Most home owners who decide to do it themselves choose that route because they think that at the end of the day they will have more money in their pocket. But will they? Let’s look at a typical profit and loss scenario:
Gross Income*
8 wks @$1680
$13,440
10 wks @$2000
$20,000
AVH fee
no
$0
yes
($4,000)
On-line Listings
3 services
($500)
3 services + vacation rental software
Advertising
signs/other
($800)
Web Portal**
your website
($250)
AVH.com
Credit card fees
$340 + 3.82%
($850)
credit cards accepted
Your time/ season***
at $20/hour
($2,600)
($260)
Assumptions: *Gross Income: Atlantic Vacation Homes, with its large pool of loyal guests, a web site with high rankings in search engines, and local, regional and national publicity and advertising will attract more qualified guests than an independent home-owner is likely to do on his/her own. Moreover, studies show that for-sale-by owner houses are sold at prices about 16% lower than those sold by Realtors (Boston Globe). This difference would be a reasonable assumption for rentals as well. **Web presence: This assumes the homeowner can set up and maintain his/her own website. If webmasters, designers and photographers have to be hired, this cost would be considerably higher. ***Your time: Doing-it-yourself entails a multitude of time-consuming tasks and some degree of expertise in a variety of subjects.
*Gross Income: Atlantic Vacation Homes, with its large pool of loyal guests, a web site with high rankings in search engines, and local, regional and national publicity and advertising will attract more qualified guests than an independent home-owner is likely to do on his/her own. Moreover, studies show that for-sale-by owner houses are sold at prices about 16% lower than those sold by Realtors (Boston Globe). This difference would be a reasonable assumption for rentals as well.
**Web presence: This assumes the homeowner can set up and maintain his/her own website. If webmasters, designers and photographers have to be hired, this cost would be considerably higher.
***Your time: Doing-it-yourself entails a multitude of time-consuming tasks and some degree of expertise in a variety of subjects.
