CALENDARS

.WRD Cottage Rental Newsletter

Everything you need to know about cottage rental and a whole lot more !!!

Heron on Halls Lake in the Haliburton Highlands
So here we are again, and everyone is chomping at the bit to experience some warmer weather and to start planning for another summer vacation. Undoubtedly, some of you are going to do what you do every year and that is to rent a cottage in Central Ontario. On the other hand there are many of you who have never rented a cottage before but who are giving cottage rental some serious consideration. Hopefully if you decide on renting a cottage you will be renting your cottage through WRD but whoever you rent from, we are sure you will have a great time at the cottage ..... or will you? As a rental agency, we have been arranging cottage vacations for 13 years and as such we can say that you can rent what appears to be the most beautiful cottage there is, but if you are not prepared for what to expect in cottage country, your experience may be less than anticipated. For example, if you have grown up in the city with all of the city conveniences, you may find cottage life rather difficult unless you prepare in advance for this new cottage experience. And this is what this newsletter is all about. We want your cottage experience to be all that it can be. So don't be afraid to ask any question you want about cottage rental.
Simply send an email with your question to bill@ontariocottagerental.com and you will receive an answer back or your question will be answered in the next update of the WRD Cottage Rental Newsletter.
Question : Where is the best place to rent a cottage
in Ontario?

Answer : There is no best place to rent. Those who normally stay in the Muskokas think that the Muskokas are best and those who rent cottages in the Haliburton Highlands think that there is no other place in Ontario like the Highlands. Both of these areas will get an argument from people who have cottages in the Ottawa Valley. The bottom line is that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
All of these areas and a whole lot more have wonderful cottages for every pocketbook.
Cottage on 12 Mile Lake in the Haliburton Highlands.
..I think a key consideration most renters have is how far they are willing to travel to get to their cottage. A 2 1/2 ..hour drive seems to be the limit of most renters. And if you have kids like mine when they were very young, I didn't ..reach the end of the driveway before they started asking, "are we there yet?"
Crystal Lake at sundown
Question : What is the best way to find a rental cottage?

Answer: We may be a bit biased but as a cottage rental agency, we know that we work hard to match our clients needs to one of our cottages. However, there are a multitude of rental agencies on the internet so beware. Choose an agency which rents cottages and nothing else. Make sure that the agency operates out of the area where their cottages are located. Many of these new agencies operate off shore and have little or no knowledge about the area where the cottage is located. Pick an agency which has been in the business for at least 5 years and who are able to

answer in depth questions about their cottages. Ask the agency where their office is and ask directions to their office. If they seem to operate out of their home, be careful, they could be here today and gone tomorrow.
One last observation, I can say to you that if I was looking for a rental cottage today, I would not rent a cottage directly from the cottage owner. Every summer we see or hear horror stories about people who have rented from owners, have paid their money only to find out that the cottage is nothing like described or pictured on the internet. I really feel sorry for these people and when these folks come to us, we try hard to salvage their vacations and find them a cottage which their family will enjoy. Don't get me wrong, not all owners of cottages operate this way but if you don't know the owner, how are you to know for sure.

Question : "Why is cottage rental so popular, when should I start looking for a cottage and how much can I expect to spend for a good cottage?"

Answer : The popularity is pure economics. For example, our most expensive cottage rents for $4600 per week. That may sound like a lot but if you consider that this cottage sleeps 14, this means that this cottage ends up costing you less than $46 per person per night. Where else can you stay in this world for $46 a night on a lake with absolute privacy.
Canning Lake Sunset
Cottage rental is so popular because it's a great deal, simple as that. If you don't believe me, figure out what your last family vacation to Cuba or Cancun Mexico cost you per person, per night. Scary isn't it.
With regards to when you should start looking for a cottage, this is also tied to the popularity of cottage rental. Since we started this business 13 years ago, people are reserving their cottages earlier and earlier every year. You should start to look in early January for your summer rental cottage. It seems that as soon as New Years is out of the way, everybody starts getting real serious about their summer vacation plans.
As far as what you can expect to pay for a nice cottage, let's say you have a family of 5 and the grand parents will be joining you and if you were to pay $35 per person per night for a week, it would cost you just over $1700 for your accommodation. I suggest that you have a look on this web site at our cottages priced around $1700 that will sleep 7 and I think you will agree that they are really nice.
Question - What do we need to bring to the cottage ?

Answer : Just about everything you will need for a great vacation is supplied. The only things you will have to bring are your own sheets, pillow cases, towels and facecloth's and life jackets. The reason we ask you to supply your own life jackets is because it would be almost impossible for the owner of the cottage to supply all the different sizes of life jackets that would be needed by your group and all the other groups that will rent the cottage. A life jacket is a very personal thing and as such, you and your children should be fitted for the right size life jacket to ensure your safety and that of your children. In addition to the above, you will need to bring your own food and drink and personal hygiene items. However, there are large food stores in the villages so don't think that you will need to bring all your food from home. The same is true for beer, wine and liquor.

Question - When listing my cottage with a rental agency, why are some rental agencies so cheap.

Answer : As the owner of a cottage, you have to be careful when listing your cottage. The primary reason for listing your cottage with a rental agency is to have the rental of your cottage done professionally by a company who will handle the rental process from beginning to end. You can list your cottage very inexpensively with some companies but as you will find, you will end up doing all the work. This is why these rental companies are so inexpensive. Some of these companies even operate outside of Canada so it is obvious that they never visit the cottage they list on their web sites which means that they are trusting the cottage owner to supply pictures and information which truly represent the property. We had a couple into our offices recently who said that the pictures of the cottage they decided to rent were very old and did not represent the cottage as it existed when they arrived for their vacation. So if you are planning to rent out your cottage and you want an agency to handle the rental, look for a full service agency which means that the agency will handle the rental from beginning to end. A full service agency should perform the following tasks ...

1) The agency should respond quickly to all inquiries to rent your cottage.
2) All contracts with the renter should be handled by the agency.
2B) The agency should screen the potential renter's booking application to ensure accuracy of the information and that this renter / cottage match is a good fit for all concerned.
3) Once the booking application is approved, all money transfers should be handled by the agency including down payment, final payment and security deposit and the agency should accept payment by credit card.
4) While the renter is in residence in the cottage, all problems, if any, should be handled by the agency.
5) After the renter leaves the cottage at the end of their vacation, the agency should ensure that the cottage and property is ready for the next renter.
6) A quality agency will survey the client to ensure that they enjoyed their vacation and should ask for suggestions to make the stay at this particular cottage even better than they experienced.

If the above tasks are performed professionally, you can see why full service agencies charge what they do for these services. Cottage rental is more complex than people think if it is done right. It requires professionalism, dedication and a staff who are conscientious and responsive to the needs of the owner and renters alike.


Question: I have visited a lot of cottage rental web sites and it becomes very confusing when evaluating value for my rental dollar. How do I know that the rental rate on a particular cottage is fair?

Answer: This is a very good question !!! I think that a lot of it is determined by the rental agency and the amount of experience the agency has in cottage rental. In the
case of WRD Cottage Rental, we put all of our cottages through a process whereby we take all the emotion out of the pricing process by evaluating what a cottage has to offer in the form of amenities, extras, how many renters can stay in the cottage, what the shoreline is like, what exposure the cottage
has, does the cottage allow pets, does the cottage have satellite reception, internet capabilities, is there a hot tub or sauna, how far from the nearest town, what kind of watercraft etc., etc., etc., etc.
By the time a cottage appears on our web site, we have a very good idea as to what that cottage is worth and that the cottage has gone through a professional evaluation and scutiny to determine the rental rate. In the final analysis, there is no such thing as the perfect cottage and we take all negatives and all positives into account when pricing a cottage.

Have a question about cottage rental? Email it to bill@ontariocottagerental.com

Watch this page for updates and additions !!!