My personal Top 5 Reasons to Stay a Vacation Rental:

1. Adjoining rooms! How many times have you had to beg, plead and stay on hold for what seemed like hours with a hotel to find your family adjoining rooms? With your vacation home rental - NO MORE!

2. Lurking Strangers. You've been there, in the common area of the hotel, trying to fellowship with your family only to feel like you were in a fish bowl being preyed on by strangers. In your own vacation home, you can fellowship with the entire family, in privacy.

3. Bathrooms, more than 1. Need I say more? Okay, one other thing - just more room, period.

4. Laundry. Most privately owned homes and condos have a washer/dryer for their guests to use. This way, you can wash the sand out of your bathing suit on about the second day! I know that lots of moms enjoy not having to wash a weeks worth of clothes when they get home!

5. Cost. In general, you will find that you can save on your travel budget by staying in a vacation rental. Use the extra money on dining out or go-karts for the kids!

If you haven't tried a vacation rental. Step outside of the conventional! Try something new; you'll never go back to the ordinary!

iGOvacation is Vacation Rentals by owner!

I want to make sure that all of the current vacation rental owners on iGOvacation know that if you refer a friend to iGOvacation and your friend signs up for one of our Annual Membership Plans, we will issue you 1 free month of Feature Listing on iGOvacation.com. The Feature Listing on iGOvacation.com is valued at $50 for a 30 day listing!

We will even let you choose your month that you would like to be a Feature Listing!

Your feature listing will be on both the homepage and the state page where your property is located. There is no limit to the number of times that you can receive the feature listing status from referring a friend.

IMPORTANT: To obtain the feature listing status, your friend must enter your IGOVACATION.COM PROPERTY NUMBER on the sign up form, at the time of signing up, in the "How did you hear about us" field.

If you have any questions regarding our Refer-a-Friend Promotion, please contact us!

Happy Traveling!

*$50 is the total value of the Feature Listing status for 30 days. The Feature Listing status ($50 value) will be issued for referring a friend. This promotional offer has no cash value and we cannot issue cash or credit card refunds instead of the feature listing status.

IGOVACATION is Vacation Rentals by Owner.

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We would like to extend a formal welcome to our newest iGOvacation team member, Rich. Rich has been with us for a while now, but we wanted to formally introduce him to our vacation home rentals owners and traveling visitors. Rich will now be heading up the charge as our new Director of Online Sales.

He brings over twelve years of worldwide and online sales experience to iGOvacation. Rich is a proven leader in meeting his customers needs and providing solutions to help them achieve their goals. As a vacation rental enthusiast himself, Rich understands the needs and goals inherent in our customers. His goal, along with iGOvacation's goal, is to make every experience that you have with iGOvacation outstanding.

Again, welcome, Rich - it is a late formal welcome, but we are glad you are here! If you need any assistance in getting started at iGOvacation or need more information about advertising your vacation rental, drop Rich at line at rich@iGOvacation.com or give him a call at 847.594.5842 today! You can also reach Rich at his MSN Messenger: info@igovacation.com.

Thanks and Happy Traveling!

You can find Vacation Rentals at iGOvacation.com.

Many vacation home owners are now moving into their slower season which is typically defined from Labor Day to Memorial Day. If your vacation home rental falls into this category; now, more than ever, it is important to make your online advertising attractive to prospective vacationers.

I would like to give you a few practical tips that throughout the years have proven to be successful for many vacation rental home owners.

1. Advertise your vacation rental online. Indisputably, advertising your vacation rental online is the most cost effective means of promoting your property. In most cases, it will cost you more to run four lines of text in the local Sunday paper for one week than to simply advertise your property (with photos) at iGOvacation for one year! Be sure to keep your contact information such as phone numbers and email addresses up to date.

2. Accept Pets. Now, I know what you are thinking; but, it is true - accepting pets will open you to more renters that you might think. According to the Travel Industry of America, more than 29 million Americans brought there pets on trips when they traveled more than 50 miles away from home. I have been on both ends of the pet: both, needing to take them and fixing up after them. However, if you require a "pet deposit" you will recover some of your costs. Keep in mind, not all pets are problems.

3. Offer special rates. During your off season, instead of requiring a 5 or 6 night stay, consider a 3 night "weekend getaway." You will attract the more local travelers looking to spend the weekend away from home. Additionally, consider a senior citizens or military discount. Travelers are always looking for a good deal. On iGOvacation, try out our Auction tool. It is a great way to auction off a particular week that you might have a hard time filling at your normal rates.

4. Sell your area's off-season attractions. In your description, let us know what is so fabulous about your area during the off-season. There are a lot of travelers that like to avoid the hustle and bustle of your area's busy season. Entice us!

Again, thanks for visiting our site. We want every experience that you have with iGOvacation to be outstanding! We work hard to help the vacationer, visiting your vacation rentals by owner, to have an outstanding experience finding you. Please contact us at any time. We love to hear your feedback! Happy Traveling!

It is understood that Vacation Rentals only account for a small percentage of the total travel market accommodation sales. In some studies, it is reported to be just about 10%. It seems strange because there are so many vacation rentals available to the vacationer.

When will they get tired of propping open the door so they can quickly get ice and get back to their room without having to use the key again?

In my own experience, I believe that one of the biggest challenges is the "instant gratification" or online booking. On any hotel site, you click through the dates, enter some general information, a credit card and wham - you have a room. Done.

That is one of the reasons why, at iGOvacation, we created a link in the Contact the Owner section of the site called make a reservation. We also give the owner the ability to enable PayPal on their property listing page. Both of these features make it easy for the vacationer to get the feeling of an instant and online booking. Once PayPal is enabled, you simply send your vacationer to the iGOvacation property page to pay you directly with their credit card.

Our goal is to help the vacationer connect with you in an online environment that is seamless and convenient. We encourage all of our owners to keep their availability calendars up to date! If you have a listing and have not enabled the PayPal, we would encourage you to log in to the MY ACCOUNT section of the site and enable it. It is a free tool that we make available to all of our members. Make it easy for prospective renters to do business with you and you'll see the results of your efforts.

Find Vacation Rentals WorldWide at iGOvacation.com!

Do you ever wonder what your vacation rental is worth? Or for that matter, even your primary residence value? If you haven't heard already, you can get a Zestimation of over 67 million homes on www.Zillow.com. The features and maps on this site are just fascinating. All you need is your address, city, state and zip and you will find out more about your corner of the earth than you ever wanted to know. It gives the home owners the ability to track the value of your property or compare values.

In February 2006, Zillow.com launched its beta service, with the goal of empowering consumers with information and resources to transform how they buy and sell homes. Zillow.com was started by a group of Internet veterans, including Expedia founder and former CEO Rich Barton and former Expedia Senior Vice President Lloyd Frink. Once they hatched their idea, they needed a name. "Zillow" evolved from the desire to make zillions of data points for homes accessible to everyone. But a home is about more than data - it is where you lay your head to rest at night, like a pillow. Thus, "Zillow" was born.

You can find interesting statistics graphed on a U.S. Map, such as: 2000-2006 Population Growth by County; 2006 Median Age by County; 2011 Estimated Median Household Income by County; and all sorts of interesting data.

For more information on Zillow, or to find a Zestimate valuation on a home, visit www.zillow.com. Read about or comment on updated Zillow news and observations in the Zillow corporate blog at www.zillowblog.com.

If you are in the market to purchase a vacation home, stop by iGOvacation's vacation rentals for sale listings.

I went to get my 3 month old daughter her passport today for our upcoming trip to Barcelona and I was notified that there are new passport requirements for travelers between the United States and the Western Hemisphere! If you don't have your passport, be sure to get to your local U.S. Post Office soon. I'm sure there will be a mad dash before the new year.

On 9/2/05, the U.S. State Department revised the original proposed "Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative." The proposed rules will require ALL U.S. and Canadian Citizens to carry a passport (unexpired) for travel to or from certain countries/areas that were previously exempt. This includes children and infants.

The proposed implementation is as follows:

* December 31, 2006 - Passport required for all air and sea travel to or from Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean and Bermuda. Note: This will affect guests traveling on cruises that return to the U.S. after 12/30/06.

* December 31, 2007 - Passport required for all land border crossings as well as air and sea travel. Note: This will affect guests traveling on cruises that return to the U.S. after 12/30/07.
The passport will be the document of choice for travel within the Western Hemisphere or re-entry. However, another document that we anticipate will be acceptable under the travel initiative is the Border Crossing Card, (BCC – or “laser visa”). Currently, the BCC serves in lieu of a passport and a visa for citizens of Mexico traveling to the U.S. from contiguous territory. Other documents that we are considering for acceptance under this initiative are the Customs and Border Protection Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection (SENTRI), NEXUS and Free and Secure Trade (FAST) program cards.

You may print a passport application or get additional information from the government on this subject by visiting: http://travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_2626.html

Search for vacation rentals worldwide.

Several surveys of the vacation industry have consistently shown that women are the primary decision makers on where families stay when they go on vacation. I read an interesting article today,“What Women (Really) Want" by Brenda Fields reprinted by Smith Travel Research.

In her article, Fields states, "In 2005, women accounted for approximately 43% of the business travelers, according to the Travel Industry of America. In addition, a recent New York University study identified the women business traveler as a “baby boomer with a college degree who earns over $75,000 per year”. That profile typically points to a sophisticated and discriminating traveler. And research confirms that women tend to have higher expectations than men when it comes to comfort, service, and security."

While Ms. Fields’ article is basically identifying the unique needs of the woman business traveler, many of her ideas are equally geared to the woman planning the family vacation at vacation rentals. Her suggestions, as to what women really want, include:

1. good personal security,
2. residential quality bedding—mattresses, pillows, and linens,
3. hair dryers,
4. good lighting for applying make-up,
5. having the staff check to make sure the alarm clock is off,
6. full length mirrors, and
7. good quality detachable clothes hangers.
   
   Every one of these suggestions is an essential for a luxury vacation rental. To be successful vacation rental property owners/managers, we have to constantly strive to make our property a comfortable and secure place to visit.

As a vacation rentals property owner, I know what a pain it is to keep your availability calendars on iGOvacation.com up to date. I know from experience that it can be a very annoying task; however, keeping it up to date on the front end can soon become revenue in your pocket. Let me explain.

I love to eat. I enjoy trying new restaurants and will try just about anything once; but, I always get a queasy feeling when I walk into a new restaurant for the first time and there are no other customers. I say to myself, what’s wrong with this place? And then, I start looking for the health inspection signs.
The opposite works just the same. If there is a long line outside the restaurant, without seeing the menu or the dinner prices, I send a family member in right away to get the buzzer – even if I may have to wait 30 minutes to sit down. The congregation outside makes me believe that this must be a great place to eat. The health inspection signs never even cross my mind.

Your availability calendar works the same way. We can see that renters actually look at them. I encourage you to keep your availability calendar up to date. You might find people are more flexible with their travel plans even when you are booked on their planned week. After all, it must be a great place to stay because there is a congregation waiting to get in. Try it -- you just might be surprised at the results!

iGOvacation.com members can update their availability calendar by logging into MY ACCOUNT on iGOvacation.

Happy Traveling!