Author: Owner

Allegiant announces 5 new nonstop routes to VPS

DESTIN, Fla. Jan. 14, 2020 — Allegiant announced on Tuesday five new nonstop routes to Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport (VPS).

To celebrate, the company is offering one-way fares on the new routes as low as $33.*

“Destin is one of the most popular destinations on the Emerald Coast,” said Drew Wells, Allegiant vice president of planning and revenue. “We’re always excited to provide travelers with the chance to experience the beautiful, white beaches and excellent fishing off the coast of Florida.”

1. Boston, Massachusetts via Logan International Airport (BOS) – beginning May 14, 2020 with one-way fares as low as $33.

2. Dayton, Ohio via Dayton International Airport (DAY) – beginning May 14, 2020 with one-way fares as low as $55.

3. Houston, Texas via William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) – beginning June 5, 2020 with one-way fares as low as $33.

4. Chicago, Illinois via Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW) – beginning June 5, 2020 with one-way fares as low as $33.

5. Hudson Valley, New York via New York Stewart International Airport (SWF) – beginning May 21, 2020 with fares as low as $55.

Winter is better than summer in Destin, Florida

winter

For the ones who have never heard of or been to Destin, Florida; it is one of the most popular vacation spots on the Gulf Coast. It used to be a small fishermen town, not as small nowadays but still keeping its fishing activities.

We own and manage 4 upscale condos with 1 and 2 bedrooms, each accommodating up to 6 people, which can be booked online from our website. They are all in the best resort of Destin, Pelican Beach Resort.

What makes Destin so popular is that it has much better water and white sands compared to other spots on the Gulf of Mexico. Adding up the limitless amusement activities and restaurants (see our other Blog post for suggestions), it started attracting more and more guests every year.

In spring and summer, like any popular place in the USA, Destin gets its decent share of visits. Some popular restaurants welcome you with 1 hour wait times, beaches are also in summer mode hosting many people.

However, one feature of Destin is not well known to all visitors, fall and winter in Destin. We are saying all visitors, because we still get around 90% utilization from October to February but still would like everyone to know 🙂

Fall is a great season, from after Labor day until end of October, guests enjoy the more relaxing side of Destin with less people, cooler temperatures and less lines anywhere.

November, the weather is still mild, letting you to take advantage of the ocean, and makes Destin a popular destination for the month as well as Thanksgiving. December has the Christmas, so many activities take place in Destin during holiday break.

January and February are very popular for weekly and monthly rentals. People escaping from north of the USA and from Canada, because of cold and snow, chooses Destin as a perfect stop to settle.

Pelican Beach Resort has all great amenities like heated pools, sauna, steam room, gym and air conditioned condos with full kitchen and living room to welcome guests in winter season. Our HD Flat screen TVs have HD cable, complimentary Netflix and Amazon Prime, and DVD players.

Money for money, a vacation rentals in Destin Florida gives you more than a luxury hotel. You obtain significantly more place (both inside and outdoors). You receive a bunch of amenities from pools to top end kitchens to prime journey amusement methods, all for your exceptional use. Unlike an confidential college accommodation down a packed corridor, you have a serene home away from home to call your own.

Brunch, Rhythm & Brews, February Sundays

Enjoy brunch and brews at Harry T’s Lighthouse and Margaritaville, Destin with a live concert on the main stage starting at 2:00pm every Sunday, January 12th – February 23rd!

January 12th | The Two HooDoos
January 19th | Northwest Florida State College Jazz Band
January 26th | Metz Barnes and Mike Ingram
February 2nd | Paradise Bayou
February 9th | The Two HooDoos
February 16th | Bobby D Duo February 23rd | Joe Fingas

More on our Destin Events Calendar page

How to Choose Rental Condo Property

No long time ago, but in July 2016, I decided to buy a condo in Vacation Rental in Destin, FL. Before that, I have been long time doing my due diligence to buy a long term rental in DFW are in North Texas, however the calculations were solid that I could hardly pay my monthly payments for a 15 year mortgage, if I were lucky to have a multiple year tenant. When a friend of mine advised me to consider a short term vacation rental, I decided to crunch the numbers and see which one made sense. If you have bandwidth to focus on your business, vacation rental is my far more profitable compared to a long term rental anywhere. I am not a realtor, just an amateur started the business 1.5 years ago, and now own a business Destin Rental Condos, managing my own 3 properties. I do not use management company because I am willing to manage and market my property Here is how crunched the numbers to find the best ROI investment for a short term rental: COSTS ( I do not include the initial investment you will make to change furniture and bring your condo to a better shape, because it usually appreciates your property at the end)- Your monthly 30 year mortgage payment, in our case lets say property is $300,000, roughly you would pay $1150/mo assuming 20% down payment and 4% interest for 30 year ARM. Calculator is here.- Home owner association is a big ticket item for a condo, could be as low as $300 but as high as $800. Also understand what it covers like water, internet, cable TV etc- Annual property tax and H06 condo insurance (most of the time, will be added to your mortgage payments as escrow)- Monthly utility bills such as internet, water, electric- Listing fees to be able to rent your property to such as VRBO or similar platforms. Would most probably cost you max $1000/year including your own website and some marketing – Your trips, assume minimum 2 trips per year to check on your properties- Supplies you will offer to your guests such as linens, towels, soaps, shampoo. Assume 2-3 full sets of linen and towels will be needed every year according to number of max guests and beds. – Repairs and refurnishing. Hope not to have a significant repair but you will eventually have minimum $1000 per year if not more at $2000-3000- Management companies will still cost you above expenses plus charge you 15-25% for their share. REVENUE before sales tax and cleaning feesUse VRBO.com, which you can search for subject community hence find the similar units. Choose 2-3 units with good reviews, some people rent for very low rates (not sure why), try to exclude those and find the realistic ones. Some of them do not update their calendars, try to avoid those too and choose ‘Instant Book’ options. Go to their calendar to note down their daily rates per season into an Excel. Form a table including 52 weeks of a year, make sure they have updated their summer rates. With the same subject property, check the calendar to see how full it is. Also run a search of 1 week stay in next 3 months in the subject community and see how many % of the properties are available. This should at the end give you an indication of occupancy you will get. 50% is bad, 90% is great and so on. Call the front desk if there is one, try to understand how much they are booked for long term snowbirds in the low season (for summer vacation, typically from Nov 1st to Mar 1st).With daily rates and occupancy rate of your community, try to project an annual rental income. Take 3% of for credit card fees. NOW you have the cost including monthly mortgage payments and revenue, divide the (Revenue-Cost) with Revenue. Anything above 30% is great, 40-50% is best, which means you can pay off your mortgage likely in 8-9 years instead of 30; or keep the cash for other investments per rule of Capitalizm. OTHER IMPORTANT CRITERIA- Closer to the beach, or even beachfront better. Amenities matter a lot. Indoor, outdoor, kiddie pools; especially heated ones are good for winter. Gym? On site cafe or bar? Beach service?- The more people you accommodate without squeezing too much (needless to put 2 sleeper sofas in a living room), more revenue it is- If your property is high end, less utilization you may have. Couples looking for a short break would not go with 3BR, $1m property- Think with business ardor, not your perfect vacation. Put yourself into shoes of the guests, not your shoes while choosing the property. A pet friendly property would be good for you because you have a pet, but is it for most of your guests?- Is there an in house maintenance crew? Any repairs would be faster, cheaper and with less headache if there is. – Is there washer/dryer in the unit or laundomat on the same floor?- Enough elevators for peak summer times? Enough parking spots, free parking for guests?- Details matter. Is you unit sitting next to a big cooling compessor of the resort or pool pumps? Next to laundry? Next to elevators’ ding dong all the time? Close to trash collection spot in the morning? Is it peaceful at all times? Are windows and doors sealed for noise?- Any restrictions on your short term rental, either from HOA or Country or State?

New Year’s Eve | 5 Parties on the Harbor – December 31

Ring in the New Year with 5 Parties on the Harbor! Ball Drop Countdown Fireworks at 8:00pm and MIDNIGHT

M A I N S T A G E 7:00pm: Flash Flood 9:30pm: The Resolutions

Starting at 10:00pm Harry T’s Lighthouse // Karaoke the Night Away Coyote Ugly Saloon- Destin // Party Like It’s 1999 Jackacuda’s Seafood & Sushi // Neon & Retro DJ Dance Party Margaritaville, Destin // Masquerade Party

FREE to attend!

Visit with Santa – December 21

Visit with Santa

Celebrate the Holidays on the Harbor with free kid’s crafts, a Letters to Santa station and a visit with St.Nick every Saturday & Sunday through December 22nd! All of Santa’s guests will receive a special treat and a FREE 4×6 photo by SB Photos Biz.

Throughout the month of December, the North Pole Post is open at HarborWalk Village. Drop your letter to Santa in our special mailbox located near the Main Stage. For every letter received, we will donate $1 to Children in Crisis, Inc. Florida

33rd Annual Holiday on the Harbor Destin Boat Parade December 15

Visit with Santa on the Main Stage from 1:00-4:00pm before the boat parade! The Destin Harbor will be dancing with holiday lights and cheer during the 33rd Annual Holiday on the Harbor Destin Boat Parade, starting at 6:00pm. Margaritaville, Jackacudas Seafood & Sushi and Harry T’s offer the perfect spot for parade viewing. The evening ends with a bang as fireworks light up the sky and fire spinning from Just Add Fire on the Main Stage immediately after!

You can check our Destin Events Calendar for more events.

Optimize (SEO) your vacation rental for search engines

I have been working on SEO for our Destin Condo Rental at Pelican Beach Resort website for a few years, and I did well. You will find a lot of articles on web about optimizing your web page, let me summarize the main bullets before giving some additional advice:

The obvious

  • Build SEO and user friendly pages, and customize your URL to include keywords in the permalink inline with your goal
  • Create a blog and keep it rich with new articles , and also update the older articles. Give outbound links to credible sites
  • Your pages should have decent amount of text, and more pages you have, better it is. Images are important for human, but image caption matters for search engines. Therefore, make sure you add captions to your images
  • You should use your keywords in Meta Title of the page, and also in the content of the page with <h1> fonts. Use a Meta Description up to 160 chars to explain what your page is about. Use only 1 <h1> title on your page, but do not under estimate usage of h2, h3 and h4 titles
  • You must have backlinks from reputable pages. It is told that only ‘follow’ type links count, however I think even ‘nofollow’ links show how frequent your web site is talked about. Do not go to gray or black hat SEO to buy junks of spammy links. Choose a few quality sites intended for your business and write unique articles with rich content.
  • You must also link your pages to each other preferably 1-2 times from each page. This is called on site SEO and tells more to engines about navigating in your site.
  • Use social media like Facebook, Yelp and Google+ to create posts linking to your blog or page. Subscribe to Facebook groups or add posts to Google+ communities about your business.
  • Add your business to Google Business and ask your guests to review it
  • Use Rich Snippets on you website. Especially the ones for Local Business, FAQ and Events.
  • Pagespeed is very important, especially for mobile sites. It is a criteria for Google to rank you higher. And if your pages are fast enough, you will have lower bounce rates. Test your website at Pagespeed and GTMetrix, they are both free. Try to implement their suggestions and minimize the load on your site. Do not use too many plugins, or do not use a Wix site.
SEO for Vacation Rentals

And here are the bonus items from me

  • Use http://moz.com trial to see what issues you have on your site (trial is for 30 days). Also use https://moz.com/link-explorer/ to find backlinks. Identify a competitor and analyze who gives links to their site
  • Use https://monitorbacklinks.com trial for 30 days again to see backlink quality, and your competitor’s links. Check the ratings of those domains as well as their spam score. The better rating, lower score, the better the web page is
  • Study competitor links, go to those sites and find out how you can put your links like they did
  • http://Activerain.com is a good venue to subscribe and write blogs like this and link to your page (real estate). You need to pay annual subscription, but for me it was worth
  • https://www.helpareporter.com/ is a journalism site, you can subscribe free and follow-up the daily emails you get from journalists looking for information on different topics. If something is good fit for your business, write them to have an article on the web
  • There are a lot of blog registries where you can sign-up your blog, and get a link back. Most of them are now charging $4-5 to put your blog in but I may be worth doing that. Ex. https://www.blogarama.com . Here is an article.
  • Prepare a site at https://sites.google.com/ , put your business information, power points, documents, excels with links in it. Stuff it up with a lot of material like you use it often.
  • http://fiverr.com is a place where people do quick projects for you. Search it and try to find good professionals who would put your articles in good rated pages and blogs (like 5-10, not in hundreds). Write 10 unique articles with keywords in it, try not to use an article multiple times in different sites
  • Again in Fiverr, find people who do 100-150 citations in business directories, they can create your business quickly in many business portal
  • Houfy is a free vacation rental listing. Not much exposure but it is a good backlink option (although they give nofollow links). Tripz.com is another listing site where you can link your listing to your domain.

Tapas & Tequila presented by Garden & Gun Magazine – March 8th

A weekend of culinary experiences and craft beverages begins on Friday, March 8th at 7:00pm with a Tapas & Tequila Kick-Off Party presented by Garden & Gun—- featuring Nashville band Humming House.

Hosted on the Captain’s Deck, overlooking the Destin Harbor, enjoy an evening of delightful small plates and signature tequila beverages, mixologist demonstrations and more. This is one party under the stars you do not want to miss!

Purchase tickets HERE for Friday night. **Tickets are (claimed to be ) expected to sell out for this event.