Archive for April, 2009

Beware of craigslist postings to the housing section

Monday, April 27th, 2009

There is a “reverse spammer” using craigslist, they are called creditreport365.net. Here is what they do… When you post an ad on craigslist either offering or seeking housing… they will answer your ad with a simple 1 line sentence posed in the form of a question. Here are sample replies you will get from this spammer….

>>> Hi do you still need housing?
>>> Hi, I was just looking through ad’s …still need housing?
>>> Hey there, how are you? I was curious if you still needed housing?
>>> Hey, still looking for housing?
>>> do you still need a place?
>>> etc…

If you reply to such a reply, you will get back an immediate response such as this…

>>>Hi there, nice to hear from you. Well that’s good because I have many
places available for you in the area. What’s  your exact price range?
How soon were you looking to move? Before I show you any listings I’d
like to get a feel of what you’d qualify for, we can do this by
getting your credit score. Our office has a relationship with a credit
report company to give our clients free credit reports, if you’d like
to get one through our partner go to
http://creditreport365.net/?clientID=xxx or you can get one through
your own means, just please get this to me and we can get you into
something. I look forward to speaking with you.<<<

Worse yet, they have your email captured and can now relentless spam you with their credit report BS pitch.

Bottom line, don’t reply to every craigslist response you get, especially if its a quick one liner, and if the sender uses a gmail address that includes both a name and a series of numbers. 

3 ways how vacation rentals save you money

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

The blog Orlando Vacation News has just posted 3 main points that vacation rentals offer over hotels. They are in a nutshell:

  • Room for everyone without the added cost. Ranging from 2 bedroom condos to 7 bedroom homes that sleep from 4 to 16 people comfortably.
  • Fully equipped kitchens that present tremendous savings versus dining out. With vacation rentals, you have the choice to eat when and where you want by making your own meals – all at a fraction of the cost of dining out.
  • In-home and community entertainment options as an alternative to costly vacation activities. Going the vacation home route also gives you a variety of entertainment options. With amenities like private pools and spas, home theatres and game rooms plus resort community amenities like large swimming pools, fitness centers and children’s playgrounds, the savings of staying in versus going out every day can add up quick.

Cabins for Rent

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

New start up ShopCabins.com allows you to find a cabin to rent. But for whatever reason, they also list condos and hotels. At time of this post, they have 63 cabin listings.

Ecominic crisis creates growth in vacation rental market

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

According to a National Association of Realtors’ 2008 Investment and Vacation Home Buyers Survey released March 30, 2009, the economy has more second home owners than ever before deciding to rent their homes to vacationers. Seems like it may be a better time to rent.

While the NAR reports a sharp decline in total second home sales for the second consecutive year, the percentage of buyers purchasing with the intent to rent has more than doubled since 2005, reaching a record-high of 27 percent in 2008.

Even for the second home buyers who do not intend to rent over the next 12 months, nearly 66 percent say the economy has increased their interest in renting at some point in the future. The report also shows owners plan to make their vacation properties available to rent for 15 weeks per year - up from 12 weeks in 2007 — and consider the Internet an important marketing tool, with 74 percent planning to advertise online, up from 70 percent in 2007.

These results are consistent with the first major study on the industry released in January 2009, PhoCusWright’s Vacation Rental Marketplace: Poised for Change, which estimates the U.S. vacation rental industry at more than $24 billion, and also projects significant growth in online vacation rental over the next two years.

The current economy has had a significant impact on the vacation rental market, and it’s a positive one! The NAR’s survey shows more second home owners than ever are realizing that they can offset the cost of ownership and in many cases profit from their second homes by renting them out. Some owners average $20,000 a year in rental revenue.

Additionally, there are  two other important factors influencing the industry: vacation homes sales reached an all-time high of 1.07 million in 2006, and many homeowners also begin to rent within one to two years of their purchase because the property is not being used as much as they planned.

Because of these factors, listing and rental through online sites is experiencing strong growth. The increase in supply is being met by an increase in demand from vacationers of all types, who have discovered the exceptional value that vacation rentals offer compared to hotels! They just get more for their vacation dollars.

Hotpads now doing vacation rentals

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

Hotpads began by focusing on long term real estate rental heat maps, allowing you to view real estate listings primarily through a map front end interface. It then added a “Buy vs. Rent” search feature allowing users to search homes either for sale or rent while comparing their monthly costs.

Their latest addition is to offer vacation rentals across the U.S.A. Search results can be sorted by price and availability, which show up when you hover your mouse over any given house icon.

Hotpads, launched in 2005, originally covered only rentals. It added for sale listings in late 2007. The site now lists 3 million homes for sale and 300,000 rentals.