Guests to target and those to avoid for your vacation rental

Renting out your vacation home can yield massive financial benefits – but only if you do it right. So, if you are thinking of renting out your vacation property you are just about to enter a potentially profitable niche. And also, a highly competitive market. But, when renting out your home or apartment either through a professional property management company or rental sites such as Airbnb, HomeAway, or VRBO you are always taking huge risks. By allowing strangers into your vacation rental home, things could go south really fast. Your guests could steal your belongings, trash your vacation home, mess up your furniture or electronics, and/or leave unpleasant online reviews even after stellar services. Although this is rare, taking early precautions can save you a great deal of trouble.

So, how do you choose a good guest? Not good in the sense of personality traits. No! We are looking more into how they will treat your property. You would obviously want to find your rental property as good as you left it and get recommended to other guests. Right? If you search online for vacation rental Orlando property, for instance, you will find a lot of homes recommended by guests and others are given bad press. Well, we want guests that give positive reviews and repeat business. That’s why we are going to walk shine some light on the ultimate ways of choosing renters for your vacation rental property.

The Guest You Should Target

The biggest part of property management is knowing the right client for your business. Identify the major things that your property offers and consider the type of customer that would consider staying there.

The type of customers you expect are:

• Retired Travelers • Solo Travelers • Families • Couples • Spring Break vacationers • Businessmen Each of these travelers would want to stay in different kinds of properties. Their tastes are unique. And so are their needs. Is your villa, cabin, mansion, cottage or apartment etc. appropriate for the audience you are targeting? By focusing your energies on the right audience, you can almost be sure to get the right vacation renter for your property. For vacation homes, in particular, we are looking for someone looking for a quick getaway. For vacation rental Orlando homes, the focus is on families, solo travelers or couples visiting Disney World and looking to stay in the area for a while. So the headliner advertising your business should illuminate the fact that your property is near Disney World and appropriate for an audience visiting the area. Catch the drift?

The Vacation Renters To Avoid

Most people use a property management company to take care of their vacation rental Orlando property. In such a situation, property owners can get complaints from housekeeping or maintenance service team regarding some tenants. The property management company keeps a record of renters who are a nuisance. Ask for such information so that you avoid them next time. In the case you are using vacation rental Orlando sites to market your vacation home, avoid vacation renters who merely give bad reviews just for the sake of it. The hard to please type, you know. Chances are that they’re also going to give you a bad review even after offering them five-star services. Assuming that you do a telephone screening before allowing the renter into your property, avoid the renters who fail to disclose:

• The purpose of their trip. This is the type of information that will determine if your property is appropriate for the stay or not. You will avoid a lot of damaged or lost items by doing this. • The number of adults and children staying in your vacation rental property. This is vital information to aid you to determine if your home and your utility services can handle their needs. • Whether they smoke, and • Whether they have pets or not. Untrained pets can damage your interior home decorations.

However, city and state fair housing laws prohibit property owners from turning people away based on their race, marital status, sexual orientation or age. Avoid such questions in your telephone screening to avoid potential lawsuits.

What Renter Should You Turn Away?

You have the right to turn away a renter if you suffered under the following conditions from the last time you rented out your property to them: • Damaged or stolen property • Constant complaints from the neighbors about their disorderly conduct, like for instance, playing loud music, or drunk and disorderly conduct. • Failure to pay the full rental amount in time. • Renters that fail to vacate the premises within the agreed time

If it is a new renter, turn away those that display the following red flags:

• The renter that suggests that you replace most of your items at first viewing because they have been used before. This type of tenant believes that you owe them perfection which is something almost impossible to deliver. You will save yourself a lot of bad reviews and unnecessary complaints when you let them go. • The renter with no constant source of income. This renter will spend the most part of their day sitting on the couch and watching TV only for them to leave without notice when payment is due. • The renter with terrible hygiene standards. You will smell them a mile away before they approach you for a vacation home. If you let them into your property, they will treat your vacation rental Orlando home just as they treat their own personal hygiene. Bins will never be emptied and your property will turn into a filth house. We all wouldn’t like that. An inexperienced vacation property owner will always be in a rush to get a tenant and ignore the red flags. However, you are smarter than that and will conduct your research before you get in business with a renter. Live by the motto of Inspect what you expect’. Now that is what we call good property management.

FINALLY, Better GUEST EXPERIENCES = More MONEY

Ultimately, the goal is to run your vacation rental like a successful small business with increasing potential for profitability. Since this is a highly competitive market, getting great reviews will result in more stays. Always reach out to your guests’ post-stay and ask for their honest review of your property. Listen. Empathize. Act

This will not only give you helpful insights to run your vacation rental but will also stack good reviews and push the unpleasant ones down the list from potential good renters’ eyes. And remember, whenever guests raise genuine issues while staying on your rental property: acknowledge and apologize, and importantly, correct or remediate the issue. Thank them for bringing up the issue. This will, undoubtedly, create the best experience for all future guests.