Cabin Rental Guide: How to Rent Your Vacation Cabin

As with many efforts, the first season you rent your vacation cabin may be the most complex.  During this time, you'll have to determine how to catch the attention of potential guests, how to keep track of bookings, how to make certain of an effortless transition between guests, and how to handle the diverse troubles that may occur.  Whether you own a lake cabin in Big Bear or a mountain cabin in the Smokies, the key to starting the process off right is to be knowledgeable about your options and industry best practices.

Decide on your expectations.  Prior to renting, you should lay down goals for the number of weeks you'd like to rent and the amount of revenue you'd like to make.  It's essential to be reasonable when setting your targets and to have researched to make sure that you're not setting yourself up for disappointment.  For instance, if you own a cabin in the Lakes region of New Hampshire, you may find it hard to rent 52 weeks per year.  However, if you own a luxury cabin rental in Aspen, you're much more likely to be able to rent year-round. 

Investigate other cabin rentals in your market.  Peruse your location where you cabin is located on websites like HomeAway.com and VacationRentals.com.  Look at comparable properties in your area:  What do other owners charge?  How many weeks are they rented in the coming season (you can see this on their availability calendar)?

Prep your vacation cabin for guests.  While your second home should be homier than a hotel room, you should transfer your personal items to a locked owner's closet and leave the rest of your home clutter free.

Carefully consider the bed setup in each room.  Think about the types of guests who will be staying in your home.  Is it families with small children?  Groups of adults?  Corporate travelers?  The groups you plan to host will sway which size beds you should have in each bedroom of your ski cabin or lake home.

Choose the right rental rates.  Compare your home to similar properties in your area.  Adjust your rates higher or lower depending on how your vacation cabin falls into the property spectrum in your market.  Be careful not to set your rates too low.  This is the most common pricing mistake made by cabin rental owners.  Also, remember that your rates can be easily changed.  It's better to start off a bit high and knock off a few dollars than to undercharge and lose potential rental revenue.

Clearly outline your refund and cancellation policy to protect yourself from lost rental revenue.  Many owners of cabin rentals charge a nominal fee for cancellations more than 60 days out, but offer no refund for cancellations within 60 days, unless they're able to rebook the cancelled days.

Create a list of service providers you may need in the coming year.  If you're running your cabin rental business from a distance, it's important to be proactive.

The key to fruitfully renting your vacation cabin is to have a strategy in place before you start and to be ready to learn by trial and error.