This page is provided as a resource directory to vacation rental owners or prospective owners. No warranty or recommendation is implied.
Free Online Search Engine Optimization and Website Marketing Classes The Small Business Website Development Training Center is run by "Cricket" who is committed to helping small business people find success in their online businesses. If you found my site via a search engine, it is probably because of something I learned in her classes. These SEO classes and Website Marketing classes are for the individual who wants to not only understand how search engines work, but to actually make the search engines work for them!
Custom Website Creations - Your website should be as unique as you and your business are. GNC Web Creations specializes in custom website creations and original graphics that will meet all your special needs.
Professional and affordable website design specifically for the vacation rental owner Though I am my own web master, this is not practical nor advisable for many vacation home rental owners. Gina is a fellow contributor to a vacation rental forum and her work looks good and her pricing fair.
Relevant Arts - Logo and corporate identity design. I'm good at marketing, getting better at website design, but graphic design - nope. Cindy at Relevant Arts designed my logos and I love her work. Soon I'll be trying Relevant Arts' work for a new vacation rental website. A husband and wife (plus others) team with the perfect balance: one the technical expertise and one the artistic expertise! This is the fairest and nicest logo design for vacation rentals that I've seen. Who better to design your logo or advertising materials but another vacation rental owner? Call Cindy at 770-914-0855. Very in tune with client needs and planning for now and the future.
General website business information:
One of the first things many entrepreneurs will do today, is "get a website." Unfortunately, the axiom "If you build it, they will come" is not true on the web. If you are serious about building a business that is self sustainable, then you will need to build a website that uses search engine optimization or "seo". There are books, free online courses, professionals, and tools galore to accomplish this continuous task. For everyone, the starting point is using searched for terms in your content or "keywords". The best tools available for free right now are: Keyword Discovery by Trellian", Wordtracker's Key Word Discover, and Goodkeywords.com which is a free download.
Private travel insurance is a good way to protect yourself and your guests from the unexpected. Refer them to: QuoteWright Travel Insurance Comparisons - Travel Insurance Comparison site listing all major travel insurance companies. or Insure My Trip or Travel Safe.
If you are serious about your vacation rental, and have more than a single seasonal property, you'll want to accept major credit cards. I found my processor based on a family recommendation via Costco.
I also like PayPal for transactions as it provides immediate payment and cuts down on "holding of reservations." This is the fastest and most economical payment solution out there.
Universal Rental Calendar - Free rental calendar for your vacation rental property-by rentors.org. In my opinion, this is the must have calendar for all vacation rentals by owner. There is some debate as to whether to use an online calendar or not. I figure let the potential guest make the choice! If they see your place is booked, but your website makes it look great, they'll ask about the dates you have available instead. Why waste the vacationer's time inquiring about rentals that are already booked? You can link to this calendar on most vacation rental portals, and from your own web site.
Compare Owner Holiday Rentals - Advice for Owners of Vacation Villas and Apartments -Your guide to choosing the best vacation and holiday owner rentals websites. We provide tools and resources to help you get the best from your holiday home. Owner Kevin Cohr has worked to put together a list of vacation rental listing sites on the web which seems to grow every day, and to provide some comparison and reviews from vacation rental property owners.
HolidayRentalResource.com - a new resource for 2007, looks like a promising place for vacation rental owners to pick up some useful information about where to list vacation homes, condos, villas for rent or holiday let.
Vacation Rental Listings- A list of vacation rental listing sites that I advertise on and recommend you check out. Keep in mind that every site performs differently depending on geographic location of your rental, type of rental, and competitive nature of your market. This list seems to grow every day. There are both paid sites and free ones here. If you have the time, the free sites have no real drawback. I just yesterday got a booking from a site I'd entirely forgotten about.
Vacation Rentals in California - Free Vacation Rental Ads
Nautique - Beach Cottage Headquarters - Oceanside CA is blessed with good and up and coming shops! This one will make custom "Welcome to the Beach" gifts for your vacation rental in San Diego, Orange, or Riverside counties in CA. Furthermore, regardless of your location you can shop their store for beach cottage decorative accessories online. Located at 220 Wisconsin Avenue, Oceanside, CA 92054 760-757-3440 Tell them Melinda from Pelican Place at North Coast Village sent you.
Seaglass Candles - Handmade and unique soy based candles from Bar Harbor, Maine. Sea glass included in these unique candles is picked up by local people in and around the spectacular Maine coast. The candles are handmade by local artisans using only the finest soy based and lead free products. Perfect candle to accent your beach themed home or to remember your trip to Maine.
Welcome Your Guests Gifts - The premier gift service for vacation rental homeowners Welcome Your Guests Gifts offers marketing-savvy and service-oriented vacation rental homeowners a unique hospitality solution.
Mike Ritter Law - Attorney: Estate Planning, Telecommunications, Real Estate, Business Law - Make sure your leases are legal. Licensed in the State of CA. 760-917-1123
Deenie Provo - North Coast Village - Oceanside, CA 760-672-4966 - Deenie is a resident expert in North Coast Village in Oceanside California, and has personal experience with vacation rentals. She works hard, gets all the information you need, and will work with you until you find the right vacation rental for you at North Coast Village.
Camille Pfeiffer - Palm Valley Country Club -Palm Desert CA (760) 773-3958 - Camille is excellent with the long distance real estate purchaser and is very computer and internet savvy. She is willing to supply the research and resources necessary for the vacation rental owner to make well educated business decisions. Her personal service goes above and beyond and continues even after the sale. Her contact and referrals were priceless.
Tampa Florida Area Real Estate - Gloria Walters - for your real estate purchase and property management needs in the Tampa Bay Florida area.
Insurance - I highly recommend State Farm in Southern CA for short term rentals. Contact Jim Doherty 949-583-0411
Cleaning Oceanside, CA - "Coastal Cleaning" - Residential, Move In and Out, Vacation Rentals - Contact Noreen McMurtie 760-722-3108
TipTop Cleaning Palm Desert CA
Sandy Bottoms Cleaning Oceanside CA
Dream House Architecture LLC- Trusted provider of home plans - A one stop shopping experience offering the best top designers’ and architects’ plans—plans to suit all family sizes and all tastes.
Read opinions and compare prices on hotels and vacations around the world from TripAdvisor.
Visit ApartmentMatching.Com for all types of home living solutions, information on renting an apartment, or a virtual tour house plan and search for your choice of apartments and vacation rentals across the nation.
Travel Links Directory - Hotels Flights Destinations Directory of travel related web sites with links to – flights hotels vacations destination guides travel agents agencies and travel information.
International Travel Directory Comprehensive directory for travel related web sites. Destination guides, travel news and travelogues. Book cheap airfares, discount hotels and car hire.
Directory organized by subject, including Travel.
MaineList.com - A Directory Listing for the entire State of Maine. Search by Category, Town, or Alphabetically for Maine web sites. You Can Get There From Here!
Below are links to books and resources that I have personally found helpful in the management of my vacation rentals:
©Copyright 2007 Better Vacation Rentals - 1625 Via Sage - San Clemente - CA 92673 - 949.369.5171 - Property Management and Rentals at Palm Valley Country Club, Palm Valley Drive, Palm Desert, CA 92211 - Property Management and Rentals at North Coast Village, 999 N. Pacific St., Oceanside, CA 92054