How to List Your House with Vacation Rentals by Owner

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By ccard123
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List Your House with Vacation Rentals by Owner

Vacation rentals by owner are becoming a popular way for people to travel. Instead of staying in an impersonal hotel room for their vacation, they can stay in a warm home. You can make money by taking advantage of this trend and using your house as a vacation rental home. There is demand for vacation rental homes in every part of the country, whether you are offering outer banks vacation rentals or just a quaint house in the woods, chances are there are people that would pay money to rent your house for a vacation. And you might be surprised at how much they would pay.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Step 1

First, get a sense of what other people are charging for comparable vacation rentals by owner. The best way to do this is to check craigslist.com for vacation rental homes that are in your area or a similar area.
Step 2

Free Option:
Take lots of nice pictures of your house, write a warm description of it, and advertise it on craigslist.com. Think of interesting places to put the listing within craigslist. Run the add in places where potential renters are likely to be browsing. Think of ways to grab the eye of potential renters, such as including colorful photos and stories about why your vacation rental house is unique. You can also include a list of the types of activities that are available nearby.
Step 3

Easy (but not free) option:
Head on over to a website called VRBO.com (the letters stand for vacation rentals by owner). At this site, for a fee, they will help you set up a web listing for your property, complete with online booking calendars, guest books, pictures etc. The Vacation Rentals by Owner website does cost money, but they claim that they are the most effective at directing potential renters to your listing. This is a good option if you don't feel like dealing with the marketing or advertising of your vacation rental, but also don't feel like paying a full service broker a lot of money to do the job for you.