Vacation Rental Kitchen Essentials
A well-stocked kitchen can be essential to the success of a vacation rental. People often choose to rent vacation homes rather than stay in a hotel because it gives them access to a kitchen in which...
View ArticleChoosing a Vacation Rental Turnover Day
There is no definitive right or wrong decision when determining the best day to set as your “turnover day” for your vacation rental. The vast majority (85%) of our Cape and Islands listings, however,...
View Article15 Tips for Preparing Your Vacation Rental for the Season
Rental season is just around the corner, so it’s time to start getting your vacation rental ready. Here are a few tips for sprucing up your rental before guests arrive. Give your home a deep...
View ArticleHandling Tentative Bookings
Vacation rental homeowners on our site often ask us how to handle tentative bookings and, specifically, when they should reflect the booking as confirmed on their availability calendar. Tempting as it...
View Article15 Tips for Improving Your Home’s Curb Appeal
Interested in a sure-fire way to make your vacation rental home more attractive to vacationers? Kick up its curb appeal! Your listing will be more eye-catching to prospective guests, and think of how...
View ArticleMake your home more energy efficient this summer!
Guest post from Cape Light Compact: Every day, people are making their homes more energy efficient! No, they’re not putting solar panels up on their roofs or suddenly going off the grid. They’re doing...
View ArticleHandling International Inquiries, Payments and Bookings
As the global economy begins to stabilize and consumer confidence grows, more and more vacationers from other countries are resuming vacations to the US. And with this winter’s devastating effects on...
View ArticleIt’s That Time of Year Again…Spring Clean-up Time
Guest post from Joyce Landscaping — Here we go again…it’s that time of year that we all look forward to. After a long winter of high winds, snow, and ice, typical New England weather, we cannot wait …...
View ArticleTips and Tricks for Turnover Day Surprises
Every vacation rental homeowner who’s ever done their own turnovers week after week knows the frustration of arriving at your property to find unexpected “parting gifts” in the carpets, on the walls,...
View ArticleBe your own guest! Spend a night or two in your rental home.
Despite all of your concerted efforts to prepare your home for the rental season – spending tons of time and money to clean, fix, paint, replace and even rebuild – the best way to guarantee that it...
View ArticleTips for attracting fall vacation rental bookings
Looking to extend your booking season beyond the high summer season? If priced appropriately and marketed well, your home can provide you with some additional revenue with very little added effort....
View ArticleTop 10 Tips to Acquire Positive Guest Reviews and Prevent Negative Ones
By now, it’s abundantly clear to most homeowners how critical guest reviews are to the success of renting their vacation rental homes. The goal is to get as many positive reviews posted as possible...
View Article6 Renewable Energy Projects for a Sustainable Vacation Rental Home
Guest Post from Liz Nelson, WhiteFence.com Studies have shown that people are becoming more likely to visit vacation hotspots if a renewable energy method has been implemented. As this trend continues...
View Article11 Ways to Help Your Tenants Weather a Rainy Day
Naturally, we hope that our vacation rental guests have wonderful, perfect beach weather when staying in our homes on Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard – because, if they’re not happy, we’re...
View ArticleQuick Tip: What to charge for off season security deposits
One of our homeowners recently inquired about whether he should require the same security deposit for an off-season and/or shorter stay rental as he does for an in-season, weekly one. We recommend...
View ArticleDon’t let poor business practices result in lost bookings
Despite your home being a perfect fit for a prospective vacationer, it’s possible that you can lose the booking due to an ill-advised booking procedure. A recent email correspondence with a vacationer...
View Article4th Annual Martha’s Vineyard Homeowner Forum Recap
Last weekend’s WeNeedaVacation.com Martha’s Vineyard Homeowner Forum was another great success! The weather on the Vineyard was quite mild and much sunnier than originally forecast. WeNeedaVacation.com...
View ArticleHomeowner Video Tutorial: Taking Better Pictures of Your Vacation Rental Home
Vacationers have told us time and again – and our October 2013 vacationer survey has confirmed it - it’s no longer enough just having a lot of pictures on your vacation rental listing. Vacationers...
View ArticleA Recap of the Annual Homeowner Forums in Brewster
Attendance at last Saturday’s complimentary, annual Homeowner Forums in Brewster was the largest ever. And, judging by the spontaneous applause at the end of the two sessions, our homeowners enjoyed...
View ArticleHonoring promises to past tenants without losing new prospects
Every year, vacation rental homeowners hope that a few of our past tenants will choose to return to our homes the next season: they obviously are a great fit and love the home, and we can trust that...
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