When you begin considering appealing vacation destinations on the map, it’s hard to top sunny San Diego, California. The state’s second-largest city spans around 4,200 square miles of lush coastal terrain and is made up of no less than 18 incorporated cities paired side-by-side with unique neighborhoods and communities bursting with flavor and charm. Places like La Jolla, Coronado, Del Mar, Escondido, Carlsbad, and Chula Vista all invite guests to come and explore a unique space right within the comprehensive city limits. City center neighborhoods like the Gaslamp Quarter and Little Italy bring the flavor and cultural fun in abundance.
Beyond the landscapes, San Diego beckons travelers to come and enjoy museum hopping and great shopping as well as top-end restaurants that dazzle the tastebuds. Home to championship golf courses and historic landmarks of all kinds, there’s no shortage of options when it’s time to customize your itinerary. If you happen to be in town with the entire family in tow, stops at the San Diego Zoo and Legoland California promise to impress.
It’s fair to say that San Diego is a destination that’s adored by travelers from near and far, but if you happen to be someone who has a heart for the vacation rental industry, it’s also a prime place to grow your business. Whether you’re new to owning a vacation rental or you’re excited to take your existing rental to the next level of excellence, San Diego offers up a dynamic marketplace to navigate with a ton of potential around every turn if you know where to invest your time, money, and efforts. As a city that welcomes visitors all year long, there’s really no limit to what you can achieve here, so it comes down to knowing how to fine-tune the details that make your property stand out in a crowd. When you’re ready to see just how far your profit margin can go, the following are 10 ways to increase rental occupancy rates on your San Diego vacation rental going forward.
Make Sure to Emphasize Welcoming Interiors
San Diego is a city well worth exploring but your guests are certainly going to spend ample time in your vacation rental during their stay too. That makes it extremely important to invest in making sure interior living spaces are impeccable at every turn. You want your visitors to feel right at home and that means making sure stylish furnishings are in place, tech standards are elevated, and finishes are sleek and inviting. Effort on this front won’t go unnoticed by guests who will love that you’ve put so much energy into making sure your home is truly homey starting the moment they arrive.
Quality Photos Should Showcase Your Home’s Best Features
In an age where everyone has an iPhone with a great camera included it can be easy to assume that taking your own home marketing photos is as effective as hiring a professional to get the job done. This isn’t the case when it comes to the keen-eyed potential guest who is browsing home options online. It’s definitely worth your while to invest in professional photos of your home so you can be sure you’re getting the ultimate angle on your most appealing and unique features. You want potential guests to see how your home varies from others in the area and a professional is going to have an eye for visuals that you might otherwise overlook. They can also help you include home layout options with drone photography within your online photo collection so your guests can get an even more authentic feel for the home they’re booking.
Authenticity Is Key to Success
Stepping into the mindset of your guests is essential as you’re getting ready to list your vacation rental in San Diego. This means leaning towards authenticity at all times. Just as you wouldn’t want to arrive at a rental you had booked and find it’s nothing like the description you read, you want your guests to feel confident in the property experience they’re booking right from the start. To that end, it’s extremely important to keep property descriptions authentic and insightful. Transparency is the key to guests enjoying a great stay and passing on great reviews of your property for others who follow.
Making sure your property descriptions are authentic even applies to situations that might be less-than-ideal for a short period of time. For example, if you’re dealing with neighborhood construction or you’re upgrading the property’s pool and it won’t be available for a few months, be sure to mention these facts and offer up discounts or upgrades to counteract any difficulties guests might temporarily encounter if they book a stay during that particular timeframe. This shows that you’re open to honest communication regarding your property and your guests won’t feel like they’ve been duped upon arrival. Making yourself available to reach out to with any questions is another key to keeping guest rental occupancy rates increases even while you’re improving your property features.
Prioritize Outdoor Living Spaces
San Diego is a city filled with sunshine and making your home even more appealing to guests comes down to making sure you have beautiful and inviting outdoor living spaces for them to enjoy during their stay. Providing access to lovely landscaping, a refreshing pool, furnished patio, or a fire pit might make all the difference when a guest is trying to decide between two area homes.
Give Upgrades the Credit They Deserve
When you’ve taken time to invest in great home upgrades, both inside and outdoors that will likely boost occupancy rates throughout the year, you don’t want to forget to highlight those changes in your property listing. Owning a vacation rental comes with a long list of details to handle but upgrading your property descriptions in real time to reflect any great improvements you’ve made that make your property even more unique is a must. In a competitive marketplace, guests are always on the hunt for great options and making sure your property is showcased with all its best features front and center is a sure way to boost your business in all seasons.
Invest in Home Security
Even if your San Diego vacation rental sits in a completely safe neighborhood, investing in home security options can put your guests’ minds at ease and make your property more appealing to travelers from near and far. Visitors come to San Diego with many different expectations regarding personal safety standards and if you can say with complete certainty that your property has the features in place to maximize peace of mind, you’ll see positive results in your occupancy over time. You’ll want to highlight your home’s security system, keyless entry options, and more in the same way you would top-of-the-line amenities like smart technology, gourmet kitchens, or luxury linens and mattresses. Making sure the details are fully integrated lets your potential guests know you pay attention to what matters most.
Have an Expert Evaluate Your Design Standards
It’s easy to fall into personal preferences and habits when it’s time to decorate your San Diego vacation rental. However, the aesthetic that appeals to you personally might not be the most appealing on a large scale when you’re trying to market your rental to a wider audience of guests. That’s what makes it beneficial to have a professional stager or interior designer come in and evaluate your home’s look. This professional will have an eye for color schemes, furnishing setups and overall flow that will catch the eye of more guests over time. Sometimes the addition of more light in the way of floor lamps or removing posters and swapping them out for professional paintings can elevate your home’s potential in the eyes of guests exponentially.
Price Competitively at All Times
San Diego is an exciting city for vacation rental homeowners but it’s also a competitive market. That makes it even more important to be willing and able to update your property’s price in real time as things fluctuate in your neighborhood and across the city. Yes, this takes time, investment, and oftentimes the technology to keep up with such changes but it’s worth your while. Guests who are looking for an amazing property at the right price put in the time to search for it and if you’re always sitting in the most competitive price range, you’ll see bookings increase with ease.
Count on Cross-Channel Marketing
Beyond your own marketing website, you’re going to want to make sure you’ve invested ample time in getting your listing showcased across major channels that prospective guests will be utilizing all year long. Whether that’s VRBO, Airbnb, or one in between, budgeting for platform fees and knowing which works best for your property and guest market goals is a must.
Hire a Property Manager who Knows the Area
Sometimes, the best way to increase your occupancy rates is to leave the detailed work in the hands of professionals who know the area and marketplace best. Hiring a property manager is always a good idea if juggling everything from home décor and maintenance to cleaning, customer care, and marketing stresses you out or simply feels unrealistic in your current lifestyle.
At Vacation Rentals by Kimberly, we know what it takes to take your property to the next level of excellence, and when you choose us as your management team, your home becomes part of our inviting and beautifully handpicked portfolio of area options for travelers to enjoy. We take care of vetting all your guests and making sure that they have everything they need to make the most of an amazing stay upon arrival. We offer 24/7 customer care, so you don’t have to worry about intervening during their stay and your guests know exactly who to turn to with questions or concerns before, during, and after their vacation.
We also happily handle all check-out inspections to make sure your home remains in top condition at all times and in great shape for the next guests who are going to arrive. We work exclusively with licensed and insured vendors in town and utilize these trusted partnerships to set meticulous cleaning and maintenance schedules throughout the year and as needed. We take time to understand each neighborhood our managed homes are in so we can speak to specific area regulations and requirements to guests before they arrive.
Our targeted approach to marketing is designed not only to keep pace with the competitive marketplace but to cater to homeowners’ needs and preferences too. We depend on a pricing policy that moves in tandem with marketplace changes so that you can achieve your profit goals annually and your guests can find the best deals on a truly amazing home in San Diego no matter when they travel this way.
Reach Out Today
When you’re excited to see just how much potential your San Diego vacation rental has, the team at Vacation Rentals by Kimberly is here to help. Take time to reach out to us today and we’ll be more than happy to provide you with insight into our impressive lineup of homeowner services that take the stress out of making the most of your vacation rental and put the focus firmly back on how inspiring this industry is! We look forward to seeing your business grow and can’t wait to hear from you soon. Contact us today!
