For many homeowners, their vacation home is their place of refuge. It’s the place where they can spend a couple weeks at during the year and unwind. On top of this, you’ve probably been thinking about renting the property to make a return investment on it. Naturally, you feel your furnishings are enough and cater to any need a potential guest might have.

However, not all your personal tastes might appeal to renters. Those brightly colored rooms and unique choices in furniture may not be what an average renter is looking for. In addition to making your property suitable for guests, you will need to provide them with a few basic items, such as towels and utensils. To help create a vacation property that renters will want to stay at, here a few tips to getting started:

Stock Up the Kitchen

Your renters will probably bring lots of stuff with them, including clothes, hygiene products and more. Two things they will likely leave behind are kitchen utensils and cookware. You need to make sure that you provide such items for them. From a working coffee pot to spoons and forks and adequate cooking gear, your guests will greatly appreciate having what they need to cook a delicious supper, late night snack or fresh early morning breakfast. While it's not your responsibility to provide the food, you may want to consider providing condiments, sugar, flour and other basic food items.

Furnish the Dining Room

The renters will need a nice place to eat at. If your vacation home has room, consider installing a bar in the kitchen as well as placing a large table in the dining room; this will help to maximize seating arrangements. It's best if you provide seating for at least 10 people because many people who rent vacation homes do so with other families and/or couples.

Fill the Bedrooms with Beds

Always provide a master suite that has only one king-size bed in it. In the other rooms, stuff them full with beds. Don't overcrowd them, but put at least two beds in every room if possible. In doing this, you will maximize the number of people that your vacation home can sleep. For example, if your home has five bedrooms and you put an extra full-size bed in four of the rooms, you have created enough sleeping space for 18 people to stay in your home. If some of the rooms aren't large enough to hold two full-size beds, consider placing at least two sets of bunk beds in the rooms.

Make the Living Room Comfortable

This is another room that you will want to stuff with furniture, preferably couches and love seats. You will want the room to seat as many people as possible, however, don't overcrowd it so that there is no walking room. You want there to be at least enough room for a good game of charades to take place. Also, make sure each living room within your vacation home has a flat screen TV in it and a DVD player. The size of the TVs should be at least 27".

Keep the Bathrooms Clean

Lastly, there's the bathrooms. Just like all other areas of the home, make sure the bathrooms stay spotless. If you can't clean your home before it gets rented out, make sure you hire someone to clean it on a regular basis. Always provide the following per guest:

• Two bath towels

• Two hand towels

• Four washcloths

Creating a Memorable Rental Vacation Property

Now that you know how to appeal your home to renters, you will find it much simpler to find renters who will pay top-dollar for your vacation home. Appealing to such renters also allows you to rest assured that you will be renting to people who will take good care of your home. Feel free to contact me to learn more about preparing your home for renters.