Actually, the title of this article may seem like clickbait for only those that own a holiday home. In fact, anyone that owns a property that is vacant right now or that you use as an investment for yearly rentals can use it as a holiday home rental a.k.a. vacation rental.
There are thousands of people that are making a killing simply by turning their overseas property investments into a lucrative business using what is effectively a very cheap and affordable business model, which is basically starting a vacation rental business. This is a business that you can run online without physically having to be in the location your holiday home is situated.
Before we begin, let’s look at the easy route you can take when you have a vacant property. We will then look at how you can put in a little bit of effort and potentially add an additional $20,000+ to your yearly income.
- Leaving the holiday home mostly unoccupied
Firstly, there are those that don’t mind letting their holiday home just sit there making it available to friends and family whenever they want a trip abroad to a place that is familiar or costs nothing to stay in.
- Always in Search of Yearly lease contracts
Then, there are those that rent their property out on a yearly contract because once the yearly contract is signed, the new tenants can turn the place into their home. Aside from the odd maintenance requests, there is not much that needs to be done.
- Travel Often Leaving Your Home Vacant
Our home is our own private space. People that travel often generally leave their home unoccupied for months on end.
Do Any of The Above Situations Apply to You?
source:themocracy.com
If any of these situations apply to you, then read on because turning your property into a vacation rental business could add thousands of dollars onto your current income and be reinvested into more property.
For those of you that already have a holiday home, then great, you can get started immediately by visiting one of the many vacation rental websites and becoming a host. Those of you that travel often, can make your home available by setting the dates you are away as available (although not everyone wants strangers in their home, so this solution is not for everyone).
While those of you that rent your property on a yearly lease should start to look at how much extra can be earned with a little bit more effort put into creating a vacation rental out of your property. For a $1,500 a month property on yearly lease, you could get $3,000 to $4,000 a month by renting it as a holiday home.
source:themocracy.com
Last of all, if you are looking for an investment opportunity, then let’s face it, property around the world generally increases in value. You can buy a holiday home and make an income on top of the increased equity from rising house prices. It is the perfect business model with a very good liquid asset to boot if you choose to invest in a popular area.
According to Evolve’s how much can you really make with a vacation rental? blog, you can earn in excess of $50,000 a year from a 2 bedroom property that has only been booked 175 nights a year. Now add equity on top of this, and you could be adding a significant amount of extra cash to your current income.
Did You Know You Have Access to Free Short-Term Rental Websites?
source:jonesaroundtheworld.com
Just take a look online and check for vacation rental websites. You have a plethora of choices where you can search for a vacation rental for your holiday. Well, if you dig deeper into these websites, you will find an area where you can become a host, which means you can join and list your property as available for rent.
There are thousands of holidaymakers that prefer to book a private home instead of a hotel. Should your property come up within their search criteria for location, the number of beds, bedrooms, facilities, amenities, and their price range, then your property stands the chance of being booked for short 3 days’ vacation up to a 3-week vacation.
source:jonesaroundtheworld.com
The website that you become a host on will give you a messaging system to chat with people looking to book and those that have booked your property. All you need to do is account for the fact that the website will take a commission for the booking.
From there on out, the rest is down to you to make sure your guest gets to property, can access it, and then proceed to make their stay as comfortable as possible.
What Does It Take To Create a Successful Vacation Rental Business?
source:jonesaroundtheworld.com
We have looked at how vacation rentals can an additional income to your current earnings, and how simple it is. As long as you start to obtain bookings from your listings, then you will start to earn an income from your property. However, this is where the easy part ends.
You still have to make some effort making sure you get good reviews from your temporary occupants.
Access: If you are not going to be there to meet your guests, then make sure you have a system that allows them to enter the property easily. This could be leaving the key in a mailbox to including smart home technology such as a coded door system.
Cleaners: Once again, if you are not in town, then you need to make sure your property is cleaned for the next person. Hire local cleaners or a local cleaning company to take care of this for you. Also, you can read about vacation rental cleaning at IGMS blog.
Maintenance: If this is your holiday home, then the chances are you will be visiting soon enough, and you can deal with most maintenance issues. However, for urgent maintenance make sure you have someone in hand to help. Cleaners are usually the best to solve minor issues for a little extra bump on their paycheck when they help you out.
Pricing: Be fair and realistic with your pricing. To begin with, you will need to undervalue your daily rate versus the competition. This way you will get bookings quickly and build up your positive reviews in view of raising the price once your hosting profile has built up trust.
Be Available: Make sure you are able to answer guest queries. Give them times you will be available and a number in case of dire emergencies. This can be a bit of drag at times, but if the electric goes out, then your guests could leave a bad review. You need to make sure problems can be resolved quickly.
Avoid Double Bookings: You can become a host on as many vacation rentals sites as you like. However, if you do, then make sure you use vacation rental channel software to sync all the calendars.
source:nuevahospitality.com
Damage Deposits: Ensure you have an itemized list of all damage charges. This is important because you do not want people damaging your property and getting away with it.
Get Your Own Branded Website: With your own branded website, you can leave blogs on there for suggested places to visit, downloadable PDF guides, house rules, contact info, and even offer better rates as guests can book without paying a commission.
These are just a few of the areas you will need to take into consideration as host. As long as you a stickler for processes, then you will have no problems implementing any of the above. In fact, each process is reasonably simple to put into action, and you will learn how to fine-tune all of them as you gain more experience running your vacation rental business.
For a complete guide on vacation rentals and all the resources, you need to start a successful vacation rental business, check out this complete glossary to vacation rentals. The company behind this guide is Lodgify. They specialize in channel manager software, vacation rental website builders, website booking systems, and can offer a wealth of information that can help you start your successful enterprise by turning your holiday home into a profitable business machine!
