Mike’s Lone PEEK Summit!!

This month I want to share a secret not many know regarding Travel.

Some years ago along with friends I invested in a rental property in the Resort of Big Sky Montana. We knew nothing about renting property but we quickly found out that the resort and other rental firms were charging between 40% - 50% of your rental revenue. We did not like the idea of losing all that revenue and as a professional sales person I was confident we could rent the property ourselves.

In our due diligence we ran across a company called VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner). This company was started in a garage of North Dakota home. Their business was connecting prospective vacation renters with property owners. We reluctantly coughed up the $185 yearly fee fully expecting it to be a waste of our money. The emails started coming that first week and have yet to stop. I literally got one just this morning for a weeks stay next December.

My tip is two fold if you own any kind of vacation property pay the fee to be part of VRBO (now part of the larger www.Homeaway.com family) and watch your rentals sky rocket.

My second tip is if you are planning a vacation go to www.VRBO.com. Type in your destination and a list of potential properties will pop up. You can click on any and or all of them. View their pictures, videos, list of amenities and even an availability calendar. You will be able to connect with the property owner via email or phone and get whatever additional information you might request. Most properties have preset rates but everything is negotiable especially for a full weeks stay! The rates you will pay are much less then a hotel or villa. Not to mention the extra space, kitchen, laundry and other features most have.

My own rule is stay with owners who are more focused on your needs and less on how great their place is. Again there are properties for every budget so try it out next time and give me your feedback.

If you ever find yourself in the Yellow Stone  or Big Sky Ski Resort area you can check our place out at www.vrbo.com/39284 .

Make sure you ask for the Bann Business Solutions discount!!