Why Choose a Log Vacation Home?

If you rent out your vacation home when you're not using it, you could even make a profit after the mortgage and other expenses are paid.

Now, I don't want to give you the idea this is a piece of cake.  There are a lot of vacation homes out there and a lot of people trying to make money renting them.  The key is to make your home special.  Make it unique.  Make it log!

Yup, log homes make wonderful (and profitable) vacation rentals.  Why?  People love the warmth and charm of those log walls.  They're cozy, inviting, and most important, they're different than what the average homeowner lives in back home.

People want to go on vacation and feel like they've escaped their every day lives.  They don't want to stay in a house that looks like every house on their suburban block (including theirs).  

Now that you know why log vacation homes are smart choices, let's look at some tips on turning that log home into an earner:

1. Find out what the average weekly rental is in the area where you're going to buy or build.  If it's $1,000 a week, then try to find a home with a $1,000 per month mortgage.  This means you'll only have to rent the house out a week or month or twelve weeks out of the year to cover the mortgage payment.  
2. Buy a home in the woods or somewhere that you're not expected to pay a lot for landscaping, because you'll have to keep a lawn up yourself or hire someone to do it if you have one.  Think natural environment.  Think low maintenance vacation home.  This will save you time and money.
3. To save money, handle the property management yourself (if this is at all feasible).  This includes finding people to rent your home (try the Internet--sites like Craigslist let you post for free) and making sure there's toilet paper and bedding for them when they come.  

Remember, the average vacation rental makes $30,000 per year.  That means you can afford that second home after all.

Hopefully, these tips will help you get started. 

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