Rental Picture part 3

This is the kitchen at my rental in Tahoe City-clean and new will help you rent!

I think once you have a handle on how the Tahoe Season flows you can start to build a booking plan based availability, nightly rates, minimum stays and the like-parameters by which to book your property. First off is what and how many...

Occupancy should be based on how many can comfortably sleep in beds and how many will have to share the baths. In the back of your mind is how much wear and tear you want. A typical three bed, two bath in Tahoe can handle 6-7 adults or children mixed. Pushing beyond that I think will just tax your home too much. Also, will you allow pets? Cats no way, never, never. But a dog? You can't overlook the bookings created by being pet friendly. Often that Golden Retriever is just too much a part of the family to put them in a kennel. You charge extra for the dog hair, $25 say and get a deposit too. I find pet owners to be more careful due to the close scrutiny.

Nightly rates and minimums are extremely important. Starting out you should be slightly below market unless your property is new or remodeled. You need to get clients when starting so you have to be competitive. The nightly minimum shouldn't hinder you, especially in the winter. Go 2-3 nights to start, again more if your property is in really good shape. Most people are just coming up to ski for the weekend in the winter. In the summer things are a little different you can go for more 5-7 night minimum as cliients will be here for their summer vacation-with the kids.

Rates: Rates should fluctuate with demand, holidays, season and nightly stay. Your peak rate should be about 25% higher then your normal high season rate. You should try discounts and free nights in the off season to entice people to your wonderful property-then they'll come back during peak time. If you use a service you should advise them to contact you if a client wants a deal-instead of just saying no. And a big deal is that if you want the big income you can't take the best nights for yourself! I had a client who would never block out his property but would call up on a Friday afternoon and if it wasn't rented he would then come up. His place, bye the way did the best out of everyone.