All Forum Posts by: Bernee Brawn

This is why we insist all money be paid 30 days prior to them checking in, And why we have the security in hand as well. We do not allow VRBO to hold the money. 

I hope it works out for you.... in the future, all money well in advance!!! 

Question on having Roku in a VR.... I have one in my rental, how do you handle the guest renting movies that are then charged to your account? 

Hi again.. thought I would give you an update on our progress. The good news is, we are booked for the last week of December through the end of March!! 

Now I am beginning to work on spring and summer rentals... that might be a bit harder. In season here, (yes am in St. James City) is pretty easy off season not quite so much. 

Hopefully, our renters will be good to us!!!! Luckily I live just a couple of blocks away and will be keeping an eye on the place. 

Happy holidays to you all. 

Great info, thanks for sharing. The property I purchased is a mid range rental in a mostly snowbird community. We are probably the nicest home on the street, now that it has been all remodeled ... but still isn't going to fetch the big bucks the the million dollar properties will. 

I have been having a disagreement with my property manager on what to stock the house with, I want to go higher end goodies, he say to go to Target and buy cheap. I feel  a bit over the top on fun stuff is something they will remember. 

And thanks for the reminder to talk to, and treat our guests like our friends and how we want to be treated!!! 

Bernee Brawn

FishTales, St James City, Fl.

I just spent a long weekend at Bermuda Dunes visiting my sister. She has a "casita" on the golf course there that they rent to a Canadian couple. Believe they come in October and stay through March. I think she could get more for the house then she is, but they like the renters and are happy with them. Believe this may be their 4th yr renting from them. 

I may consider finding a rental for a month in the spring sometime out there... just for a change of pace. 

We didn't travel too around too much while there, to a flea market, and then to the airport. Love the Palm Springs airport!!! Good luck with your search. 

for 40% I would be learning how to manage it myself. I can't imagine how paying someone that sort of %, could make any financial sense at all. 

I bought a run down manufactured home on Pine Island Florida this past spring. We have been working our butts off rehabbing it, and we are almost done and ready for guests! 

I should say, we had our first guests last week... friends of mine on the east coast bugged out due to Hurricane Matthew and they came and stayed at the rental. They knew it wasn't totally ready, but it was a roof over their head and they had electricity. 

If you would like to see.... here is my Facebook page for the property. We named her FishTales. https://www.facebook.com/FishTalesVacationRental/

And can post some before and after photos as well if there is any interest. All together, I put about $25,000 into the fix. But I bought it at a good price, so not too worried. Will rent for $3200 a month and $1500 a week. Should be no problem getting at least Dec-March.... the rest will be up to me and marketing it. 

Timely question! I am just beginning the process of making a blog/webpage for my rental. I am following a how to I found on YouTube for making a Wordpress page. It's been an interesting process so far! A bit frustrating, but it's good to know how to do this kind of stuff. Using Wordpress, Tesseract theme, and there are 7 or 8 plug ins suggested. The fellows name is Tyler somethingorother.... you can find him on YouTube. 

Why am I making my own page for my rental? Mainly because I don't like the new VRBO fees to our guests! As someone who rents VRs at least 2x's a year myself, I find these fees over the top and ridiculous, the owner isn't getting this money, all goes to VRBO. 

I also believe one has to find any way they can to make their home stand out from the rest these days, and hoping that a nice site with tons of local information will do that. Even though I am using a management company to take reservations, hold deposits etc, I want to be a part of the experience.... and this is my way to do that. After all, we are touting our rentals as Rent by Owner, and I feel that is part of the allure.... we aren't the Holiday Inn... it's personal. I know I like that when sending my hard earned money to the owner, not a big corporation. 

We'll see how it goes.... 

Maura, congratulations on your rentals!

Wondering if your guests have given any pushback for the fees from VRBO and Homeaway? 

I am getting my first rental ready for this coming season and have decided to use a PM. The unit is very close to home (actually I could walk to it) but have decided to use a PM for several reasons. 

1. I actually know this guy personally, so have a relationship in place. This makes me more comfortable. 

2. He manages several properties on our island, so he understands the market and they types of folks that usually come to stay

3. He has a process in place to accept reservations, how to deal with $$, keys, maintenance and will take care of thing that arise at 2 AM so I don't get that phone call. And, he has cleaning company in place

4. He has a viable RE company here on our island so already has a network going, a web page etc. 

His fees are 15%, yes a lot out of my pocket, but for all services worth it to me. In addition to his advertising the property, I will make up my own website and market it on my own as well. I will be heavily involved in the day to day running of the house, decorating, stocking, etc. etc. But he will handle all of the unpleasant side of things!! A win win in my book. 

I'm not sure I would feel this way if the property were halfway across the country, or if it were a faceless PM that I didn't know. I want to be involved in the process, just not the messy parts! 

Now from the renters side of things... we have rented VR's for years across the country. We worked with PMs and owners. Each have their own issues, but have not had any real problems with either. PMs tend to communicate with you a bit better, faster then owners but are less flexible in their rules.  There is a charm to speaking to the actual owner, makes it more personal, like renting an actual Home and not a hotel room. So there are pro's and con's to each..... I hope to split that down the middle somehow and get the best of both worlds?

Bottom line, interview PMs and make sure you know what their fees include and don't include. If you aren't comfortable speaking with them, your guests may feel the same way. Good luck!!