Property Managers Wear Many Hats Part Two: The Property Manager’s Role During Hurricane Season

As a professional property management company, Carolina Retreats takes nearly every burden away from the property owner.  During hurricane season, the saying goes, “It’s hard to fight Mother Nature.”  So, we don’t fight it, we manage it.

Continue reading Property Managers Wear Many Hats Part Two: The Property Manager’s Role During Hurricane Season

Property Managers Wear Many Hats

We’ve seen it time and again.

A real estate investor purchases a property, with the intention of generating income as a vacation rental. Simple right? They decide to manage the property themselves, rather than spending to engage a professional property manager.  Sometimes, that scenario proves successful…. but most times the reality is, unfortunately, very different.

It’s far too easy to underestimate the costs of managing a rental property.  Everything from the potential technology investment to really understanding the time involved.  Many times, managing a vacation rental is truly a hassle, particularly if the property is miles away from where the owner lives. In addition to the obvious things like routine maintenance, housekeeping, and pool/hot tub service, there are also many, many
not-so-obvious expenses.

For example, expenses for emergency services (what will you do if your hot water heater floods the property at 3 AM?) or choosing the right kind of sturdy furnishings, so that you’re not in a constant cycle of replacement. Or, in the realm of technology, choosing which PMS (property management system) best suits your needs.

And then there is pricing and marketing.  The average investor is almost never prepared for the learning curve of these two critical components of managing and renting a vacation property.

Oh, and don’t forget customer relationships and retention. Does the average investor have a plan for nurturing guest relationships or how to respond to a negative review without ruining that relationship?

Probably not.  That’s where we come in.

As a professional property management company, Carolina Retreats takes nearly every burden away. We have systems in place to handle every eventuality, and we can guide you through every step in creating an incredibly successful vacation rental.

It’s not just marketing and taking reservations…it’s much more.   Our commissions are more than reasonable for the benefits and services we provide, most importantly, peace of mind.

We also provide:

  • A dedicated in-house property care team, including professional housekeeping and maintenance services
  • Preferred partnerships with local vendors
  • A dedicated marketing staff who will create a custom marketing plan specifically for your property
  • In-house designers who can make suggestions and assist in furnishing and equipping your property
  • An online portal, which will allow you to keep up with every aspect of your property in real-time

At Carolina Retreats we give you the peace of mind that comes from knowing that it’s not all on you.

In part two we’ll look at some of the realities of Coastal Carolina and talk about how a professional property manager handles hurricane season, and how to handle damage to properties.

Part three is: Property Managers are advocates. Up close and personal with you, your property and your bottom line. There is real value in having a property manager for your vacation rental.

5 Things to do During the Off-Season in the Outer Banks

If you think the off-season is a bad time to take a trip to the Outer Banks, think again! With cooler temps, fewer crowds, and delicious food, one of our favorite ways to enjoy the Outer Banks is during the supposed “off-season.” Check out the list below for our favorite things to do during the cooler months.

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Boosting Off-Season Vacation Rental Income With Physical Improvements: Kitchen, Bathroom, Hot Tubs, Pools, etc.

Continue reading Boosting Off-Season Vacation Rental Income With Physical Improvements: Kitchen, Bathroom, Hot Tubs, Pools, etc.

Making Your Vacation Home Storm-Ready: Tips For Protecting Your Investment

We’re in the middle of Hurricane season, but storms aren’t just seasonal things we deal with on the coast, here in North Carolina. If you own a vacation home, then you’re constantly keeping tabs on weather reports, because throughout the year, thunderstorms crop up quickly and bring heavy winds, rain, and hail. We get straight-line wind events and tornadoes capable of causing widespread damage. We get Nor’easters that often deliver heavy winds, huge rain amounts, and a lot of coastal flooding. We get storm surges that bring in tremendous deluges from the Atlantic, across our sounds, and the intracoastal waterway. There are many things you can do to make your vacation and rental property storm-ready by protecting your coastal oasis and hard-earned investment from the ravages of storms year-round.

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How Vacation Rental Operations Have Changed

The vacation rental market has made a few twists and turns along its journey over the last two decades. The industry has grown exponentially, with independent hosts, small property management companies, large property management agencies, vendors, and service providers all carving out a defined role within the ecosystem. This blog post will compare how physical space, guest expectations, marketing, amenities, and property care programs have evolved over the past twenty years. What was once a second-home-side-gig has evolved into a booming segment that dominates the travel space.

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The Big Three: Occupancy, ADR, and RevPAR

The key to optimizing a vacation rental property’s performance? It’s all about understanding the Big Three: Occupancy, Average Daily Rate, and Revenue Per Available Rental Night.

Identifying trends in these three key performance indicators – and their relationship to each other – can help you maximize revenue throughout the year.

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Maximizing Your Property For Year-Round Guests (Part II)

In Part I of this series we looked at detailed ways you can enhance your vacation or short-term rental properties to appeal to guests year-round.

In today’s highly competitive online marketing environment for any type of travel accommodations, and especially in our area of the Cape Fear with more traditional vacation rentals, it’s exactly the details and extras that turn an okay rental performer into an all-star with solid, repeatable business in all seasons. 


While things like flexible booking options, special seasonal offers, and a fully stocked and well thought out kitchen can get you consistent 4 and 5 star reviews, consider the new “must haves” and even the “great to haves” as you plan out your amenity list and offerings that can truly put your property at the top of any list. 

Must-Haves for Every Guest Experience:

Continue reading Maximizing Your Property For Year-Round Guests (Part II)

Maximizing Your Property For Year-Round Guests (Part 1)

If you have a home at the beach, it’s usually pretty easy to attract guests to your property during the summer months, but are you maximizing your home’s potential for guests year-round?

Continue reading Maximizing Your Property For Year-Round Guests (Part 1)