Outer Banks Property Management

I was recently looking through some different map websites and came across Community Walk.  It is a website that allows you to build your own custom website.  Here is a Map of the Outer Banks.  The map allows you to customize and make your own comments on each places location.

With concerns over the economy looming, it looked as if the “shoulder” or beginning of the Outer Banks off season would be tremendously slow.  Well, it has not turned out that way.  While it definitely may not be as crowded as some previous years, and there has been a week and a half of northeast winds and rain, reservations are still being made.

It does seem the OBX Marathon will be a huge weekend again.  IF the trend continues, it looks like Thanksgiving Week should be a booming week for the OBX.  Revenues may definitely be down in restaurants and hotels but this off season definitely looks to be shaping up much better than was expected.

Perhaps one of the most forgotten aspects of vacation home ownership is preventive maintenance.  Preventive maintenance can take many forms, from simple replacement of silverware to proactively purchasing a new roof or siding.

It is hard to determine how much money is saved through preventive maintenance put over the life of vacation home ownership but it can be significant.  Even the minorest of problems properly addressed early can save untolds amount down the line.

There are several times a year when it can be easiest to perform maintenance.  Spending a couple days in the spring before the season begins can save your first guests any discomfort.  Repeat guests are definitely a cornerstone of maximizing yout home’s profits.  A couple days prior to the season allows you to catch anything minor or major, plan any projects you need to do or have done.  It also is a great time to get estimmates for any work that you notice needs to be done.

The fall offers a excellent opportunity to address any issues your home may have suffered from being rented all season.  Often minor repairs and upkeep will prevent anything major from happening.  Often minor painting or spackling may be needed.  If you are going to address any major projects often the fall is the best time.  You have the longest period of low rents.

Keeping up with a year round maintenance plan can be difficult but the long term financial rewards from keeping up make it worthwhile.  Spend the time and money now, and enjoy more money in the end.  Doesn’t get any simpler.

Yesterday the House voted to allow drililng offshore of the Outer Banks.  I am sure this will be a long time coming decision.  It sounds as if the states will get to vote on whether or not they will allow drilling off their coasts.  That has to be the only good sign to come out of yesterday’s vote.  It is unknown what the long term effects of this vote will be.

Quickly becoming one of the biggest off season draws to the Outer Banks is the OBX Marathon.  The marathon held on Veterans Day Weekend was established 3 years ago.  The marathon is a fund raiser for the Outer Banks Relief Foundation.  Besides being an amazing way to raise money the marathon also is an incredible draw for Outer Banks businesses.

Veterans Day weekend which is historically slow is now packed from Friday afternoon until Sunday morning.  All weekend long the island is filled with hungry race goers and their fans.  The 3rd year of the  marathon appears to be be huge.  According to one local source, the race currently has 20% more runners registered than last year.

Should your vacation home offer keyless entry?

This question is becoming an ever popular one among vacation home owners.  As someone who experiences first hand guest are quite pleased with the new keyless entry systems.  There are many variations of keyless entry.  Personally I think keyless entry systems that use codes vs. some sort of magnetic swipe like hotel keys are much preferred by guests.  With the code they only have to commit 1 simple number to memory.  There is no losing the card.  For many homes on the Outer Banks, Oracode is becoming one of the preferred types of keyless entry system.  It offers many advantages for both the property management company and the guest.  The #1 thing it offers home owners is the ability to audit who has been in and out of their home.

Perhaps the only negative with the Oracode system is that you seem to have to punch the numbers in slowly.  Other than that guests seem to enjoy the ease with which they can check in and out.  Often guests do not even have to stop at the rental company.  That truly saves the guest time and hassle especially if reaching the home requires them to get back in traffic.

One of the fastest growing markets in tourism are tech savvy travelers.  Recently a study was done by HotelMotel.com on this growing trend of vacationers.  Perhaps the most amazing thing found in the study was the age makeup of tech savvy travelers.  Tech savvy travelers are ” are equally likely to be Echo Boomers (18-28 years of age) as Baby Boomers (43 to 61 years of age)”.  For many Outer Banks home owners there potential renters are definitely in the 28-61 years of age.

The tech savvy travelers were also found to be “highly educated” and with 30% of households making in excess of $100,000.  This group of travelers were also found to spend as 50% more than there “non techie” counterparts.  37% were found to have visited a social network like MySpace or Facebook, than a travel review site like TripAdvisor.

Vacation home owners should pay attention over 40% have taken a virtual tour before they went somewhere.  An often overlooked aspect of vacation home marketing is the value in a good virtual tour.  Home owners with this group it is important to deliver what you advertise.  A full third have written a travel review online.
This is an emerging market and for those who value their Outer Banks vacation rentals it is important to stay ahead of the trend.  Wireless internet is the minimum any home owner should offer.  It today’s market a Outer Banks home owner is seriously handicapping themselves with not having free wireless internet.
link to full article

This is the 16th year for the Outer Banks Parade of Homes.  Below is some information from the Outer Banks Home Builder’s Association.  The parade is running from October 9th through October 12th.  The homes will be open from 10am-6pm.  Come out and see the beauty of home design on the Outer Banks.  If you are out and buy a home during the parade and need Outer Banks Property Management contact Kevin

2008 Parade of Homes

The participating builders and associate members of the Outer Banks Home Builders Association hope you will join us for this annual Parade. And our tour is your tour – to be taken on your own timetable through Sunday, October 12. All Parade homes are open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. all four days of the tour. These homes are each a unique interpretation of life at the beach – be it design of the home, themed décor, location or purpose– with tremendous diversity among the offerings.

For four days only you can personally experience homes from 1300 square feet to over 8000 square feet; from three bedrooms to ten; from the year-round comforts and amenities of a home in which you can realistically live all the way to the sumptuous luxury and modern conveniences provided by custom commercial kitchens, screen rooms, fire pits, plunge pools and waterfalls. Multiple master suites, custom trim and novel décor, the use of numerous exotic hardwoods and extensive decorative tile work, as well as the new “must haves” – elevators, media rooms, home theaters, game rooms, pools and spas, and tiki bars – round out the sampling.

The participating builder members, their staff members and vendors will be in the homes each day until 6 p.m. Your $10.00 ticket may be purchased in advance, at any of the homes or at select ticket outlets. Your ticket is valid for all four days of the event and a portion of all ticket proceeds will go to support the OBHBA Charitable Fund and the Outer Banks Food Pantry.

This is a serious request from the Dare County Association of Fire Officers. As you will see below one of the most overlooked maintenance items, pool gates are one of the most important items to check for routine maintenance. I know many Outer Banks property managers are quite vigilant in checking pool gates. This is for quite good reason. When you home offers a pool there becomes an increased level of responsibility. Perhaps the most important safety feature is self-locking pool gates. Below is the letter. It is worth taking a look at.

The Dare County Association of Fire Officers is a group comprised of senior level and Chief Officers from all fifteen of Dare County’s fire departments, Hatteras Island Rescue Squad, Dare County Fire Marshal’s Office and several associate organizations. One of our primary purposes is in the area of life safety, for both the public as well as our firefighters.

At a recent meeting, several Chiefs expressed their concern about locks on pool fence gates. The problem we are addressing is locks that are not maintained or do not work and the potential for a child to wander into a pool area and subsequently drown. Sadly, this has happened in the past in Dare and Currituck counties and literally only takes seconds to occur. Obviously, this happens most often in rental vacation homes. While doing some research it has been noted that after a home is given a final inspection of the pool area by building and health officials, there is no means to follow up to see if the required locks function properly after any period of time. Given that these properties are considered “one and two family dwellings” inspections are not required.

The DCAFO is requesting your assistance in getting the word out to as many of our local rental agencies as possible about this problem. It is our hope that the rental companies can have maintenance personnel inspect the gate locks and repair or replace them if needed. I would hope that potentially saving a young child’s life is motivation enough, but there is always an issue of liability if a death or injury occurs. Our Association also advocates installing pool alarms that may alert if a child falls into an unattended pool. Also, hot tub covers should be in place anytime the hot tub is not in use as there have been tragedies involving children in those too. Thank you in advance for the cooperation of the Outer Banks Association of Realtors in what we believe is an important issue. If I may be of any assistance, please contact me. My office number is 441-6234.