North Star Properties Blog

The old saying goes, what’s in a name? With the massive influx of vacation rental properties. You really want your home to stick out above the rest. Reviews are extremely helpful, but before renters can even get to that, their attention needs to be drawn to the property. A unique name, property description and thumbnail picture really needs to make an impression that will get your potential renter to click...

Check out our blogs on Vacation Rentals. We discuss the many benefits, wants and needs of guests. What to expect and what you as an owner need to make your home most profitable. 

Monica Gauthier, Owner and Managing Broker of North Star Properties, grew up in the suburbs of Detroit where her father owns a construction company. As a young adult she worked for him as a Project Manager and the attention to detail the job required helped prepare her for her successful career in real estate.   She moved to Chicago and in 2005 began working for Coldwell-Banker in Lincoln Park. In...

So you’ve finally decided to hand over the reigns and hire someone to manage your vacation rental property. The biggest decision for a homeowner as they will handle everything inside your home from guests to maintaining your property. Here are some tips: Just as in real estate your vacation rental manger needs to know the market. As I’ve discussed in previous articles, there are many factors involved when determining a...

It’s that time of year again, when snow has melted and the flowers are starting to bloom. Everyone starts focusing on beautifying the outside of their homes and deep cleaning the insides of their homes. A task that can be overwhelming when you look at it. As I have mentioned in past articles cleanliness is one of the most important factors when it comes to Vacation Rentals. You can have...

In my last article we discussed home maintenance and cleanliness. Assuming that you’ve done all of that and your home is now sparkling. Another important factor is inventory. Like a well run business you need to keep customers satisfied by staying ahead of potential problems. You can achieve this by focusing on Functionality, Comfort and Security and that will put you ahead of the competition.  Functionality, something that is often...

We’ve discussed Cleaning, Function and Security in the past as the 3 main factors. You should now have all of these in place. Many homes I see on all of the vacation rental listing sites aren’t marketed to the best of their potential. For the most part, homes are set up pretty similar when narrowing down your filtered search, but unlike selling a home, vacation rentals don’t have open houses...

We’ve discussed many topics for your home from; Marketing, Cleaning and Inventory. Now that you have all of that in place, your home is booked and you’re preparing for your first guests arrival. Regardless of the advertising avenue you use for bookings, many have their own confirmation and guest management systems in place. Do not be dependent on these, always send an immediate follow up email to confirm dates, how...

Everyone loves when they book their homes. The communication that occurs between time of booking and arrival is very back and forth leading up to your guests arrival. Regardless of the amount of information about the home and area you provide, renters will still have a million questions for you. As a homeowner, you have now become a person of the hospitality industry. It is important that you have the...

There is a cost of doing business with Vacation Rentals. As much as we like to bring in income, every year as a homeowner you will need to replace some towels, glassware, and utensils. It’s usually a minimal amount, but just like a business you need to view it as an expense of running a business and what you can do to continue to make your rental a top rated...