Orlando Vacation Rentals by Owner

Location

We have emphasized the importance of location for your Central Florida vacation experience. In fact, searching HomeAway rentals in Florida alone yields over 19,000 rental options and HomeAway in Orlando has over 4,000 homes for rent. Moreover, our website posts alone reviews on over 80 resort communities which exemplifies the multitude of available locations. Each of the villas listed on the HomeAway site are of course “vacation rentals by owner”. Details for location on each home or resort community are often difficult to find on many other websites. This is precisely why we have posted rental home community reviews which include distance to the major parks along with other pertinent criteria for making an educated decision.

Configuration

In addition to simply evaluating the maximum occupancy, Mr. de Belloy suggests taking this one step further by ascertaining how the home accomplishes this (i.e. sleeper sofas, twin beds, etc…). Moreover, as Mr. de Belloy recommends, research the square footage of the living space and bedrooms to make a competitive evaluation. Any prospective renter should have access to this information from the internet or reservation representative. 

Amenities

We wrote a recent a blog post on the latest trends for Kissimmee rental home amenities. In the local market, amenities such as game rooms, wireless internet, a private pool, hot tub and a residential view are all important attributes for most renters. However, the most important amenities are ones that the individual renter deems to be important to meet one’s own personal vacation accommodation needs. We suggest focusing on what is most important for you or your family.

Cleanliness and Maintenance Standards

Finally, the one missing item from the interview would be the cleaning and maintenance standards for the home rental in question. This can perhaps be the biggest variable for renting directly from an owner and a major disadvantage that vacation rentals have versus hotels. This aspect of the home rental experience provides some perceived risk for the consumer and is often why mainstream consumers turn to hotels for their lodging needs. We also find that HomeAway reviews are helpful, but review all content before making a conclusion.

We believe this latter reality is a shame. Make sure you inquire about what professional maintenance and cleanliness  standards are maintained for any home you are about to rent. If an individual homeowner cannot quickly identify these standards, seek other options including looking at vacation rental choices managed by a professional management company. In Central Florida, there are many reputable management companies you can trust for a great vacation experience.

Spending millions on splashy ads provides a spark to a national mainstream interest in vacation rentals. However, longer term, it will be the quality of the underlying experience with the individual vacation homes that determines success in the longer term. This is true regardless of what destination is being considered. Ads bring in new customers, but referrals from satisfied customers provide a stream of home renters for years to come.

The problem with the presentation of vacation rentals is that it is very difficult for the average consumer to evaluate the value proposition (i.e quality and expectations) posed by individual vacation home communities. This is even more pronounced for “vacation rentals by owner” homes as opposed to rental homes managed by a professional management company. Additional resort reviews are needed to help consumers.

This site provides reviews of over 80 vacation home communities designed to assist prospective Orlando vacation home renters. The opinion reviews posted on the main page are designed to provide the prospective consumer with details related to resort location, amenities and community information.

Regardless of whether the consumer is interested in a HomeAway® Orlando Florida home or one advertised by a management company, professional reviews provide additional insight and reduce perceived risk for anyone wishing to book a vacation rental.

HomeAway owns the homeaway.com, vrbo.com, vacationrentals.com, a1vacations.com, cyberrentals.com and ownersdirect.co.uk websites. They are the proverbial 900 pound gorilla in the vacation home rental and vacation home management niche of hospitality lodging. They maintain some of the best vacation villa rental inventory in the Orlando area within several luxurious vacation home communities with a plethora of pools and other amenities. Inside sources indicate that roughly 30% of its revenues come from overseas which makes its domains a prime fit for Orlando tourism and travel. These brands certainly have a strong presence in the Orlando, Disney area and Kissimmee vacation home rental markets.

The ability for the firm to acquire capital in such a rough market does indicate that the clout and respect for the vacation home management and that the vacation home rental business model is growing. Strong consistent growth and a relatively stable cash flow model has now shown to be a valuation premium in this difficult market. My guess is that the funding will in time be used to:

1. Help HomeAway and its online brands to strengthen their market positioning in Orlando and other vacation home rental markets in the Central Florida area and elsewhere

2. Make additional prudent acquisions as the dust settles during this recessionary period. This additional funding might allow the company to expand its Orlando footprint in more “drive to” vs. “fly to” destinations that may come back quicker as a result of lower gas pricing for consumers.

3. Grow its presence in the vacation home managment area where cash flows tend to be stable and where its brand presence will give the company clear competitive advantage and leverage with homeowners