A Guide on Presenting Your Vacation Rental
Most vacationers begin their vacation planning online. In fact, statistics show that 90% of vacationers search online for a hotel/motel or vacation home/condominium. Since we all know that a picture is worth a thousand words, you better make sure that your pictures say a lot about your property and say it in a positive way. I have seen way too many pictures that should never have been posted on the internet. Instead of attracting potential guests they do just the opposite and scare them away!
Our own internal research has shown that the more pictures, virtual tours and videos that you have for a Lake of the Ozarks vacation property, the more guests will look at that property. Pictures really help them to narrow down their selection. If one property has only four pictures and a similar property has 20 pictures and a virtual tour, then the property with more pictures and a tour will usually get chosen by the guest. They want to know what they are getting and not be “surprised” when they arrive at the property.
Your pictures should always be current. Anytime something changes, you need to have your pictures updated. There is nothing worse than a guest arriving to their rental property and then finding out that the pictures were 10 years old and their dream vacation has now turned into a nightmare.
I once had a lady walk into my office almost in tears. She had arrived at her rental and found an old washing machine sitting in the front yard, weeds over a foot tall, deck falling off the house and everything was old! She said that the pictures of the “nice” home they were supposed to be renting were obviously taken quite some time ago. We showed her some of our homes online in our office and she was able to pick a home that she could actually enjoy her vacation in. No one wants to stay in a dump, so make sure not only your pictures are up to date, but the house is up to date as well!
Showing up to a rental property at the Lake of the Ozarks to find what this lady found is not a good way to start off a vacation and is not what someone wants in their vacation rental experience. By having great, up to date pictures and an accurate description of what the property offers, you will avoid this problem. In addition, make sure that your property is in good repair, everything is working and that it is clean. There is nothing worse than a guest walking in and finding light bulbs burned out, appliances not working and that the property looks like no one has cleaned it in a couple of years.
To avoid these issues, we suggest the following: make sure your photos are current, ensure they are a good representation of your property, use your best photos (not fuzzy, or out of focus) and do a walk through after the cleaning but before the guest arrives, to ensure everything is clean and in good working order. By following these tips, you guests are sure to have a wonderful vacation rental experience and are likely to keep coming back year after year!
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.com4571 Osage Beach Pkwy, Suite A
Osage Beach, MO 65065
Local - 573-365-3367
Fax - 573-365-5076
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