Many
buyers of vacation homes in Orlando purchase their vacation homes with a view
to renting out to guests when they are not enjoying the villa for
themselves. This is usually to ensure
that they cover most of their outgoing costs.
The only downside to owning an investment property in this way, is the
marketing and try to get new bookings each year. It can, for some people, become a little
tiresome and hard due to their own work commitments etc. At Vacay & Co Real Estate, we are
always here to nurture and help our vacation home owner clients in the best way
in order for our clients to have success with their vacation home purchase so
they can enjoy their investment as much as possible.
Here
are some tips to help you in the quest to run your vacation home like a ‘well
oiled machine’, so to speak. Let’s
tackle the cancellations issues and ways to avoid getting them
Look
at your Competitive – When setting your
bookings prices, we always recommend checking out your competition and looking
at ways you can offer more for the same price.
This will ensure that you are ahead of the competition and that the
guest will book with you and won’t the find something better and cancel your
booking and move on.
When
you set a competitive rate for your property, it will help you attract and keep
bookings. Most vacationer book online
and then keep on browsing just in case they find something better. When you price your property correctly
and also add some extra’s, i.e. PlayStation,
computer desk, printer, WIFI, games room etc. This way you are less likely to have those
cancellations.
Focus
on Repeat Guests – As soon as you get those guests through your
doors and staying at your property, this
is the point where good service comes into play. Have
you ensured that you are with a great Management Company that offers some
extra’s (i.e. a welcome pack goes a long way after a very tiring trip). The communication is so important, so if a
guest arrives and there is no reply to the contact phone number and there is
any problem, it is typically in the first 24hours that they will call in to the
Property Manager’s office. Once the
teething problems are out of the way, then it’s time for your guests to really enjoy
your vacation home. The great news is,
we are all creatures of habit, so if your vacation home offers some home
comforts and a great welcome, then it’s pretty certain they’ll want to book
again. Even better that they will go
back home and recommend you to all their friends and family. When you acquire their email address at
booking stage, ask them if it is OK for you to email them from time to time
with offers etc? Then you could keep a
list of email addresses of all your past/ present guests sending them
information and updates on your vacation home, e.g. each time you upgrade or
add a new feature to your vacation home, let them know about it. You can guarantee when they think about
booking Orlando, they’ll be sure to have your vacation home top of their memory
rather than starting a search for another vacation home.
Repeat
guests and recommendations are the core strengths of owning a vacation rental
home and if you can master that, then you will only have a handful of new
guests to seek out for the rest of the year and after a few years, your house
will be full with repeat guests and their friends.
Are
your Vacation home Pictures online looking great? – This
is so important! You know that phrase,
‘people always buy with their eyes’, is so so true and because all or most of
your bookings will come from an advert or booking site online, then it’s
imperative to have the best pictures and to have your home dressed prior so
it’s looking so impressive to them. It
is definitely worth spending out some money for a professional photographer and
come along and take some shots and even have a floating tour completed. That way the potential guests can look at a gliding
video of your home and feel like they are walking through it will really entice
them to book.
Do
you have a clear and concise Cancellation Policy? – It is so important to
set out your cancellation policy in a formal manner and treat your vacation
rental as a business. Your policy should
state clearly what happens should guests need to cancel their stay, including
listing a date they must cancel by, any fees they will incur and how they must
inform you.
It’s
common practice to require a non-refundable deposit. Make it clear when your guests make a
reservation that the booking won’t be official until you receive their deposit.
It is also a great ideal to consider asking for a higher deposit during high season
to discourage last minute cancellations.