After hours, days, or maybe even months of debate, you have finally decided on the destination. Now how do you decide which vacation rental to choose? What should you be looking for? It can be overwhelming to even figure out where to begin. Luckily, we have some tips to take some of the stress off of finding the perfect place.
In the context of this article, a "manager" is the manager of a vacation rental property. This could be a homeowner managing their own property, or a professional property manager managing properties on the behalf of others. Vacation rental and property is also used interchangeably.
Now, without further ado:
Five Steps to Choosing the Right Vacation Rental
Create a List of Must-Haves
Do you need two bedrooms? Wifi? Not every rental will have everything so creating your list of must-haves will ensure you won't be disappointed when you arrive. I have yet to run into a rental that didn't have wifi, but I'm sure that happens! Keep your list updated as you travel, and you will be sure you always have most of what you need. We also like to keep a list of nice-to-haves for when we have multiple rentals to choose from. Just remember, most of the time, the more must-haves you have, the fewer properties you will have available to you, and most likely, the prices will be higher as well.
Our must-haves include a king bed (2 humans and 3 dogs in one bed, we need it), wifi, a washer/dryer, and a full kitchen with a dishwasher. Our nice to have's include a fenced-in backyard, an extra room, and a dedicated workspace.
Research the Area
You thought you were done once you picked a place to go, didn't you? Let's say you decide you want to visit Los Angeles; do you want beachy? Yes? Ok, well do you want remote beachy or up and coming beachy? Not a beach person? Do you want to be close to Hollywood and clubs? Or an area like downtown with its up-and-coming restaurant scene. Choosing the specific location you want to be can be just as important as picking the destination itself. You want to make sure you will be close to things you want to do, or far if you want a quiet, secluded vacation. You will also want to ensure the area you are staying in is safe. As more and more people purchase property, there can be a gorgeous house that isn't quite ready for the type of guest you are. Google is your friend!
Check Reviews and Pictures Carefully
If the manager of the property didn't take the time to ensure the pictures are great, you can bet they won't take the time to make sure the property is great. A lot of work goes into managing a vacation rental, pictures should be the easy part.
Pictures look good? Now you want to check the reviews. Couple of things to focus on:
How many reviews do they have? Is it a new property with no reviews? This isn't necessarily a bad thing. It could be a newly purchased property, a property that has a new manager, or it was just turned into a vacation rental. Though it could also mean the property didn't have good reviews and a new listing was created for it to try to restart the reviews. With all of that said, just because a property doesn't have a lot of reviews, it doesn't mean you shouldn't book it. You can check to see if the person listing the property has other rentals and reviews, if they are good you can feel pretty comfortable that they will give the same standard to this rental. No other rentals? Use your judgment based on all the other factors. Every property was a first-time rental at some point. Rentals without reviews should be offered at a lower price per night than comparative properties.
Are the reviews great? We all know that some people will get upset about anything and that things that bother some people don't necessarily bother others. As long as there are overwhelmingly more good reviews than bad reviews, you can feel more confident that the property will live up to your expectations. For a little context, on a scale of 1-5, if there are at least 20 reviews and the average review is 4.8 or higher, I will rarely even read them. Though I will still confirm there are recent reviews. For under 4.8, I will read the reviews to see what the issues were and see if it seems like a one-off or if whatever the issue was is important to me. I will rarely even get to the reviews if the rating is under 4. Those properties I usually skip by.
Does the manager have other reviews? Usually, you can see what other properties a manager has listed for booking, though sometimes they only have one. If there are other listings available take a look at those listings and the reviews there. You should be able to get a great idea of if you will have issues by looking at all the reviews, and who knows, you might find a property you like better!
Check Restrictions and Compare Prices
Do you have to stay a minimum number of nights to book the vacation rental? Will they accept your pet(s)? A lot of the time you can put filters in when searching to exclude any rentals that won't fit your restrictions. However, sometimes the filters will exclude properties they shouldn't. For major restrictions like if they accept dogs, it makes sense for a filter. Others that most would have, like wifi, you can just check the listing details to see. Since we travel with 3 dogs, as long as any dogs are accepted, I will oftentimes reach out to people that have a 2 dog restriction, explain our situation and see if they would be willing to accept 3 dogs. I want to be respectful of other people's houses as well as ensure we have no issues during our stay. This has worked great for us so far.
You will also want to compare prices. Managers are allowed to set their own nightly prices so they can vary widely from property to property. The price of each property can also vary widely from day to day as a lot of vacation rentals are now using dynamic pricing that will change based on many factors such as demand.
Book It! Direct If You Can
Once you find the rental you want, BOOK IT! Don't assume it will be there in a day, hour, minute. One of the best things about vacation rentals is that they are all unique, which means, what you are looking for might not be available in another rental.
Also, if possible book directly with a manager on their website vs on a third-party site. You will often save a significant amount of money by not having to pay the fees that are paid to third-party sites. It is possible you will lose some of the protection a third-party site might offer so be sure to read the details carefully.
Overall, the more you use vacation rentals, the more you will know what to look for. The process will become not only seamless but also fun. I'm ready for my next trip now!
Until Next Time.
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