If you have a home that you don’t live in and are looking for a way to make some extra money, you may be considering renting it out as a vacation home.
However, before you rent out your home to vacationers, here’s what you need to know and these tips are brought to you by LODGINGRevs.
What Is A Vacation Home – Definition?
A vacation home is a lot different than a general rental. They tend to have a lot of visitors staying in them throughout the year. This can mean quite a bit of cleaning in between guests. There also may be a lot of times where there is no income generated because of lack of renters. However, property owners do have the flexibility to raise the daily or weekly rates if they see that their vacation home is in high demand.
1. The Rules Of Renting Out A Vacation Home
Many individuals are surprised to find that renting out a vacation home can come with a lot of rules. The proceeds made need to be reported on the homeowner’s tax return if they rent the property out more than 14 days in a year. However, homeowners may be able to deduct their property taxes and mortgage interest on their vacation home as well.
2. Documents You Need For Short Or Long-term Rentals
No matter how long you plan on renting out your vacation property for, you do need to keep some documentation such as a tenancy agreement for example. You should keep all receipts that are associated with fixing or cleaning the property. This includes things like hiring a housekeeper to tidy it up in between renters or paying a landscaping company to take care of the lawn. You also need to keep receipts for repairs that have been made to the property. You should keep all these receipts as you may be able to deduct some of these expenses on your taxes as mentioned in the previous chapter.
3. Furnishing The Property
When an individual rents a vacation home, they do expect it to be fully equipped with everything that they will need during their stay. It’s a good idea to invest in quality items as they will probably be in use regularly. When choosing furniture for your vacation rental, you should steer clear of bulky items. They will just make your rental look small.
Opt for modern pieces that easily fit into the space. Don’t forget about stocking your kitchen with small appliances, cutlery, and linens as well. You should also have at least one extra set of sheets for each bed in the modern bedrooms so that your guests will have a spare set if they need to change their linens. If your vacation rental has a pool or is located near the beach, you should have it stocked with plenty of towels.
4. Pricing
It can be difficult to determine exactly how much you should price your vacation rental for. This is why you should research the prices of other rentals near yours. You may want to consider pricing your rental slightly lower than similar rentals in your property market so that you can try to entice vacationers to rent your property. Just make sure that you don’t set your price so low that you don’t actually make any money.
5. How To Take Appealing Photos Of The Property?
The photos you take of your vacation home are very important. Bad photos will keep individuals from booking your property. If you aren’t comfortable taking photos, you may want to consider hiring a photographer. They will stage your home in a way that will make it look more appealing in photos. If you want to take photos yourself, you need to make sure your home looks open and bright. Remove any clutter and open up the blinds. You need to take photos of every single room as well as any features that you think your vacationers would find unique. You should also consider taking a video of your entire property. This will allow potential renters to feel as if they are on a guided tour.
6. Reasons You Should Rent Out Your Vacation Home
There are quite a few reasons why many homeowners decide to rent out their property as a vacation home. One of the biggest reasons is that it allows them to bring in additional income. For those that are in a high-demand area, they often don’t have to do a lot to market it. They can also deduct certain things on their taxes that they wouldn’t be able to if their home was just sitting there unoccupied.
If you have a home that you aren’t living in but don’t want to sell, you may want to consider renting it out as a vacation home. It will allow you to bring in some extra money, and you can meet a lot of new people along the way.
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- Taylor McKnight is a Digital PR Specialist representing clients across all business niches who enjoys content writing and marketing among other PR activities.
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