Vacation homes don’t become top-rated overnight. Before guests arrive to enjoy a vacation in your rental property, the first step is prepping it to become a leading vacation home. Preparing your home for rental will improve your chances of having a successful rental business.
Have you ever stayed in a vacation rental? What about it did you like? Why did you choose it over other properties in the area? These are important questions to consider before your property is ready to welcome guests. Sea Scape Properties is a boutique property management company based in Wrightsville Beach. For more than 10 years, we’ve helped homeowners manage and rent their vacation homes in the coastal North Carolina area. Here’s a checklist of things to organize while preparing your rental to make your guests feel at home!
Understand laws and regulations
When was the last time you reviewed guidelines about renting vacation homes in your community and county? Local laws can impact the success of your vacation rental business. In visitor-friendly destinations like coastal North Carolina, vacation rentals are more widely acceptable compared to quiet residential communities. Additionally, condos and HOA communities can also have rules regarding renting properties in the communities.
Here are a few questions to get clarity on before preparing your home for rental:
- Are vacation rentals legal in the area/community?
- What rental terms are acceptable (short-term vs long-term renting)
- Guest Rules for shared spaces
Cleaning
Daily housekeeping isn’t as common with staying in vacation rentals versus a hotel. However, guests still expect the accommodations to be clean and “move-in” ready when they arrive to check-in. Travel in the post-COVID era puts cleanliness at the top of mind for guests rating their accommodations. As the property owner, it’s your responsibility to keep your rental property clean and ready to receive guests. Cleaning is essential before and after you have guests.
Property owners can clean themselves or enlist the services of a cleaning company to do a professional job. Also, guests should be provided with standard cleaning supplies in case they’re needed during their stay.
Serviced accommodations have regularly scheduled cleaning services during a guest’s stay.
Review property maintenance and repairs
Maintenance is the hidden cost of homeownership. Without it, your home will fall into disarray and lose significant value as an investment. To protect your asset, regular upkeep is essential—especially when preparing your home for rental. Proper maintenance allows renters to command top-dollar for staying in their accommodation. It also provides visitors with an improved guest experience when staying in properly maintained accommodations.
The best-case scenario is being proactive with maintenance instead of reactive to issues that may arise later. Common maintenance issues to review before making your property available are:
- Plumbing
- Utilities
- Security systems
- Wifi
- Furniture
- Landscaping
- Pest control
- Home Appliances
Maintenance can happen at any time. Attend to any maintenance issues before and after you have guests at your property. Also, keeping a handyman on call for on-demand maintenance requests is helpful in the scenario that there is a maintenance request while guests occupy your property.
Arranging guest check-in/check-out
Have you considered what will happen when a guest checks in to your rental property? Organizing logistics for your guests will give them peace of mind when booking a stay in your property. Homeowners living near the rental can arrange to meet guests to drop off keys, tour the facilities, explain house rules, etc. Other solutions include using a lock box or keyless entry.
Keep in mind the flexibility for guest arrivals and departures. In the case of flight delays, cancellations, or other last-minute plan changes, you must have a flexible system to ensure a great guest arrival experience.
One of the risks of living far from your vacation rental property is trusting these logistics with a third party.
Include property amenities
Gone are the days when a bed and hot shower were enough to satisfy vacationers. The best vacation rentals always feature guest-friendly amenities to maximize their time at your property. Amenities include your property’s features and shared spaces if it’s located inside a community with other rentals.
Prepare your home for renting by upgrading it with amenities. Features like a pool, hot tub, workspace, beach access, game room, movie room, patio/terrace, beach accessories, and parking make your rental property more desirable in popular tourist areas like the coastal North Carolina area. Vacation rental condos may share pools, community rooms, and gaming rooms with other residents, which can be included in your amenities checklist.
Develop a marketing plan for attracting guests
All vacation homeowners hope to have an inbox full of inquiries and reservations the moment they list it online for bookings. The reality is that you must treat your vacation rental business like—a business! Marketing is mandatory to keep your property relevant in busy markets.
Wrightsville Beach, one of the largest markets we serve, has hundreds of vacation rental homes available. New developments are constantly being built to support the growing tourist demand. Solely listing your property on sites like Airbnb and Vrbo isn’t enough to keep your rental property booked throughout the year. Understanding the local market can maximize your efforts in the right place to attract more guests.
Your checklist for preparing your vacation house for rent should include a marketing plan.
Provide guest services
How do you plan to facilitate communication with your guests? From pre-booking inquiries to on-demand requests during their stay, property owners should always be ready to manage effective correspondence for a pleasurable guest experience. Renting accommodations on sites like Airbnb and Vrbo provides messaging services and other guest services like secure payment and dispute resolutions. Homeowners opting for a rental management company can delegate guest communication directly to the management company to handle all guest services. Each has advantages and disadvantages depending on what suits your vacation rental property goals.
Property Management Solution
Need help preparing your vacation home for renting? A property management company is an effective solution to ensure you complete everything on the checklist before your first guests arrive. Sea Scape Properties is a leading vacation rental property management company in North Carolina. We understand the local markets to position your property as a go-to rental for tourists and maximize the income of your asset.
Learn more about using a property management company to streamline the success of your vacation rental property.