What do you think is a reasonable time period to get your deposit back?  One day?  One week?  A month?  The reality may come as a surprise.

A few days ago my family and I returned home from a three week vacation which covered seven states.  We stayed in no less than three vacation rentals and one guest ranch.  I’ll post about the ranch separately (it was great!)  To this date I have yet to receive my deposit back from two of the three vacation rentals.

The first rental we left 10 days ago.  I emailed yesterday about the deposit and the owner said that they have been busy with their new renters and have yet to “get around” to sending my deposit back.  They were nice people and the accommodation was good so I will give them a few more days but when we cross the 14 day barrier I’m gonna put some pressure on.

The second rental was an absolute disaster.  I did my research and found what appeared to be a great house near Glacier National Park in Montana.  The owner seemed a bit like a fish out of water but nice enough.  Too simple I thought but the site was good and the reviews were great.  So we sent the deposit and were all set.

As we were leaving, and I mean the front tires of my truck hadn’t even hit the street, I got a call from this owner telling me that the spouse had extended the stay of the current renters and we couldn’t stay in the house we had already reserved.

Not wanting to be a jerk I acquiesed as the owner offered different accommodations which were “just as nice and cheaper.”  Well… the “just as nice and cheaper” turned out to be a disaster.  I woke in the morning to a stranger standing in the kitchen in a pair of boxer shorts and a wife beater holding a cup of coffee… “morning.”

We left less than 90 minutes later.  I thought I was being nice as I told the owner that we would pay for the one night but were not going to stay the full three nights.  I was assured I’d get my deposit back but have not as of yet.

The last place, in Cody, Wy, was perfect.  Great people, beautiful home, wonderful vistas and NO TV!!!! PERFECT!  More on this later too!

So, in the end, I’m still out about $1,000 in deposits and am waiting with baited breath.  Vacation rental deposit returns usually are as simple as 1 – 2 – 3 but for some reason we’re still at 1.

Make Some Trails.

As I scroll through countless questions related to the vacation rental world one of the most common questions is that of safety.  Not the greatest of things to talk about, but it is what it is.  Crime, like (most) taxes, never takes a vacation.  But I found two cool sites to educate you.

Realtor.com and Spotcrime.com.  If you know of others please tell me; I’m not married to these, heck, we’re not even dating, but you never know, good ole vacation-rental-info.com might just get lucky.

The realtor.com resource gives you the ability to drill down from city to neighborhood.  The search begins at http://neighborhoods.realtor.com/ by entering the city you are going to then drilling down.

In the “Learn” section click on “crime.”   At the time of writing this the map isn’t showing up (it usually does) but it does say the area I’m searching for vacation rentals, Clearwater, Florida, has a low instance of both “violent” and “property” crime.  Good to know.

On Spotcrime.com the starting point is by state.  So click on the state name, then begin the drill down.  It breaks out Crime Maps, Statistics, and Local Reports.  Click on the city you are interested in, then a map comes up showing the city. In this example, Las Vegas, Nevada.  You can move the map and drill down to the street address.  Below the map there is a historical list of crimes.

One of the cool things about spotcrime.com is their “Alerts.”  You can sign up for a free account and put in an address and it will either email your or send a text message to your cell phone with reports on a once a day basis.

If I’m renting in a major metropolitan area I use one or both of these services.  If I’m out in the sticks, forget about it; but that’s just me; use it as you will.  The process is about 10 minutes total and when you’re done with the vacation you can reset the addresses to be your home address.

Mighty “Make Some Trails Props” to realtor.com and spotcrime.com for these services.

More to come.

Keep an eye out for The Vacationers Guide to Vacation Rentals; What to do Before, During, and After You Rent a Vacation Rental.

Make Some Trails!

Terry

Terry Gronenthal
www.vacation-rental-info.com

p.s. Tell your friends to stop and tell them I’m a swell guy!

I think one of the reasons why vacation rentals have not caught on as rapidly as many would have thought, is there are too many choices and we don’t have enough time to make what we think is a great decision.

We want to follow through on the idea to rent a nice house, with certain amenities, in a certain area, for a certain amount of time.  Then, within a reasonable amount of time, see what vacation rentals are available, reserve a vacation rental, get a confirmation email and get back to work.

Sad to say this isn’t happening right now with vacation rentals.

The sooner the industry figures out how to quicken this process the better it will be and the renter (you and I) will reap the benefits.

So as we wait for (push) the industry, hopefully, vacation-rental-info.com can make the process easier and more enjoyable for you.

Tell me how you would make the process of renting faster and easier.

More to come.

Make some trails!
Terry

Terry Gronenthal
vacation-rental-info.com

Tell me I’m wrong: When you’re looking for a vacation rental you’re not interested in seeing pictures of pelicans flying or a deer standing in a mountain meadow; you wanna see pictures of inside of the vacation rental, right?  So when a vacation rental owner posts non-relevant pictures I get suspicious.

Don’t misunderstand me.  I’m a big fan of deer and pelicans and sunsets and furry puppies and for that matter, a rippin’ guitar solo… but that has nothing to do with our vacations.  Same idea; irrelevant… don’t write about it.  So, back to the picture thing and why it’s important…

In my humble opinion, far too many vacation rental property owners show far too many irrelevant pictures that have absolutely nothing to do with the rental property.  I’m not talking about “the view” picture.  “The view” pictures are sometimes the most important pictures.  But they better be taken from the porch, or deck or balcony of the vacation rental or they are worthless.

It’s amazing how, in today’s hyper-competitive vacation rental industry, there are owners who show images of stuff that you and I could care less about.

This begs to ask: WHY AREN’T THEY SHOWING MORE PICTURES OF THE VACATION RENTAL?

I was reviewing a post this morning where the renter was upset with the owner because the vacation rental was Significantly Not As Described… a SNAD.

When the renter showed up there wasn’t a pool or a jacuzzi as the description of the property said there would be.  The url of the vacation rental listing was in the post so I clicked through.

When I got to the vacation rental page the first thing that caught my attention was a picture of two boats on the water! WHATHU?  It was obvious that the picture wasn’t taken from inside of the vacation rental.  So why show it?

As I looked at the other pictures I found the angles of the shots to be odd and, even curiouser… all of the blinds were closed.  Hmm.. two of the five pictures had nothing to do with the specific vacation rental.  So tell me, why, when space is limited, and the market is so competitive, would someone have 40% of their pictures be of @#$% that doesn’t matter?  BIG RED FLAG.

The post went on to talk about how the place was filthy and run down and the furniture was way out of date except for the dining room and two pieces of furniture in the TV room.  Guess what?  The three pictures of the inside of the vacation rental were of the dining room and the TV room… two of the TV room at different angles.

Bottom line: when you see a vacation rental listing on the internet where the pictures have nothing to do with the property itself you may want to either move on to another listing or, at the very least, get your guard up even higher.

How do you make sure this doesn’t happen to you?  We know how and it’s free and easy to use.  It’s a two step strategy.

We have developed a series of proven, time-tested strategies and tactics you can use to help you through the vacation rental process.  The before, during, and after strategies based upon 10 years of practical experience in renting vacation rentals and having unbelievable vacations.

The answer to the question above is in this course.  The course, The Vacation Renters Guide.  What to do Before, During, and After You Rent a Vacation Rental will be available March first.

MORE TO COME!

Make some trails!

Terry

People post their complaints about their bad vacation rental experiences all over the internet.  Below are a few paraphrased lines from some of the complaints and the dollar amount of what I call the Vacation Renter Penalty.

Without fail, I believe, each and everyone of these incidents listed below could have been avoided.

“I gave a deposit for a 5/3 vacation rental and when I showed up it was a 3/1…”
Vacation Renter Penalty: $625.01

“When we got to the vacation rental it was in foreclosure and we were told we could not enter…”
Vacation Renter Penalty: $1200.01

“We were charged to fix a leak in the bathroom…”
Vacation Renter Penalty: $90.01

“We had to pay to have the service company come out…”
Vacation Renter Penalty: $150.01

“When we arrived the place was filthy…”
Vacation Renter Penalty: $?

“The listing said it was a villa.  When we showed up it was a ‘cando’ (mobile home)…”
Vacation Renter Penalty: $550.01

“I am not able to say anything further as there is a court case in process…”
Vacation Renter Penalty: $FILL IN THE BLANK!!!

“I told the listing agent I was too busy to read the contract but I sent them my money anyway…”
Vacation Renter Penalty: $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Editorial note on this one… Uh, how do you spell stoopid?

These are written by (apparently) well educated, probably well compensated, and otherwise savvy people.  For some reason the allure of the image on the screen and “the pitch” can suspend reason.  The result: the Vacation Renter Penalty.  You may even call it a Vacation Renter Stupid Tax.

This is not an indictment of neither the renter nor the property owner.  I am only reporting what I have read.

Nevertheless, stick with us and we’ll help you walk through proven vacation rental strategies and tactics on how to make your next (and all of your future vacations) Vacation Renter Penalty Free!

Make some trails.

Terry

p.s.  Don’t even try to find these on the internet; I’ve changed them so much that you won’t.  They are real though and the dollar amounts have been changed by only a buck or two.