A short-term rental is a residential home unit or accessory building that is rented out for a short period of time. The exact definition varies by location, but it’s generally considered to be a rental of less than 30-days. Short-term rentals are also known as transient rentals, vacation rentals, short-term vacation rentals, and resort dwelling units. These rentals can be entire homes, accessory dwellings, or individual rooms and are often seen as an alternative to hotels. With the rentals being fully-furnished and providing many private amenities, they are a popular choice for vacations and relocations. Carolina Vacays only manages single-family, condo or individual homes.  We do not manage rooms in someone’s home or Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU’s) at this time.

Yes, short-term rentals can be profitable, especially in high-demand markets. However, profitability depends on many factors like location, property type, market conditions, competition and saturation, effective marketing, guest experience, and proper management. The rise of remote work and increased travel flexibility have also boosted demand for short-term rentals. Your Carolina Vacays agent will discuss your investment goals and will be happy to explain more in detail how to achieve your goals.

The Mid-Term Rental, typically a stay of 60-days or more, has become very popular due to the overwhelming need for longer stays in fully-furnished homes. For example, those wishing to consider a full-time move to Wilmington or the surrounding area typically wish to “Try Out” the local scene before making the permanent move of purchasing a home. In addition, people who work in the film industry, displaced home owners due to insurance claims, and those who have sold their home and are awaiting the completion of their new home may be interested in a mid-term rental. There is always the need for traveling nurses and medical personnel as well. These rentals are typically 31- to 90-day stays and require a rental agreement to be signed to make sure the owner’s best interests are covered. If direct booking, an application must be completed.

Please note we are not accountants, nor attorneys, but generally speaking you are able to write-off relevant expenses with a Short-Term Rental just as you are a Long-Term Rental. Please consult your tax advisor for your particular circumstances before considering the purchase or management of any investment property.

A large percentage of travelers have pets. You will need to decide whether or not to allow pets in your rental. The upside of allowing pets is that you open your rental to a larger pool of potential Guests and generally can charge higher rents. The downside is that pets inevitably increase rental wear and tear. 

It is legal to refuse to rent to tenants with pets except for pets prescribed by a physician to address a medical condition or pets that serve as service animals. In fact, service animals are not defined as “pets” and are generally exempt from all pet rules or regulations.  You are not allowed to charge Pet Deposits or Pet Fees if the animal is classified as a service animal or emotional needs animal.

However, It is our experience that most Guests who travel with pets are extremely conscientious of their 4-legged family members. We know this may be a difficult decision and we will to guide you throughout this process the entire way.

Excellent Customer Service

For Guests, we provide a seamless and pleasant experience from start to check-out. Communication and transparency are a must. From authentic advertising, to transparency with all fees, to responding to Guests within minutes (not -hours) for any questions throughout the process helps promote great reviews and repeat Guests via Direct Booking.

For Owners, we communicate in a number of ways: monthly detailed reporting, notification via email whenever there are service requests, answering Owner questions and calls within minutes, inspecting weekly for quality control and offering ways to create a better experience for Guests.

Effective Marketing Plans

In today’s world, you need more than just a home with furniture and iPhone photos to market your rental. The most successful Short-Term Rentals provide professional quality photographs and videos…images that evoke a lifestyle. Not only must you advertise on the old standards Airbnb and VRBO, but there are other sites (Booking.com, Furnished Finder, Google Vacations to name a few other marketing sites) that bring qualified Guests as well.  You must have a direct booking site to encourage and guide repeat and commercial clients to book without the exorbitant OTA (On-Line Travel Agency) fees. We will constantly connect with former Guests to encourage repeat stays.  Guest’s social media postings and traditional word-of-mouth positive comments are all examples of marketing due to a great Guest stay. 

Level of Experience

As real estate investors ourselves, we have purchased, renovated and managed our own short-term real estate for over 10 years. We have first-hand experience with construction, renovation, dealing with contractors and having our hands on the pulse of what short-term Guests want in a getaway experience. Our third-party management venture has grown over the last 4 years and we have helped many owners overcome prior management issues, increase NOI and encourage value-add items to increase revenue. Dena brings with her 30+ years of experience in long-term and short-term rental management. Her last position included oversight of over 4000, 3rd-party managed doors throughout the Carolinas and Georgia.

This is the most common area of concern after the Management Agreement is signed. Carolina Vacays will process your monthly earnings less any service request costs, operational expenses and management fees on the 1st business day of each month following the month income is incurred. For example, for July rental monies earned, owner disbursements will be sent on August 1st (or the first business day following the last day of the month in the event the 1st falls on a weekend or holiday). Your monthly financial statements along with copies of invoices will be emailed the same day.

An owner reserve is a fund we keep on-hand to address expenses that may arise each month during the management of a property. Most vendors want payment for their services upon completion of the job and will not wait for 30-days to receive payment. Examples are landscaping services, housekeeping, or necessities such as replacement linens, coffee, maintenance items, etc. The best way we have found to maintain these needs is to keep $500 in reserve to pay for these items as the expenses are incurred. The owner reserve amount is deducted from the first months’ owner distribution and held in escrow at an FDIC banking institution just as security deposits are held.

Darren and Dena have been in the short-term rental management business together for over 10 years. It started with the purchase of their first Wilmington property in 2015. In 2020 we formed the legal entity Carolina Vacays, LLC to begin the opportunity of managing rentals for other investors like us.  And in 2024, we took a leap of faith to do this full-time and have not looked back since!  

However, long before our short-term rental business was born, Dena became a real estate broker in the 1990’s. Her background was in long-term rental management through single-family and multi-family homes. Prior to forming Carolina Vacays, Dena was the President of a NC-based, third-party management company with over 4,000 doors managed. Needless to say, her entire career has been managing rental properties for others.

We manage all types of residential properties for long-term, mid-term and short-term management.

We only manage in the Cape Fear Region. We pride ourselves in being experts in the Wilmington and surrounding areas. This allows us to have in-depth knowledge of the laws, market trends, local regulations and nuances of the area that can affect the success of your rental property.

Our on-boarding process is instrumental with ensuring the success of your short-term rental and your revenue stream. Included are professional photography shots (not from an iPhone) and whole home video – inside and outside; the initial property inspection for marketing and safety compliance; a comprehensive list of items for the home and links to Amazon if you wish to have easy ordering power; Listing creation; full set-up in Airbnb, VRBO, Booking.com & Carolina Vacays website (for direct booking power); dynamic pricing configuration; Contractor coordination/management and package acceptance/delivery if you are an out-of-state or out-of-town owner. This fee does not cover enhanced photography or additional photographer visits after the initial session.

Additional services such as short-term rental set-up, furniture pick-up, and maintenance repairs can be included for a nominal fee.  We are happy to create a package especially for you and your circumstances.

We use several software packages to help with proper management of your property.

• Property Management Software:  Jurny – All-encompassing software designed specifically for short-term rentals that includes state-of-the-art reservation management, advanced analytics, and reporting dashboard to gain valuable insights into each property’s performance.
• Payment Processor: Stripe – Fully-integrated platform to handle all payment related needs.
• Dynamic Pricing: Wheelhouse – Software that allows you to mix rule-based and data-driven pricing strategies for daily rate pricing and to maximize occupancy.
• Direct Booking Website: Inside of Jurny – To enable repeat guests, commercial clientele (as in the film industry or insurance companies) and you the Owner to book direct and avoid all the fees from booking through the traditional platforms.
• Guest Screening: Autohost – Simple screening process to gather all information about Guests which helps to screen Guests by applying a Risk Score.  This score may require a Guest to go through an additional screening process to complete their booking.
• Housekeeping/Contractor Management: Turno Property Care – Allows us to quarterback our property-care operations in real-time. Keeps housekeeping, maintenance and construction jobs organized to ensure homes are ready for the next incoming Guests.
• Tracking Competitors:  AirDNA – Provides insight into competitor pricing & occupancy; compiles your competitors amenities; provides information to tell you who is performing well in the market and who is not. Allows you to see how you fair against your competition.
• And, many other software platforms that integrate with our management software to help with smart-lock code creation, manage 24/7 Guest communications, home thermostats, cameras, smart doorbells and a multitude of other items that help make managing smoother.