About
That’s me on the left being filmed for a CHEX TV interview!
If you own a vacation home and rent it, or think you may rent in the future, then you will find plenty of information and suggestions here. There’s help on preparing for rental, developing a marketing strategy and finding places to advertise; hints and tips on adding value, setting a competitive rental rate, and managing bookings. In fact, all you need to know to make a success out of your rental property.
I bought my first cottage in Ontario when I was still living in UK, and managed to rent it out from a distance. Then we bought another, and another, and at one point owned and rented out 5 cottages. Over the past 7 years I learnt a lot about being a vacation rental home owner; a lot of tips and tricks to make the process run smoothly, and even more about what works and what doesn’t. Taking all that knowledge and putting it in a book seemed a useful thing to do and I published Renting your Profit, which was reprinted as a second edition called Renting your Recreational Home for Profit by Self Counsel Press.
I also run a cottage rental management agency, write articles, and blog on anything cottage-related. My own property, Osprey Cottage rents throughout the year and I do everything I talk about here to maximise occupancy and create significant income from it.
Your comments and feedback make this blog work and I’m more than happy to answer any questions you might have on your own cottage rental project.
Heather Bayer
From my office on the Crowe River off Belmont Lake
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Heather,
I hope all is well and you had a good summer. I love that you blogged about the new niche sport Stand Up Paddling! I became addicted this summer and it seems to be appearing all over the place now in vacation destinations.
Anyway, we had been corresponding about a year ago because I founded a new company called WebChalet that specializes in websites for vacation rentals. We have been hard at work for the past year on our CMS platform and grown our clientele steadily which has been exciting. Our value proposition is that we make it affordable and very easy to launch a great looking website. Thus, even vacation rental managers with smaller budgets have access to online marketing tools to grow their business and compete in this increasingly competitive space. Next steps: we are working with some online booking providers to integrate with your website.
If you have some time, I would love to hear your feedback on the software. I set up a new account for you at:
http://cottageblogger.webchalet.com/
user name: cottagebloggertrial@webchalet.com
password: cottage
Feel free to reach out to me with any questions!
Sarah
WebChalet, Inc.
415.609.8773
hello, I have just discovered your website through a retweet on Twitter. I think it’s fabulous, very insightful. I am very new to holiday rentals and am panicking as I haven’t received any enquiries after advertising on Homeaway and Flipkey – since last month. Will have to try to calm down. Best wishes, Carolyn
Carolyn Curr recently posted..A walk from the house, November