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Here is what in publishing circles is called the "TOC" (pronounced "tee-oh-see") for our vacation rental owner's package. This will give you an excellent overview of the contents of the book and of both the included CD and the optional Shareware Productivity Tools CD, which is available for $10. |
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Introduction
Making Money from Your Second Home
How the Book Is Organized
If You're Still Not Sure About Renting
About the Authors
Part 1: Preparing Your Property Listing
Chapter 1: Using the Internet to Boost Your Rental Income
The Masses Have Arrived
The Vacation-Rental Property Difference
Additional Reasons to be on the Web
Your Internet Options
Why We Recommend Starting with the Big Four Sites
The Rentors.org Big Four Advantage
Conclusion
Chapter 2: The Components of an Online Property Listing
How Renters Search for Listings
Short Descriptions of Properties
Looking at Listings
Basic Parts to Every Listing
Conclusion
Chapter 3: Writing a Property Listing that Sells!
Taking the Time to Do It Right
Short Description: The "Hook"
Property Description: Write from the Heart!
Amenities and Activities Lists
Rate Schedule
Contact Information
Other Issues: Smoking, Pets, and Children
Conclusion
Chapter 4: Enhancing Your Listing with Great Photos
Simply Appalling Photos!
You're the Art Director
Taking Great Exterior Shots
Dressing the Set for Interior Photos
Adding Extra Photos
Providing a Floor Plan
A Few Technical Details
Conclusion
Chapter 5: Adding a Calendar and Guest Book
Opening a Rentors.org Account
Activating Your Account
Updating Your Availability Calendar
Managing Your Guest Book
Adding Comments to Your Guest Book
Conclusion
Part 2: The Big Four Vacation-Rental Sites
Chapter 6: VRBO
Getting to Know VRBO
Reviewing a Sample Listing
Creating a Listing on VRBO
Preparing and Sending Your Photos
Editing Your Listing
Chapter 7: CyberRentals
Getting to Know CyberRentals
Reviewing a Sample Listing
Creating a Listing on CyberRentals
Preparing and Sending Your Photos
Submitting (and Later Editing) Your Listing
Chapter 8: Great Rentals
Getting to Know Great Rentals
Reviewing a Sample Listing
Creating a Listing on Great Rentals
Preparing and Sending Your Photos
Editing Your Listing
Chapter 9: A1Vacations
Getting to Know A1Vacations
Reviewing a Sample Listing
Creating a Listing on A1Vacations
Preparing and Sending Your Photos
Editing Your Listing
Part 3: Marketing: Inexpensive Ways to Spread the Word
Chapter 10: Leveraging Your Listings
E-mail Signature Files
Printed Brochures and Flyers
Promotional Postcards
Special Notepaper for Your Property
Visitors Bureau Membership
Print Ads as a Last Resort
Conclusion
Chapter 11: Creative Marketing
Rates and Special Offers
Standing Out with a Personal Touch
Establishing a Relationship with Your Renters
Sending Thank-You Notes
Communicating with Postcards
Sending Holiday Greetings and Newsletters
The Relocated Executives Market
Going After Specialty Markets
Networking with Your Competitors
Conclusion
Chapter 12: Advanced Marketing Techniques
The Virtual Tour
Creating a CD-Based Brochure
Reality Check: If You're Still Not Getting Bookings
Advertising: Beyond the Big Four Sites
Conclusion
Part 4: Managing Your Rental Property
Chapter 13: Rates and Other Financial Matters
Setting Your Rental Rates
Establishing Cancellation and Refund Policies
Collecting Damage Deposits
Creating and Using a Rental Agreement
Blocking Long-Distance Telephone Calls
Reviewing Your Tax Obligations
Protecting Yourself with Insurance
Getting Credit-Card Merchant Status
The PayPal Option
Conclusion
Chapter 14: Furnishings, Amenities, and Services
Furnishings Philosophy
Room-by-Room Helpful Hints
Amenities and the Competition
Safety and Child-Proofing Considerations
Information for Your Guests
Repairs, Cleaning, and Other Services
Conclusion
Chapter 15: The Booking Process
Responding to Inquiries
Closing the Sale
Confirmation to Check-Out, Step by Step
Conclusion
Part 5: Vacation Property Owner's Toolkit
Chapter 16: Forms and Checklists
Vacation-Rental Logins & Property IDs
Booking Form/Checklist
Sample Confirmation Form
Sample Rental Agreement
Confirmation/Rental Agreement Checklist
Guest-Information Binder Checklist
Getting Property Ready Checklist
Check-Out Procedures Checklist
Conclusion
Chapter 17: Essential Software
Shareware-The Short Explanation
Installing the Programs
Getting to Know Magellan, ClipMate, and HyperSnap
About the Other Programs
Conclusion
Comments and Suggestions
Index
Order Form
More Details
Part 1: Preparing Your Listing
In this part of the book you'll learn that an online listing is very much like a four-color brochure. It consists of hundreds of words, three to four color pictures, and your rental rates and contact information. (Click here to see a sample listing.)
Next we'll show you how to select those words and take those pictures to make people want to rent your place instead of someone else's. You'll also learn how to add the identical availability calendar to all four leading sites. This is a huge convenience, because it means you won't have to update four separate calendars each time you get a booking.
Part 2: The Big Four Vacation Rental Sites
As noted earlier, there are literally hundreds of vacation-rental Web sites and no easy way to tell them apart. The ones we call "The Big Four," however, had such a long head start that they now have more listings than most of the others combined. That's important, because prospective renters want the largest selection available. The chapters here show you step-by-step how to put your property on each Big Four site. We walk you through all of the listing screens, so there are no surprises.
Should you take our advice and list your property on all four sites, your total yearly cost will be about $552. All of them charge a flat fee. None of them takes a commission. And all of them promote their sites in print and online. (As you will learn in Part 4, Rentors.org, an entity created by the Big Four, also makes it possible for most owners to accept all major credit cards.)
Part 3: Marketing: Inexpensive Ways to Spread the Word
At the click of a mouse, an online listing displays a four-color brochure devoted to your property. You need only tell people where to go on the Web to view your "brochure." You no longer have to pay by the word to describe your vacation rental in a newspaper ad. All you have to do is include the Web address for your property's listing. The chapters in this part of the book are chock-full of proven techniques for applying this kind of marketing leverage at little or no cost. (We even show you how to create elegant, custom notepaper featuring a line drawing of your property.)
And then there is the advanced marketing chapter, where we show you how to create a five-scene 360-degree virtual tour (There are photographers who will do it for just $60!), a Web site, and a CD-based, auto-play brochure with music and narration.
Part 4: Managing Your Rental Property
- How should I set my rates?
- What steps should I follow to book a guest?
- Do I need a security deposit?
- Should I opt for a double or go for the king-size bed?
- What if my renters call to say that the air conditioner isn't working?
The chapters in this part of the book address these and many other questions people ask when considering going it alone. Managing your rental, even from a distance, doesn't have to be a big deal. And doing so can save you thousands of dollars in rental agent/management commissions. Think about it: If you've built a network of reliable service and cleaning people in the area, having an appliance replaced or repaired in your vacation rental property is no more difficult than doing so in your main home.
Even if you want to continue with a property-management company, the Net and the tools you'll find in this seminar-in-a-box will empower you to negotiate for lower commissions. For example, you might contact your current rental agent or property manager and say, "I'll handle the marketing and booking process, but I'd like to buy your appliance-repair-service component. What would you charge?"
Part 5: Vacation Property Owner's Toolkit CD
This last part of the book is designed to acquaint you with the forms and software on the CD that comes with the package. The first chapter presents the printable forms and checklists you'll find on the disk. These documents are provided in both plain text and in Microsoft Word format, so you can easily customize them for your particular needs. We have developed them over the years to make managing our own vacation property as easy as possible. (For more information about the contents of this disk, please click here.)
The second chapter focuses on the supplied software, some of which is free and some of which is try-before-you-buy shareware. These are the programs cited in the text to help you produce mailing labels, tweak scanned photos, take screen shots, and build CD-based slide shows of your property.
Shareware Productivity Tools CD (optional)
The Shareware Productivity Tools CD is not part of the main package. It is an optional add-on available for $10, including shipping. We created it because we know the frustration of trying to make a PC do what you want it to do, and we also know that much depends on having the proper tools.
Highlights include:
- HyperSnap, a program that can capture an entire Web page as an image file, even the parts that are not currently on the screen.
- Download Accelerator Plus (DAP), which can substantially reduce the time required to download a given file
- Ad-aware, a program that both blocks pop-up ads and scans your disk for "spyware" programs secretly placed there by companies that want to track where you go and what you view on the Web.
- PrintStation, for making it quick and easy to print images in many different sizes on the same page.
- TotalRecorder, a program that will direct anything that plays through your sound card to an on-disk audio file, enabling you to preserve for your own use many radio programs and other files that are designed to be played only in real time. (If you want to build and burn to CD your own collection of, say, Garrison Keillor's "News from Lake Wobegon" monologues from "A Prairie Home Companion," TotalRecorder will do the job.)
This optional disk is simply stuffed with goodies. And since shareware is a passion, we'll be adding to it as great new programs hove into view. And you don't have to be a computer geek to benefit from them.
For short descriptions of all of the programs on the Shareware Productivity Tools disk, please click here.
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