Monday, January 27, 2014

Purchasing the “Right” Home for a Vacation Rental Property

Finding just the right home at the Lake of the Ozarks can be a challenge.  Purchasing the wrong home can cost you a lot of money, money that may be hard or impossible to recoup.  The right home can bring in $20,000.00 to $100,000.00 per year in gross rental income.  Those numbers depend on three essentials: location, size and amenities.

Location


Location, location, location could not be more true here at the Lake of the Ozarks.  Since I am more familiar with the East side of the Lake (Osage Beach, Horseshoe Bend and the North Shore) those are the areas that I will focus on.

Most rental inquires (for us 98%) are for the Osage Beach/Lake Ozark area and most of them want to stay somewhere between the 7 and 22 mile markers.  The home you’re looking for must be a waterfront home at Lake of the Ozarks and have at least some sort of Lake view. Please note that there are certain areas here at the Lake that do not allow the nightly rental of homes.  Your Realtor should be able to help you identify those areas.  You do not want to purchase a home only to find out that you cannot use it as a vacation rental. 

Size


Once you narrow down the location you can move on to step two:  Size.  And size does matter when it comes to a vacation rental home.  In our current economy, families are looking to save money.  One way to save money is to share a rental home with another family.  As a general rule, the more bedrooms, the more you can charge per night and the more rental nights you will receive.  Over the last five years our three bedroom homes have averaged around $7-$10K in gross income, four bedroom homes around $12-$22K and five bedroom homes $35-$55K and there is about a 30% to 50% increase in average rental nights each time you add a bedroom.

Amenities


Finally you need to look for the best possible amenities.  The perfect home would have a great view, attached garage, a driveway that isn't too steep, only a few steps down to the dock with at least two large boat slips (not having a dock is a deal killer for a private home), an open floor plan, four plus bedrooms, plenty of dining, a large deck, a game or family room, good sized kitchen, extra parking, three plus bathrooms and no real close neighbors.

If you’re in the market and looking for a great rental property at the Lake of the Ozarks or think you might have a great potential rental property, don’t hesitate to give me a call.  I would love to speak with you!  Happy renting and have a great day!

Russell Burdette is the owner of Your Lake Vacation, a professional vacation rental management company at the Lake of the Ozarks since 1986.  If you would like more info on renting your home or condo as a vacation rental, please call 573-365-3367 or e-mail russell@yourlakevacation.com.

For more information please call us toll free at 1-877-284-0267!!

YourLakeVacation.com
4571 Osage Beach Pkwy, Suite A
Osage Beach, MO 65065
Local - 573-365-3367
Fax - 573-365-5076  


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