Would it be a good idea to buy a Vacation Rental Home that sleeps 30 people?

From: blarson01 > We’re thinking about buying a VR that would sleep a large number of people (around 30) to use as a multi-generational getaway.
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How to pack for a Cruise

When packing for a cruise, think light. Some cruises limit the number of bags you can take on board and if they don’t, you may wish they had when you start unpacking in a state room. There are a few essentials though and don’t trust yourself to remember them; make a list of what you need, check the items off as you pack them and check them off again when you pack to come home.

Important things first: [Read more…]

How can I save money when I rent a car?

You’ve had this happen to you, I bet: you book your airline reservation and before you hang up, the airline employee asks politely, “May I connect you to a car rental company?”

Don’t do it!

Even if you intend to rent a vehicle from either agency, Just Say No” to your airline “helper” and dial the rental company’s toll-free number directly. (Come on, you can do it!)

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Universal Studios Orlando and other things to do near Walt Disney World

So you’ve been up and down Disney World: you’ve seen the Magic Kingdom, rode the monorail, gone on all the great rides, and the characters! Well, when you’ve had enough Mickey, Goofy, and all the gang, there’s plenty more for you and your gang to do in the Kissimmee/Orlando area other than Disney. [Read more…]

Are your Orlando Vacation Rental Homes available for parties?

“House parties are strictly prohibited, and are grounds for immediate eviction, and forfeiture of all deposits received. The Sheriffs department will be called to evict Tenants who exceed occupancy limits and violate noise ordinances.”

A few times each year we get calls from locals who want to rent our homes for a weekend.  We generally outright decline rentals from locals, or we enforce our 5 night minimum, which, of course, discourages partygoers from renting.  You may have noticed that our lease says, “5 adults maximum and 10 people maximum”  this is mostly to discourage parties and to limit the number of families in our homes.  In our Orlando Market, our target guests are families with young children.   They tend to be much gentler on our homes than the groups of eight or ten adults.

Should I install Solar Heating for my Pool at my Vacation Rental Home?

Summary:

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What are the average number of weeks rented for Florida Vacation Rental Homes?

Jim Asked,

How do you find current occupancy and rental statistics for Florida Vacation Rental Homes.
Thanks for any insight you can provide….

Jim,

The current statistics for Central Florida reveal that the average central Florida homeowner rents only about 21 weeks per year.
You’ll find those statistics in the report published here
The statistics aren’t free.  You’ll have to pay about $30 for the annual report.
The “21 week” statistic is for Central Florida.  In the Disney area, our peak seasons are “whenever kids are out of school,” but for most other parts of Florida the peak season is December through March, when when snowbirds escape to Florida to avoid the cold northern winters.
Several years ago, when I was researching places to buy,  Central Florida had the greatest number of tourists and the highest occupancy rates compared to vacation rental homes in other Florida cities.    If this still holds true, it would indicate that vacation rentals outside of central Florida are currently averaging less than 21 weeks of rentals per year.
Yes, I realize this is an average.  We book just over 30 weeks per year, per home, but this number has been declining every year for the past five years because of increased competition and because of more vacant days between bookings.   We’ve had an increasing number of guests staying for only 4 to 6 days instead of seven full days.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results and your mileage may vary.
Chuck Eglinton

Should I keep the rental rate of my rental home the same year round?

Debby asked,  “Should I keep my rental pricing simple and charge the same rate per night year round?”

The value of a week when nearly any guest can travel, like Easter, is HIGH.

The value of a week when when fewer guests can travel, like the second week of September when children return to school, is LOW.

If you’re not pricing your home to earning the maximum possible for the varying values of different weeks, then you’re throwing money away and your chance for profit.

I’ve been told that my earlier link to the Wall Street Journal requires a subscription, so I’ll post some excerpts from this respected source:

“”There are as many people who are underpricing as are overpricing,” Mr. Sharples says. “It’s always been fascinating to me how the best properties are always booked a year in advance. In the summertime or at Christmas, if those people held out a bit longer and increased their prices a bit, would they increase their revenue? I’m sure they would.”

“Typically, owners should knock 30% off their peak rates for so-called shoulder-season rentals — those that fall between their high and low seasons — and as much as 50% off peak rates for low-season rentals,”

“Just before Christmas, inquiries slowed to a trickle for Amy Greener’s “Swaying Pines Chalet,” an 1,180-square-foot cabin she owns in the Great Smoky Mountains in Gatlinburg, Tenn. Ms. Greener, who advertises on six Web sites for the two cabins she owns, responded by cutting her price and posting the deal as a “Holiday Shopping Special.” That move yielded several renters.”

“In Cape Cod, owners generally slash their off-season prices to the point where a month costs about the same as a week does during summer, ”

“People with very young children are more likely to travel off-season, because they’re not constrained by school schedules,” she says. A high chair or a portable crib aren’t expensive additions, but can drastically increase off-season bookings,”

What should I know about the Tree of Life at Disney’s Animal Kingdom?

Disney World has done a wonderful job of constructing magical icons that represent each of their theme parks. I mean, you can’t think of the Magic Kingdom without visualizing fireworks spraying spectacularly over Cinderella’s Castle. The silver dome that is known as Spaceship Earth basically is Epcot. So when Disney set out to build their newest theme park, Animal Kingdom, they knew they had to rise to the occasion.

So they installed The Tree of Life. [Read more…]

In which year did Walt Disney World open?

Disney World has become such a part of our popular culture it seems as if it’s been open forever, but the Magic Kingdom – the first of Disney’s Florida theme parks – opened to the public on October 1, 1971. After the success of Disney Land California, Walt Disney and his brother Roy began buying 27,000 acres of land near Orlando, Florida in. The size of the park would enable Walt’s dream: to create a fantasy world within the park where families could leave the outside world behind.

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