Owners

Get Photos of Your Property Now!

Nothing sells your vacation rental better than great seasonal photos of your home. What makes photos shine on the web is bright blue skies, white clouds, and well-lit interiors. It is important to have updated images. Also make sure that you have photos for each season. Hidden Valley has four season fall, winter, spring & summer.

Get a digital camera the next time you visit your vacation rental. Take 20-40 photos, of your property and the surrounding. Then pick the very best photos and send them to your advertising companies. Saving the images in a JPeg format is best. If you don’t have a digital camera use prints and let your webpage advertising service scan them in to a digital format.

Make your rental stand out from the crowd

With a little thought you can add a few extras that will cause renters to choose your rental over others at the resort. Examples include a really large chilly pot, a DVD player, or perhaps setting up a mini-office with fax machine and Internet access.

You should add as many extras as you can afford, and you should be sure to mention them all in your rental property’s advertisements. The best place to find these ideas are at the local yard sales. Because Hidden Valley does not have a video rental store I recommend have a small collection of movies for your guests.

Some ideas

• Computer with internet access
• DVD/VCR Player
• Old Stereo
• Firewood
• Well Stocked Kitchen
• Extra Battery’s for remotes
• Extra Light bulbs
• Fire Starters
• Book, Books, and more Books
• Local Phone Tree
• Dog Bowls

How to give your keys to Renters.

Always wait to give your keys out until you are paid in full. Collecting payment can be a hard task and for those who don’t pay on time it is near impossible to get your money after they have already used your service. A key lock box, is available
at most hardware stores for about $30. These can save you a lot of money and time. Place one key in the lock box for arrival and for emergency use. It can also be used for giving access to maintenance personnel, if needed in an emergency.

Or you can try asking the resorts front desk to give your key out. I have found that by placing your key in an sealed envelope with the name of the renter on it works well. You could also ask the Hidden Valley Foundation if they could handout the key.

For about $300, you can hire a locksmith to install a secure, high quality pushbutton combination lock on your front door, in place of a regular doorknob. Your cleaning service or property manager can change the combination each time they stop by. Give your guest their personal entry code by phone or email a few days before they are due to arrive. Contact a local locksmith for a recommendation and price quote. Or google a real estate lock.

Handicap Accessible.

Most Vacation Home renters are older in age, it may make sense to market your vacation property to individuals with disabilities. If a property is a ground floor unit or single- family home without stairs, that may be enough to be wheelchair accessible.

Grab bars by the toilet and in the bathtub are quite cheap and easy to install. Think about adding a ramp to the front door. Be sure to also indicate details which will help your renters determine the degree of accessibility your Hidden Valley vacation property provides.

Cooking In

Vacation Home Kitchens can lead to repeat Visitors. A well-stocked kitchen with basic cooking tools makes meal time easy. A good set of pots and pans, are a must. Renters will also find a large pot, a broiler pan, a roasting pan, baking sheets, a baking dish, a colander, and microwave safe containers very handy.

And don’t overlook small kitchen essentials such as wooden spoons, ladle, spatulas, measuring spoons/cups, vegetable peeler, can opener, bottle opener, corkscrew, and scissors. Be sure to include specific cooking tools for preparing local specialties.

If you have a Grill make sure you have grilling tools as well. A spice rack is always a nice. You can find a used microwave for under $20 these days. My family likes to leave the kitchen stocked with are family’s special pancake mix. We make it every year and put a nice label on it. It is small extras like this that make a home stick out.

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