I recommend VRBO.com to many of my clients and they have been very pleased with it. The trick however is that you need someone on island to manage your property for you (not me by the way) and to take care of problems such as lost keys, plumbing issues, checking on the unit and the fact that Hawaii law requires it.

Many management companies may offer a sliding scale for clients you generate.

You will notice many owners have a calendar that shows booking dates. This will give you an idea on how many nights are open and what their bookings look like. However, that guide is only as good as the owner's updating is! Frequently I notice they don't keep it up. Also they will blank out dates when they are occupying the unit themselves.

Aloha, For a longterm presence, Sites like VRBO are great and will be good for you reach a lot of people consistantly when they are browsing. A good way to fill in the blanks of your rental calendar is Craiglist.org. You can put the available weeks and a little about the property and then link it to your VRBO website. It gives you a way to increase the exposure and taps into a new group of potential renters.

Craigslist is used a lot by people coming to hawaii as well as people who are already here... and it's still free. It does have the normal challenges of any free website with a lot of traffic, but that is what screening is for. Good luck!

Hi Mike,

It takes about 2 years to build up traffic. After the first year or so, you will start getting repeat visitors. It's not unusual for someone to stay at your place and hand you a check as a deposit for the follwing year. When you put your place on VRBO, choose the 12-photo option to move you near or at the top. Also, use the calendar feature, saves a lot of questions on when and how to book. A few months ago they added a feature that allows you to block off the reservation dates and put in the contact information for each person. That saves you from trying to remember who is staying on what days.

Personally I would try to get 1-week minimum rentals starting out. Once you can meet your expenses, try to increase that. Less turnover equals less wear and tear. December 15 to the frist week of March is peak season. You can get 10-15% more during those few months.

Between VRBO and Craigslist I believe you can keep it booked very well if it is price right. You may want to offer discounts starting out, just to make sure it stays booked. Once you get past 50% full, you can scale those back.

I hope that works well for you.

I rent my homes in the Desert on VRBO. It all depends on lcation and season. Our homes in Palm Springs rent Nov-April with no breaks. Good luck!