Bend Dutch Vacation Rentals, Inc. (BDVR) celebrates their 11th anniversary this month. In collaboration with the anniversary they announce a new downtown office location in the Bend Chamber of Commerce building (the old post office).
BDVR also announce the addition of staff member, Jennifer Peterson, in the position of reservationists. In its 11 years Bend Dutch has created partnerships with over 20 other vacation rental websites, which has increased their bookings by over 40 percent in the last few years.
According to Owner and Founder Susan Carrington, “Aligning with the network partners including Flipkey, VRBO, Tripadvisor, to mention some of the more popular, has made an incredible difference to our bookings and our owners. So much internet outreach via our web page and our network creates a healthy rental income on an annual basis for our vacation rentals.”
It is important to Carrington to have a healthy business; she feels it is just as important to assist in cultivating a healthy community and family through the tough economic times.
“A while back there were some homeowners who were considering selling their homes to get some financial relief,” explained Carrington. “When these owners came on-board with us, because of our strong marketing reach, they were able to keep their homes and generate income. How wonderful is that?”
Carrington does caution that the “free” vacation rental website sign-up will only offer so much — a slot on one website, with many other listings. Signing up with smaller companies with small advertising budgets will offer the smaller return.” Just as important as marketing is the care of the owner’s investment, their homes. Carrington suggests that the attention to every detail from curb appearance, HOA compliance, all interior and its contents have added to their success.
“Off-site vacation rental companies are working hard to come into the Bend market,” says Carrington, a Bend resident since the 1970s. “We get the calls from unhappy owners to come into their vacation rentals and find the off-site companies did not attend their homes and its contents. The off-site company hired an individual to clean the house, answer the phones and perhaps do some other tasks. After a while the breakdown defeats the whole process. We have inherited some of these homes and created a nice difference and it has built us to where we are on this happy anniversary of eleven years.
“Some of our homes have been with us since the beginning and will leave only through a sale with the increased equity of our good care.”
Susan Carrington, agent, Bend Dutch Vacation Rentals, Inc., 777 NW Wall Street, Suite 106, Bend, OR 977011 info@benddutchrentals.com, www.benddutchrentals.com, 541-322-0218, 866-322-0218.
