Even before purchasing your first house for rental, it's important to identify the personality of your houses and what you're hoping to accomplish. In marketing-speak, it is called your brand. What type of guests do you want to attract? What age group? Families? Singles? Retired couples? How do you want them to describe your property? What do you want them to feel while they are staying there? If you identify the answers to these beforehand, then you'll know what target you're aiming for. Much easier to hit a target if it's first identified. Are you going for the cost-conscious renter? In which case, you'd want to aim to have your rental fees the lowest of houses in that class and your furnishings will be simple and the extras few. Do you want to attract guests who like a modern look-and-feel? or those who want a rustic, mountain experience? Do you want them to have all the latest technology at their disposal, or are you shooting for a more "back to basics, time to turn off electronics" experience. The more time you spend to clarify these items, the better off you'll be when your planning your rates, buying furnishings, deciding what improvements to make... Here's the brand description we used for our first home called Mountain Serenity: - We target multi-generational families - our ideal guests are either 1 family with grandparents, parents and children or 2-3 families with a few children each - Our houses are aimed at being a luxury home with a rustic feel. We keep our houses fully stocked with everything a guest would need and our furnishings tend to be higher end. Since our market targets families from big cities like Dallas, Houston, Oklahoma City - we want our homes' rustic furnishings and feel to be an escape from the big city. - We want the experience for families to be a time when they disconnect from electronics and just enjoy play in the outdoors, enjoying family time - To achieve the above, our rates are higher than most houses our size and we want to attract guests that are willing to pay more to have this experience. So just to give you an idea of what goes into a brand description - there's no wrong/right answers, it's what you make it and how you choose to serve your customers.
