How To Price Your Vacation Home

Price your VR

So, just how much should you charge? There’s no easy answer. The right rates are determined by seasonal demand, various competitive pressures, and by local & world events. It's important to have a pulse on the market, and this is where a professional property management company can really come in handy. You will want to ascertain if prices change based on a homes size/bedrooms etc, location, and season. You must get a sense of what the going rates are. You can do this through several ways, and some are
i. Contact local real-estate agents and ask them current rental rates for your type of home/property/location

ii. Research VR web sites and compile a pricing matrix (location, home type (i.e. condo vs. single family), # bedrooms, # baths, Amenities, weekly rate, monthly rate.

iii. Contact local resorts & B&B’s and get a sense for their weekly and nightly rates. Remember these are your competitors. It also helps define your value proposition.

iv. Compute your pricing mean and median for your area/region and comparable home


Now that you have complied your pricing market information its time to compile your costs. Make a list of all costs associated with your property and tally an annual amount and then divide by 12 & 52 so you get a monthly and weekly cost. Please keep the following to Remember to have a look at:

o Mortgage

o Taxes

o Electricity

o Water

o Sewer & trash

o HOA fees

o Pest control

o Landscaping

o HVAC servicing

o Pool servicing

o Maintenance fund: you will also want to allocate some reserve to a maintenance fund usually $300-500/yr but can vary based on the age and condition of you home

Now you will need to set your price. Without getting fancy and trying to identify your desired margins etc the ideal price is where your market competitive and you cover 75-100% of monthly costs with a one week rental in high season. However with recent property appreciation in most areas this is a getting to be a more challenging goal to attain and you may want to look to cover a ½ years worth of expenses during your high season.


Keep in mind that you must be market competitive. This doesn’t mean always being the lowest price. You want to really look what the pricing is in your specific area and comparable homes and compare with your amenities. Price too high and people will ignore you; price too low and people will think your VR is a dog unless you are positioning it as a low cost VR.


Remember pricing is an inexact science, especially in the VR industry, as our industry is not governed by professional hoteliers but by irrational home owners such as you and me. If people are calling you and telling you your prices are too high take heed…if your not getting any inquires you may need to re look at pricing. You will find a price point at which the property starts to move. The more research you put in, the lesser trial and error you will need, and the sooner you will find that optimal price point.