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I attended Christine Karpinski's "The Essentials of Owning and Renting Vacation Properties" class on August 28, 2004 at Kennesaw State University. This is the class picture of most of the students at the end of class. As you can see, we still had smiles on our faces. Christine is wearing the blue blouse, which incidentally may remind the class of a moment when Christine showed remarkable poise. You had to be there.
George, Emily, Shane, Philip, Eric, Barry, Christine, Wendy, Pat
Worth it? I don't even own or plan to own a property. I just want to do rental web sites. I was hoping to learn a little from both Christine and the students that might improve my work. I also wanted to see if I had any disagreements with Christine on using the web and on stand-alone rental sites. After all, she wrote the books. And honestly I wanted to give my card to folks who might be interested in a web site. Finally I wanted to meet my customer, Wendy, who I'm helping with "The Cape Escape."
The answers are: Yes it was worth it. I did learn from both Christine and the students. Christine and I agree on using the web and on stand-alone sites. Yes, a few folks asked for my Card. And, I sat right beside Wendy. Mission accomplished I think. Oh, did mention that the book was included in our class fee?
The students were mostly new owners and curious future owners. The class was ideal for our group. I think experienced owners can benefit as well. There are always tweaks that can help you manage and attract more business. Talking with other owners is invaluable.
Christine used the morning session to discuss buying the right property. Christine showed us a method for evaluating whether a property would "pay for itself." Of course one size doesn't fit all but I thought the method was sound and even I understood it. The method is easy; researching the data to plug into the method takes some work.
In the afternoon we covered the rental part of the equation and it was jam packed with little details. Should you rent to your friends? What are the problems with partners? How can you encourage guests to fix the things they break? Why do by-owners have fewer problems with guests than management companies?
Towards the end the questions began to burst out. Christine was thorough. She anticipated nearly all the questions in her lecture. But if we'd had the time and energy, we'd have kept her going through dinner at least.
My fundamental agreement with Christine is that renting by owner is personal. To my mind it's what separates real estate ads from a by-owner ads. I want sites to speak with an individual human voice, to build trust between owner and guest, and to help folks enjoy their vacation.
The clearer your instructions and notes the better: 
Huh?
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