Decorating and Design - Items in a Vacation Property

This seemed like the most appropriate place for this question. If there's another forum that would be a better match, please let me know.

I'm curious if any of you have handled a vacation property. How did you go about setting it up? Housewares, furniture, decoration, etc?

My family has a vacation cottage on a lake in northern Michigan that we're considering renting out. It would need a lot of work (repairs, cleaning, etc), but could be worth it.

Any tips/lessons learned with how you outfit a vacation property like this? Or anyone know of any resources that deal with this in particular (books, websites, etc)? I'm addressing the household items here, but would also love to see any information about finding good tenants, legal issues, etc.

Thanks!
Brett

There are a few things to keep in the home and a few things to require they bring with them depending on the type of home. Usually linens, towels and paper goods and personal items, such as soap, shampoo etc. are not provided except in luxury homes with services.

Otherwise in all cases you would want to provide dishes, pots & pans, broom, dustpan, vacuum, coffee maker, pillows and bed covers (but not sheets). A television and or radio is a plus or minus. Any wall art or tv's should be permanently attached if you provide them. You want to leave some conveniences but be sure to offer them a list of things that they will need to bring. The lists are endless depending on the type of rental unit, the costs and how much work you want to do.

You will need a good rental agreement, establish a high damage deposit, be certain your insurance carrier is notified, they may require higher coverage and/or cost. The utilities will be your responsiblity, keep that in mind when coming up with a price and determine how many you will allow to stay there. Usually based on how many you have room for sleeping arrangements. Check with local area realtors and vacation home retals on the web. Many provide rental management services, but again another fee to keep in mind when pricing. The location also dictates what the price can be and that's where your local realtors will be very helpful.

We stay at Bed & Breakfasts about once or twice a year. We also rent houses at the beach and the lake at least twice a year.

Things we always want and frequently have to ask for are an
iron and ironing board. Just store one in the closet of one of the bedrooms. I would say provide at least a cheap radio. A WORKING alarm clock is a must since people will need to get up on time to leave. They also may need to get up at a specific time to go do something for their vacation.

I would say when stocking the kitchen, you should take into account that your renters will eat and drink differently from you. So you should provide all the various appliances regardless if you think they are important. These would include

-Blender
-Coffee Maker
-Toaster Oven or Toaster
-Small Microwave ($100)

As to cooking implements, please include at least 2 SHARP knifes to cook with. Not steak knifes to eat with, cooking knifes. Add at least 2 cutting boards. When we rent, we usually have a bunch of people in the kitchen cooking at the same time. Include two each of a wine opener, bottle opener, and can opener.

It depends on how many people are likely to stay at your location and if there are other rental units in the area. We go at least twice a year to the beach and the lake. Both times we have either friends or family staying at nearby rentals. Every day, one family hosts a meal at their rental. It is not unusal for us to have 10-15 adults and the same number of kids over for a single meal. Of course we also try to rent places that sleep 8 people. We also need at least 2 large stock pots, 2 large frying pans, 2 3qt. sauce pans, several pyrex or baking dishes, 2 cutting boards, several kitchen knifes, and bread knife.

Most of friends and family take the opportunity to pretend to be Emril Live! and cook a wonderful dish for the crowd. You will need to provide 2 each of

slotted spoon
serving spoon (4 would be better)
spatula
tongs
whisk, 1 large & 1 small
Shish-kabob skewers (double number of sleeping spots)
Corn cob holders (double number of sleeping spots)
Large serving bowls (for salads and side dishes)
Mixing bowls (that could be used for serving)
Serving platters
Strainer

Soup bowls. Lots. People will use them for breakfast and forget to wash them by the next meal when they need them for salad bowls, or toppings for the meal or whatever... Twice the number of soup bowls compared to place settings. Same with spoons, twice the number of place settings. Coffee mugs can be pushed into service as soup bowls. Only 1/2 our crowd drinks coffee so we always have enough coffee mugs but at least one mug for every sleeping spot.

I would say that you need to provide double the number of place settings that it sleeps. That will allow them to have guests over or not have to do dishes constantly. At a minimum, at least two extra place settings more than sleeping arrangements.

Glasses. I prefer glass glasses. Provide some of the stadium cups for people to take to the waterside or outside. If they get dropped or lost, no great loss. Please provide some 6/8 oz cups for kids and/or morning juice. Also provide some 16/20 oz cups for drinking water and tea. We are a wine drinking crowd and always want wine glasses. Cheap glass wine glasses. 6 for $8 at K-mart. One for every sleeping spot and a couple extra for friends please.

Add extra ice trays to the freezer. When people are on vacation, they use extra ice for their coolers, their drinks, their blenders. Most places we stay have at least 4-6 extra ice trays in the freezer. First thing we do when we get in the property is to empty all the ice trays into a container and store it in the freezer then refill all the ice trays. Even with extra ice trays, we always end up buying a couple bags of ice.

We are a drinking and eating crowd. Someone is always in the kitchen cleaning up the last meal and starting the next. At the same time, someone is fixing/getting drinks. If possible make the kitchen a multi-user environment. We seldom if ever have only one person in the kitchen. Also if you are getting a new fridge, get the largest one that can possibly fit. Or leave an cooler in the closet for people to use.

You mentioned your property is on the lake. I would guess that fishing is part of the experience. If so, provide the basics for cooking and preparing fish. At the beach, most rentals have an old kitchen sink and a counter top outside where you can clean your fish and sea shells. Usually there is a spigot and garden hose right there to clean up afterwards. Maybe leave a stack of old newspapers?

I would also provide an outdoor grill. The propane gas grills can be had for $125. Just make sure you have an extra tank of fuel ($30) and way to get it to the property quickly. Maybe leave it in the owners closet? You can get the charcoal grills for $30. Provide long handled tongs, spatula, fork, and at least a dozen long skewers. The U shaped skewers are the best. A few serving plates are needed for this activity. I would say at least one side table but prefer two side tables on the grill are needed for serving platters of raw and cooked food. Don't forget a large box of wooden kitchen matches.

I would suggest you provide a few distractions for those times when the weather traps the guests inside. Common games that everyone knows like checkers, chess, backgammon, dominos, monopoly. One or two puzzles. Also a couple decks of cards. A couple of coloring books and a box of crayons for the younger set. Have a basket in the corner of a few McDonald happy meal toys. These need not be new.

Books. Include an identification book about local animals and plants. A book or three about local stuff. If on the water, include a Chapmans book. Go to a used bookstore buy a few of the New York Best Sellers list paperbacks. Get a few of the romance novels, and Louis La'More cowboy books. A few mystery, a few horror, a few spy, a few childrens, a sampling. $30 of used paper backs will go a long way during a rainy weekend.

As to TV, as much as I dislike people watching TV on vacation, it has become too ingrained into the American way of life to avoid it. A used TV will work. Rental units that provide a VCR charge more. You can get new VCRs for $125. Used ones even cheaper. Most families will bring along a few videos for the kids for the bad weather or quiet times.

Keep the bedrooms simple. A bed, dresser, nightstand with lamp. At least one alarm clock, two if sleeps more than 6.
Provide two pillows for each sleeping spot. Put the extras in the closet of the bedroom. I would say one firm and one soft for each spot. Also include a blanket for every bed regardless of season. Window treatements should be able to block out all light from outside in case people want to sleep during the day. Most rentals provide either double or single sized beds. Seldom ever find queen sized beds. Maybe that would be a way to make your property stand out?

Most places require you to either clean the unit yourself or charge a fee for maid service. Provide the unit with a broom, dustpan, garbage can, mop, vacum, toilet plunger. Make sure you have at least two or three LARGE garbage cans for outside. The trash from the last renters does not always get picked up by the time the new renters are in. And for some reason, renters generate a lot of trash.

I would suggest you pick up a rental listing guide from your area. See what the going prices are and what the popular emenities are. They usually will list extra emenities and raise the price accordingly. A TV/VCR is worth $50 for a long weekend. You may find that spending a $500 on stuff may pay for itself in one season. Or it might be the extra needed to encourage people to rent your unit vs. others.

There is stuff at most rentals that is usually left behind by previous renters that you might need to seed the first time. Salt and Pepper shakers (disposable), garbage bags, aluminum foil, Hot pepper sause, coffee sugar packets, coffee, filters, straws, and foam can holders to keep the beer cold. I would suggest you get an extra pot for the coffee maker of the correct size. When the one in the unit breaks, the coffee person will not be happy until they get a new one. Even though it is not your fault, they will be unhappy campers. Having an extra on hand in the owners closet could save the day.

Oh by the way, you will have an owners closet. A space that you lock and do NOT give out the key to renters. It is a place where you keep extras for those times when they need that something (coffee pot, propane, alarm clock, etc). It is also the place you keep stuff that is yours that is not for the renters. Your fishing gear, your nice chairs, the washer/dryer, lawn maintenace equipment, etc. The key would be held by you and the local rental agency so they can get the supplies for you.

Of course you will also need to set up an account with the local rental agency for emergency stuff. Probably $200-$500 to have the window pane repaired, get another coffee pot, replace the water heater that day, whatever. The deal is they normally get the problem fixed as long as it is under X amount of dollars and then notify you of the expense. If the repair or problem exceeds X, they contact you for approval of spending the money. X could be $100 and you keep $200-$500 in the account. Saves you from having to run to the property everytime some minor thing happens.

Just out of curiosity Resqman, what would you expect to pay for a week on a lake with all of the amenities you just recommended?

Rick

It varies. We usually stay on Kueka Lake in upstate New York State in July. That is where the wife is from. As little as $800 to several thousand for a week. In that area most of the rental houses are 100+ years old and were built as private residences or private vacation homes. As time passed, taxes and jobs moving out of the area, many once private vacation homes have become rental properties.

Homes with a single bathroom and 50 year old kitchens are the norm. Most do not have a VCR, a good kitchen, good layout for crowds, ample parking, etc. In that market, we pay more for less rental property than we do on the North Carolina Beaches. Most of the properties on the beach we rent from are less than 30 years old. Most were built with the idea that they would be rental property primarily and used by the owners in the off season. Big open floor plans with sweeping views of the water. Materials used to build the properties are designed for low maintenance, high wear, or quick and cheap replacment. The market is more competative and emenites are more plentiful for less money. Prices are more like $150-$250 a night depending on the length of the stay. The price also varies depending on how close you are to the beach.

Usually one in the group will get a house on the beach. Others may get a house across the street from the beach. That way they can save money since they don't pay the upcharge for direct beach access but have direct beach access via the other house. We all hang out at the beach house all day drinking and watching each others kids. At night we go back to our individual houses, shower, and meet at the cooking house of the night. Last summer we rented a duplex, 4 bedrooms up, 4 bedrooms down. Each with a kitchen and two baths. 4 families of four. The nice part was someone was always the dedicated kid watcher/entertainer so you got a break every so often. Some adult was always in the water watching kids, someone was always at the house if kids needed assistance and other adults were free to do as they please as long as they would rotate out with the "working" adults periodically. Nothing formal, just kind of a check to make sure someone was always around when needed kind of thing.

Thanks for the info, I have spent many hours fishing Keuka, Seneca, and Cayuga. I own lake front property on Lake Murray in SC, and have lived in NC for several years in the past, so I am familiar with the beach properties also.

Just trying to gauge the price market you were familiar with.