Deposit Insurance with Travel Guard

We are thrilled to announce our partnership with Travel Guard. Travel Guard and ivacationonline.com have teamed up to provide a unique service to both private owners of vacation rentals and management companies of vacation rentals.


Accidental Rental Damage Insurance through Travel Guard is now integrated into your ivacationonline.com account. As the property owner or manager, you now have the option to charge a $45 fee for coverage up to $1500 in accidental damage done to your property. This benefits both the owner and guest.

The owner now has up to $1500 in coverage in case of an accident. If you previously took a $300 security deposit, what did you do when something cost more than $300? Now with the Travel Guard Accidental Rental Damage Insurance being integrated with the ivacationonline.com vacation rental software, your bookings can have up to $1500 in coverage. That is 5 times the coverage of a $300 security deposit.

You will also see an increase in bookings as your pricing now seems to be lower. If you are taking a security deposit, that appears to be an additional fee to book with you. So they may shop elsewhere.

The good news is the owner/manager receives a portion of this fee as compensation for offer the coverage on their property. Now you can actually make money by running your business on the vacation rental property management system, ivacationonline.com!

The guest also benefits from this as they do not have to tie up additional funds in a security deposit for months. They also have more coverage then a $300 security deposit provides.

We feel this is a huge step for the private owners to run a successful vacation rental business. They can act just like the pros!

Claims are all handled inside the ivacationonline.com software and the whole transaction is automated upon booking. There is no additional work for the owner/ manager or guest.

Next on the development list is the Travel Guard TRAVEL INSURANCE interface. The owners/managers will be able to offer either optional or mandatory travel insurance with every booking through the ivacationonline.com vacation rental management software. This is another huge step forward in protection and convenience for the owners/managers and guest. Stay tuned....

Here is a short note about Travel Guard:

Travel Guard works with marquee clients worldwide to provide customized travel insurance plans, emergency travel services, travel medical assistance, concierge, and customized call center solutions for their employees and customers. When you partner with Travel Guard, our passion for exceptional customer care will exceed your expectations and those of your customers.

John M. Noel is founder and Chief Executive Officer of Travel Guard. With more than 20 years of industry experience, Travel Guard is one of the world's leading travel insurance providers. The company specializes in providing innovative travel insurance, assistance and emergency travel services for millions of travelers and thousands of companies throughout the world.

Travel Guard has built its reputation upon unparalleled customer service and its values-based approach to doing business. As a result, John Noel has been awarded the Ernst & Young Entrepreneurs of the Year, the University of Wisconsin Regent Partnership Award, and the State of Wisconsin's Exemplary Employer Award. Recently, Noel was named as the recipient of the World Tourism Award in recognition of "Travel Guard's values-based approach to business and its philanthropic mission to give back to both the global and local communities it serves.”

"Our clients appreciate our exceptional customer service and our ‘never say no’ approach to doing business… We’re proud to work with leading companies throughout the world who share our commitment to solid corporate values."

John Noel
Founder & CEO, Travel Guard

ivacationonline.com is proud to be associated with TRAVEL GUARD and we look forward to a long relationship with them. If you need a reservation system for your vacation rental and want to have this level of service and the protection that TRAVEL GUARD provides you and your guest, join ivacationonline.com today!

Happy Renting!

Joe Godar
ivacationonline.com

2009 Vacation Rental Season - Take Control now!

This may be the toughest season ever for vacations rentals in a very long time. How are your rentals for the 2009 season?

Here are some proven techniques to keep your properties booked and the cash flowing.

Sitting around and complaining that the economy is bad and your bookings are down will get you no where. This is the time to get to work! You need to go over everything and put some time into your business.
1) Update your photos! Do you have a quality photo album to showcase your place? If the guest know to shop around, they will be looking harder and harder at the online photos that represent your rental. You need your best foot forward. Taking new quality photos is not expensive and can help! Be sure your photos are the best you can afford!

2) Advertise! This is the time to advertise more! Not less. Run specials. Make it look attractive to book with you! What does your title say about your property on your ads? Does it say, "BOOK WITH ME" or does it say, "I have not updated my ad in years". Here is one example:
GOOD AD: "Save $250 today! May 1-7 is open! Ocean View Condo, Call today"
Not so good ad: "3 bd 3 bath condo with dvd player in master bedroom"

You need a call to action and a reason to call you, instead of someone else. A coupon or special may be the trick to get them to call!

3) Follow up. Call if possible the prospect that emails you. If they put a phone number in the ad, call them at that number as fast as possible. If there is no number, email them as fast as possible. Answer the questions and tell them you want the business.

4) Have an online reservation system. This makes taking a booking fast and easy. The easier it is on the guest, the better the chance they will book with you! Using a site like ivacationonline.com and the vacation rental software it provides can make a difference. Who wants to wait for documents to be emailed back and forth and then filled out and mailed back! Make it easy and attract more business.

5) Do something every day! Update your calendars, change your ads, call your guest. Take 10 min and ask your self what needs to be updated and ACT! Sitting around will get you no where.

Try a few of these options and you will see the results! More bookings! People are still going in vacation and you need to be out there and get in front of them.

Good luck in the 2009 season!

More information on vacation rental software and vacation rental management software.

Stop Vacation Rental Foreclosure

This is the "SIGN" of the times! It does not have to happen to you!

If you own a vacation rental and you are having trouble with making the payments, there is help. Here is what we are seeing as the biggest problem in the vacation rental industry. There are really 2 things that have happened.

SPECULATION. Many buyers a few years ago have purchased a property when the market was on the rise hoping to flip in in the short term for a profit. They bought as the market was going up and then it peaked and fell off. So selling it for what they paid is not an option. This was the start of the real estate bubble.

So now they own a vacation home or condo and may not have wanted to be the owner for the long run. They do not have a plan in place to rent or manage the property. This is very common in this market. There is help. We want to help! ivacationonline.com can help you manage your property online and turn it into a cash flowing machine. It is not that hard. You simply have to look at this as a business. You need to advertise, take credit cards online and set up your business! Once set up, the market is still there. People are still going on vacations and they can stay with you and now you have help to pay your mortgage.

This does take work! It does take time. The option of not doing this and giving the property back to the bank is last thing most people want to do. This is a great business. Guest want to pay you to stay in your vacation home or condo and this is cash flow you need to support the property. Sitting around and "waiting for the market to come back" is basically financial suicide.

Fell free to contact us today for a complete property evaluation. We can take a look at your property, estimate cash flow and help you get started on the road to a successful vacation rental business.

Here is the other problem we are seeing in the vacation rental market.

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT. Many owners have properties and have had them for years before this real estate break down. Many property management companies do a great job. It seems that the smaller, private companies or mom and pop shops seem to have a leg up on the mega companies we see in almost every resort town.

The smaller companies are able to pay more attention to your property and may have several key people that work there and will know you and your home. Some mega companies have a rotating system to place business in your property and they have a hard time keeping your unit occupied.

We can help you! You can do this on your own if you need the extra cash flow to pay your bills. Sitting there and doing nothing will end up getting you NOTHING in the long run. Make a change. Find a new company that can produce results or go out on your own. We have the online vacation rental software that will run this business for you. Once set up, taking online bookings and handling the day to day things that this business needs is very easy. It makes you look like a top rate company, with one property!

Make some changes! Try something new! Got out on your own. Stay out of foreclosure. We have software, books and customer support ready and willing to help you run your vacation rental by owner. It has never been easier! Just take some action today! Call us, we are ready to help! We help owners every day turn vacant, empty, cash sucking homes into cash flow machines. Just give this a try!

Joe Godar
888-716-2220
ivacationonline.com Vacation Rental Software
Vacation Rentals for Profit - Book

Vacation Rental CASE STUDY

NEW DESTINY WEST VACATION RENTAL- CASE STUDY.

I often get asked a question from new owners, "What does it take to get these properties to be successful?" This is a loaded question! The biggest problem I see is owners do not approach this like a business. I have said this a hundred times. They walk into 2ND home ownership, need or want cash flow to pay for it and never really "dig" into the details it takes to be a success.

That is why we do what we do! We want to show you EXACTLY what it takes to be a success. Owners that are doing this "right" are having record years. People are still taking vacations. No matter the price of gas or the economy or the real estate market, they are still going on vacations. You just have to be in a position to get that business before someone else.

I have had the privilege of knowing a couple from Cincinnati, Greg and Tracy. They wanted a 2ND home in Destin, my neck of the woods, so they came to Destin to view properties and pick one out.

This gave me the perfect opportunity to document what they are doing and how they will become successful. I know Greg very well. So I know he will be very professional and business minded in his approach to setting this new home up. So here goes!

We will follow them every step of the way. I will blog about it and give exact details of what they did right or wrong and we will see the first booking come in and watch as they fill up the calendar for 2009.

We recently blogged about the 10 Steps to Success for Vacation Rentals. We will follow this format and show you each step so you have a blue print of what to do and when to do it. Here is the first step and update on where they are.

1) BUY THE RIGHT PROPERTY TO BEGIN WITH. Greg and Tracy did this perfectly. They have been to Destin. They understood what they wanted as a visiting family on vacation and looked to provide that with the home they purchased. They agreed to try to find the largest home for the money, in the best shape, close to the beach and pool in a family community. They viewed homes for one full day. They settled on one in Emerald Shores. Which is the community I purchased my very first home in. They went to make an offer and it was under contract. So the second choice was a more expensive home in nearby Destiny West. Which is a bit more upscale, very desirable and close to the beach. This home has great character and was a builders own home that was never rented.

Just by viewing it with them, I could tell it would be a great rental. It is only 2 doors from the community pool, it is as close to the beach as they can get in that area. And they agreed to buy a Golf Cart for the guest, making it more attractive and easy to get to the beach and around Destin.

GOLF CART. This is something I want to touch on. High end rentals seem to be doing great in this market. In Destiny West, it is common for the owners to provide a Golf Cart for the guest to use. There are not many rentals in the community. So starting with a great home and then on top of that offering a street legal Golf Cart so your guest can use it for the week is a great way to attract business. Legal work MUST be done to protect your self. Please contact your attorney when doing this. But from a marketing prospective, this is a home run in my opinion. This is the type of thing that will demand more rent and make the difference in booking with you or someone else. Financially it makes sense too. To invest $6,500 into a nice Golf Cart and then increase your rentals by $10,000 to $15,000 a year is a good return.

July 31, 2008. This is the date they closed on the house. They came to Destin to stay in the home for a few weeks to furnish it and get it ready for occupancy. The home was not totally furnished so they need some time and money to get it ready. They took as many pictures as possible while they were in town. There will be more work to do on the next trip, but they are now ready to set up the web sites, get the vacation rental software with http://www.ivacationonline.com/ completed, apply for the merchant service and begin to advertise.

So they have taken the first HUGE step and closed on the property. They have started to complete the home and it is now ready for guest to arrive. They want to make more improvements but this can wait until there next visit. Once we start on the web site work we will continue this and give you the exact details on where we list their home, why we listed, the Search Engine Optimization we will do, the pricing structure plus more! So stay tuned as this new rental hits the market and becomes another great success story! The next step is setting up www.ivacationonline.com and getting the merchant service. We will blog about this soon!

Details, Details, Details..Vacation Rental Details!

I wanted to share with you the number one reason for success int he vacation rental by owner business. DETAILS.

The owners that treat this as a business and take a business approach to it, are usually VERY successful. They follow thru with the details. Many owners get very frustrated at the level of bookings they have. They may have full time jobs, families and many other things pulling them in 10 different directions.

We are all very busy! The owners that take their time and work a little every day, paying attention to the DETAILS always seem to be the successful owners.

Here are some examples. One owner may advertise on VRBO and be about 20-30% booked. When we advise them to advertise more, spend More money on more web portals, they may not follow up and think that VRBO is more than enough. The owners that do the proper search for the vacation rentals in their market, spend the time listing on more quality advertising portals and complete the details on each listing site, are usually 70-90% booked. The devil is in the details.

Just doing "some" advertising is not enough. The details of marketing are you have to do enough of it to be successful. Taking the short cut with one ad is not going to make you successful. Spend the time and money and dig into the details to make your adverting a success.

The same can be said for your photos. It use to be 3-5 pictures would bring you all the business you need. Now the owners that have photo albums, like PICASA from Goggle are the ones experiencing success. It takes time to build one, follow thru with the details and list your captions. And you will have success. The more time you put into these details the better your success. Here is one example of a slide show that has turned my 3 bedroom condo into a booking machine in Destin Florida:

This is an average condo in Destin. Since I take the time to dig into the details and have a complete photo slide show, I advertise on 5-7 quality sites, have my online booking system in place, I have taken a condo when I purchased it, from a $20,000 a year unit to over $50,000 in gross rents for 2008 and nearly 100% occupancy. No other condo in our complex comes close, yet we all have identical units. The reason is DETAILS. The other owners could do the same thing, run more ads, have photo slide shows, take credit cards online etc.

The business is out there. You have to out perform the competition. Sitting around waiting for the phone to ring is not going to work. There is no magic pill to swallow. Just get to work, run more ads, update your unit and run your vacation rental by owner like a business. Spend time on the details and you will see your bookings increase!

Good luck!

10 Steps to Vacation Rental by Owner Success

After working with thousands of vacation rental owners, we have put together a list of items that seems to be consistent with the most successful owners. Owners ask all the time, “What does it take to be successful in the business?” well here it is. We put together this list as these items seem to be what the most successful owners are ALWAYS doing.

1) PROPERTY. The best thing you can do is to buy the right property from the start. There are no shortcuts in this area. If you are in a coastal area, people want to be as close to the beach, ocean, or water as possible. Guests want access to a pool. They want great views in the mountain areas etc. They want a nice clean updated or new place to stay. Buying the cheapest home on the market may cost you in the long run. Be sure to research where you are buying and make sure your vacation rental offers as much as possible for your area.


2) BOOKING SYSTEM. Having an online booking system or software like http://www.ivacationonline.com/ lets your guest know you are serious about your business. Add the online credit card processing to this and you will attract more guests. We have surveyed hundred of guest and they want to pay online with a credit card. You need to put the odds in your favor. One survey revealed that over 41% of the guest surveyed told us that an owner taking credit cards influenced the buying decision. Why send 41% of the market down the road to another owner? Take credit cards online and supercharge your business.


3) PHOTOS. The most successful owners we work with have the most and best photos easily available. In years past, 3-5 photos online would bring in the business. Now you need hundreds. We highly recommend PICASA by Goggle. It is a free online web based album service. It lets you showcase not only your property but also your community and town. This way you can “sell” the entire vacation experience. Guest love to see photos! Give them that option. They are really buying your photos once you think about it. That is the only way they know what you have to offer until they arrive at your location.


4) PRICING. Too many owners think their properties are worth more than they are. The normal guest has thousands of options to pick from. They all look alike to the guest! There are millions of very nice vacation homes on the market. The chance that yours is the best is extremely rare! So price it accordingly. If you see your market is getting $1200 a week for a prime week, you need to be at $1195. This keeps you in the market and priced “right”. Trying to price it at $1500 to “see what happens” is a sure sign NOTHING will happen. Guest can shop too easy. Price it right, book it up and be thankful for the success.

5) DISCOUNTS. Once you are priced right, you may have times open that you need to discount. This does not mean you are giving time away. It is simple a “marketing” strategy to increase your booking ratio. If you have 3 weeks booked and you have one week that is open, offer a discount. Taking a $200 discount may mean the difference between a $1200 booking and $0. $1400 would have been nice, but $1200 is better than $0. The higher ratio of bookings you have, the more likely you will be in the “black” at the end of the year.

6) DOMAIN NAMES. Successful owners understand that the guest wants to book online as fast as possible. Taking them to other web sites and then to your online booking site, increases the chance you will lose them. INTERNET sales 101, less clicks the better! Period! So buy a URL that applies to your area/property, like this one, http://www.bluetides411.com/ and point it to your online booking site. The faster and easier you can get a guest to your site and book online, the greater your closing ratios, the greater your gross income. More examples:
http://www.destinpalms.com/ http://www.sugarsands411.com/ http://www.waves411.com/
http://www.bajaretreat.com/ http://www.beachclub411.com/ These are all pointing to the owners’ online booking site and the owner can take a booking in a few clicks!

7) ADVERTISING. VRBO is not enough! This is one of the biggest problems we see. Many owners think that if they advertise on VRBO alone, they can be successful. That is no longer true. You must set up an “umbrella of advertising” as we say. Search your location and find advertising sites that come up in those searches. Joining 5-10 sites is not too many! You need to spend $1,000 to $1,500 a year to properly advertise your property. Anything short of that and you will simply not get the calls or emails needed to be successful. This is the difference in getting a few bookings and being totally booked solid. YOU NEED TO ADVERTISE!

8) UPDATE PROPERTY. Most successful owners update the property almost every year. Guests want to see that the owner is taking care of the place and putting some money back into the property. New linens, furniture, fresh paint all make a difference. Have a policy in place that each year you look for the worn out items and replace some or all of them. It will keep the repeat business coming back!

9) ANSWER CALLS. Most owners get plenty of leads but do not get back to the prospect in a timely manner. The guest is online right now, looking for a place to book. They call or email you, and then you take 24 to 48 hours to return that call or email. During that time they have booked someplace else. Calling or emailing them the second they respond is the best policy. If you can not get to that till later in the day, call or email as soon as possible. Time is money! Your Money!! Call faster than the other owners and get more bookings. Simple!

10) STAY IN TOUCH. Make sure you stay in touch with guest after the stay. Having to market all over again next year for all new guest makes it hard. If you can get your repeat business up to 30-40%, running at 90% booked is now a possibility. More business gets more business! They bring a friend and so on. Having a plan in place to stay in touch, so when they want to book again the next year, they think of YOU! Not staying in touch and sending them back online to find another property is a waste of resources. They found you once, stayed with you and now trust your business and property. Do the proper marketing to them and they will stay with you for a life time!


These simple techniques are proven over and over again to bring in more business. They are battle tested. How does your style or business measure up? Are you booked 90% of the time? If not, make some changes. These all take time. Many owners simple do not run their business like a business. Make sure you do it right from the start. Once you set up these items in place, they will work for you and you may have years of vacation rental success. Good luck!

2008 Vacation Rental By owner Season

2008 RENTAL SEASON

Well, the 2008 rental season is in full swing. We had tons of questions about how this season would turn out. Here is what we are seeing. The owners that are "working" the business correctly are doing better than ever. Our units and most of the owners we work directly with, that are using all of the tools available to them, online booking, advertising, running specials, photo albums, these owners are having record years.

They are all beating the 2007 numbers they posted last season. WHY? They are working harder than most other owners. The rental market is still very strong. With gas at almost $4 a gallon, people still want to take a vacation. So it is tougher on many, but with the proper tools, you can do very well in the toughest of times.

We are seeing some higher than usual cancellations. We feel this is due to many factors. They may have booked a few months ago, put a deposit down and when the full payment comes due, the funds may not be there for some families. This is another reason to be taking credit cards for your rent payments. Some guest who may not have the funds today, will put the final payment on a credit card, to make sure they can take the family on vacation. So it is another way to get business you may have lost.

We are also seeing new owners enter the market and doing VERY well. All for the same reasons. If they buy a desirable unit, they advertise properly, use the online vacation rental software from http://www.ivacationonline.com/ to complete bookings as fast as possible, they are filling up the calendar as soon as the start marketing.

REAL ESTATE MARKET. This is a totally different animal from the rental market. Real Estate markets are having a very tough time. Some prices continue to drop and some have leveled off. Buying a unit now is a great idea. Prices have not been this low in 4-5 years. But do not confuse a tough real estate market with a tough rental market. They are 2 different animals. Rentals are strong. You may have to work a little harder, but to the victor goes the spoils. Update your photos, take credit cards online, price your property correctly and you will have your share of business.

The bottom line is always been and always will be, you get out what you put in. Do the work to make your rental business a success and you will be successful. Do nothing and nothing will happen.

Stay tuned. We all hope the real estate market and the economy will swing back to the top soon.