trends that we've seen. More and more vacationers are beginning their searches a year in advance. In our latest podcast, we explain how to capitalize on the trend.

Why advertising your home year round is a good idea

I’m sure I’m not alone in rejoicing once a year on “Reclamation Day” – that long-anticipated day when my last tenants of the season have departed and my beloved home is once again MINE. While it's easy to sit back and relax, which you should be doing, there are also a few things that you can do as a homeowner to help set you up for the next season.

The first thing you should do after reclaiming your home for the season

With more competition that ever, there are a few small things you can do to help separate yourself from the pack. In this episode we answer,what are vacationers most looking for?

Important amenities for your vacation rental

We obviously believe in the fact that homeowners should talk to and screen potential guests. But what are the questions you should be asking your potential guests during the screening process? In this episode, we talk about those questions and why its important for the vacationer to get comfortable with you as well.

Screening Potential Vacation Rental Guests

Like it or not (and most of us homeowners do not!), increasing numbers of vacationers are requesting, if not requiring, air conditioning. Most of us with homes on the Cape and Islands know that it rarely gets as terribly hot here as it does in most other parts of the country. But admittedly it’s always quite humid, and air conditioning is most effective in keeping your home drier and less prone to mold and mustiness.

Does your vacation rental need air conditioning?

Keeping track of your bookings can be a daunting challenge: recording the dates and rates of the booking, when deposits and leases are due, information about the guests, etc.

And it’s critically important to get it right! That's why having a booking management software in place will help make your life 10X easier.

How to keep track of your bookings and inquiries

Whether your home is booked or not, there is a right way and a wrong way to respond to inquiries. In this podcast, Joan Talmadge and Tyler Pyburn discuss how quickly you should respond and the best way to do it,

How To Respond To Inquiries

Not too sure about pricing for the upcoming year or what needs updating in your home? Becky Fischer explains the homeowner consultation process and breaks down the things she looks for and why it benefits a homeowner.

Your Homeowner Consultation

As you might know, the lodging tax has officially been passed. With it, comes some interesting things you need to know in regards to insurance. You'll need to review your insurance policy or contact your insurance agent to make sure you are adequately covered, including the new requirement of at least $1 million liability coverage. Unfortunately,  if you are insured by the MA Fair Plan, it limits its coverage to only $½ million.

Is your vacation rental insured?

As most of you are aware, the new MA short-term rental tax for occupancy beginning on or after July 1, 2019, went into effect on January 1.  Any contract you enter into with renters for this summer (7/1/19) and beyond must require the tax – unless the lease was signed prior to January 1, 2019. Here's what you need to know.

The Lodging Tax has passed

It seems as if every other day there is a new story of either a homeowner or vacationer being scammed somehow. While there's no perfect solution, here are a few things you can do to help keep you home, listing, and money safe!

Protecting your vacation rental from scams

It's easy to think that if something worked last year, its going to work again. But as we've seen time and time again, the vacation rental market changes about as much as the tides do on the Cape and Islands. However, one thing is for sure, there is more competition than ever and you have to continue to evolve as an owner.

Change with the times or get left behind

Here at WeNeedaVacation.com, we have always thought of Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Martha's Vineyard as a refuge. That's why we encourage others to Get Back here whenever they can. In recent years, we have felt the urge more and more not only to "get back," but to give back, so that these cherished places can be experienced not only by the present generation, but by countless generations to come.

To that end, we've initiated a green program here at WeNeedaVacation.com where homeowners and vacationers concerned about the future of the Cape and Islands can take some achievable steps to lessen their impacts. Those steps include stocking homes with eco-friendly cleaning products and providing water filters and reusable grocery totes. To empower vacationers to find such homes, we are now including these amenities in our property listings.

Green Rentals on the Cape and Islands

The vacation rental industry on the Cape and Islands have seen some interesting trends as of late.  Jim Reese of WeNeedaVacation.com breaks them down.

The State of Vacation Rentals

It has been an interesting season as it relates to the lodging tax. Here is an update on how things went and how it could be changing in the future.

1 Season into the Lodging Tax

There are some things that never change when it comes to your vacation rental, however, managing and marketing it is isn't one of them. What you did last year to drive traffic to your property listing my not work again this year. And by not adapting some simple, new managing tactics, you might find that those guests aren’t writing the glowing guest reviews or returning to your home the following summer. The lodging tax definitely put an added wrinkle into the plans for many.

In this episode, Elizabeth Weedon and Tyler Pyburn explain why it’s so important for your managing and marketing strategies to evolve.

Managing and marketing your vacation rental in 2020

WeNeedaVacation.com provides an innovative means of matching Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket vacationers and homeowners efficiently and inexpensively. Our goal - to support the vacation rental homeowner to create awesome beach vacations. Starting with just 100 listings on Cape Cod in 1997, WeNeedaVacation.com now lists more than 3,500 property listings.

WeNeedaVacation.com

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