Tag Archives: cottage

Four reasons not to book your vacation rental through VRBO or AirBnB

Once upon a time in Vacationland… Susie had a killer vacation home in Machiasport, Maine.  Because she wanted to offset some bills,  Susie decided to make it available as a vacation rental.  Since she loved her home and area, she was excited that she could play ‘virtual tour guide and innkeeper’ to the guests who […]

Maine Vacation Rental Owners: I Challenge You.

Maine Vacation Rental

Attention, YOU. Vacation rental owner. You need to read this. When I moved to Cape Cod, Massachusetts in the 1990’s, the Cape had mostly two classes, the uber-wealthy and the poor. My first job when I arrived was as a social worker for lower income young families and I was shocked at the poverty that […]

Where is the best place to list my vacation rental now?

Where should I list my vacation rental by owner? Disclaimer:  By the time this is published, I’m sure there will be even more changes with the vacation rental listing companies.  It seems every day one company or another tweaks their website or changes their terms and conditions.  Many owners are getting out of the vacation […]

OMG! I didn’t think of that! Basics for renting out your vacation home.

Maine Vacation REntal

  Back when I worked as an exclusive buyer’s real estate agent, most of my clients were looking to purchase vacation homes.  Almost every home that we looked at, the selling agent included in his or her sales pitch, “And it would make a great vacation rental”. So just WHY do people consider renting out […]

Poll: Have your vacation rentals been affected by major listing site changes?

It’s been about just over a year since Expedia completed its purchase of HomeAway. It’s been a year since the never-ending waves of changes started occurring in the the vacation rental industry. I’ve tried to explain all of the changes to prospective clients — folks who have never rented out their houses before — and […]

5 Vacation Home Spring Cleaning Tips You Need To Learn Now.

It’s that time of year again.  Time to spring clean the cottages.  After about fifteen years, we’ve finally got it down. Sort of.  It’s a chore, for sure.  It seems that I never, ever get to relax at any of my vacation homes, but there is something in the preparation for a new season that […]

Have You Seen This Perfect Seaside Cottage in Maine? (And You Can Own It!)

My inbox received a notification of a new house on the market for sale in coastal Washington County.  Yes, because I am a real estate geek, I receive notifications of all properties when they hit the market.  I’m not currently looking to buy another house, but, hey, you never know.  I really hadn’t been in […]

Vacation Rental Owners Are Livid About The New Traveler Fees

Vacation rental owners who advertise on HomeAway or VRBO or vacationrentals.com, you might have noticed some significant changes in the past few weeks.  I tend to be obsessively involved in following the goings on in the vacation rental world so, I can tell you that owner rental forums and Facebook groups have exploded in the past week […]

Is It Finally The Right Time To Buy A House?

I think that home sales and prices might finally be on their way up in Washington County (and, in fact, perhaps all of Maine).  It might finally be ‘the right time’ to invest in your weekend getaway, your retirement dream or your summer vacation home.  Prices are up only slightly…not dramatically — according to the Maine […]

Poll: How Do You Winterize Your Vacation Home?

Time to think about winterizing the cabin.  Or, maybe with the October snow last week, I should be saying… well, I’m too late to winterize the cabin. If you have a seasonal vacation house, you might partake in the annual ritual of closing down the cottage for the winter.  If you have indoor plumbing, that […]