Team Donovan Blog - HomeAway

How to Get More Reservations for Your Holiday Rental

Knowing how to get more reservations for your holiday rental helps you maximize the value of your real estate investment. The booming short-term rental market has made it even more competitive for homeowners looking to attract visitors to their Davenport luxury vacation homes. 

Offering virtual tours to prospective guests is one of the best ways to showcase your home, generate more bookings, and stand out from the crowd. 

Why Virtual Tours Matter in Today’s Vacation Rental Market

If users arrive at your home and find something different from what they expected, it could lead to negative reviews and unsatisfied guests who won’t return anytime soon. This could hurt your reputation and lead to a drop in short-term rental bookings over time.

A…

How to Cancel a Reservation for Your Orlando Vacation Rental

Guest cancellations are an inconvenience that vacation rental hosts have to deal with when renting their Orlando vacation homes. But in some cases, you might be the one having to cancel a booking, which can give guests a negative experience that impacts your standing as a host.

Knowing how to cancel a reservation for your vacation rental can protect you and your home without hurting your reputation among your guests. 

Be Clear About Your Cancellation Policy

Cancellation policies give you and your guests a clear understanding of the consequences of canceling a reservation.

If you have to cancel a guest’s reservation, your policy can include a discount or other offers to make up for the inconvenience. Offering a 20 percent discount on their next…

How to Write a Compelling Description for Your Orlando Vacation Rental

Orlando is a popular tourist destination, which is why buying a second home to use as a vacation rental can be a lucrative investment. Many people advertise their homes in websites like FlipKey, HomeAway and VRBO. That makes it important for you to create a compelling description so your short-term rental property stands out from the competition. 

Here are a few top tips to follow so you have the best chance of renting your home consistently. 

Put your guest first 

When you sit down to write the description, put yourself in your guest’s shoes. What would they want to know most about your property?  Your goal is to provide key information about your home and give the reader a sense of what it’s like to live there. Focus on the features that would…

How Traveler Reviews can Help Screen Guests for Vacation Rentals

Screening potential rental guests for your Orlando vacation home is a must in order to minimize the chances that someone will damage your property. If you list your home on one of the popular vacation rental websites like Airbnb, HomeAway, and VRBO, traveler reviews can help with the screening process. 

What to Look for in a Traveler Review 

A traveler review allows you to assess your potential guest based on other experienced owners’ information. When someone expresses interest in your Orlando home, you can view that person’s profile on the website and see their star rating. 

If you see that a potential guest has a number of 5-star reviews across the board, you can feel good about accepting their reservation without having to conduct a lengthy…

How to Screen Guests for Your Vacation Rental Property

Many people from Canada and the U.K. enjoy their Orlando vacations so much they buy a home here to rent out to holiday travelers when they’re away. Short-term rentals are a popular way for you to generate some additional income, and provide a return on your investment. 

Renting your home doesn’t come without risk. There is always the possibility that a guest may damage and/or steal your belongings. Guests may also disturb the other neighbors by making too much noise, blocking driveways, etc. 

The best insurance policy against this type of loss is to properly screen your rental guests. 

Guest Screening by Vacation Websites 

Many vacation websites, like Airbnb, HomeAway or VRBO do some screening before they allow users to access their rental…

Why It's Important to Get Reviews for Your Vacation Rental

If you plan to list your Orlando vacation home on a rental website like FlipKey or HomeAway, there are several things to do to ensure that your listing stands out from your competition, such as having good photos and a good description. But it's also important that you have a process in place to collect guest reviews.

Why Guest Reviews Matter

Here are a few reasons why it matters for you to acquire guest reviews for your Orlando vacation rental. 

#1 - Plain and simple, guest reviews help you rent out your property. Studies have shown that 81% of travelers find user reviews important on travel booking sites.* Prospective guests read reviews to see how much other visitors have liked a particular property, and whether there were any problems with…

Options for Renting Out Your Vacation Home in Orlando

Many people purchase vacation homes in Orlando for investment purposes. This is particularly the case with homes that are located near the theme parks. There is a big demand from holiday travelers for affordable accommodations. Renting your home to vacationers is a popular way to supplement your income.   

You can hire a property manager or vacation rental agency to find rental guests for your home. Or you can save the extra cost and do it yourself.  There are a number of vacation rental websites that will allow you to rent your home directly to guests. This will help save the expense of hiring someone else to do the job for you.  Some of the most popular vacation rental websites include Airbnb, HomeAway, VRBO and FlipKey. 

If your primary residence…