VROA NEWSLETTER - July 28, 2003
SUBJECT: Why you need TWO lock boxes.
So there I am flying on a nice Boeing 737 the other day and the captain came on and said we have good news and bad news.
First the bad news - one of our engines is no longer working. The good news is - we have a second motor its working great and we'll be landing soon.
In aviation the addition of sometimes unneeded duplicate parts, equipment and systems is called "redundancy." I'll bet you already knew that and are pretty happy that the engineers at Boeing think that's a good thing. We live in Seattle and sometimes the "Lazy B" gets a lot of bad lip about being too big and not nimble but I, for one, am very happy they can keep those tons of flying metal in the air.
So why am I talking about redundancy? Well because you might want to consider some redundancy for your vacation rental home.
Depending on your location, resort and on-site management there are a lot of ways to handle access to your property. Some owners mail keys to their guests. And there are some nice electronic systems out there that allow you to give each guest a unique code to enter your home. But if you're like most folks you probably use a cast-iron coded lock box to give visitors access to keys and the home.
After several years of using such boxes we eventually switched all of our homes to an electronic consumer type coded lock. We found these to be very handy for guests and fairly reliable. But in some locations such as mountain resorts we have had a tiny number of malfunctions. Some of these homes are remote and time consuming for maintenance folks to get to. Naturally that added unwanted expense. In the worst of cases, a guest could arrive at your distant rental home, be unable to gain access and then legitimately request a full refund of his rental fees.
So recently we've been switching back to the tried and true lock boxes. But lock boxes can have problems too. For example, what do you do if the Guest loses the key? Or locks themselves out? Or the lock box malfunctions (I've never heard of that but its bound to happen one day.) So finally we decided to go redundant.
SOLUTION: We now install TWO LOCK BOXES on every house. The first box goes by the front door and with the "secret code" allows the owner to get the key and enter the unit. These boxes are very strong, simple to operate and, again, I've never heard of one breaking. The second box goes by the back door. We use a pre-determined combination for it. Then if a guest should call with any kind of lock or key problem we can simply give them the key to the backdoor lock box and they can gain easy entry.
NOTE: Another idea. For our homes the front and back door keys are always the same key. That means booth keys will open either door and that the keys in the backdoor lock box are the same as in the front door lock box.
Why put the box by the backdoor? Because if you put two boxes by the front door the guest will be confused as to which one to use. Why not have the same combination on each box? Because a guest could then open both, use both keys and lose them both. Don't you know that would eventually happen? And then you'd be back in the same boat assisting a guest from far away with no easy or free solution?
HINT: By "pre-determined" code for the back door - I mean that we have a scheme that determines the back door code based on the front-door lock box. In that way we always know what the back lock box code is. For example: If the front door lock combination is 0529 then you could have the back door combination be 9250 (The front door, backwards). Or you can exchange the first digit with the first digit of the home's address. There are a lot of ways to do this. Naturally you don't tell the guest the system and I'm not going to tell you ours for security reasons but figure out your own system and you'll be ready to go.
HINT: Changing the code on lock boxes is easy but most owner's do not change them with every guest. Its wise to do that periodically and certainly after any guest who was in any way unreliable or you worry could be a later problem. Although you might think it necessary to change the code every time remember that owners who mail keys don't do that and seldom report problems with duplication or theft. Resorts and hotels that still use physical keys do not change them everytime and they don't seem to have problems.
HINT: There are several kinds of lock boxes out there. To be specific I highly recommend the basic unit that can be mounted to any wall surface us a number of long wood screws. I don't recommend using the "over the door knob" type because they are clumsy and more prone to being removed and possibly broken into. There are even some units that have a kind of "Bicycle type" chain or cable on them. I wouldn't recommend these either unless you are in a condo building or large resort where there is no convenient or obvious place to install a wall mount lock box. You should be able to find these lock boxes at Home Depot, Lowes or any local hardware store, or lock smith shop.
COST: So you may be saying to yourself that this isn't a bad idea but it does add some cost. Yep, it does. But here is how I see it. Cast iron lock boxes are about $40 a piece and look like they'd last until the next century. If you have had a box break please drop me an email I'd like to hear about it. You can easily install the box yourself. And that $40 cost will be offset but just one extra trip to the home or call to the lock smith. And think of how much it could save you if you had to refund a weeks rental.
***** As always I seek your feedback. Please share you thoughts, stories, compliments and complaints on this or any other subject by writing me at Director@VROA.org.
===========================================
VROA NEWSLETTER - THIS ISSUE SPONSORED BY:
www.FreeSpots.com
Email notices for free and discounted vacation rentals
===========================================
VROA OWNER NEWSLETTER
Published weekly for all Owner Members
Copyright - Vacation Rental Owners Association
Read this and all prior newsletters at www.VROA.org
Director & Editor - Wm. May Director@VROA.org
Membership - Penny Taylor Membership@VROA.org
PO Box 21305
Seattle, WA 98111-3305
Voice: 206-343-7777
Fax: 206-628-0839
Email: Info@VROA.org
Web: www.VROA.org (for Members)
Web: www.VROA.com (for Guests - coming soon)
===========================================
Monday, July 28, 2003
Monday, July 21, 2003
VROA NEWSLETTER - July 21, 2003
SUBJECT: Don't burn down your Vacation Home
Vacation homes are somewhat more susceptible to fire than full time residences for several easy to avoid reasons.
FIRST, they sit vacant much of the time. You might think that the more any home is used the greater the chance it will be misused - that occupants may leave a fire burning in the fireplace or a stove burner turned up. While those things are relevant it is the unoccupied home that is most at risk.
SECOND, part time occupants (including the owners themselves) sometimes treat their second homes with less care than their first. And if they make a mistake like failing to turn off a burner they'll probably be back in the house within short period and catch the problem before it becomes catastrophic.
THIRD, make sure you have your vacation home furnace serviced as frequently as you do your primary residence. If the heating or air conditioning unit runs while you are gone its easy to forget that it will wear at a full time rate. Its important to change filters and have the unit serviced by a qualified technician regularly.
FOURTH, remember to regulate how guests use your place. I recommend the use of small unobtrusive "Notices" through out the home explaining the rules. If you put up instructions by the fireplace its unlikely someone will start a fire with the damper closed. If there is a notice educating them on how to operate the furnace you've increased the chances that they'll do so correctly. Plus you can usually save some on your energy bills to boot.
POINT: I'm not really sure why folks love candles so much. I can understand wanting the scent but you can do that without a flame. We recommend NOT allowing candles in vacation homes even for your own use. And if you insist on having them for decoration than grab a pair of pliers and remove the wicks. Otherwise guests will light them and you'll be taking a big gamble.
HINT: Notices can be printed with your computer in nice fonts and colors and then mounted in inexpensive picture frames. Five inches by seven inches is usually big enough. We like the oak variety you can buy at Walmart or Kmart for 2 for $5. Some should be wall mounted and some can setup on table top, night stands or bookcases. Outdoor notices can be laminated for long life and you can get those done at most quick print or Kinko's type shops for a modest price. (We put them by hot tubs)
ONE OWNER LEARNED TOO LATE
Empty houses are kind of like untended gardens. Things can grow and become problems before you are aware of them. Owners, their families and friends present more of a problem than Guests. Last winter at a Ski Resort Chalet an owner came up to the mountains for the weekend. Sunday afternoon before driving home he was very careful to remove the still smoldering coals from the fireplace, put them in a heavy duty metal bucket, and take it out to the deck. He probably would have taken it out to the yard but it was unfortunately under 10 feet of snow. Later that night after the owner was at home far away and snuggled in his bed, the coals burned through the bottom of the metal pail, into the deck wood and ran to the house.
The neighboring vacation homes and were unoccupied at the time. It took local fire fighters an hour just to find the hydrant in the deep snow and run the hoses. By then the house had burned to the ground.
Luckily no one was inside. But had the place been occupied its possible the smoke detectors would have gone off alerting the occupants. Had guests been in surrounding homes its likely someone would have seen it. In either case the fire might have been stopped before it devoured the entire building. This may be supposition but occupied houses are susceptible to burning down in ways that those occupied full time are not.
POINT: Problems relating to unoccupied homes are just another in the many good reasons why resort communities should encourage short term rentals rather than curtail them. We don't argue that short term guests are without problems but it must be pointed out that the very infrequent issues they present are far less than the trauma of losing ones property to a raging fire. The benefit to your neighbor who doesn't rent is that having the eyes of your guests on his house protects him from fire, theft and so forth.
HINT: And while we're at it just a reminder to make sure that you have smoke and CO2 detectors installed in your homes. And that you check and replace the batteries regularly. This is by far the cheapest insurance you can buy and allows you to sleep easy at night knowing your visitors as well as your family are safe and sound in your building.
WARNING: A recent television show about detectors revealed a surprising problem with them. Even though the alarms may seem loud and piercing when you test them a surprising number of people - especially children - are able to sleep through the racket without awaking. The solution - be sure to mount extra detectors every where you can think of and especially very close to where people sleep. Or better yet install the permanent type that can be wired into an alarm system that automatically notifies a dispatch center.
SUMMARY: So here is what you can do to avoid burning your house to the ground. Be especially careful when leaving the building to go home. Drown all ashes like Smokey says. Have your furnace checked regularly and change those filters every month. (Yes I know they say every quarter - but hey they're on a few bucks). And make sure guests are well aware of the operating procedures for fireplaces, stoves and furnaces.
And let me say this one more time - no candles please. I don't want to write a story about how your home burned down because you made this mistake.
REQUEST: As always I seek your feedback. Please share you thoughts, stories, compliments and complaints on this or any other subject by writing me at Director@VROA.org.
===========================================
VROA NEWSLETTER - THIS ISSUE SPONSORED BY:
www.FreeSpots.com
Email notices for free and discounted vacation rentals
===========================================
VROA OWNER NEWSLETTER
Published weekly for all Owner Members
Copyright - Vacation Rental Owners Association
Read this and all prior newsletters at www.VROA.org
Director & Editor - Wm. May Director@VROA.org
Membership - Penny Taylor Membership@VROA.org
PO Box 21305
Seattle, WA 98111-3305
Voice: 206-343-7777
Fax: 206-628-0839
Email: Info@VROA.org
Web: www.VROA.org (for Members)
Web: www.VROA.com (for Guests - coming soon)
===========================================
SUBJECT: Don't burn down your Vacation Home
Vacation homes are somewhat more susceptible to fire than full time residences for several easy to avoid reasons.
FIRST, they sit vacant much of the time. You might think that the more any home is used the greater the chance it will be misused - that occupants may leave a fire burning in the fireplace or a stove burner turned up. While those things are relevant it is the unoccupied home that is most at risk.
SECOND, part time occupants (including the owners themselves) sometimes treat their second homes with less care than their first. And if they make a mistake like failing to turn off a burner they'll probably be back in the house within short period and catch the problem before it becomes catastrophic.
THIRD, make sure you have your vacation home furnace serviced as frequently as you do your primary residence. If the heating or air conditioning unit runs while you are gone its easy to forget that it will wear at a full time rate. Its important to change filters and have the unit serviced by a qualified technician regularly.
FOURTH, remember to regulate how guests use your place. I recommend the use of small unobtrusive "Notices" through out the home explaining the rules. If you put up instructions by the fireplace its unlikely someone will start a fire with the damper closed. If there is a notice educating them on how to operate the furnace you've increased the chances that they'll do so correctly. Plus you can usually save some on your energy bills to boot.
POINT: I'm not really sure why folks love candles so much. I can understand wanting the scent but you can do that without a flame. We recommend NOT allowing candles in vacation homes even for your own use. And if you insist on having them for decoration than grab a pair of pliers and remove the wicks. Otherwise guests will light them and you'll be taking a big gamble.
HINT: Notices can be printed with your computer in nice fonts and colors and then mounted in inexpensive picture frames. Five inches by seven inches is usually big enough. We like the oak variety you can buy at Walmart or Kmart for 2 for $5. Some should be wall mounted and some can setup on table top, night stands or bookcases. Outdoor notices can be laminated for long life and you can get those done at most quick print or Kinko's type shops for a modest price. (We put them by hot tubs)
ONE OWNER LEARNED TOO LATE
Empty houses are kind of like untended gardens. Things can grow and become problems before you are aware of them. Owners, their families and friends present more of a problem than Guests. Last winter at a Ski Resort Chalet an owner came up to the mountains for the weekend. Sunday afternoon before driving home he was very careful to remove the still smoldering coals from the fireplace, put them in a heavy duty metal bucket, and take it out to the deck. He probably would have taken it out to the yard but it was unfortunately under 10 feet of snow. Later that night after the owner was at home far away and snuggled in his bed, the coals burned through the bottom of the metal pail, into the deck wood and ran to the house.
The neighboring vacation homes and were unoccupied at the time. It took local fire fighters an hour just to find the hydrant in the deep snow and run the hoses. By then the house had burned to the ground.
Luckily no one was inside. But had the place been occupied its possible the smoke detectors would have gone off alerting the occupants. Had guests been in surrounding homes its likely someone would have seen it. In either case the fire might have been stopped before it devoured the entire building. This may be supposition but occupied houses are susceptible to burning down in ways that those occupied full time are not.
POINT: Problems relating to unoccupied homes are just another in the many good reasons why resort communities should encourage short term rentals rather than curtail them. We don't argue that short term guests are without problems but it must be pointed out that the very infrequent issues they present are far less than the trauma of losing ones property to a raging fire. The benefit to your neighbor who doesn't rent is that having the eyes of your guests on his house protects him from fire, theft and so forth.
HINT: And while we're at it just a reminder to make sure that you have smoke and CO2 detectors installed in your homes. And that you check and replace the batteries regularly. This is by far the cheapest insurance you can buy and allows you to sleep easy at night knowing your visitors as well as your family are safe and sound in your building.
WARNING: A recent television show about detectors revealed a surprising problem with them. Even though the alarms may seem loud and piercing when you test them a surprising number of people - especially children - are able to sleep through the racket without awaking. The solution - be sure to mount extra detectors every where you can think of and especially very close to where people sleep. Or better yet install the permanent type that can be wired into an alarm system that automatically notifies a dispatch center.
SUMMARY: So here is what you can do to avoid burning your house to the ground. Be especially careful when leaving the building to go home. Drown all ashes like Smokey says. Have your furnace checked regularly and change those filters every month. (Yes I know they say every quarter - but hey they're on a few bucks). And make sure guests are well aware of the operating procedures for fireplaces, stoves and furnaces.
And let me say this one more time - no candles please. I don't want to write a story about how your home burned down because you made this mistake.
REQUEST: As always I seek your feedback. Please share you thoughts, stories, compliments and complaints on this or any other subject by writing me at Director@VROA.org.
===========================================
VROA NEWSLETTER - THIS ISSUE SPONSORED BY:
www.FreeSpots.com
Email notices for free and discounted vacation rentals
===========================================
VROA OWNER NEWSLETTER
Published weekly for all Owner Members
Copyright - Vacation Rental Owners Association
Read this and all prior newsletters at www.VROA.org
Director & Editor - Wm. May Director@VROA.org
Membership - Penny Taylor Membership@VROA.org
PO Box 21305
Seattle, WA 98111-3305
Voice: 206-343-7777
Fax: 206-628-0839
Email: Info@VROA.org
Web: www.VROA.org (for Members)
Web: www.VROA.com (for Guests - coming soon)
===========================================
Monday, July 14, 2003
VROA NEWSLETTER - July 14, 2003
SUBJECT: Avoiding the Long-Term Renter Blues
Getting visitors who stay long term and still pay higher short-term rates sounds great. But such guests can lead to unexpected problems - and the problem is legal.
Many states differentiate between short term "Guests" and long term "Tenants." Frequently the difference is whether they stay for over or under 30 days. Anything under 30 days and the visitor's stay is governed under "Lodging" statues. 30 days or over and they may be governed under "Landlord Tenant" statues.
What's the difference? Basically long term Tenants have far more rights. They can withhold rent if a landlord doesn't fix repair problems. Landlords are prohibited from entering a rented home without reasonable advance notice to the Tenant (except in emergencies or when the Tenant can not be reached) Even if a tenant doesn't pay, or abuses the property or neighbors it can take owners months to evict them. And there are great many other restrictions on how you can manage a long-term rental.
On the other hand short term Guests have far fewer rights. Because such visitors are provided more services in traditional lodging (such as linens, room service, etc) and because they often share closer-quarters landlords are given more discretion in setting guest rules and managing guest behavior. Laws vary but usually you can immediately evict a guest for not following your written lease or rules. You can set limits on how many people are in the unit, how they are and can require every guest to register by name and address. To manage a unit to what would be the satisfaction of most guests owners can enter a unit simply by knocking on the door and, if the unit is unoccupied can enter and car for the place.
Maybe that's another reason why many owners prefer short-term guests.
As you will hear us say repeatedly its important to have a good written guest agreement - one that should reiterate your short-term owner rights. Be sure to ask your attorney to make sure it specifies that guest tenancy is governed under your states "Lodging" laws and not under the Landlord Tenant laws.
TIP: Avoid accepting long term (30 days and over). Even if your guest agreement says its a "Vacation Rental" or a "Short Term" rental a judge might decide that anything 30 days or over is really a long-term lease. The solution - when someone says they want a 30 days lease ask them which dates they want and then try to sell them something even a day short of 30 day. I know that can be money out of your pocket but getting hit with a landlord tenant lawsuit will cost you lots more.
TIP: Requires all guests, even those 30, 60, 90 or more days long to pay in advance. This is the only correct policy for short-term rentals by the way and not waiting for payment will eliminate most heartaches.
TIP: For long stays - say 90 days, have the guest sign three different leases, each for 29 days. With payment due weeks in advance of each new lease. That way you'll know early if they don't pay and you can exercise your right to cancel for failure to pay. (You do have that in the Guest Agreement anyway, don't you?
TIP: Be sure to download the sample Guest Agreements from the VROA forms and contracts page.
TIP: If you do have to sign a long term "Lease" be sure to require and check each Tenant's credit and references prior to occupancy.
TIP: Require Tenants to pay like they do for true long-term leases. First month, last month and a damage deposit of at least one month's rent. All paid in advance.
TIP: Require weekly, bi-weekly or monthly cleaning and charge them for it. Not only does that keep the place up but allows you an opportunity to do an informal inspection. Keep your eye on them.
TIP: Consider joining your state's Hotel and Lodging Association (Most have one). They'll usually have legal information, sample contracts or an attorney on retainer to help you understand the law.
TIP: Don't expect your attorney to have all the answers. He'll know how to draft an agreement but won't necessarily understand the nuances of the problems you face. Do your own homework, get your attorney's help and then work diligently to avoid those long-term tenants from hell.
===========================================
VROA NEWSLETTER - THIS ISSUED SPONSORED BY:
www.FreeSpots.com
Email notices for free and discounted vacation rentals
===========================================
VROA OWNER NEWSLETTER
Published weekly for all Owner Members
Copyright - Vacation Rental Owners Association
Read this and all prior newsletters at www.VROA.org
Director & Editor - Wm. May William@VROA.org
Membership - Penny Taylor Penny@VROA.org
PO Box 21305
Seattle, WA 98111-3305
Voice: 206-343-7777
Fax: 206-628-0839
Email: Info@VROA.org
Web: www.VROA.org (for Members)
Web: www.VROA.com (for Guests - coming soon)
===========================================
SUBJECT: Avoiding the Long-Term Renter Blues
Getting visitors who stay long term and still pay higher short-term rates sounds great. But such guests can lead to unexpected problems - and the problem is legal.
Many states differentiate between short term "Guests" and long term "Tenants." Frequently the difference is whether they stay for over or under 30 days. Anything under 30 days and the visitor's stay is governed under "Lodging" statues. 30 days or over and they may be governed under "Landlord Tenant" statues.
What's the difference? Basically long term Tenants have far more rights. They can withhold rent if a landlord doesn't fix repair problems. Landlords are prohibited from entering a rented home without reasonable advance notice to the Tenant (except in emergencies or when the Tenant can not be reached) Even if a tenant doesn't pay, or abuses the property or neighbors it can take owners months to evict them. And there are great many other restrictions on how you can manage a long-term rental.
On the other hand short term Guests have far fewer rights. Because such visitors are provided more services in traditional lodging (such as linens, room service, etc) and because they often share closer-quarters landlords are given more discretion in setting guest rules and managing guest behavior. Laws vary but usually you can immediately evict a guest for not following your written lease or rules. You can set limits on how many people are in the unit, how they are and can require every guest to register by name and address. To manage a unit to what would be the satisfaction of most guests owners can enter a unit simply by knocking on the door and, if the unit is unoccupied can enter and car for the place.
Maybe that's another reason why many owners prefer short-term guests.
As you will hear us say repeatedly its important to have a good written guest agreement - one that should reiterate your short-term owner rights. Be sure to ask your attorney to make sure it specifies that guest tenancy is governed under your states "Lodging" laws and not under the Landlord Tenant laws.
TIP: Avoid accepting long term (30 days and over). Even if your guest agreement says its a "Vacation Rental" or a "Short Term" rental a judge might decide that anything 30 days or over is really a long-term lease. The solution - when someone says they want a 30 days lease ask them which dates they want and then try to sell them something even a day short of 30 day. I know that can be money out of your pocket but getting hit with a landlord tenant lawsuit will cost you lots more.
TIP: Requires all guests, even those 30, 60, 90 or more days long to pay in advance. This is the only correct policy for short-term rentals by the way and not waiting for payment will eliminate most heartaches.
TIP: For long stays - say 90 days, have the guest sign three different leases, each for 29 days. With payment due weeks in advance of each new lease. That way you'll know early if they don't pay and you can exercise your right to cancel for failure to pay. (You do have that in the Guest Agreement anyway, don't you?
TIP: Be sure to download the sample Guest Agreements from the VROA forms and contracts page.
TIP: If you do have to sign a long term "Lease" be sure to require and check each Tenant's credit and references prior to occupancy.
TIP: Require Tenants to pay like they do for true long-term leases. First month, last month and a damage deposit of at least one month's rent. All paid in advance.
TIP: Require weekly, bi-weekly or monthly cleaning and charge them for it. Not only does that keep the place up but allows you an opportunity to do an informal inspection. Keep your eye on them.
TIP: Consider joining your state's Hotel and Lodging Association (Most have one). They'll usually have legal information, sample contracts or an attorney on retainer to help you understand the law.
TIP: Don't expect your attorney to have all the answers. He'll know how to draft an agreement but won't necessarily understand the nuances of the problems you face. Do your own homework, get your attorney's help and then work diligently to avoid those long-term tenants from hell.
===========================================
VROA NEWSLETTER - THIS ISSUED SPONSORED BY:
www.FreeSpots.com
Email notices for free and discounted vacation rentals
===========================================
VROA OWNER NEWSLETTER
Published weekly for all Owner Members
Copyright - Vacation Rental Owners Association
Read this and all prior newsletters at www.VROA.org
Director & Editor - Wm. May William@VROA.org
Membership - Penny Taylor Penny@VROA.org
PO Box 21305
Seattle, WA 98111-3305
Voice: 206-343-7777
Fax: 206-628-0839
Email: Info@VROA.org
Web: www.VROA.org (for Members)
Web: www.VROA.com (for Guests - coming soon)
===========================================
Monday, July 07, 2003
VROA NEWSLETTER - July 7, 2003
SUBJECT: Pick a memorable name for your vacation rental home.
Many of the things you can do to increase occupancy cost money, especially advertising. But there is one thing you can do that costs absolutely nothing and will absolutely increase demand for your property - and that is to pick a really great, memorable name for your property.
Guests like renting from private owners because they hope to find a home that is, in some way, unique to them. They may value its location, the view or many other attributes. But until they've actually stayed with you they must rely on the image you give them of the place.
Photos, floor plans and a long list of amenities are fine. But the name you pick will also tell them something. The question is will that something be good or bad. You'll have only one chance to make a first impression as they say, so make it a good one.
HINT: Names can be long or short, but shorter is better. They can be catchy or boring and catchy is better. They can be accurate or misleading and accurate is definitely better.
I had a great college advertising professor who said that good advertising can make a poor product fail faster. Think about that. It means if you convey messages that are inaccurate you may indeed get customers. But if its a not what they thought they were buying they'll be disappointed or, worse yet, may actually feel they've been mislead.
HINT: A good name should be unique but at the same time memorable. The first house we bought was located at 123 Chelan View Drive. So, with no intent to get into rentals seriously it got accidentally named "The 1-2-3 House." Not too bad but really not very catchy.
The home is located on a very up-scale unique private gated community on Washington State's top summer tourist area. Strangely, all the homes sit on 100-year land leases that are owned by a long-time Native American family. Shortly after buying the home we were on a four-week tour of Southwest US Indian reservations and really liked some of the art we found. Then we decided to buy and decorate the house almost exclusively with Native American art.
At first we were a bit apprehensive. Was it presumptuous of us to do so? What would guests think? Thankfully the first guests in the house after the artwork was installed were - unknown to us at the time - of Native American decent. We were happy when we received the most wonderful letter from them praising what they had found in the home which they called "The Totem House." The name stuck and we quickly renamed the place.
To this day, in the Guestbook and evaluation forms guests love the art and everyone in the whole community calls it the Totem House.
HINT: If you get a name you like be sure to get a good website domain name. Although the TotemHouse.com domain name was taken (and used) we purchase TotemHouse.info and now feature in all the advertising. The simple house name and simple domain name work well together. The name is remembered by Guests and others in the community.
NOTE: If you want to see what domain names are available use this fabulously FREE on line tool Go to www.Whois.sc. It will allow you to search names and text strings to find out which of the names you like is available in various extensions such as .com, .net and so forth. There are more than you think.
HINT: So how do you get a great name for your home? I'd suggest you use a method similar to what my old professor taught in college. First, get the family together with a big piece of paper. Brain storm all the names you can think - no matter how silly or inappropriate they may seem. Then make a copy of the list for everyone. Put it away for a week and then meet again. Go over the names and then pick one person - and one person only - who will decide the name. They should do that by simply staring at them until one of the names literally stands out on the sheet. It usually will.
A week later the name should be printed out on a piece of paper and given to everyone in the family - all of whom must agree not to question or ridicule it for one year.
And guess what - a year later everyone will be using the name and will wonder how it was every called anything else.
Be sure to see which domain names might be available before getting your heart set on any given name..
HINT: If you're tempted to name your house after your family such as "The Smith House" please don't. First, it is not memorable. Second, the domain probably won't be available and second it doesn't really say anything about your house, its quality, location or any other factor guests might find helpful.
SUGGESTIONS: So right now if you don't have a name for your house sit down and start making a list. Then check to see if the domain's available. The sooner you do this essentially free exercise the sooner your revenue will go up.
===========================================
VROA NEWSLETTER - THIS ISSUED SPONSORED BY:
www.FreeSpots.com
Email notices for free and discounted vacation rentals
===========================================
VROA OWNER NEWSLETTER
Published weekly for all Owner Members
Copyright - Vacation Rental Owners Association
Read this and all prior newsletters at www.VROA.org
Director & Editor - Wm. May William@VROA.org
Membership - Penny Taylor Penny@VROA.org
PO Box 21305
Seattle, WA 98111-3305
Voice: 206-343-7777
Fax: 206-628-0839
Email: Info@VROA.org
Web: www.VROA.org (for Members)
Web: www.VROA.com (for Guests - coming soon)
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SUBJECT: Pick a memorable name for your vacation rental home.
Many of the things you can do to increase occupancy cost money, especially advertising. But there is one thing you can do that costs absolutely nothing and will absolutely increase demand for your property - and that is to pick a really great, memorable name for your property.
Guests like renting from private owners because they hope to find a home that is, in some way, unique to them. They may value its location, the view or many other attributes. But until they've actually stayed with you they must rely on the image you give them of the place.
Photos, floor plans and a long list of amenities are fine. But the name you pick will also tell them something. The question is will that something be good or bad. You'll have only one chance to make a first impression as they say, so make it a good one.
HINT: Names can be long or short, but shorter is better. They can be catchy or boring and catchy is better. They can be accurate or misleading and accurate is definitely better.
I had a great college advertising professor who said that good advertising can make a poor product fail faster. Think about that. It means if you convey messages that are inaccurate you may indeed get customers. But if its a not what they thought they were buying they'll be disappointed or, worse yet, may actually feel they've been mislead.
HINT: A good name should be unique but at the same time memorable. The first house we bought was located at 123 Chelan View Drive. So, with no intent to get into rentals seriously it got accidentally named "The 1-2-3 House." Not too bad but really not very catchy.
The home is located on a very up-scale unique private gated community on Washington State's top summer tourist area. Strangely, all the homes sit on 100-year land leases that are owned by a long-time Native American family. Shortly after buying the home we were on a four-week tour of Southwest US Indian reservations and really liked some of the art we found. Then we decided to buy and decorate the house almost exclusively with Native American art.
At first we were a bit apprehensive. Was it presumptuous of us to do so? What would guests think? Thankfully the first guests in the house after the artwork was installed were - unknown to us at the time - of Native American decent. We were happy when we received the most wonderful letter from them praising what they had found in the home which they called "The Totem House." The name stuck and we quickly renamed the place.
To this day, in the Guestbook and evaluation forms guests love the art and everyone in the whole community calls it the Totem House.
HINT: If you get a name you like be sure to get a good website domain name. Although the TotemHouse.com domain name was taken (and used) we purchase TotemHouse.info and now feature in all the advertising. The simple house name and simple domain name work well together. The name is remembered by Guests and others in the community.
NOTE: If you want to see what domain names are available use this fabulously FREE on line tool Go to www.Whois.sc. It will allow you to search names and text strings to find out which of the names you like is available in various extensions such as .com, .net and so forth. There are more than you think.
HINT: So how do you get a great name for your home? I'd suggest you use a method similar to what my old professor taught in college. First, get the family together with a big piece of paper. Brain storm all the names you can think - no matter how silly or inappropriate they may seem. Then make a copy of the list for everyone. Put it away for a week and then meet again. Go over the names and then pick one person - and one person only - who will decide the name. They should do that by simply staring at them until one of the names literally stands out on the sheet. It usually will.
A week later the name should be printed out on a piece of paper and given to everyone in the family - all of whom must agree not to question or ridicule it for one year.
And guess what - a year later everyone will be using the name and will wonder how it was every called anything else.
Be sure to see which domain names might be available before getting your heart set on any given name..
HINT: If you're tempted to name your house after your family such as "The Smith House" please don't. First, it is not memorable. Second, the domain probably won't be available and second it doesn't really say anything about your house, its quality, location or any other factor guests might find helpful.
SUGGESTIONS: So right now if you don't have a name for your house sit down and start making a list. Then check to see if the domain's available. The sooner you do this essentially free exercise the sooner your revenue will go up.
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VROA OWNER NEWSLETTER
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Copyright - Vacation Rental Owners Association
Read this and all prior newsletters at www.VROA.org
Director & Editor - Wm. May William@VROA.org
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