How To Rent Vacation Properties By Owner
by Christine Hrib-Karpinski

How to Make Your Vacation Property Work for You!
by Alfred & Emily Glossbrenner

Both are great books and well worth a read.

• Top Forums - a private forum related to property rentals all over Florida, but concentrates mainly on the Orlando area.
• Vacation Rentals Yahoo Group - discusses vacation rentals throughout the world, but mainly owners in the USA. Talk about issues that owners around the globe face.

VR Referral Network™

Here you can help locate homes for guests that you are unable to accommodate, or help find additional accommodations when your guests need more than one property.

Availability Calendars

Enter your bookings into MyVRZone directly and use it to display your calendar on your own website plus it can update other calendars for you automatically.

Guest Book

An independent Guest Book for use on your own site or as a link.

1. If you have not received the notification email telling you that the booking has been registered then go to your Referrals received tab and register it.
2. Arrange to pay the commission due on the booking as follows:

   By Check:
   VR-Lodging.com c/o Neil Robinson
   6174 Valley Glen Drive, San Jose, CA 95123 USA
   Phone: +1 408 365 9992 (GMT-8hrs)
   Be sure to include the Booking number (in the notification email) as a reference on your check.

   Using your PayPal account:
   Click on the PayPal link in your notification email to prefill everything.

   If you really cannot find the link then use the PayPal button here as a last resort as it makes tracking the payment more difficult.

   

3. Tell the system that you’ve made the payment on the Referrals commissions tab.

To get listed here:

If you don’t have a myvrzone.com account:
1. Go to the registration page
2. Complete your account activation

Then:

3. Add your property/properties with descriptions and photos.
4. Ensure that availability is provided by entering your reservations directly or linking to an existing rentors.org/HomeAway Connect account.
5. Your listing should now appear, if it does not then click here for help. If you are using rentors.org/HomeAway Connect as your calendar then be sure to get the system to perform a synchronization now rather than wait for the overnight one to occur.

You have probably heard about this great Vacation Rental accommodation option but you may be wondering if a vacation rental is really right for you though - what benefits are there over a hotel?

Vacation rentals are becoming a very popular accommodation choice for vacationing due to the better value for money that they offer. You’ll find them referred to as Villa’s, Condo’s, Townhomes and Apartments - they are a great alternative to hotels so lets explore why here.

Value

Staying in a Vacation Rental is often a lot cheaper than the equivalent accommodation in a hotel or timeshare (if it’s even possible to get an equivalent). Most vacation rental owners are just covering their expenses in the hope that the property value goes up and for their own personal use. This means you are a getting a great deal for your Dollar (or Pound, Rupee, Euro - insert your favorite currency here)!

Often they are better value for small families when compared to staying in a hotel room, even if prices are comparable, because you get much more in terms of space and amenities. When you start looking at homes that sleep 2, 3 or more families, the value is much higher as the price per person is significantly lower.

If you are so inclined, then factor in savings by not having to eat out every night, or pay for an expensive drink from a hotel bar. It can be a little more work than staying in a hotel, but it doesn’t have to be stressful. You can eat out, get take out meals and bring them back to the vacation rental or you can cook. Your self-catering vacation rental should provide most basic cooking utensils required.

Be sure you compare prices consistently - with/without taxes, with/without some options (eg. pool/spa heat, BBQ). Also consider what may be included at no additional charge by some and not others (Free phone calls, Internet/WiFi, BBQ usage etc) - if you want that amenity then factor that in too. Also consider the location, privacy and living space - for large groups the more space the better to avoid being with everyone else too much of the time (we all need our own space at times and vacations can be very stressful for some).

Property Amenities

There is no comparison! Compare staying in a hotel that costs $100 per night for a family of 4 with one small room, one small bathroom and two queen beds - not the best living arrangement! For the same price you could have a 3 bedroom condo - yes 3 bedrooms! Privacy for Mom and Dad and space for the kids. But wait, there is also a kitchen, a living area, a dining area and maybe 2 or more bathrooms - which would you rather have!

Proximity

Vacation Rentals are usually located near attractions (beach, lake, theme parks) but do vary in distance from it. Rental Rates will also vary accordingly so the further away it is the less you’d expect to pay. In popular areas (such as Disney World) the traffic can be very congested so the distance has a bigger impact on the travel time. Ask your vacation rental owner how long it takes to get to important attractions as well as how far away it is - in both quiet and busy times of the day.

Resort Amenities

A vacation rental may have some of the amenities typical of hotels - some may be provided as part of the home and some may be provided as part of the community that the home is located on. The more luxurious the home, the more amenities it may have. Some vacation homes have more amenities than you would expect to find in a standard hotel, such as games machines, multiple bathrooms, TVs/DVDs in all bedrooms, home theater systems and more.

Family Reunions

Also know as Togethering, family reunions are popular these days. There are many vacation homes that can cater for larger family groups. Sometimes you may need more than one vacation home - your vacation home owner may have contacts with other local owners and may be able to help you locate another home in the same location for your reunion. Renting a vacation rental for your family reunion allows your family to have activity filled days, and fun filled nights, together, in the privacy of your vacation rental home,

Local Knowledge, Personal Involvement

When renting a home directly from the owner, they will have local knowledge of the area and can give recommendations, help and assistance with your planning. This can range from which local attractions are the best, restaurant recommendations and personal information about their vacation rental home - including suggestions as to how the sleeping arrangements at the vacation rental can work for your family..

In summary…

Vacation Rentals offer more independence than mainstream hotels. If you:

• prefer to have as much control as possible over what you do and when
• value private living space for eating, socializing and playing
• like to be able to prepare quick meals and snacks without having to go to a restaurant
• love the cost savings for larger families or groups

… then a Vacation Rental is a great choice.

If you are looking to save money on accommodation in a preferred destination area then take a look at the vacation rentals available in the area as well as the hotels. Depending on the number of people in your group you can save a great amount of money and at the same time gain more amenities.

For large groups a vacation rental offers the best deal - more living space, more rooms, more privacy and the ability to cook if you want to (lowering the cost again). Even small groups can benefit from more of a sense of togetherness and ability to meet up in the living areas with some family privacy.

So, what do you compromise on compared to a hotel? There’s usually no maid service, no free shuttles to local attractions, no on-site restaurant and often no instant or on-site response to any issues that may arise. Most issues are dealt with by professionals during normal working hours - urgent matters will be expedited.

Plan ahead with meals to avoid having to go out

Once you have chosen a vacation rental for your vacation, its time to take full advantage of the amenities that they offer.  Most places usually come  with full kitchen and a complement of cooking utensils, pots and pans.  Take advantage of that so save even more money.

After being tired out after the day’s activities it’s very easy to just eat out to save the hassle of cooking. This costs a lot more than preparing your own food so it’s worth planning ahead a little to make sure that you can have simple meals that don’t require further preparation.

Plan your main meals before you arrive so that you have a list of all the main ingredients needed - do that shopping as soon as you can after arrival so you have most of what you need in the home. Then get the next few days meals prepared, bagged up (ziploc’s) and in the fridge or freezer as appropriate.  Good portable or easy to prepare meals include:

• Spaghetti Bolognaise
• Chile Con Carne
• Baked Potatoes with all the fixings
• Stews and hearty soups (just add nice fresh bread)

Just before you leave for the day, take out any frozen items and let them thaw in the sink for your return. When you get back, open the bags, cook/heat the contents.

Go one step further and plan, cook and freeze your meals in advance.  Then just take them with you to your vacation home.

Another option is to see if there are any dinner clubs in your area (either at home or in the area you will be staying).  These are places such as Dream Dinners or Super Suppers.  If you haven’t heard of these before, you pre-order your meals, book a session and then at the appropriate time, turn up to your session and prepare a number of meals from their recipes and pre-prepared /pre-chopped ingredients.  Take them home and freeze them until needed.  You may need to add vegetables to complete the meal, but often they are a complete dinner.  These dinners are more expensive than preparing them yourself, but a meal for 6 can cost between $25-35 - much cheaper than an equivalent restaurant meal.  Often in these places, the more you buy, the more you save (e.g. with Dream Dinners, if you order 12 meals (6 portions) you get a good discount on the individual price.  Sometimes for a little more, you can get the dinners ready made for you.

The vacation rental fronts Kailua Beach, a favorite haunt for windsurfers, kayakers and dogwalkers. The beautiful white sand in front of the house is open to the public, just like all beaches under state law.

Kailua is a half-hour drive through the Ko’olau mountains from Honolulu, where Obama was born and spent 14 of the first 18 years of his life.

Barak Obama knows much about the state and the island and still chose to stay in a vacation rental rather than a hotel. The home is within a mile from another beach house vacation rental where the Obama family stayed during their weeklong vacation in August.

Vacation rentals are for everyone, from Barak Obama to Joe the Plumber - great places for families to get together in a home away from home.

If you’d like to look for vacation rentals then check out www.vr-lodging.com and for more information on what it means to use vacation rentals then check out the Vacation Rentals 101 site.

Car hire/rental

A car is a car - book the smallest size car you can deal with (you might get an upgrade) and make sure you only get the insurance coverage that you need. Be sure to check with your own personal car insurance provider to see if you would be covered anyway. For many people traveling within the USA additional coverage is not usually required - so save some money and check with them before you depart.

When comparing providers one big differentiating factor can be whether or not they are on-airport. When on-airport all of your luggage can be wheeled to the car. When off-airport you’ll probably need to transfer all luggage to the shuttle bus then off again - along with all of the travelers in your group. This is a BIG hassle - especially after a long flight when everyone is tired. If you are able to do this, then we have found that sending one of the group off to get the car while the others wait at the airport works well - the car would be driven back to the airport arrivals area and luggage loaded there.

Discount Car Rentals from E-Z Rent-A-Car
LastMinute.com Car hire deals
Car rental from m-broker
5% Police and Service Personnel Rental Car Discount
5% Teachers and School Employees Car Rental Discount
5% Military and Government Discount For Rental Cars
Car Rental coupon for Seniors (50+) on all car classes

Flights

For long haul flights the airline choice may make a difference to your comfort and hence stress level at the end. For cost savings, indirect flights with one or more stops are often cheapest. When comparing options, do compare the total journey time by including the time between flights as these can sometimes be long.

For some long journeys it may be beneficial to choose stops along the way in order to stretch legs and give the kids some time to run around - just make sure that the stop-over time is long enough for that (are you even departing from the same terminal you will arrive in!)

Lowest International Airfares for Economy Travel

Top Flight Offers from the UK

LOST!

Like all parents, we worry about our children getting lost when we are on vacation or on day trips from home. More so when we are in a large theme park such as those at Walt Disney World or Universal Orlando. In fact, is has happened to us in the Magic Kingdom when our son, then 4 years old, got separated from the rest of the group. In the blink of an eye, he had disappeared. Luckily, when he realized he went into one of the stores and told a cast member that he was lost - we found him again after contacting another cast member. Lets not talk about the fact they rewarded him with a huge lollipop, but he did do the right thing.

Over the years, we have wondered how to be more prepared for this situation. No matter how hard you try to keep your kids in your sight at all times, in places such as Walt Disney World there are so many chances for children to become separated from their parents. The key is getting them back to you quickly and safely.

What should you do? Obviously the first thing to do is to talk to your children and explain what to do if they get separated from you. Older children may be able to memorize your cellphone number or even have their own cellphone so they can call you. With younger children it gets more difficult because they may not be able to remember telephone numbers. In any of the theme parks they need to go straight to a female park employee or another mom and say they are lost. The parks are used to dealing with lost children and often have a special room set up for them to play in. Then, when you notify the park that your child is missing, the chances are that they know where your child is.

I have thought about having t-shirts printed up with a “If lost return to…” message on it, but just never got around to it (chances are my kids wouldn’t want to wear it anyway!). Now I just use a safety tattoo by SafetyTat. This is a temporary tattoo that you just place on your child - say, on a forearm or upper arm. The tattoo’s can be made pre-printed with your phone number which then apply with water just like any temporary tattoo. Peel-and-stick versions are also available and you can write on them with a special marker. (Just a note, indelible markers, such as Sharpies, are not good for writing on skin as they contain chemicals which can leach into the skin.)

Not just for lost children!

If you have a child with food or other allergies, you will be keenly aware of the effect that ingesting that item can have on your child. Perhaps the allergy/allergies are so severe that you have to carry an epi-pen with you. SafetyTat have a solution for that too -tattoos with allergy or Medical Alert information.

They also have an option for children with autism or who are non-verbal.

Snap, Snap.

Another recommendation to help with finding lost children, take a digital photograph of your kids on your way out to the parks. You can do that either on your digital camera or your cellphone camera. That way you will have a recent photograph of them and the clothes they are wearing. No worrying about what top / hat / pants they were wearing at a time of great stress.