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Managing Your Vacation Rental Tenants' Expectations

Elizabeth Weedon | 3/27/2012 (updated 4/25/2023)
After screening  your potential tenants to ensure a good fit, there’s nothing worse than having guests show up at your home and be disappointed.  Despite your best efforts to speak directly with your guests and to present an accurate impression of your home in your listing, you never know what your guests' expectations are.

Don't try to hide any details about your property

In fact, be as quick to disclose any of your property's drawbacks as you are its assets.  Doing so not only nurtures a greater degree of trust from your tenants during the decision process, but it also manages their expectations so that they do not feel they have been misled when they arrive. If they are pleasantly surprised, they will be grateful and much more apt to roll with any unforeseen issues that might arise during their stay. On the other hand, if they arrive and are disappointed at the outset, there’s a very good chance they’ll continue to look for additional things to complain about. In their minds, the trust has been broken, and they will be more disposed to being critical and unhappy.

It doesn’t hurt to greet your guests with a nice surprise

Many homeowners on our WeNeedaVacation.com site leave wonderful treats to welcome their guests.  There’s no need to be extravagant, but leaving a thoughtful welcome note and some fresh flowers, at the least, can make a difference.  Stay tuned for our upcoming blog post in which we explore some of the creative gifts or touches offered by homeowners to welcome their guests. Do you feel that your tenants are pleasantly surprised when they arrive? Do you present them with little welcome “gifts” of any kind? If so, what do you recommend?
About Elizabeth Weedon

About Elizabeth Weedon: I have worked for WeNeedaVacation.com since 2008, and I've been a loyal homeowner listed on the site since early 1998. An enthusiastic member of the Homeowner Support Team, I provide fellow Cape and Islands vacation rental homeowners with advice about online marketing and rental management techniques to ensure them a successful rental experience each season. In addition to phone and email support to our homeowners, I also create and edit much of the content on our website, as well as our Homeowner Blog and monthly newsletters. I am also the Press & PR Coordinator for the company, responsible for drafting our press releases and responding to press inquiries and interviews. I grew up summering on the Vineyard, where I have managed my family's rental home since the mid-1980's, and I'm passionately devoted to the Island. My husband and I live in Wellesley where we have raised our 2 grown kids and our Black Lab, Maisie.