This weekend Kauai residents reported receiving a letter from the homestay organization Vacation Rental by Owner and Homeaway that stated if homeowners listed their homes as a vacation rental by Dec. 1, they would earn $1,000 guaranteed in January.
TGI Reporter Bethany Freudenthal called VRBO’s customer service line listed on the letter and said she had more questions about the letter. She did not identify herself as a reporter.
Richard, who could not give out his last name, said the $1,000 could be earned by bookings made to the account.
“By accepting reservations from the leasing. That would be the way to get money on your account,” he said.
The benefits of listing a property with VRBO, he said is that there are different options for advertising on their website.
“Just posting the account on Homeaway or VRBO, you’re going to have the exposure on three different websites and you can go ahead and set up the prices that you consider are appropriate for your site,” he said. “You can go ahead and upload everything, you can go ahead and write down a great description from the account and as well you’re going to have two options to advertise on our site.”
The property, he said, would be added to the search results, which would also assist in earnings.
Renting VRBOs for many is a nice option because it feels more like home than staying at a hotel.
“The whole point in creating a property with us is to provide to the renter the same feeling like being on their own properties, on their own homes with their families,” he said.
When asked about how many VRBOs are operating on Kauai, Richard could not answer.
“We do not have access to the exactly number to how many properties on in that specific location,” he said.
When asked if it was legal to operate a VRBO on Kauai, Richard suggested creating the listing.
“Once again, I didn’t have like the informational rules and policies for that specific location that where you have that property,” he said.
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The Garden Island
