3 Ways Your Property Manager Could Be Keeping Your Vacation Home From Selling

When it comes time to sell your Orlando vacation home the last thing you want to deal with are those little hiccups that might prevent your property from selling or complicate the transaction. One of the biggest problems we often run into when selling a fully booked and turnkey vacation home is property managers who are not cooperative. Because they are the ones controlling most of the access and information about your home, they often have the power to make or break your sale. You can hire the most established, wonderful and highly recommended Realtor in the great town of Orlando but if your property manager isn’t on board with the sale than you can count on it sitting on the market a very long time. Over the years we have seemed to narrow down some of the reasons they might fight against this and what you can do about it in advance so you don’t run into issue:

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1. They are Worried They Will Be Losing the Home to a Different Management Company
It’s natural for a property manager to become insecure and concerned about losing your home from their portfolio and naturally so. They have bookings already in place that they will have to move around if your home is removed from their program after it closes. The best thing you can do is to ensure your property manager understands that you and your Realtor will provide an excellent recommendation to the future buyers and that your Realtor makes sure that the home is advertised as a turnkey property and all bookings stay as long as the management company stays. What sometimes happens is, in a desperate attempt to convince the current buyers to stay with them, the property managers will over promise and exaggerate the homes future bookings and past performance. This only misleads the buyer and causes problems later on during the transaction.

Top Five Most Common Complaints From Kissimmee Vacation Home Renters That Could Cost You Money 

2. They Are Offended You Didn’t Use Them To Sell Your Home
Most property managers also have a real estate license and are able to sell your home. If they don’t they are usually affiliated with someone who is. This doesn’t mean that it is the best choice for you to use. Because they are property managers and their main business is property management, not real estate, they usually do not have the facilities, experience or infrastructure in place to effectively market and sell your home. Any agent can slap your home on the MLS but a true vacation home Realtor will go 10 steps above that with a proven sales system that they have used time and again. Property managers should manage property and Realtors should sell property. To do both is to become half as effective and that is not fair to the customer, which is you. Sometimes, the property manager becomes non-communicative with the Realtor in hopes to prevent their efforts of selling the homes. It sounds crazy and unprofessional but we run into these road blocks all of the time! Be sure your property manager give 100% access to any and all marketing materials that your agent needs to place inside your home in order to help facilitate the sale. Sometimes they will not allow Realtors to advertise that the home is for sale both inside and outside of the home. Your home loses tons of exposure from this.

15 Quick Fix Tips For Getting More Bookings on Your Orlando Vacation Home

3. They Are Afraid of Being Exposed
This is the rough part that your Realtor faces when trying to sell your property. They cannot lie or exaggerate how many bookings are in place to try and attract potential buyers however, the only way they can know how much income is being brought in from that home or its past performance is by relying on what your property manager says. Your Realtor is going to have to provide documents that prove this income is actually coming in and has in the past. Without the booking history and future booking documents for your home most buyers, who want something turnkey, will walk away as your home has no credibility at that point. By not providing those documents your property manager can kill your sale during the due diligence period. If your property manager will not provide these documents to your Realtor or you that you than it might be time to question whether they really have as many bookings in place as they are claiming to. It’s also a great marketing tool for your agent to be able to quote how much income your home produced the past two years.

As much as it sounds like property managers are the bad guy, it’s not the case with all of them. There are hundreds of property management companies in the  Disney area and about a handful of them provide a high level of service, are professional and most important honest. Our job is to seek those companies out and align ourselves and our clients with the most honest and ethical companies. Not the companies who want to pay us to refer them homes. The Flamingo Group never accepts referral fees from any management company for sending them business as we feel it’s a conflict of interest. We’re also experienced in dealing with difficult property management companies and are prepared to do what it takes to get your home sold regardless of the road blocks that may pop up ahead. To find out more about how we can help sell your vacation home and our one of a kind marketing system, please contact us today for a no obligation consultation.

Vacation Home of the Week- 916 Orange Cosmos

We’ve gone through dozens of applications and viewed numerous homes to bring you some of the best vacation homes and owners that Orlando has to offer. We’re proud to compile this list of unique vacation homes and outside-the-box thinking owners. We think each of these homes deserves to be recognized and certainly should be at the top of your list for those of you traveling to Orlando. Check out this week’s Vacation Home of the Week!!

 

916 Orange Cosmos Blvd

Location: Davenport, FL
Neighborhood: Watersong Resort
Owner Booking Weeks: 20
Management Booking Weeks: 4
Website: www.SunshineStateVacation.com

Why Owners Chose This Home:  “We liked the model home and decided to one built newly and just across from the club house. Watersong Resort is uniquely located in a preservation area with beautiful woodlands and lakes.”

What Makes This Home Unique: “Of course all houses are built Tuscany style. Our house difers, because we had the furniture and most decorations and paintings imported ourselves from the Netherlands. High quality and contemporary design. Makes it stand out in the crowd.”

Marketing Strategies: ” To cater for non-English speaking customers I not only translated the website in the respective language, but also reserved appropriate domain names, eg .de .nl .eu etc. I also created a communal website or owners in Watersong Resort to publish their property on for free: http://www.amsport.nl/site. Also installed a Family & Friends discount program and a kick-back referal program.”

The Pink Flamingo’s Review:
The outside the home is very nice but unassuming and upon walking into Bou’s home it was like walking into a model home.  Everything is so unique and I don’t use that word lightly!! I spent quite a bit of time just looking at little things like the wall decor, art work, furniture etc. I was absolutely enamored by all of the detail and work put into this home.  When they had the home decorated they had everything shipped over from the Netherlands, so it’ all authentic. No IKEA in this house! One of the coolest things in the home was the little city landscape that runs across the top of the wall meeting the hallway and the kitchen. How cool! It’s little things like that, that really make this house unique. It’s also very tastefully upgraded and clean.

The real thrill comes when you walk outside into the backyard and your whole backyard is overlooking the most beautiful conservation areas. This is one of Watersong Resort’s major focal points, its gorgeous conservation views. This home is located on one of those direct view lots and it’s walking distance to the clubhouse so you not only have privacy in the home but convenience! What I truly love about the Watersong Resort is that it’s one of the few communities in the area that has really captured the Tuscan style architecture.  The homes don’t look like any other community that you’ll see in the Disney areas and the clubhouse is very high end so you’ll get nothing but luxury here.  It’s also very close to the golf course at Providence which is a huge selling point to golfers. . As a matter of fact, their guests seem to like it so much that they have had two purchase a home in Watersong before they left to go home during their visit!!

Watersong Resort Davenport, FL

Bou and his wife are Dutch nationals and had visited Orlando before making this purchase. They both still work, Bou is a software salesman and has worked in both the Netherlands and Germany which opens up his market of renters tremendously. When they were in a position to purchase a vacation home, being in the Netherlands, they naturally considered places with a warm climate. They had friends that owned vacation properties in France, Spain and Portugal and had told them horror stories about security, and unreliable property management companies in those places. After alot of research Florida was their vacation home destination of choice and they started to explore the market in Orlando.

Owner’s like Bou who live overseas have such a huge advantage to tap into their network of travelers in their country. Bou is doing exactly that. As a matter of fact, he doesn’t even have a HomeAway ad yet. He’s strictly doing most of this by word of mouth in Holland and Germany, which is very impressive! His homepage is also generating leads for him. What he did, that I thought was really unique and outside the box is he started an Orlando Forum in the Dutch language (http://www.sapg.nl/smf) and set up a content management system based website for Watersong Resort owners to publish their property for free. (http://www.amsport.nl/site). Owners can naturally swap referrals with each other on this site. They do advertise on Home Owner’s direct (UK) and VRBO.  Bou’s goal for 2012 is to target the German speaking market with over 90 million people!

If you’re looking to rent a home that’s truly unique, convenient and private than The Pink Flamingo highly recommends Bou’s Home Away from Home in the beautiful Watersong Resort.

Watersong Resort Vacation Homes For Sale

Enter Your Home Today in Our “Vacation Home of the Week”

 

Vacation Home of the Week- Platinum Key Villa

We’ve gone through dozens of applications and viewed numerous homes to bring you some of the best vacation homes and owners that Orlando has to offer. We’re proud to compile this list of unique vacation homes and outside-the-box thinking owners. We think each of these homes deserves to be recognized and certainly should be at the top of your list for those of you traveling to Orlando. Check out this week’s Vacation Home of the Week!!

 

Platinum Key Villa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Location: Kissimmee, FL
Neighborhood: Windsor Hills Resort
Owner Booking Weeks: 40
Management Booking Weeks: 10
Website: www.Keys2OurVacation.com

Why Owners Chose This Home:  “This home was strictly an investment and the numbers were the most important factor. Taking that into consideration, Windsor Hills seemed like the most obvious choice as it was pushing the standard to the next level on vacation homes. It was just an Orange Grove at the time and the home was purchased site unseen, not even built yet, but the location and amenities were what sold it it”

What Makes This Home Unique: “Platinum Key Villa has flat screen TVs in every bedroom, is professionally decorated by an interior designer and offers only the highest quality linens and towels. There is nothing low quality in this home. Many guests refer to it as home-only better”

Marketing Strategies: ” Word of mouth up in Toronto seems to be the biggest ticket for the homes but also VRBO and Homeaway have really helped. Having multiple homes is also a huge plus because you get six times the amount of inquiries and can shift them from one home to another if one is not available.”

The Pink Flamingo’s Review: John is a businessman, investor, real estate agent and now a professional vacation home owner.  He knew from day one that he was going to make this work. He owns five vacation homes in Kissimmee. All of them are in Windsor Hills except for his most recent purchase in the new community of Calabria. His business plan is only to specialize in high end vacation homes in the nicest communities in the area because the rents are so much higher on a high end home, making it possible to turn the vacation home into a very profitable investment.

Windsor Hills Resort

He purchased his first vacation home in Windsor Hills as a prototype and wanted to see how it would go. After having so much success he went on to purchase four more vacation homes and he’s not done yet! Because John does this for a business and an investment (this is in no way his full time business, this is more like his hobby!) the numbers have to work on the homes.  Being in real estate up in Toronto and understanding how property investments work, he analyzes the numbers on every property before making a purchase. His strategy of only buying new homes in upper end communities seems to be working out very well for him as all of his homes have been booked almost the entire year at top rates. When it comes up a luxury vacation home, renters don’t seem to have an issue paying more money to stay in the home as there is a market for those type of renters.

What I like about John’s marketing strategy is that, even though he owns five homes and it’s a profitable business for him, he still treats everyone of them like it’s his only home. John and his family travel to Orlando often and enjoy their luxuries of their homes. They will stay at what ever home is available at the time. Taking on their fifth home has offered them more vacation time as it’s just getting up and going and during the downtime they have been able to come down and enjoy it more. He also uses his homes for his business retreats with his business partner. Being able to vacation and write it off at the same time is such a perk!

One very smart tactic that he did to save time and marketing dollars is that he purchased two exact same homes, right next door to each other and decorated them both exactly the same way.  He did this so he can market them both under one ad and when guests inquired on one, if it’s booked he could just put them in the other without having to upsell or downsell them on a completely different home. Even the little things like the title of his website, Keys2OURvacation.com makes you feel like your discovering something new and exciting. He could have said Keys2YOURvacation but instead he wanted to make it all about the true meaning behind owning a vacation home, enjoying someone else’s private home! He very tastefully named each of his homes after the theme of his website, “The Key”. Each home unlocks a key to a different vacation, I love that he even went as far as having a logo created for his vacation home business.

All of John’s homes are gorgeous. They are all professionally decorated by an interior designer and located on great lots within Windsor Hills.  John seems to have a knack for choosing great locations, probably because of his real estate background, and offering everything in a home that a renter could ever want. The fact that he even uses the finest linens is impressive as many people get cheap with these things.  His homes offer a luxury vacation and convenience to everything. Disney is less than 3 miles away from his homes and you can get to just about everything you would need in less than 5 minutes.  The community itself has a movie theater, game room, water slide, convenience store and the list goes on. Windsor Hills has definitely raised the bar when it comes to vacation homes.  Because they are one of the newer communities in the vacation home niche, Pulte was able to see what worked and didn’t work in their previous communities and they made sure they got it all right the last time in Windsor Hills.

John’s vacation homes are a must stay in when visiting Orlando. Nothing has been overlooked and I think you’ll find his prices to be quite reasonable for a luxury resort.

Windsor Hills Resort Vacation Homes For Sale

Enter Your Home Today in Our “Vacation Home of the Week”

Scratching Your Florida Vacation Home Niche: Week One

I was just chatting with one of my past clients via email yesterday about how she is doing with her Davenport vacation rental home since she closed. I was so happy to hear about how well she is doing. In her email she mentioned, “We have been over 100% on projected rental weeks and bottom line dollars for quite a while now. It’s paying down it’s own mortgage”. That’s so exciting for any Orlando vacation home owner to be able to say that. I had no doubt she would as she’s a very ambitious woman!! (Check out her awesome vacation home HERE)

She brought up the topic of trying to find a niche for her vacation rental when discussing about how she wants to take things to the next level and I thought it would make such a great topic to share with other prospective and current Orlando vacation homeowners. In the next four weeks I will be writing a series of blog posts on how you can carve out a niche for your Florida vacation rental to help keep you booked solid throughout the year.

Why Niche, Why Now?

In today’s market there is so much competition with owner’s undercutting one another that it’s almost essential to have a reason for vacation renters to choose your unit over someone else’s. Go look on VRBO and Homeaway, what do you see? I see hundreds of vacation home owner’s all running the same ad over and over again with the same boring headlines and photos trying to target anybody and everybody.

Creating a niche for your Florida rental property shouldn’t be something that you do on the side it should be the core focus of your marketing plan! A niche marketing plan does three very important things for your Florida vacation rental home:

1. It Builds Value: There is not enough that can be said about creating value when you are trying to market, sell or even rent a property. You need to create value and give prospective renter’s a darn good reason why they should spend the money to rent your property over the next guy’s. I’m not just talking lots of pictures of your glorious games room but something bigger than that. Something that hits their emotional triggers. If zeroed in on a small group of people, lets just say golfers for examples sake, and you really marketed your property to hit their emotional triggers than chances are you will get their booking every time over Mrs. Plain Jane’s home up the street who has little more to say than how great her pool is.

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2. It Sets Your Home Apart: In today’s market everyone has a pool, a games room, Plasma TV’s and many even have themed bedrooms. Why is your home special? Well, if you had a niche your home would be extremely special to a small focus group of people because it offers everything they could ever want in a vacation home. It would literally be their home away from home and once that group of people stays at your place why would they ever stay anywhere else? And guess what, people talk. Especially people who are part of a group, a team or share the same hobby. I’m going with the golfer example again here, if your property is set up to cater specifically to golfers and golfers are the main group of people that stay at your home well now you have the perfect setting for your home to go viral, and I’m not talking Influenza (for those of you not familiar with the term viral, it refers to the fast spreading of news both online and off). Golfers are some of the chattiest people I know (and believe me I know!). They love to tell their buddies about their family, vacations and business while on the course. Just think about how many people your golfer guests are going to tell about your vacation home that was the only place they ever rented that catered to them. They had they best golfing trip in years and their friends back home will hear about it!

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3. It Establishes Credibility: Credibility is everything in business. Without that you’re nothing more than a hole in the wall with a fancy sign out front. People need to believe your home is the only home they would go and stay at when they come to Orlando. If people don’t, you will be nothing more than that guy in the ad below or above you and you’ll book randomly just like everyone else. You need to establish your home as the ultimate choice for your target group. Once you have established this and found your niche just work it!! Put everything you have into your target group and don’t worry about the rest. I am speaking from experience, I own a marketing company where I am retained by small companies to market for them. My company only services specific types of businesses such as doctors and attorneys. If I tried to focus on everyone I would be losing out. When you focus on trying to market effectively to a smaller group of people you will attract less people but less will be more because you will have a higher conversion rate and more repeat and referral business. That means less uninterested inquiries and phone calls that go nowhere. LESS IS MORE in marketing!!

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Five Things To Consider Before Buying a Kissimmee Condo

Condo investments are the most popular investment choice right now in the Disney and Orlando areas. Many people are flocking to them due to their very inexpensive price tag and convenience with upkeep and maintenance. There are factors you need to consider before you just jump into bed with a condo community here in Orlando. The last thing you want to do is wake up with regrets when you get slammed with a huge special assessment shortly after the closing and you find out your condo association is broke!

1. Know the Vacation Rental Restrictions Up Front!
Most people read the condo association bylaws after they are under contract to buy a property. . . this is not the best time to be reading that heaping piles of rules and regulations. You always want to get a copy of the bylaws before your due diligence period starts so you have one less thing to worry about. What are you looking for in the bylaws? Rental restrictions of course. Some of the most common are short term rental restrictions, just because the community is zoned for short term renting doesn’t mean there still aren’t restrictions on the minimum time period a renter must stay. You also want to make sure you aren’t buying in an age restricted community if you plan on being able to rent to all ages!

View Exclusive Condo Private  Inventory Not Found on MLS

2. Condo Association Stability!
Orlando, Kisimmee and Davenport Condo associations are going bankrupt left and right due to the foreclosure epidemic. What that means to you is you could be buying into a community that is not financially stable and you may end up having to pick up the slack for other people who aren’t paying, what do I mean by slack? SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS!!  You need to make sure the association is not in debt, they have a healthy reserve fund, all major renovations such as new roofs, landscaping projects or structural issues such as elevators have been recently replaced and when the last increase in the fees were.

Watch Quick Video Tip on Condo Association Stability

3. Do They Have a Private Management Company?
Many condo associations outsource their property management to larger companies who handle several associations and they are not present onsite. It’s always good to live in a condo community that has an onsite property management company for both the homeowner’s and the renters. This means they will be able to address your concerns faster, deal with any emergency issues quicker and you can walk right over to the office and speak with them if you need anything.

Top Three Recommended Disney Area Condo Communities For Vacation Rental: Windsor Hills, Windsor Palms, Bahama Bay.

4. How Vacation Rental Friendly is the Condo Community?
Many vacation rental zoned condo communities are a large mix of both long term renters, owners, snowbirds and vacation renters. If your goal is to book, book, book than you really want to stick with he communities that are vacation rental friendly and have the resort style amenities such as fitness centers, convenience stores, move theaters, fancy clubhouses with restaurants and extravagant pool areas. Those are the communities that are going to attract more short term vacation renters than long term.

Search All Condo Communities For Sale in the Orlando Disney Areas

5. What type of  Vacation Rental Rates Can You Expect To Get?
That’s the million dollar question right there. In most cases you get our of it what you put into it. If you’re buying in a cheap, run down condo community and there are very little amenities for guests you’re not going to be raking in the big bucks on rental revenue. You’re going to get discounted rates for a discounted place. With condos being so inexpensive right now, it makes sense to spend a little more for the nicer community  because you will be earning more with rental rates. Always check the rates that other owners are asking for condos in the community you are looking. You can do that on VRBO.

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Top Five Most Common Complaints From Kissimmee Vacation Home Renters That Could Cost You Money

I had the pleasure of speaking with one of the reservations managers recently at Global Resort Homes and had a nice chat with her about the most commonly complained about items when renters get to their vacation rental home. Many owners lose bookings due to these factors and it costs them money.

Complaint #1. Pool Heat Not Working
This is the number one complaint by guests staying at Orlando vacation rental homes.  The pool heat issues seems to happen quite frequently and it upsets many guests as they were looking forward to jumping in that warm pool after their long flight to Orlando.  They will asked to be credited money back for the pool heat and in many cases if the issue cannot be resolved quickly they will want to switch houses.

Watch Video- Orlando Property Tip: Pool

Complaint #2. No Pool Cover (To Trap Heat)
This is one of those things that many owners don’t really think about but the guests certainly do.  They complain about the pool not having a cover to trap the pool heat and surprisingly it’s a common complaint. I know many owners don’t have a pool cover for their pool as they find it unnecessary because the pool is locate din a screened enclosure but if the money is in the budget it may be worth investing in one.

Watch Video- Orlando Property Tip: Hidden Fees

Complaint #3. Carpets are Stained
The simplest things in life are sometimes the most overlooked things.  If your carpets are stained and dirty your guests will request to be switched to another property almost immediately.  One of the biggest reasons that people rent a vacation home in Orlando is because they don’t like nasty hotels.  The last thing they want to do is walk into a nasty house.  Keep your carpets clean and as free of stains as possible. Ask your management company to have your carpets steam cleaned at least once per year. I recommend every six months if you have a busy property.

Watch Video- Orlando Property Tip: Furnishing

Complaint #4. Ugly Furnishings
For the love of all things vacation homes. . . DON’T GO CHEAP ON YOUR FURNISHINGS! The less you invest the less you get in return.  There are so many other properties in Orlando that owners have put in extra time and effort into the furnishings, this is your competition.  You property may still rent with cheap, ugly floral couches but you certainly won’t be getting the high rent on the street and what you will be attracting is discount renters.  If your goal is to make money at this whole vacation home thing than invest in your investment!

Watch Video- Orlando Property Tip: Gamesroom

Complaint #5. Too Far From Clubhouse
This can be a big deal for some communities. If you’re all the way back at the end of the neighborhood and you don’t supply any type of bikes at your rental property than people are going to get tire very quickly of walking back and fourth to the clubhouse, especially in the middle of summer when it’s blazing hot.  If you found a property and it’s an amazing deal but at the back of the neighborhood, don’t sweat it just supply your property with some bikes.  I personally am a big fan of Radio Flyer wagons!

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What To Look Out For When Renting a Condo Near Disney World

Condo vacation rentals are a popular option for those not wanting to stay in a cheap and sleazy Orlando hotel but are  looking for a value vacation rental alternative in Orlando. Many of the Orlando condo resorts offer a both five star amenities as well as top of the line decor all for often half the price of a vacation home. When shopping for a vacation condo in Orlando be sure to find out about these five things before booking the unit.  You won’t regret asking these questions.

1. What floor is the vacation condo located on?
It may look fabulous in the pictures and the view may seem incredible but if it’s on the second floor and it’s a five story building you may run into noise issues. The middle floors are usually the nosiest floors to be located on and though they offer a great view, they may not be the best option if you are traveling with a small baby who wakes easily through the night.  The last thing you want to be on your Orlando vacation is sleep deprived!

Orlando Vacation Condos For Sale Under $70,000

2. Does it have an elevator?
In follow up to the question above, if your condo is not on the first or second floor it’s vital to find out if the building has an elevator.  Believe it or not, not all Orlando condo resorts have elevators and you could be stuck walking up three flights of stairs everyday.  That may not seem so bad first thing in the morning but try doing it after you just walked three theme parks all day.  Happy camper? I think not.

3. Is it gated?
Most Orlando condo vacation rental resorts are gated but it doesn’t hurt to ask.  The benefit to being in a gated community is obviously security.  Often times you will get locals looking for a free place to hang out for the day who sometimes utilize the facilities of non-gated communities and it causes the pool areas to get overcrowded.  Go for the gates, you’ll be happy you did in the end.

The 9 Best Kissimmee Vacation Home Communities To Own a Vacation Home In

4. Does it back up to a shopping plaza?
Always ask what your unit backs up to.  Many of the Orlando condo resorts back up to shopping plazas or are built near commercial strip plazas.  This isn’t so bad if you want to be walking distance to a strip plaza but to walk out onto your balcony and watch Uncle Vito dumping the trash out at the local Italian restaurant everyday just won’t feel so glamourous.

5. How close to the pool is the unit?
In an recent post I briefly discussed how important it is to be close to the clubhouse and pool if you plan on using it.  Not only is it a pain in the rear to get into your car and schlep everything in and out everyday just to drive two minutes to the pool it’s more annoying if you’re not renting a car and you have to walk about 10 minutes in the blazing hot peaks of summer which, I promise, will suck the life out of you before you even get to the pool.  Always stay close to the clubhouse if you want an enjoyable vacation!

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The Best of The Pink Flamingo From 2009

2009 was a great year for Orlando vacation home buyers and owners.  It was also the Pink Flamingo’s first year up and running as an official vacation home blog.  I’m really looking forward to 2010 and can’t wait to tell you all about the awesome stuff that is up and coming here.  To start the year off with a bang I thought I’d post the most popular articles from 2009.  Enjoy!

How NOT To Furnish Your Orlando Vacation Rental Home If  You Want Bookings

The 9 Best Kissimmee Gated Communities to Own a Vacation Home In

Why Orlando Is a Great Choice For Canadians To Own a Vacation Home

50+ Sites To Market Your Orlando, Florida Vacation Villa On

The Chuck Norris Guide To Closing On Your Orlando Vacation Home In 30 Days or Less

6 Most Common Expenses Associated With Owning a Disney Area Vacation Rental Home

Everything You Need To Know About Legacy Dunes Condos in Kissimmee & Why They are So Cheap!

10 Questions You Must Ask Before Hiring Any Orlando Property Management Company

How Sticking Your Hand In Toilet Water Can Save You Thousands on Your Kissimmee Home Purchase

Hidden Expenses Your Short Term Rental Management Company Doesn’t Want You To Know About

15 Quick Fix Tips For Getting More Bookings On Your Orlando Vacation Home

6 Common Sense Reasons Why You Should Never List Your Orlando Vacation Home For Sale With a Property Management Company

Are Orlando Vacation Homeowner’s That Self Manage A Threat To Management Companies?

The vacation home industry is growing by leaps and bounds and was one of the most popular choice of accommodations for families traveling to Disney World and other Florida areas in 2009.  With the popularity of vacation homes and consumer awareness growing it’s starting to become a bit more competitive to market vacation rentals online than it used to be.  VRBO, a popular vacation rental by owner site,  is currently dominating the world of direct owner bookings and though there are management companies advertising on the site most of what’s available is listed directly by the owners.

Windsor Hills Resort Bank Owned Vacation Rental Homes For Sale

One of the trends I’m noticing with owners is that many think that if they cut the middle man out (management company) they can market their home at a discounted rate and still receive a larger portion of that money.  This works for many owners who utilize their vacation home rental as a full time business but what about the other owners who don’t want to make marketing and renting their vacation home a full time job and are dependent upon a property management company renting out their property?  These steeply discounted rates that owners are offering on VRBO are in direct competition with what your management company is trying to rent your vacation home for.  Any prospective renter who understands the internet is able to log on and check to see what rentals are going for in your neighborhood and will see these discounted rates being offered by owners.  If your management company is any good at securing retail bookings than they will be aware of this fact up front and know how to up-sell the renter on the benefits of working with a management company over booking directly with the owner (as will owners do the same).  I personally, do not have a preference as to which one is better but there are specific facts about both that should be brought to the renters attention before they make a decision.

Everything You Wish You Knew Before Buying a Florida Vacation Rental Home

Pros of Booking Directly With The Vacation Homeowner

• Homeowner will give a better rate.  Since the middle man is being cut out the homeowner can afford to offer a steeply discounted rate to the renter.
• Homeowner can be more accommodating. Since you are dealing directly with the owner you can ask specific questions about the property that a reservationist at a management company may not be able to answer in as much detail for you such the closest local Italian restaurant or the best view of the Disney fireworks in town.

Cons of Booking Directly With The Vacation Homeowner

• Time difference and emergencies. If the homeowner lives in another country and there is an emergency that requires immediate assistance than it is possible that you could be waiting for a response back for several hours as many homeowners do not have a full time on call maintenance staff to deal with these issues.
• No quality assurance. Some homeowners that manage their own vacation rental properties rely solely on a cleaning crew to maintain their home between guests which means there is more risk of the home not being cleaned to your standards when you arrive.  If you complain to the owner they cannot move you to a new property as most of the time they only own one.

Hidden Expenses Your Short Term Rental Management Company Doesn’t Want You To Know About

The Best of Both Worlds?
There are renters out there who will just always feel more comfortable renting a property that they know is being professionally managed.  With that being said, owners can still cash in on their own bookings while utilizing the assistance of a rental manager.  Many owners will list their properties for rent by owner and secure the booking themselves but have the management company handle the rental aspect of it and pay them a small owner booking fee.  This is a win-win for both the owner and the renter as the renter gets a peace of mind knowing that if something goes wrong with the property they will be accommodated immediately and the owner get their chunk on the booking revenue while doing a quarter of the work that a self managing owner would do.

What is your take on self-managing vacation homeowners offering competitive rates to undercut rental manager bookings?

3 Quick and Easy Ways To Improve Your Vacation Rental Ad in 2010

As I was browsing HomeAway tonight looking for a vacation rental I noticed one ad in particular that caught my eye over all of the other ads.  This ad was nothing special but it had three things going for it that most of the others did not. If your vacation rental ad on HomeAway or VRBO doesn’t already consist of these three things than I would advise you to consider implementing these tips into your ad and you will most likely notice a higher click-thru rate in 2010.

1. Accept Online Payments
The very first thing I noticed about this ad over the others was that it accepts online payments.  I don’t know about you but I’m a creature of convenience and love to keep things as simple as possible.  If a customer can quickly and easily pay online for their vacation rental and does not have to deal with calling a management company  or owner to arrange payment than they will be much more likely to book your property over one that makes them jump through the hoops to make payment.  Many owners don’t implement this concept for many reasons.  Some of the most common reasons are they either don’t know how to set it up or they don’t want to pay the fees that are assessed when accepting credit card payments.  It takes about 2 minutes to set up a Pay-Pal account and start accepting credit card payments.  If you decide to start accepting online payments be sure to list it on your ad!

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2. Reviews
The second reason I clicked on this ad was because it had more reviews than the other vacation condos listed on that page.  No matter how happy your customers may be after they leave your vacation home, getting a testimonial from them is sometimes one of the hardest things to do.  It’s not because they didn’t think your place was great but in most cases it’s just plain inconvenient for people to go to your website and leave feedback or send you an email with feedback.  There are many methods you can implement for getting more feedback from your guests and I will go into that in another post but it’s important that you get as many of your guests as possible to leave you a review about your property.

Don’t forget to join the waiting list for The Pink Flamingo’s up and coming e-book “Everything You Wish You Knew BEFORE Buying a Florida Vacation Rental Home“

3. Great Cover Photo
The subject of what makes a great vacation rental ad photo is debatable by many but what I loved most about this particular ad was that it didn’t have the same picture of either the kitchen or living room as all of the other vacation rentals did.  This photo showcased exactly what I was looking for and that was an amazing view and a great location.  The photo that you put on the front of your ad is going to be the first and in some cases the only picture that prospective renters are going to see, so make it count!  If your home is in a tropical location like Florida it’s great to show a picture of the ocean view or the pool and spa area.  Take into consideration what you are trying to sell and that’s a vacation not a house. People make purchases based on emotional reasons so learn to push those emotional buttons in your ad and watch the click-thru rate and bookings sky rocket!

Here’s to 2010 and all of the bookings you will be getting for your vacation rental!

Important Things You Need To Look For Before Renting an Orlando Vacation House-Part 2

Guest Post by: Dave Pollock

Also Read: Important Things You Need To Look For Before Renting an Orlando Vacation House-Part 1

All About Deposits

After you select an Orlando vacation home, and confirm the dates, you will have to put a deposit on the home. This is normally around $200.00 per week. If you are renting directly from a home owner, they usually accept a certified check, PayPal, or even a credit card. I’m okay with any of these forms of payments. If you use a credit card, you will most likely have to give your credit card number, name, and security code.  Not all people are comfortable giving this out, it’s up to you.  A security/breakage deposit is often also required. It will be around $200.00 and is returned after the house is verified it’s in the same condition as before you arrived. If you cancel your rental, it will cost you the deposit or the full rental amount if it is within a certain number of days before arrival. If you are not a risk taker, consider travel insurance or be prepared to give your neighbor an early Christmas gift. The balance owing is usually due around 35 days before your arrival date. Always read the terms and conditions before you decide to proceed with the rental.

Amenities
I wouldn’t rent a Florida vacation house unless it has the following amenities:  A South facing pool. Trust me, you will want this. I made the mistake once, and never again. If you get a cold snap, the sun can help make up for the colder temperatures. If you find the sun too hot, remember that 99% of the pools are covered by a screen that helps block the sun’s intensity. A covered lanai is also a must. A lanai is basically a part of the patio covered by a roof. This is great for eating lunch shaded from the sun or taking a break watching the kids swim. A games room is also valuable. Games rooms are great for those rainy days or a break from the theme parks. They are usually converted garages, that have such games as air hockey (good for the Canadians eh!), pool, electronic darts, and foosball.  Look for stools or chairs in the home pictures, to chill out and watch the pool game. Bring your laptop with you, because you’ll want the house to have Internet access, preferably wireless. This is great for researching day trips, restaurants, or other activities.  Calling home for free is very convenient. Homes should provide, free long distance calling to the U.S. and Canada.  Not to be forgotten, the basic amenities should be a fully equipped kitchen, cable TV and DVD players in each room, a large screen TV in the great room, stereo, games console, chairs and loungers on the patio, and house alarm.

Plan Ahead!

Before you leave for your trip, make sure you have been provided the required information. This includes the electronic door lock and/or lock box codes, house alarm code and instructions, property management phone number, and driving directions with full house address (great for a GPS). Bring change with you in case you hit a toll on the highway. It happened to me, it was around midnight and I hit a toll with no attendant.  Whoops no change! I kept going and hoped they would see I had a rental car and not fine me. For the record, I never received a ticket. Take note of where the closest grocery store and pharmacy are. The home owner’s house web site should have this. If not, when you get the address of the house, use Google maps to find them.

When you arrive at the home, take a few minutes and do the following: Take a walk around the house and if there is any damage, take a picture and then call the property management company. You don’t want to pay for someone else’s mistake. Take a stroll over to the pool, and if you paid for heat, make sure it feels warm. Take a drive over to the grocery store, which you research earlier right? Pick up food and a few cold ones. While you are at it, hit the pharmacy if you forgot to bring pain killers. Don’t want to make a run to the pharmacy if you have a headache.

After your vacation is over, and you are sporting the sunburn, there are a few things you have to take care of before you leave the home. Normally this involves removing the sheets from the bed, putting the used towels in the bathtub, start the dishwasher, put all trash in garbage can etc. After a few weeks you should also get the security/breakage deposit back, if you didn’t leave that spaghetti sauce on the carpet.

Renting a vacation home is a great way to spend a vacation with family and friends. If you do your homework upfront, you will most likely have a fantastic vacation with wonderful memories and dreams about next year’s trip.

About The Author: Dave Pollock and his wife Lois own a beautiful Davenport vacation home in Sandy Ridge. It’s the perfect retreat for anyone looking for an affordable vacation home with a private pool. The home is located  within a short 15 minute drive to Disney and other Orlando attractions. Consider renting the Pollock’s “Sun Retreat” next time you come to Orlando.  www.OrlandoHouse.me

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Important Things You Need To Look For Before Renting an Orlando Vacation House-Part 1

Guest Post by: Dave Pollock

Many people are turning to renting vacation homes in Orlando instead of the more traditional hotel rentals. Over the last five or six years my family has rented houses in the Orlando and Tampa, Florida area. This past spring we purchased a house in Davenport, Florida. Davenport is just outside of Orlando, 15 minutes from the theme parks.  We are currently renting this house as well as using it for our own personal vacation retreat.

Because I have been on both sides of the fence, renting a home and renting one out, I can give you several tips on renting a vacation home.

Start Your Orlando Vacation Rental Search Early

Six months or more in advance is best. This will take the stress out of renting a  home, especially if it is during the vacation season. The good homes go early, so the sooner you start the better.  The Internet is a powerful tool. Use Google to help your research. You can also search popular web sites such as VRBO
where Orlando vacation homeowners rent directly to customers or use a travel agent to help out.  If you inquire about a vacation rental home, directly to an owner, you should get a timely response, if not move on.
Do not rent an Orlando vacation home that does not have at least 8 pictures showing the exterior and interior of the home. This helps eliminate any surprises you might encounter when you arrive. Who wants to sit on a pink plaid couch or wake up to purple walls! Second to pictures, is a virtual tour which provides video of the home.  If there is no virtual tour provided, consider another home, it’s that important. Also, many home owners have a personal web site of their home which provides additional details of the home and surrounding area.  Not only is the additional information handy, it shows commitment on the owner’s part.

What You Need To Ask

How do you gain access to the home? If you arrive at midnight, do you have to go to a property management office to pick up the key? I’ve read a couple of horror stories where families have had to wait outside all night or rent a cheap motel until the next morning. At a minimum, the home should have a lock box with the key inside. You will be given the lock box code a few weeks in advance. Even better, a door lock with an electronic keypad. This allows you to punch in the code on the keypad, and presto you’re in the house. There should also be a lock box, in case the electronic keypad malfunctions.

Are you provided with a local property management phone number? Who are you going to call if the AC unit fails, the pool heater is not on, or toilet is plugged?  You should be provided with a phone number you can call 24/7. Do not call the phone number outside of normal business hours unless it is a real emergency. If you call after hours, and it’s not an emergency, it will cost you money. The pool heater can wait until the next day!

About The Author: Dave Pollock and his wife Lois own a beautiful Davenport vacation home in Sandy Ridge. It’s the perfect retreat for anyone looking for an affordable vacation home with a private pool. The home is located  within a short 15 minute drive to Disney and other Orlando attractions. Consider renting the Pollock’s “Sun Retreat” next time you come to Orlando.  www.OrlandoHouse.me

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If You Don’t Research Your Florida Vacation Home Neighborhood Now, You’ll Hate Yourself Later

There is so much that goes into buying the perfect Florida vacation rental home. Many people think that it’s as simple as just jumping online and browsing for Florida homes.  Though that’s not a horrible place to start it absolutely shouldn’t be the first place.  Florida vacation rental homes are a very specialized niche and understanding that fact will help guide you down the right path that will save you the most time and money.  One of the major factors that play a huge role in choosing the right vacation rental home in Florida would be neighborhood research.  In my ebook “Everything You Wish You Knew Before Buying a Florida Vacation Rental Home” I go into all the steps in great detail but for the sake of keeping this short and sweet I’m going to touch on this very important subject.

Is The Potential Florida Neighborhood a Vacation Rental Hot Spot?

Much like hotels the Florida short term rental vacation home industry has a reputation. Anyone who has been to Florida and stayed in a vacation rental home understands the importance of staying in a neighborhood that caters to vacation home renters. If you are looking to purchase a home that will actually rent out to guests than the first thing to want to do is check out which neighborhoods rent the best.  There are many different ways to do this but one of the easiest ways is to hop on Trip Advisor and start researching what people are saying about some of the local vacation rentals. You can get a good idea of what some of the more popular vacation rental neighborhoods are just by reading the reviews.  You’ll start to see some of the same neighborhood names pop up over and over.

Top 20 Most Critical and Frequently Asked Questions About Buying and Owning an Orlando Vacation Rental Home

What Type of Rental Rates Can I Expect In This Particular Neighborhood?

Another important factor to consider is the potential booking revenue you can expect from the neighborhood you are considering buying your Florida vacation rental home in. You might love the community and absolutely adore the house but if the rental revenue is much lower in that neighborhood than the surrounding ones wouldn’t it make more sense to fall in love with another home that’s similar in price and going to bring you in a better return? Don’t make the mistake of thinking that because another community close by gets great rental rates that your neighborhood will too.  Know the facts.  You can check rental rates several places but one of my favorite and probably the easiest way to do this is to go on VRBO.com and look it up.  VRBO is an owner site so the rates advertised are by vacation rental home owners.

It Pays To Do Your Homework-Literally
I hope you put these tips to good use on when buying your Florida vacation rental property. As you can see buying in the right neighborhood makes all the difference in the world when it comes to rental revenue. If you would like even more great tips about buying a Florida vacation rental home or perhaps you’re looking for some type of reference to guide you through the process, check out my ebook “Everything You Wish You Knew Before Buying a Florida Vacation Rental Home” which is launching Dec 7, 2009 to everyone on the waiting list.

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Vital Steps You Must Take To Prepare Your Orlando Vacation Home For Bookings

Believe it or not there is alot of work that goes into preparing your vacation home to rent before you can actually start renting it out.  If it was a short term rental before you purchased it a lot of this may have already been done otherwise, here is a short and brief reference for the not so fortunate: 

Compliance: Your vacation home must comply with STR laws for the County and your HOA  (Homeowners Association) as well. Your home must be in a community zoned for short term rentals it is against the law to use it as a short term rental. You must comply with all health code regulations for your county. Here is Lake Wales (Polk County) Short Term Rental requirements.

Insurance: An additional insurance policy above and beyond your homeowners insurance is required to cover liability. It’s usually at least a $200,000 policy and can run anywhere from $200 annually on up. 

Permit Requirements: Each county has its own short term rental permit requirements and a rental permit must be obtained before you can legally start renting your place out.  Thankfully this was put in place to help prevent some of the foul conditions that some owners try and rent their house in.  Under most circumstances your property management company takes care of this for you however if you are not using one this will be your responsibility. 

Tax Preparations: If you do not have a management company handling this for you then I suggest you get a good accountant. You are responsible for sending the government a percentage of your nightly income. In Florida it is currently around 13.5% off the top of every booking before you even touch the money.  

These are just a few of the important details that go into prepping the home to rent.  If you hire a management company you can save yourself most of the trouble because they will do it all for you.  If you plan on taking on this task without a management company than you may want to consider some form of meditation or relaxation, you’re going to need it!