When professional stagers work on a home that is for sale and create a fabulous look for the listing, they know that after the home is sold, their job is done and they can move all the staging materials out, leaving it bare and ready for the purchasers to put their own mark on the place. With a vacation rental there is a big difference. Whatever a potential guest sees on a listing, they will expect to find when they arrive for their holiday. So, the fancy bed linens, interesting artwork and lush greenery that sold them on the property must remain. This makes vacation rental staging an important and integral part of a marketing strategy, and also makes it challenging.

Keeping that in mind, here’s three tips for staging a vacation rental to the best effect

Clear the kitchen clutter

Clear all the kitchen surfaces and polish and shine stainless steel and all tiles. Put away all small appliances except perhaps one, as long as it is stainless steel and highly polished. Remove dish drainers, dish towels and garbage containers; take down magnets and notes off the fridge and put the dog dishes out of sight.

Lay up a breakfast bar, dining table and patio set

Instead of photographing bare tables, consider laying them up for a meal. Put out juice glasses, a basket of croissants, a bowl of fruit and berries on a breakfast bar; lay up a dining table with wine glasses, candles and matching dinnerware, and an outdoor table with a vase of flowers a bread basket and a wine bucket. These images will create emotion and desire and encourage visitors to your listing to stay around your site.

Create sumptuous bedrooms

It doesn’t take a lot to create a fabulous looking bedroom, but so many vacation rental listings show flat bedding and pillows with tired looking comforters and even sleeping bags or bare mattresses. This does not generate an attractive image for potential guests. Take some time and spend some money to make the beds look appealing with good quality comforters, plump pillows and plenty of throw cushions. Buy or make a headboard; provide matching side tables with matching lamps, and turn the lights on.

Take a lot of photographs paying attention to lighting – try taking pictures with and without flash as well. Late afternoon is probably the best time of day to get indoor photos without using too much artificial light. Enjoy making the place look amazing and you’ll benefit from increased interest in your listing.

Image on Flickr by Kevin Marsh

I was on Twitter this morning, and came upon an owner who is using Pinterest in a really unique way to showcase her vacation home and drive traffic to the web site and listings for it. I’ve been struggling for a while to see how Pinterest can be used for owners in the best way and Phoebe Thomas seems to have found the secret. Take a look at the Lou Messugo Holiday Home board and you’ll see what I mean.

The images are the first thing to catch the eye and are simple, crisp and clear.  Little is required by way of description since they tell the story by themselves, from little details like the lavender bag, to the wider view of the garden with a simple table laid with breakfast goodies. Overall, the board paints a picture of what visitor can expect to experience during a stay at Lou Messugo.

The key to getting a Pinterest board to work is for people to click on the images and be taken to the originating site. This is why pinning from Google images doesn’t help anyone out. Look at the originating sites for the photographs on this board and they come from the apartment listings on Airbnb, Trip Advisor and the primary web site . Cleverly, the originating site for the image from the guest book is a Facebook page, where there is another link to a further pinboard. This gets better and better!

Has this all been carefully planned or is it purely coincidental it’s been engineered so well. I hope Phoebe comes along and comments on this post to let us all know. In the meantime…kudos to her for a great job.

The Cottage Life Show in Toronto each spring is a great place for vacation home owners to check out cottage-related products and services and the five halls in the Exhibition Centre were packed with everything an owner might need from docks, boats, composting toilets, all manner of patio furniture and cottage kitsch to realtors, insurance agents, rental listing companies and agencies. The Main Stage is the venue for seminars on a range of topics and for the last five years, I’ve been presenting on the topic of cottage rental.

It was gratifying to have a full house for each of the 3 days, and to talk to a lot of owners at our booth as well. Many were veterans of several seasons of rentals and had a few funny stories to tell; some had the odd groan and gripe, but most were very happy with their rental experiences. There were also a lot who were stepping into rental for the first time and they had questions…lots of questions. Here’s a few:

· “What about damage? What happens if the renters trash my place?”

· “Do I need to provide linens and towels”

· “Should I let renters use the washer and dryer?”

· “How do I limit guests and prevent overcrowding?”

· “What happens if the renters go over the limit on my internet plan?”

Surprisingly, the majority of questions came from a downbeat perspective with new owners more concerned about how renting might impact them negatively, rather than focusing from a more optimistic standpoint. It points to the economics of owning a second home where many owners are using rental as a last resort to enable them to maintain and keep the property in the family.

I did my best to answer the questions while giving it a positive spin, and tried to get them moving to thinking about it from another viewpoint:

· What could you do to improve the guest experience?

· What could you do that would attract great reviews?

Check out this article to see some of my answers to the hot topics raised at the Show.

Given the great success we’ve had with our current vacation rental property, Osprey Cottage , we are now embarking on the search for a clone. I wish! Osprey is a fabulous rental and out of the five we’ve owned over the past ten years, it has been the top producer with an average 43 bookings annually. Since Ontario cottage rentals are very summer-focused and the low and shoulder seasons can present quite a challenge, we appear to be doing it right, and I want to reproduce this success with the next one.

Before even looking at the MLS listings we want to settle on the criteria so as not to waste the time of our realtor or our own time and energy so we began by looking back over the past 7 years of rental – checked out the reviews to see what makes it so popular and came up with this list of must have’s in our next purchase:

Waterfront must be swimmable but doesn’t have to be pristine lake. Osprey Cottage is on a river and there is no access to the nearby lake because of rapids. This does not deter rental guests and has no impact on occupancy. Water should be weed free.

Winterised & accessible in winter months. Osprey has shown healthy occupancy in the winter months with every weekend booked since December this year so the new cottage must be accessible and available in winter.

Well as water source. We have never had a problem with freezing of water lines or any pump issues. It’s also easier to get a mortgage here if the water source is a well.

Minimum 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. This seems the optimum size of property. The current place is about 1500 sq ft, will accommodate up to 7 people and rents at $1850 in high season and $1100 a week in low season, and this is what we will be looking for in a new place.

Less than 2.5 hours from Toronto. TO is our nearest city and is where most of our guests come from. To ensure we benefit from the weekend rental market, it cannot be more than two and a half hours away and less would be better. Less than 6kms from the nearest main road will reduce issues with winter access.

Relatively private. The reviews for Osprey Cottage comment on the high level of privacy and since 70% of our guests are repeats, this is a real draw for them.

High Speed Internet available. This was never in our radar for previous properties but is now becoming a deal-breaker for many guests and having it installed at Osprey has really boosted occupancy.

We are looking in the same area as our current cottage, simply because it’s close to our home and it makes it easier to set up and manage. However our first few cottages were bought in Ontario when we still lived in UK, so I woudn’t be averse to looking further afield.

I’ll be documenting the process this time and would love to hear from anyone else out there who is looking to buy/rent out. Let’s share the ups and downs.

This is a guest post by Phil Schofield of Schofields Insurance – a UK specialist in holiday letting insurance.

Your vacation rental is a valuable asset and I am sure you have spent a lot of time on making the property perfect for your guests, and that you want to keep it that way. Letting your cottage to strangers has associated risks. Some incidents are trivial and considered ‘par for the course’ when renting, others can have significant consequences.

When things do go wrong it’s essential your insurance is protecting you against losses and damage, so it’s imperative that you are adequately protected.

Make sure you’re covered

The purpose of this article is to familiarise you with the types of risks and insurance you should consider when renting your property. We will assume your property is insured against major perils (fire, flood, storms etc.) and that you know the difference between buildings (the structure/fixtures and fittings) and contents (items you would take with you if you moved) insurance. We will focus on the extra insurance required when renting out your vacation home.

Protecting against damage

Damage, whether accidental or malicious, is one of the top claims insurers face. It is inevitable that with the constant influx of guest at your cottage, damage will happen. Broken furniture, jammed DVDs, spillages, burns… the list is endless.

Taking and deducting from a security deposit is one way to compensate for incidents when damage by guests can be considered negligent, but for significant damage your insurance should protect you.

Also, check you are insured against the rare but devastating effects of destructive guests and malicious damage – parties and domestics fuelled by alcohol do happen and the resulting damage can be expensive to repair.

Having a pet-friendly rental can attract niche travellers who like to travel with their pets. However, pets left in unfamiliar surroundings can soil and chew furniture; ensure your insurance covers such damage.

Liability insurance.

Public liability insurance is often one of the most undervalued aspects of a rental policy, until of course, it’s needed. If a guest injures themselves at your cottage, as the property owner they could hold you liable for the personal injury. This insurance will cover any subsequent damages and legal fees in defending liability claims.

If you are providing extras at your rental – canoes, quad bikes, bicycles, a swimming pool, hot tub, trampoline etc. check if your liability insurance extends to cover these. If it doesn’t, then you may wish to reconsider providing items that could expose you to personal injury claims.

How much liability insurance do you need? – 3 to 5 million is advised. You letting agent may require a minimum coverage so check with them.

Loss of rent
A burst pipe, flooding or fire can render your property uninhabitable for long periods whilst repairs take place. What would happen to your bookings over this period? Refunding guests out of your own pocket can have severe financial consequences so ‘Loss of rent’ insurance should cover this cost. However, note that cover only usually applies to pre-booked rentals, not projected rentals.

Alternative accommodation

Likewise, if an insured event makes your rental inhabitable whilst guests are staying, a comprehensive rental insurance policy should cover the expense of finding them alternative accommodation.

Theft and security

It is likely that your insurer will require certain security measures to be in force when your property is both unoccupied and occupied. These vary between insurers but typically include specific door and window locks, shutters and alarms. Failure to meet the security terms of the insurance
invalidate theft cover – check you have adequate protection.

Are you covered for theft by ‘non-forced’ entry? If for example, a guest left a window open or didn’t lock the door on departure and you were subsequently robbed – would you be covered?

Although incidents of theft by tenants are rare, if a booking gave false details with intent of clearing out your property of its contents, you will want your rental insurance to also cover theft by tenants.
Local risks

Is your cottage located in an area that’s prone to flooding, subsidence, bush fires or earthquakes? If so, then you will need to choose a policy that offers the flexibility to covers such risks.

Claims support

Know what support you’ll be given if something does go wrong and you need to claim? Will you deal directly with the broker/agent who sold you the policy and knows the policy in depth, or are claims outsourced? How quickly will claims be dealt with? What happens if you are unhappy – is there an ombudsman or equivalent where you can complain?

Price

Everybody likes a deal, however, be careful when choosing insurance based on the lowest price if it is at the expense of being inadequately insured. Opting for cheaper lower coverage is false economy if the costs of being uninsured far outweigh any small premium savings.

Instead, choose a comprehensive policy but look for ways you can reduce the premium – e.g. increasing your security or opting for a higher excess.

Other considerations

- What would happen if a guest refused to leave – what are your eviction rights? Will your insurance assist?

- Are your insurance terms altered when your cottage is unoccupied for long periods?

- Don’t misrepresent something that is material when obtaining insurance as this can void your insurance contract

- Ensure your insurance values are accurate, don’t under or over -insure

- Make sure your property is kept in a good state of repair as insurance is not a maintenance contract and won’t cover general wear and tear

Hopefully this advice will make you evaluate your current insurance coverage to ensure you are protected against common risks when renting out your vacation rental. Seek insurance recommendations from other rental owners in your area who have successfully claimed, but always check the terms of the policy for shortfalls in cover.

Philip Schofield is a rental owner and advisor at Schofields Insurance who specialise in self catering insurance (for UK residents). You can also follow him on twitter @schofields where he shares holiday letting advice.

With London, and the world, gearing up for the Olympics this summer, many home owners may be considering moving out for the duration and renting out their space to make a little extra money. UK’s Daily Telegraph reports that prices have been massively inflated – up to 300% on regular rates – to cash in on the influx of athletes, their families and tourists, but these high priced accommodations are failing to capture the expected interest. It appears that pricing more competitively and creating a welcoming space for potential guests can deliver a better return both in confidence the property will be treated well and a satisfaction of providing good accommodation.

Leah Wild – a writer for the Telegraph – signed up her 4-bedroomed semi-detached home in the Elephant and Castle district of London at £3000 per week and within 7 days had rented all three Olympic week. “It was the best £25 I’ve ever invested” Wild said of the fee she spent to advertise it on Rentduringthegames.com one of the many Olympic focused rental sites. She has created a good relationship with the visiting guests, who are coming from Israel, and has been corresponding with them regularly. Owners who rent their properties frequently may not feel the need to know much about their guests, but for peace of mind, particularly if this is a first-time rental, it’s important to have a good feeling about the strangers coming into your home.

Of course the Olympics is bringing in a lot of people seeking accommodation during a short period of time so demand will be high, but any big local event in any city could attract interest in vacation rental accommodation. In a story originally written by Ashley Halligan, a Texas-based rental property management software analyst, she outlined how Austin residents could capitalize on the influx of nearly 300,000 out-of-towners during its biggest festival of the year: SXSW–by renting out their own homes." Halligan makes some good points about setting rates and establishing rules – even a one-off rental needs a lot of thought and commitment as well as a good deal of planning. 

There is the risk of damage as well. Homes do get trashed as this San Fransisco owner experienced when she rented her property with Air BnB so before posting your vacancy on one of the many sites listing Olympic rentals, make sure you have checked your insurance coverage. Phil Schofield of UK-based Schofields Insurance – who specialize in holiday rentals – says,

“Short-term, one–off letting may have its financial attractions, particularly if you have a home that’s conveniently located for events such as: Wimbledon, The Ryder Cup, The Olympics or The Edinburgh Festival.

However, before committing to any rentals the home owner should check with their insurer if ‘sub-letting’ invalidates cover. When ‘sub-letting’ there is a high risk of damage, theft or injury – and specialist insurance cover may be required.

· an owner-occupier main residence household insurance policy may become invalid the moment you rent out your house (or part of it) for commercial reasons – even if that’s only for a week or two as a one-off;

· you will need special cover (including public liability to cover injuries and theft cover) if you plan to rent out your main house for a very short period. Your existing insurance provider may be able to give you specific advice and options relating to your current policy.”

Home owners shouldn’t take chances and risk being uninsured; get everything in writing if your insurer extends cover.

If you’ve experienced renting for a special event and have some advice to share please comment – we’d love to hear how you managed the rental and if it worked for you.

Craig is a partner in CottageLINK Rental Management – one of Ontario’s leading rental agencies. Craig views and evaluates a lot of potential rental properties in the course of a year and his expertise in the cottage rental market has helped many owners achieve success with increased occupancy, positive reviews and repeat guests.

It all started with Tatum O’Neal. Those of you with children will have no doubt sat through any number of children’s sports movies. You know the formula well by now – misfit kid joins up with other misfit kids to form pathetic hockey/baseball/soccer team, playing for coach who is battling personal issues, pitting themselves against highly skilled, never-been-defeated, mean kids from the other side of town. Inevitably, the movie closes with a slow-motion finale where misfit kid makes one-in-a-million shot to win the big game and save the day against all odds. Cue the orchestral finale and tears of joy all around. Nice for Hollywood, but in real life, little Johnny likely misses the shot by 10 feet and suffers yet another defeat.

In my years as a soccer coach, I had to undo this mentality from all of my players. I would see it all the time in practice…they would work on a shot until they finally got it right, then think they were finished. THAT is what the movie philosophy did to them. DO you see the problem yet? They are still set up to fail. Practice is not done when you finally get it right – Practice STARTS when you get it right. Practice is only finished when you no longer ever get it wrong (well, no one is perfect, but you get the idea). Sidney Crosby doesn’t stop practice when he fires one shot on target – he practices until he hits 47 or 48 out of 50.

Some of you have probably already made the jump to where I am heading with this, but for those that haven’t, trust me, I AM going to tie this in with rentals. You see, so many good-intentioned owners want to plan the best for their guests. In doing so, they make the subtle error of picturing an idyllic setting upon arrival – sun shining, calm waters, perfect temperature and happy people just starting their vacation. Sometimes, this plays out exactly to schedule. When it doesn’t, though, have you prepared enough?

What if that day is unseasonably cold…and rainy…and traffic is terrible…and to make things complete, a stop at Weber’s has left one of the kids wishing he had eaten just one less burger. As an owner, it is best to plan to "hit every shot". If you make sure your cottage is ready and welcoming to guests in the worst of cases, you will succeed EVERY time.

This will pay off in a number of ways. First of all, it will give your guests a feeling of genuine welcome and that in turn will impact the way they treat your property during their stay. Guests will treat a property like it treats them. Secondly, should a problem occur during the stay, your guests will likely be dealing with you in a sympathetic frame of mind, rather than one that is confrontational. Thirdly, it will result in rave reviews for your cottage, in turn resulting in more rentals. Finally, it will just leave you feeling better about being a great host! If you make it a habit, you won’t even notice the extra effort.

Here are some things you can do to ensure your guests feel at home the moment they arrive:

1. Of course, cleanliness is an absolute must. This should probably go without saying, but we can’t say it enough.

2. If it is possible your guests will be arriving after dark, make sure at least one outside light is one in the area where the key is located. Ideally, this should be in a sheltered area so guests are not trying to fiddle with a lock box in the pouring rain.

3. In colder weather, make sure the cottage is heated to welcome your guests. We stayed in one cottage where the owner actually had the fireplace going when we walked in the door!

4. Some coffee, tea and perhaps a few soft drinks for the kids could be left in the kitchen. Very often a family’s car is so full from packing that they need to unload at the cottage before going for groceries. Fifteen minutes of relaxing with a drink after a long drive allows your guests to get comfortable right away.

5. Make sure your cottage guide is complete, up-to-date, clearly marked and placed in an obvious location.

6. Some owners like to leave a small welcoming gift for their guests. Bottles of wine are a popular choice. Some of our owners even leave little snacks for pets if they know that Fido is tagging along. Guests absolutely love this attention to detail.

7. Make sure you read past reviews and pay attention to constructive feedback offered by previous renters.

Attention to all of these will ensure your guests feel welcome 49 times out of 50, and will go a long way to making it easier to deal with the 50th, that guy who is never happy. Maybe even he will be impressed! Cue the orchestral finale…

Image on Flickr by moviesinla

Years ago when we purchased our first property in Canada, we were still living in UK. Romanced by the idea of owning an idyllic waterfront cottage that we could vacation in when we wanted, and rent it out at all other times, we gave little thought to the logistics of managing a vacation rental from afar. That could come later, we optimistically agreed.

In fact, we were lucky. Buying the cottage in the late fall and having to renovate parts of it, there was no potential for renting it until the following summer. Our next door neighbor was a building contractor and also ran a small resort, so in the winter when the snow piled up dangerously high on the roof; the water line froze and a pipe in the bathroom burst, he was on hand to quickly take care of it. Added to that, on our frequent trips out to enjoy the new acquisition, the heating was turned up, there was beer in the fridge and a friendly welcome soon after we arrived. When it came time to rent the place out, it was an easy decision to ask our neighbor and his wife to take care of the changeovers, maintenance and emergency management, and it was an arrangement that worked very well until we moved permanently to Ontario.

I firmly believe that your vacation rental success can only be as good as the property management you provide – or hire. No matter how wonderful, idyllic or outfitted the property is, unless it is well maintained, and your guests have someone to call on in an emergency, there will always be a risk of complaint or at worst, negative reviews.

At the moment, I’m vacationing with family in Costa Rica and as always when we are doing this, my mind turns to the idea of purchasing a property and renting it out. It has a huge attraction given the notion of being able to scoot down here when the winter begins to grind us down, and to still get a return on the investment by renting . On this occasion, sense will prevail not least of which is because of the language barrier since we don’t speak any Spanish, but primarily because of the property management issue. The owners here are fortunate in having a thoroughly delightful couple taking care of the place in their absence and managing all the changeovers, maintenance and caretaking. They own their own rental villas and just like our Ontario managers, are familiar with the needs and wants of rental guests. This is so important and should drive any decision making on a rental property, in whatever country you may think of purchasing.

Finally, if and when you consider buying a property and renting from a distance consider the following key attributes of a property manager. They should:

1. Be familiar with the rental business and have a strong customer service ethic

2. Have good local knowledge of customs, trades people and services (and language as appropriate)

3. Be able to deliver concierge services if required

4. Have the ability to react promptly in an emergency

5. Be reliable, competent, consistent and trustworthy

If anyone knows of someone down here in Costa Rica that could fit the bill, we may be hiring.

We all know the importance of the visual impact a vacation rental makes on a potential vacationer. With my Costa Rica holiday coming up, I’ve pored over images of beaches, monkeys, toucans, fabulously colourful flowers, as well as having the listing site photographs imprinted on my mind. It was the visual aspect that first attracted us to the property and even when we looked at other options nothing else came close. Given this, and my current obsession with Pinterest I’ve been researching how we can use the massive growth in this visual social network to create more link juice for a listing or vacation rental web site.

Pinterest hit my radar last year and I took a quick look before deciding it was focused more on shoes, style, design, and moms with too much time on their hands. I’m always open to new things but this didn’t seem to be going anywhere in a direction that could impact our business. Since then more articles have appeared citing it as one of the fastest growing social media platforms, and the ability for it to create interest in a variety of brands. So how does it work?

I am too new to Pinterest to try and explain it fully but it’s easy to dive in and try it out. Here’s a few links to articles that helped me understand what it’s about and made me appreciate the value of using it in our business:

What is Pinterest and how to use if for marketing your brand

A useful overview plus 9 specific marketing tactics for Pinterest

“Pinterest is an online pinboard that allows you to collect and display the images you find on the web. You can find boards from other people to discover new things and get inspiration from others. You can use Pinterest to plan a vacation, decorate your home and share your favorite fashion items.”

Everything You Need to Know About Pinterest

This is a great beginners guide

“Anytime someone pins something from your site, it automatically pulls in not just the image from your site, but also a link. There is a chance for that pin to be repinned multiple times (even hundreds of times, in some cases), building up a healthy amount of backlinks.”

The Next Great Place to get Links

An explanation of how Pinterest works with in the social media arena

“To be effective for SEO, it makes the most sense for products that appeal to women as they make up the largest demographic. If your product ties into food, fashion, DIY, travel, home décor or weddings, and can easily fit into giveaways, it’s also a gold mine.”

10 Pinterest Ideas with SEO benefits

For those interested in SEO and how to use Pinterest to achieve results, this list has some helpful ideas

“Signing into Pinterest with Facebook will link your Facebook timeline to your Pinterest posts. This means your Facebook friends will be able to see your Pinning activity and click through to see your Pins. You can (and should) also cross-promote, occasionally, your Pins on other networks like Twitter, Flickr or even your blog”.

If this hasn’t got your interest, consider why Home Away have started using the platform to promote their properties. They are not directly listing properties – simply posting the best images on different topics that of course link back to the listing. For example, the board titled Kitschy Kitchens has the tagline:

“Everyone loves a kitchen fit for the perfect cook! Check out our collection of great kitchen spaces from HomeAway vacation rentals and more.”

Getting onto Pinterest is not as simple as just signing up – you have to request an invitation and may have to wait anything from a few days to a week or more to get a response. However if you comment on this post and ask for an invitation, I will send you one. I’d also love you to post any boards you already have and hear about how you are already using them.

By the way, here is one of my first efforts: Photographing Vacation Rental Interiors

“The people are there, the people are pinning, and the potential for your content to go viral, indexing hundreds of backlinks to your site, is there.”

Following my previous post on the things we learned in the first half of 2011, here’s the second part.  It was a very successful and profitable year and we enjoyed welcoming a wide range of guests from all over the world. However, there are new challenges every year and since I always keep notes of everything that happens, we can correct along the way.  Sometimes, it just takes a little change as in September’s learning point; occasionally there’s more long term action to take.  I’d love to hear what you learned last year – hearing other owners’ experiences adds another element to making your vacation rental business successful.

July

Hot and humid are the words to describe July in Ontario. How many people know we are on the same latitude as Spain and often experience extreme heat in the summer? Garbage can’t be put outside the cottage because it attracts bears so guests have to keep it indoors and take it to the local dump regularly. We added a few suggestions into the cottage guide on how to handle garbage efficiently and provide large bags so guests can freeze organic waste until it can be removed.

Learning Point: Some people dispense with common sense on vacation, so creating a comprehensive guide on every aspect of living life in the country can reduce the likelihood of calls and issues

August

A new neighbor moved in across the river early last year. We haven’t met since they are there infrequently and seem a little aloof. Anyway, we’d have to swim across to say hello, or drive 15kms to get around the river to their cottage. They complained by email that our guests had noisy children who collected frogs in buckets which were not permitted as the frogs were there for the Blue Heron. Seriously?!! They also commented that they had bought their cottage for the peace and quiet and this was impacted by our guests ‘enjoying themselves’.

Learning Point: Since 80% of our summer guests come back every year – some now on their 6^th visit – we know how much they respect the place and value their time there. However, it’s always worth reminding them of cottage etiquette occasionally. I’ve also learned that it’s important to speak to neighbours about our rental activity and reassure them that we screen professionally and responsibly.

September

We rent weekly only in July and August but move to a more flexible rental operation in the fall. However we have always stuck to Saturday-Saturday changeovers for weekly rentals. We had two weeks rented in September but it was difficult to book the remaining time without discounting heavily.

Learning Point: If we changed our weekly schedule to Friday – Friday, this would leave some full weekends, so we are now offering this along with Friday – Sunday and Sunday/Monday to Friday. This has worked really well so far this winter and enabled us to squeeze in some additional days. A minor change but a profitable one.

October

Our annual road trip took us to Texas this year and we were away for 6 weeks with the RV. During that time, there were 7 changeovers at the cottage. Although we were in touch with our caretaker there were a couple of incidents that required more immediate action than we’d planned – the hot tub quit working; guests had access issues following a fall storm etc. Although the caretaker was able to manage it wasn’t without challenges.

Learning Point: When remote from a property, it’s important to provide your property manager/caretaker/representative with authority to take action, along with a budget, in case of a breakdown that could affect upcoming bookings or resident guests. Don’t try micro-managing from a distance, particularly if you want to avoid stress.

November

The month of the mice! A new deck was installed and the contractors were using an indoor power outlet, so a door into the cottage was open some of the time. Given some poor weather it took a couple of weeks to finish, so we didn’t realize there was a problem until the unwelcome visitors had reproduced somewhat rapidly. With guests booked in when the deck was done it was a race to the finish to eradicate the problem.

Learning Point: Short and sweet….count the traps, and remove them all before the next guests arrive. I’ll say no more on this one but the outcome involved a lot of apologies, a restaurant voucher and a very red face.

December

Some early snow made the road into the cottage a little challenging but still accessible with good winter tires and a lot of caution. Guests booked in for a weekend called to check the conditions and when told about the snow/ice mix on the road, wanted to cancel as they had not realized there had been snow outside the city, and were concerned about safety. Initially, we didn’t refund because the listing and pre-arrival material made it clear about the nature of the access and the potential for wintry conditions, but we did offer a postponement to another low season spring date. They were not happy and argued the case so much, we realized they had just changed their minds and wanted money back, at which point we decided we did not want them to stay at any time, so refunded less a cancellation fee.

Learning Point: We struggled with this one a bit and I’d love to know what you would have done.