Stroudsburg – Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Wilkins Assoc held a ribbon cutting for their new Vacation Rental Department. The ribbon cutting was attended by the Poc Mt. Chamber of Commerce and the Poc Mt Visitors Bureau.
The department will be supervised by Patricia Blank-Toombs, V.P. with the Wilkins organization. “This website’s been a year in the making and to be the one to cut the ribbon is a very exciting event for me and my department “. Blank-Toombs ran the vacation rental department in the late 1990s when the Wilkins organization had approximately 250 rental units. The dept. is expected to handle close to 500 properties, including timeshare and park RV units. The Company is expected to become a true leader in vacation rentals throughout the Poconos.
The website has a number of videos showing rentals in the communities and has the capability of booking online with a credit card. “The website is a very user-friendly site.” said Blank-Toombs. Wilkins is offering their rental services in communities throughout the Pocono area including Lake Wallenpaupack, Pike and Monroe Counties. Said Thomas R. Wilkins, CEO; “It’s great to be back in the vacation business. With my hotel background, running the department under Patricia’s guidance, our vacation rentals will definitely be a winner regardless as to what economic conditions are or how quickly the market bounces back–there’s always people taking vacations.” Wilkins is one of the very few Brokers who handle vacation rentals.
The department will handle family vacations in the summer time and couples, group business and skiers for the winter season. Wilkins also handles corporate short-term units as well.
The ribbon cutting was attended by Beverly Hay, Exec Dir PMAR; Carl Wilgus, Pres/CEO Poc Mt Visitors Bureau; Don Snyder, Board Dir PMVB; John Freel, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage; David Yarosh, Vector Security and Chuck Niclaus, 2nd Vice-chair Gtr Poc Chamber of Commerce. The ceremony was held at 304 Park Ave. Everyone in attendance was able to view the new website online. Blank-Toombs gave a presentation on how the site would work.
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Wilkins & Associates has 6 locations throughout the Poconos and handles residential listings and sales in the greater 5 county Pocono region. The company is 20 years old and boasts being the first Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate office.
The Vacation Dept is based in Stroudsburg where the actual reservations and deposits are taken, but Wilkins estimates that there will be 4 to 5 lockboxes where guests can check in at various communities. “We’ll be in such communities as Village at Camelback, Saw Creek, Tamiment, Lake Naomi, Lake Harmony and others. Although the business is handled at the Stroudsburg location, a guest can check into their home at any of the other Wilkins locations.” said Wilkins.
You can visit the Vacation Rental Dept online at www.wilkins1.com.