5 Things You Should Know when Renting a Vacation Home

So after all the drama of actually purchasing our vacation home we've settled into the routine of answering inquiries, general questions and sending out rental contracts.  We've learned a lot about what works and what doesn't.  I think that from all of my pre-purchase preparation and on the job training I've learned that being a responsive owner is important and that it is important to market the house you actually have.  When we first bought the house we had guests staying in the home the day after we closed for 3 weeks solid.  These bookings had been transferred from the previous owners.  The house that they saw online was not the house that they arrived at. It needed some TLC and unfortunately were unable to remedy the situation until there was a break in bookings and then once we could actually go to the house ourselves.
After a lot of elbow grease and some important purchases we can now be proud of the home we are offering people for their vacations.  After having a good number of guests through the home and based on my obsessive research into what people liked about their vacations and what they didn't, I've got 5 things that are important for people looking to rent a home for their vacation.

1. Ask questions when inquiring about the home you are thinking of renting.  No question is silly.  Most owners will be happy to answer questions about the property or the area where it's located.
2. Please make sure you have adequate travel insurance and check to see if you are covered under you home owners insurance for any lost or stolen personal possessions.
3. When you arrive at the property or during your stay, if you notice a problem let the owner or the property manager know. For example if you think the pool isn't working right tell someone, It's easier to fix it early on, we had the pool go green when someone thought they'd wait a couple of days before telling us and then it took twice as long to fix the problem.
4. If something breaks let the owners or property managers know, accidents happen.
5. Think about what your family/party needs or wants.  Do you plan to spend all your time at the parks?, are you going to stay at the property for some down time? Do you want to have a pool to lounge around? Keep all those things in mind and pick the property that suits you best!

The most important thing to remember is to have fun!