Choosing a Vacation Rental Investment Property

Incline Village holds a special place in the hearts of those who live and vacation here. This is a place to get away from the crowds, breathe in the mountain air, go boating, relax on pristine beaches, enjoy world class golfing, or catch breathtaking views of Lake Tahoe while skiing or snowboarding at Diamond Peak Resort.

If you’ve fallen in love with this area and decided to buy a second home here, there’s a lot to consider when choosing your slice of paradise. For example, will you make it available to rental guests? It’s a great way to offset some of your expenses. We want you to succeed, so in this article we’ll share our observations on how to choose a property that will maximize your return on investment, while also being a wonderful place for you to make memories with family and friends.

What Vacation Guests Want

We’ve specialized in Property Management in Incline Village since 1968 and we’ve got our finger on the pulse of what renters want. Considering the following factors before choosing a property will help you to maximize your potential rental income. 

Peak Rental Months – Incline’s most popular rental months are July and August in the summer, and late December through mid-March in the winter. The winter season can vary depending on how much snow we get – more snow means more skiers needing a place to stay. 

What does this mean for you? You can maximize your rental income by making your property available during these peak times.

Location Location Location – It’s a good idea to consider your target season. A vacation guest’s ideal location is influenced by whether they’re here to ski or to go to the beach.

  • Summer guests usually want to be close to the lake – ideally within walking distance. In our experience, properties on the lake side of Tahoe Boulevard (Hwy 28) do the best – and even within this small area, certain neighborhoods do better than others.

  • Winter guests often want to be close to Diamond Peak Ski Resort. This makes Tyrolian Village and several of the condo complexes on Ski Way popular choices.

What does this mean for you?  You can maximize your rental income by choosing a property in a location that will be most appealing to your target rental guests. For example, if you come here to ski and plan to use your property yourself during the winter, you should pick a property close to the lake. That may seem backwards, since you’ll want to be close to the slopes… but if you want your property to be a popular rental in the summer (when you’re not using it), then choose your location based on what your renters will want. The slight inconvenience may be well worth it, considering that any property in Incline Village is within a 7 or 8 minute drive to Diamond Peak, so you’ll never have far to go.

Features and Amenities

What else can you do to make your property popular with guests? We get asked for the following features over and over again. Having these can increase your nightly rate, and increase the number of nights your property is booked (in other words, these will net more rental income).

  • Hot Tub – The most frequently requested amenity is a private hot tub. Of course if you’re in a condo complex, a private hot tub might not be possible, but a nice community hot tub is the next best thing.

  • Lake View – Everyone loves a lake view! Of course a lake view property may cost more initially, but over time you will see a greater return on your investment as you’ll have one of the most important factors in a popular rental covered.

  • Pool Table/Game Table – If your property has space for a game table (pool table, Foosball, ping pong, etc) – this is a relatively inexpensive way to add value and fun to your property.

Get the numbers before you buy. Whether you’re working with one of our real estate agents or not, we’d be happy to provide you with a free rental analysis, so you can have a good idea of the potential income of a particular property, ideally before you make an offer.

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions about real estate in Incline Village. One of our experienced agents would be happy to help.

We look forward to seeing you in the neighborhood!

Incline Vacation Rentals, Inc. - Homes for a weekend or a lifetime.

(775) 831-3349
mail@inclinevacations.com
917 Tahoe Blvd., Suite 201C
Incline Village, NV 89451