Show Your Property's Availability On Your WebSite

You have a good website for your property and you have included information, pictures, video and other details about you area. However you have to field a lot of emails and calls about weeks you already have booked or they are not available. Especially if you have disabled dates for your own stay at your property. Now Ivacationonline has added a new feature that allows you to add a small calendar to your website. This iFrame calender will enable you to show the availability of your property.

This calendar does not function as a real calendar but it will simply show when you have availability in your vacation rental. This can save you time answering phone calls and emails about dates you have already filled.

If you would like to see a sample of this calendar or to get the code for your website please log into your ivacationonline.com account. Once in your account go into the property you would like the calendar code for and under the left side menu go to the "iFrame Calendar" page and scroll down on the bottom right and look for the box with "AVAILABILITY CALENDAR FOR YOUR WEBSITE"

As always ivacationonline is working to stay the vacation rental software website available

Fake Vacation Rental By Owner Websites - How To Protect Yourself.

This little symbol above could save you from being scammed on a vacation rental. In the current day and age, the internet is a great resource, but it is also laiden with traps created by those who would attempt to steal your information and money. One of those traps has been fake vacation home websites. These bogus websites will offer a vacation rental, the victim mails a deposit to the address on the website. The problem is the vacation rental condo or home does not belong to the person who built the website or even worse the property does not exist at all.

There are a few ways to protect yourself from this.

• Go to a reputable website such as ivacationonline.com to rent your vacation property. These criminals typically will not use a vacation rental service because it costs to join, takes time to fill out the necessary paper work and will they would be shut down instantly if discovered. Ivol has a new feature that verifies all the credentials of the property to make certain it is on the up and up.
• You can also pay your down payment with a credit card. This gives you the best protection. You can easily get your money back if the website is a fake. If the owner of the property refuses to take credit card this could be a sign. It is not proof positive that the rental is fake, because many single property owners do not have a credit card merchant account and can not take a credit card. However it is just one warning sign to look for.
• Search the address on Google maps and see if the address you are given is the property that is in the pictures on the website. Use Google's street view on Google maps to see the property.
• Call the owner of the property. Ask a few questions, you can typically get a feel for a scam just by talking with them. If all they seem to want to do is get you to send money then you should be suspicious.
• Check with the BBB
• Do a Google search of the website. Do a search of the name of the website and add the term "scam" behind it. If anything shows up in the search results, read it to make sure it is about the property you are wanting to rent.

Ivacationonline offers a way for renters and owners to simplify this process. They offer a program called Verified Property. Ivacation will verify the owner and property information. To become verified you must send in the property tax records, have at least 25 bookings, and have a review system for the property set up, and all payments for the rental must be made by credit card. This level of scrutiny is unheard of in the industry but eventually will become the norm.

With your property being Verified you a likely to get more bookings, faster bookings, and higher rental rates, as customer will not have to worry about spending money with you.

For more information on becoming a member of Ivacationonline.com or how to get you property verified just click here. Get My Rental Property Verified!

Owning Vacation Properties In Different Areas.

The vacation rental business is sometimes a odd creature. For many owners the ebb and flow of peak seasons are like clock work. The Panhandle of Florida starts to heat up just as the north does, and follows the college spring breaks year after year. May tends to be slower and as soon as Memorial weekend hits it is hard to answer all of the calls.

It may seem strange to others the summer is the peak season in northern Florida, but it is a big family vacation destination. That said southern Florida has a bit of a different peak season, even though they enjoy a vibrant summer vacation rental season, winter is a very busy season for them with many northerners escaping the cold. Canadians love Florida and marketing to their cities is a good way to get renters.

Often vacation rental owners that hold several properties often have them in the same general vicinity. There is merit to this decision, but having properties with different peak seasons is not a bad idea as well. The Smoky Mountains has a big fall travel season and runs all the way to New Years. They of course do well all summer long.

 A home in southern climates can keep you cash register ringing all winter long with snowbirds, and any beach property does well during the summer.

Certainly there are difficulties with having properties in different locations, such as having to use different cleaning companies, different maintenance people. There are also benefits, remember there are tax deductions available when you have to travel to your property to inspected, clean, and repair.

Of course always check with your tax adviser about deductions, and call ivol.biz to set up your properties. Through their online system you can automate the cleaning crew so that they are notified of each cleaning, You can store your list of service providers in their system so that you or your on site manager can contact them in short notice.

VRBO, Homeaway, Vacation Rentals. Rentalo, When Is It Enough Advertising.

Are You  Spending Too Much On VRBO, and Homeaway ?

If you are running a successful vacation rental business or have a vacation house or condo that you rent out, you have un-doubtably heard of one or all of these websites. You may actually be using one or all of them. Some of these websites can be expensive but combine the cost of several of these and you could be spending a small fortune on listings for your property. One key factor to decide when you have reached a tipping point is when you return is no longer worth the investment.

When starting out renting your vacation property or properties you need a lot of exposure, but if you have been renting your property for a while and have taken advantage of ivacationonline's website offer you have most likely built up some repeat customers. Not only have you built repeat customers but you most likely have some ranking on the search engines. Ivacationonline even offers a service to help get your website ranked. Back to the point at hand, do I need all of the listing I'm paying for? Here is the first thing I would ask. Are your properties booked as much as you feel they can be? Are you turning away potential renters for the same weeks over and over again. Do you have multiple properties?

If you answered yes to these then most likely you could start scaling down some of your ads. You may want to just lower you subscription level on some, or get rid of 1 or 2 all together. 1 thing about having multiple properties is that you can refer inquiries from a property that is already booked to another property. Another tactic to save money is to build a network of other owners in your area. When all of your properties are booked start referring them to other owners and ask them to do likewise. This is free and a referral is good way to build confidence with the renter.

So lets say you do stop a few of your listing and you feel your bookings are not what they used to be, you can always turn your listing back on and typically the website has all the information saved so that you don't have to build the listing all over again.

Give reducing your listing a try if you feel confident that your bookings can be maintained. It could mean the savings of thousands of dollars each year for advertising your properties.

Hurricane Insurance When Traveling. Do Not Travel Without It!

As of Monday afternoon Tropical Storm Isaac is intensifying and is expected to make landfall late Tuesday or early Wednesday on the northern Gulf Coast as a hurricane, forecasters said on Monday.

The storm--with sustained winds of 65 mph--is moving northwest at 14 mph. According to the National Weather Service, New Orleans is in the projected path of the storm. Wednesday marks the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast in late August 2005.

Hurricane warnings have been issued along the northern Gulf Coast from Morgan City, La., to Destin, Florida. According to the National Hurricane Center, a storm surge between six and 12 feet could threaten the northern Gulf Coast if the storm makes landfall during high tide.

I know many of our rentors and owners are in the path and have already dealth with the storm. Anyone who has properties in these areas have probably dealt with question from rentors and potential rentors alike.

What happens if a hurricane hits the condo or house that you rented?  Will the owner refund your money? Good questions! ivacationonline.com has partnered with Travel Guard to help you with whatever Mother Nature throws at us. No one should go on a trip without travel insurance. ivacationonline.com offers the unique ability to purchase this security-giving insurance right on the site. With coverage available for bad weather, ivacationonline.com offers you the ability to customize and purchase your insurance while making the reservation.

This is a win win for owners and rentors alike. Peace of mind for the rentor who will know their hard earner vacation is insured and as a owner you benefit from guests who are happy and become repeat customers.

Travel insurance allows rentors to vacation with the peace of mind that their investment is backed up by the chosen type of insurance. With plans available in the $50.00 range, travel insurance is more affordable than you might think. An estimate is always given before you purchase, and you can check this insurance option out by clicking here. Travel Insurance

Ivacationonline through TravelGuard also has a Cancel For Any Reason Insurance. I will be wrting more about that in the near future.

Property Management Website Features

This blog post for ivacationonline.com property management software system is going to be a intoduction for some and a refresher for others. Often times when you have been using a software and have become comfortable with it, you tend not to investigate other options of the software or try the new features that come along. Why would you, everything is working perfect now. Don't fix it if it's not broken right?
That is true the ivacationonline website works perfectly the owner is constantly trying to improve the system, adapting to new changes in the industry and bring you the lastest upgrades available.
These are just going to be snippets and you can click on the link to read the full details.
Registering a domain and having a website for your property. You be so booked in your units that you do not need any additional renters but one thing that can help you is having a domain and website for each of your properties. Ivacationonline can build youe website and you can register a domain name through their site.

Travel Insurance.

This have been a lifesaver, and a big selling point for many of our property owners and managers. Many of the homes our members rent are large, expensive homes. A week in prime season can cost $10,000 or more. This can create tension and stress for a potential renter. What better way to close a rental than to offer a product that insures the potential renter that they can get a refund for any reason or no reason at all. Talk about peace of mind. Visit travel insurance.
Damage Insurance. Are you still dealing with collecting a security deposit? Why? Iavacation with Travel Guard has set up a program that you can automatically add $3000 worth of damage insurance to your property for a fee of $39. This fee is typically passed on to the owner and can be a potential revenue stream for the owner. The customer actually appreciates it because now they no longer have to wait to get their money back from you the owner, they are not nervous about being charged for damage they did not do. If every there was a perfect product for the owner and renter alike this may be it. Read more at Rental Damage Insurance
If everything here seems foreign to you or you have never used ivacationonline.com online property management website then here is a great opportunity. You can try it for free for 30 days with no obligation. Use this link to start you free 30 day trail with the best property management software available.

Finding the perfect home, condo, townhouse is just one of things we do here at ivacationonline.com to help our visitors and owners have exceptional vacations. There are few things better in the world than searching for a luxury home in the vacation destination of your choice at a price that you are happy with. That is why ivacationonline.com is the favorite online destination for hundreds of thousands of travelers who are searching for just that.

If you follow our blog you have read some of our blogs posts that deal with property ownership, how to make money as a property owner and other topics such as how to get a good deal on a vacation rental. As our blogs like to cover all areas of traveling and vacationing we would like to write about a vacation on the water. No I'm not talking about staying in cottage built on the water or an island retreat of something of that nature. No I'm speaking a luxury cruise. When I say luxury I mean luxury. 5 star quality from beginning to end. Fine dining, luxurious spas, suites and staterooms decorated with lavish decor.

TrustedLuxury.com is a luxury travel specialist that deals only with high end luxury cruises either on the ocean, seas or large rivers. They have destinations such as the Mediterranean, the Nile River, Alaska, Panama, South America, Transatlantic, or even a world tour.

When planning such a trip the many options can be confusing and it truly takes an expert with years of experience and knowledge to take the guess work out of planning your vacation and make your trip a worry free experience.

Contact TrustedLuxury.com to see if they can help you have the ocean or river voyage of a lifetime.