CHAPTER 5
Location (Location, Location!)
AS WITH ANY REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT, the location of your
VRP will be a large factor in its success or failure. Always consider the areas that you personally enjoy visiting first. “Best” Versus Popular
A quick Google search of “Rental Homes Natural Attractions” will pull up page after page of “Best Places.” These information “directories” will give their ten best, 20 best, 100 best, and so on. In reality, after deeper review, these are simply lists that are curated from online services that are crafted to place or advertise locations that are in their own directories. Be they local, regional, statewide or national, they all have their own agenda: to drive traffic to specific listings within their listing services. Do not be fooled. Take the time to study these locations. Gather information with one eye focused on the purpose and source of the data. Look for objective information. Again, a good source is the Vacation Rental Management Association (VRMA.org). Even some of the large national and international VRP online listing and booking services will provide a broader, and in most cases more accurate, picture of the areas of attractions. Here is what I mean: a “Best of” listed in Google may turn out to
117
