When you own a property and rent your property out to vacationers, that means you’re the host. Hosting guests in your home means that you need to do everything you can to make your guests feel like they’re staying at their home away from home, regardless of how long they’re staying. So in order to make your guests feel at home, you truly have to step aside from your own personal habits and ways of life and put yourself in their shoes to understand their expectations.
Putting yourself in the shoes of your guests is where a lot of hosts go wrong. They take their own personal ways of life and expect their guests to conform to it… that’s not how you’re going to make money from your property. If you truly want to profit from your property, you have to make your home worthy of renting from. Pretty much, make your property appealing so that people will consistently want to rent from you… that’s how you’re going to get a steady flow of income coming in.
Not only will making your property appealing to renters drum up a steady flow of income but making sure your property is listed on the best vacation rental search engine plays a big role too. People want to feel safe and secure during their vacations and if they’re going to stay in a rental property, they’re going to search trusted sites that they know they’ll be able to look at quality properties and when it comes to vacations, people are willing to pay good money for what they want, so if you give them what they want, you have the potential to make really good money!
What Renters are Looking For
There are certain qualities in a vacation rental that renters are looking for and they’re not unreasonable things to expect from a host. Of course, there are always going to be those few renters that just are mad at the world for whatever reason but for the most part, vacationers are typically in a good mood and are excited to go on their vacation and check out the rental property, so don’t kill their excitement with an unacceptable vacation rental. Here are some very reasonable qualities that renters look for and expect in rental properties from hosts.
Renters Expect to See What’s Advertised
One of the most obvious qualities that renters expect from their hosts is for the vacation rental property to be a direct reflection of what they see online. Not doing this can actually ruin a persons’ vacation. If you’re advertising a three-bedroom vacation home to rent, then the renter should come to a livable three-bedroom home. Any slip up from what you have advertised that is not reflected in the actual rental will make people feel like they didn’t get what they paid for and can make you lose renters because they will leave a bad review.
Not only that but renters are becoming more aware and cautious of who they rent with because there are so many scammers out now. The Federal Trade Commission gives renters the tools and tips on what to look for in scammers so take the time out to make your rental property look like the pictures you post because some people have taken legal action due to false advertisements.
Renters Expect the Rental Property to Be Clean
Cleanliness is probably the most important aspect that renters look for in rental properties. In all honesty, a host could have the biggest rental property with all the luxurious amenities but if the property isn’t clean, a renter won’t want to stay there anymore and they’ll probably give you a bad review. In case you didn’t know, in the world of vacation rental properties, a bad review could put a complete halt on people renting from you again… it’s like rental suicide.
Just because cleanliness may not be at the top of your priorities list but it’s at the top of the renters’ priorities list. If you don’t keep your property clean on a regular basis, you won’t ever profit. It’s really not that even hard to do. Lots of hosts hire cleaning companies to clean their rental properties making them not have to lift a finger!
Renters Want to Feel Safe in Your Property
When it comes to vacation rental properties, renters want to feel safe. It would be worth your investment to add a home security system to your rental property. Not only will your renters feel safe but you can also feel safe in knowing that your rental property is safe when no one is occupying it. All you would need to do is leave a note for your renters on what the code is so that your renters will know how to secure the home. This is just an option to consider but safety is definitely a concern with renters and it’s not unreasonable to consider it.
