Poconos – Owning a vacation home can be a very good investment, while still enabling you to enjoy a second home in an area that you and your family like to frequent; and the Poconos may be that spot!
People who once used to own a vacation home solely for their own enjoyment are now renting them out while other people are purchasing a second home for (1) their own use or (2) enjoying appreciation in the home and offsetting the cost of that appreciation by renting it out for weekends, weekly, monthly or seasonal stays. At Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Wilkins & Associates that’s were we come in.
Typically a short-term rental is one that’s defined as “a furnished unit renting for less than 6 months at any given time”. The stays are usually weekends, weekly or seasonally. Another popular rental now is corporate rentals; those homes rented to corporations for various reasons. Most of our corporate rentals are to doctors, traveling nurses or construction companies working on projects in the Poconos.
Homeowners can hold on to more of their rental income by marketing their home with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Wilkins & Associates. Sometimes, renting a vacation home on your own may seem, on the surface, to be more affordable; however, the pitfalls of not knowing what to do in the circumstance of either non-payment or dealing with a bad tenant is something that only a management company can really handle professionally. Remember, when you rent out your home, it becomes a “business”. The commission charged by Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Wilkins & Associates is actually very competitive for the industry.
Using the internet and the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Wilkins & Associates website, your home will have the maximum exposure for vacationers to view. Also, being members of the Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau, Pike County Chamber of Commerce and Pocono Mountains Chamber of Commerce and having over 100 fulltime Realtors promoting your home make it a very good combination in order to get the most rental money out of your vacation home.
As a tenant, or vacationer, staying in a privately owned home is a very good way to get to know the area. Staying in a home is more of a family style vacation; if the home is well decorated and something they’ll enjoy, you’ll find that over 90% of the rental business that books through Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Wilkins & Associates are actually repeat guests. Sometimes, those repeat guests will be come for years and years which afford you, as an owner, a consistent cash flow. And, who knows, maybe they’ll buy it if you ever want to sell.
Vivid and active posted descriptions and lots of photos of your home are very important in communicating your home to perspective tenants. Guests love to hear about your home from fellow travelers, so keeping a diary is something that isn’t only fun, but lets you get to know the families that are staying in your home. They’ll also tell you what is right and wrong with their stay.
At Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Wilkins & Associates we use the software called REALTIME Rentals and it’s also a big plus for you. It enables a perspective vacationer to book online with a credit card and instantly view availability without having to wait for someone to get back to them. But, don’t forget, they always have the ability to call and speak to a fulltime Reservationist.
Well, that’s what you want to know about vacation rentals and if you want to know more, give us a call at 570-421-3475 and talk to Patricia Blank-Toombs, VP/Vacation Rental Manager or Carol Demarest, Reservationist. They’ll be pleased to give you a hand.
See you in the Poconos….why not come and stay a while. Visit www.wilkins1.com
