Is Your Property Ready to Compete?

Our fall services are underway, including preventative maintenance, deep cleans, unit evaluations, and inventories. If you see a maintenance block on your unit, it's likely because of these services. Please watch for communication from Kathy and our Owner Services team with observations and recommendations specific to your property.

As a reminder, this is also the ideal time of year to make updates. Replacing worn furnishings, refreshing paint and décor, addressing maintenance issues, and making other improvements now can help ensure your property looks its best and competes when the next busy season begins. This year, staying competitive is especially important.

As we shared in our recent tourism update, approximately 950 new lodging units are expected to come online in our area over the next two years, adding an estimated 346,750 available room nights each year. That's a significant amount of new inventory competing for the same travelers' attention.

Your competition is only a click away. Today's guests compare countless properties online, often deciding in seconds which listings deserve a closer look. How your property looks matters. And today's traveler is changing. Millennials and Gen Z now account for half of U.S. travelers, making their preferences increasingly important in how vacation rentals are presented and maintained.

So what are today's vacation rental guests looking for? Not necessarily expensive or luxurious. Today's travelers want quality, cleanliness, comfort, and calm. Current design trends favor clean, uncluttered spaces; cohesive color palettes; comfortable, functional furnishings; natural textures; good lighting; and thoughtful touches rather than an abundance of décor.

Most importantly, a rental property should be designed for the guest who will rent it, not the owner’s personal taste. That distinction matters. The floral sofa you love at home, the collection of beach signs you've accumulated over the years, or the dining set that is "still perfectly good" may not translate well in listing photos or appeal to today's traveler. A successful vacation rental needs broad appeal while still having enough personality to feel special.

Think about the guest's investment, too. A vacation is a significant purchase. When a family spends thousands of dollars on accommodations, travel, meals, and activities, they aren't simply purchasing a place to sleep. They're investing in themselves and their time together. They expect a return on that investment: an enjoyable, comfortable, and stress-free vacation, time away from everyday responsibilities, and memories they'll take home with them. Your property is an important part of that experience.

As an owner, making periodic investments in your property helps protect your investment. That doesn't always mean a major renovation. Sometimes fresh paint, new lighting, replacing a worn sofa, removing dated décor, or simply editing a cluttered room can dramatically change how a property looks and feels.

We're Here to Help. During unit evaluations, we're looking at your property through the eyes of today's traveler and in the context of an increasingly competitive rental market. Our goal is to identify improvements that can make the greatest difference in how your property presents online, how guests experience it once they arrive, and ultimately, how well it competes to maximize rental revenue.

Your guests are investing in their vacation. This is the time to make sure your property shows them that you've invested in their experience, too.