How to Make Your Vacation Property Work for You!: The Quick & Easy Guide to Advertising, Renting, Managing, and Making Money from Your Second Home (Revised Edition) (Ring-bound)

~ Emily Glossbrenner (Author), Alfred Glossbrenner (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

If you own a second home, you have the potential to boost your annual income by literally thousands of dollars by turning it into a vacation rental that earns money when you aren’t using it. In this book-and-CD package, you’ll learn exactly how to do it. Even if you’re already using your second home as a vacation rental, the book can help you maximize the income it generates each year. It doesn’t matter where you want to be along the spectrum of possibilities:

1. If you’ve never offered your property as a vacation rental before, you’ll find all the tools, tips, and information you need to save thousands in commissions by handling everything yourself. It really isn’t that hard to do.

2. If you prefer to have a rental agent or property manager take care of everything for you but aren’t quite satisfied with the number of bookings you’re getting, you’ll discover ways to inexpensively promote your property to prospective renters from all over the world--and how to negotiate lower management commissions on the business that you bring in.

3. Or maybe you’d rather steer a middle course by handling the marketing and bookings yourself and buying cleaning and maintenance services from a property manager or from some local firm. That, too, is a viable option.

Whatever course you choose, you’ll find everything you need in this book/CD package. Designed as a complete "Vacation Property Owner’s Toolkit," the package consists of a 320-page book in a three-ring binder, and a CD containing crucial rental forms and checklists that you can customize and print out for your own use. The CD also contains a collection of Windows programs selected to help you manage and market your vacation property easily and effectively.

And, by the way, after you’ve applied what you’ve learned, you can probably reduce or completely eliminate any current print-advertising expenses. The approach described in this package really is that powerful. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Alfred and Emily Glossbrenner have been delighting readers for over 25 years. Known for their in-depth research and uncanny ability to identify and present the essence of a topic in clear, conversational prose laced with wit and humor, the Glossbrenners are the authors of over 60 books on topics as diverse as hitting a baseball, managing personal finances, and reading popular fiction.

They are also among the pioneers of the online/Internet revolution, having written one of the very first books on the subject back in 1982. With combined sales of over one million copies, their work has been consistently praised by publications as varied as Booklist, Forbes, Esquire, Wired, and the New York Times. They live and write in a 200-year-old farmhouse in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and have been successfully advertising, renting, and managing their own vacation rental property for almost a decade. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Ring-bound: 300 pages
• Publisher: FireCrystal Communications (June 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0974493015
• ISBN-13: 978-0974493015
• Product Dimensions: 11.5 x 9.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,138,759 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, January 15, 2004

By	Rick Scali (Buford, Georgia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Make Your Vacation Property Work for You!: The Quick and Easy Guide to Advertising, Renting, Managing, and Making Money from Your Second Home (Ring-bound)

Great book. Worth every penny. My listings are going through the roof! I have owned long term rentals for some time, but this was my first venture with a vacation rental. After implementing a number of suggestions from the book, my bookings are now 30% above where they were a year ago. Very, very worthwhile purchase.

Rick Scali

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything You Need To Know For Renting Your Second Home, March 1, 2004

By	Lincoln Fulton "lcfulton2" (Twin Mountain, New Hampshire USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Make Your Vacation Property Work for You!: The Quick and Easy Guide to Advertising, Renting, Managing, and Making Money from Your Second Home (Ring-bound)

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Alfred and Emily for the excellent job they have done in putting together this book and CD on How To Make Your Vacation Property Work For You! It seems they have left no stone unturned in their effort to provide as much step by step information on how to do the best possible job in marketing and renting a property. We are brand new to this business. Our acquisition of these materials has come at exactly the right time. From marketing and managing your property to developing comprehensive forms and checklists, it is all there in clear and concise language. "Quick tips" provide you with excellent helps and innovative ideas that the authors have either used successfully or give suggestions on how you might go about using them. This book is a "Must Have" for anyone who is thinking about getting into the vacation rental business or who is already in the business.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great information to get started in the VR business, January 24, 2005

By	Stephanie Joy Johnson (Asheville, NC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: How to Make Your Vacation Property Work for You!: The Quick and Easy Guide to Advertising, Renting, Managing, and Making Money from Your Second Home (Ring-bound)

I had been debating on for the past year on whether to pursue the vacation rental business. I had many questions that I needed answering. And I found almost all of them addressed by this book.

After studying it carefully, I felt fully armed with the knowledge of how to make this business work for me. I felt confident to purchase my first vacation rental property and have had bookings since my first day due to the marketing advice presented in this extremely informative book.

I saved many frustrating hours in filling out forms and writing ad copy for the four recommended vacation rental websites because there is detailed instructions on EXACTLY how to fill them out, what would give me best ad placement, etc. I'm sure I've saved a great deal of money in going directly to the best sites to advertise instead of trial and error.

For me, it is well worth the money to invest in this very practical and informative book. I appreciate that Emily and Alfred make themselves available for personal phone consultation as well. After a personal coaching session critiquing my ad copy and photos, I was able to fine-tune my ads to be even more effective. Thanks!