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Vacation Rental Marketing—Four Powerful Legal Positioning Tips

There are some things about the vacation rental market that are legal advantages and you will want to know about them before engaging in renting out your home as a vacation rental.

 

Application/Reservations Agreement
If you have been renting your home using a regular lease, throw it out. Here’s why. Giving a lease grants tenancy, and it could literally take months to evict a person from your property, depending on the eviction process and location of the property.

Instead, use a hospitality contract, which legally allows you to impose immediate departure for violations of the contract. Make the first page of the reservations agreement an application so that it feels more like a privilege than a sales pitch. This sets the tone for respect of your business and your property.

 

Deposits
Consider not taking deposits. If you accept credit cards, write something into the contract that allows charges on their credit card for damage beyond normal wear and tear.

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A damage deposit usually isn’t sufficient to cover most damage; and the costs of collecting and returning damage deposits are prohibitive.

Purchase deposit insurance through an insurance company, allowing you to file a claim for damages (up to $1500) with the insurance company. You collect a non-refundable $50 fee; which covers the cost of the insurance; and make a little extra profit to boot!

 

Vacation Rental Insurance
Offer your guests vacation rental insurance, which covers situations where a guest may need to cancel their rental for a refund.

Refunds are difficult in this business because for the time period that you vacation rental was booked you weren’t able to rent it. Even if you do, the work doubles for the same amount of cash flow.

By offering vacation rental insurance (for an 7% of the cost of rental) you will make a little additional profit. Include a disclaimer that if they choose not to buy the insurance that no refunds will be able to be made. That way if you get a guest who wants a last-minute refund, and tries to trump up reasons to break their contract, you can refer them to the insurance company to file a claim; or you can remind them that they waived this right with the purchase of vacation rental insurance.

 

Local Hospitality Taxes
Many towns are not yet aware of vacation rentals and do not see them as taxable. Yet some towns require that you have a license or certification; other towns require hospitality tax paid to them if your rental term is seven days or less. Make an informed decision how you will handle the hospitality tax.

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How Can Vacation Rental Gurus Help You Reach New Heights of Success?

Through these practical tips and tricks:

• 3 ways to increase
  your bookings

• 3 tips for moving your
  guest happily through
  the check-in process

• Covering yourself legally
  against bully guests and
  bully neighbors

• Extraordinary resources
  for creating a great
  Infastructure

• Write a listing that PULLS
  and gets the phone
  ringing!

• Screening and selling
  Vacation Rental Home
  on the phone

• Get rid of deposits,
  cancellations,
  refunds!

• Work Your Vacation Home business from home or
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• FREE Vacation Rental
  Home Etiquette e-book
  (free to give to your
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• FREE Guest Application
  Contract (free to use with
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• Creating your own
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• And much, much more!

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