Protection for your home away from home
Web-based rental agencies thrive despite growing popularity of Airbnb, Homeaway and VRBO
A full-service approach backed by local knowledge has two web-based Ontario agencies thriving in the face of competition from more geographically diverse newcomers such as Airbnb, Homeaway and VRBO.
There is no substitute for word-ofmouth and live staff inspections when it comes to protecting your property from partiers and guarding your vacation against the disappointment of broken bedsprings, say these local operators.
Recent reports have suggested the popularity of newer do-it-yourself rental sites are making it easier for some cottage buyers to afford a property by letting it out when they’re not using it.
WRD Cottage Rental’s Bill Dewey, who operates Ontariocottagerental.com, keeps his eye on new, big-name competitors. But 21 years after he founded the Haliburton business, he continues to get new listings every week. WRD started with five cottages and now lists about 170 vacation homes for between $800 to $6,000 a week, with $2,000 being the most popular price point.
A lot of his clients are familiar with reports of properties being trashed by parties who rent through some of the newer big-name, short-term rental sites, he said.
“If I owned a cottage, going to look at these big boys would be the last thing I’d do. The No. 1 criteria as to whether they will rent to somebody is whether that person has an active credit card. That’s about as far from us as you can get,” said Dewey.
WRD never rents to teenagers and, “We’re very careful of that 20-to-30 age bracket,” he said.
There’s a five-page booking application that favours families.
“If we don’t know them we pay very close attention to that document,” said Dewey.
“An owner is giving us his second-largest investment to look after. I take that very seriously. We have a black list and if you make that list we won’t rent to you next year.”
Renters sign a contract promising the cottage will be in the same condition they found it.
Once the renter checks in, Dewey’s team takes care of any issues such as plumbing, but rarely does that happen, he said.
William Wallace put 350 kilometres on his car on a gorgeous Sunday earlier this month so he could inspect four cottages for his sites cottagevacations.com and luxurycottagevacations.com.
The 17-year-old Huntsville, Ont.,-based agency represents and acts as a property manager for about 250 privately-owned properties.
New websites haven’t undercut his business, said Wallace.
“You can get under the car and change your own oil or you can hire a mechanic to change it for you,” he said. His clients belong to the latter group.
Sometimes the owners are former renters who trust the agency because they know how rigorously it vets the properties and the renters.
“You cannot click and pay on our site. You can click and apply,” said Wallace.
“It’s party protection.”
Groups in their 20s and 30s don’t make it through the process.
“We’re matchmaking. We have a team of reservation agents that know our properties. We pay our staff on salary time to go see every one of the 250 properties,” he said.
The photos are an accurate representation of what you get when you rent, said Wallace. If it’s a weedy lake entry, the listing will tell you that it might not appeal to swimmers. But if the renter likes to canoe and kayak, it could be perfect.
Similarly, a shallow entry is likely important to renters who have children. A sloped lot might not suit a family bringing the grandparents on vacation.
If your cottage is “shabby drabby,” Wallace says he won’t list it. “Small is fine, but it has to be up to snuff. We’re there policing on behalf of the renter,” he said.
He recently visited a cottage where the painting that was promised at the end of last season hadn’t been finished. It won’t be listed until the work is done.
“I’m not having people showing up to peeling paint. I don’t mind rustic, but maintenance is not an option,” said Wallace.
His site charges owners 17 per cent of the rental fee. The money stays in trust until the renter checks in.
“It’s accountable, it’s responsible, it’s transparent and it’s being professionally managed and handled,” he said.
WRD charges 20 per cent.
“We take 50-per-cent down and, one month before they arrive, they pay us the other 50 per cent. So we have all their money so the owner’s money is guaranteed and we pay them the Monday after the renter leaves the property,” said Dewey, adding that a property needs to be available for at least four weeks in the summer to make it worth WRD’s time. It costs about $1,000 to inspect and list a new property.
Technology may have changed how people list and rent cottages and people want Wi-Fi so they can work, but most of what they’re looking for hasn’t changed much, said Dewey.
“They want a quality shoreline, they want a quality deck, they want a quality propane barbecue. They want everything to be in relatively good condition on the inside.”