Vacation Rental Ad Critiques - any volunteers?

Question

Love @Karen Margrave's idea of a Vacation Rental Forum! Hoping that happens.

In the meantime, we have just closed on our fourth VR, and are quite invested in their success.

The ads and photos for each property are as important as having a great location. It's hard to critique our own stuff, and when doing multiple properties we may be making the same mistakes, or missing opportunities in all of them and simply not be aware of it.

So - would anyone out there be willing to offer to critique our Vacation Rental Ads? Don't need to be a VR owner - just able to act as though you were a traveler looking to vacation in the mountains by a lake.

If you are a VR owner would be happy to do the same for you.

This would be ever so helpful!

Maura

Ezinwanne Hawkins · Answer

@Maura Paler  In addition to wholesaling and RE investing, I also own a vacation company, in which I work with VR owners to rent out their private homes or timeshare units. Much of my day is filled with writing and critiquing VR ads and properties.

Your VRs are beautiful.  The pics are superb and are the first thing renters look for when deciding where to vacation. My only suggestion would be to list the property attributes in bullet or some other vertical form - it makes them easier to see and read, and will hopefully cut down on the questions you receive that are already answered in the advertisement :)

Hope this helps!

Beth L. · Answer

@Maura Paler

I think that your ads are great! Lots of great pictures, including different seasons, and very detailed descriptions. Looks like you have your guests in mind with lots of amenities. I think that anyone looking for a mountain/lake getaway would love any of your places.

It looks like your calendars are filling up. Are you worried about something in particular with your ads?

Beth L. · Answer

@Maura Paler, I can help! I am a VR owner, and also rented many VRs before purchasing one of our own.

I have never vacationed in the mountains by a lake, but I can imagine what I would look for. ;-)

Jeremy Baker · Answer

@Maura Palervery beautiful homes in some picture perfect settings!  I looked through your listings and the pictures and descriptions are great!

What we did with our Kihei, Maui vacation rental condo is asked some of our guests why they chose us and what they look for when they are going through the thousands of listing in our area and even the over 70 listings in our condo complex.  We do this a couple times a year and usually just ask about 5-7 guests for their input and they are always happy to respond back with some great information.

For example, from their input, we knew that they already knew our condo was right across the street from the beach and that they were mainly looking for a comfortable bed, nice bathroom and stocked kitchen.  So instead of focusing our listing on our location like everyone else was doing, we focused on our bedroom, bath and kitchen.  Our first and main picture is of our bed.  The first part of our condo description is about our bed, high thread count sheets, stocked kitchen, updated bathroom, etc...

I know this may be different in each area, but see if you can get some input about your listing, why your guests chose you, etc...

Hope this helps!

Jason OBrien · Answer

@Maura Paler Your VR homes are beautiful.  Great work with the photos and descriptions. It pays to do it right. We have been renting VRs several a times a year for the  last 15  years and because we travel across country to access the homes we rent,  photos, description and most importantly reviews can be so helpful.    Looks like you have thought through the needs of your guests and furnished them well.

We always rent lake homes, mostly on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire and one thing my son always asks is if there is good fishing!   He would spend the entire two weeks living on the dock and never come in if he had his way.    He likes to see mention or pictures of any fishing activity in the reviews or descriptions when he looks for me.

Your reviews from past guests are great and this is your best asset to your success.  Great job!

Karen Margrave · Answer

@Ezinwanne  Hawkins  @Beth L. @Maura Paler

Biggerpockets is definitely going to do a Vacation Rental Forum. Maybe @Scott Trench can enlighten us on timing.

Maura, your VR are GORGEOUS!! There's nothing I can see wrong with your ads, words are just icing on the cake, as pictures tell the entire story!

Maura Paler · Answer

@Beth L.:

Thanks for taking the time to look through them. Nothing in particular we are concerned about - we do get year round bookings - but always looking to improve occupancy and maintain the ability to raise rates without losing occupancy.

Maura Paler · Answer

Thanks Beth! Choose one, or all 4, would love your feedback! You can message me or post for all to see, either OK with me.

Piseco Lake Cabin

http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p3165887

Lake Algonquin “Trailer Liscious”

http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p189448

Lake Algonquin Farmhouse

http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p353641

Charlie Lake Cabin

http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p3946888

Vacation Rental Ad Critiques - any volunteers?

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