O W N E R  T I P S

In the next 10 years vacation home rentals, purchases, and travel will be one of the biggest spending trends the economy has ever experienced in the industry. While the primary home buying market dwindles, new spending trends will be set, as baby boomers retire and buy vacation homes, rent vacation homes, and increase their travel.

New advertising trends in the vacation rental market will also occur as the market changes. Where will they buy, where will they want to travel, and where will they be spending their vacation time? This article is about where vacationers will be spending their time while on vacation and what advertising trends will take place in the vacation rental market. Yes, many will be touring the city, relaxing at the beach, or hiking up a glorious mountain. But for the rest of their time, where will that time be spent? What type of vacation setting will they choose and how are you, the owner, going to stand out from the rest when advertising your vacation property? How will you advertise your vacation rental? How will you increase your reservations?

As the vacation industry increases, so will your competition. You will need to sell a vacation dream and a lifestyle these vacationers will desire. This is where I would like to talk about the importance of home staging for vacation rentals. Techniquely speaking, home staging has been emphasized as an important tool in selling a home in the past, but as the market changes, we need to think about it more as a technique in selling, whether it be selling a home or selling time spent in that home by others.

One way to advertise your vacation rental is to focus on what others will want. What are the benefits from renting a home, condo, lodge? What lifestyle are others looking for when renting your vacation home? What are the key activities in that area where they will be spending the rest of the time? What would you look for if you wanted to rent a particular vacation home? If you can answer these questions, you're ready to set the stage. I can’t stress it enough that time and money is well spent staging when your trying to sell a lifestyle vacationers will want to pay for.

Just remember, if this technique has proven to work for selling homes and increasing a home's value, then it's sure to sell time in your vacation property and increase it's going rate potential.