13 Keys to Successfully Renting Your Cottage, Condo or Cabin

Guidelines to ensure your vacation rental business runs smoothly and effectively. 

• Be the first to respond to a renter's inquiry.
• Be polite and friendly.
• Keep your ads up-to-date, especially your calendar.
• If you're not getting as many bookings as you'd like, consider broadening your spectrum of renters.
• Optimize your listings for the search engines by being as specific as possible when writing your headline, photo captions and descriptions.
• Solicit reviews from past renters to help further sell your vacation home to potential travelers.
• To avoid miscommunications, have a set list of cleaning tasks for your housekeeper or cleaning service to do between each guest.
• Have an extra set of linens and towels to make back-to-back rentals easier on your housekeeper
• Establish a clear refund policy to protect yourself from lost revenue.
• Establish strict policies regarding check-in and checkout and be clear about your expectations
• What do you want your guests to do before they leave, etc.?
• If you'd like to boost off-season bookings, consider accepting pets.
• Keep detailed records of all communications and bookings on a spreadsheet and maintain a good filing system on your computer to avoid scheduling errors and double-bookings.