I have a cabin and will only rent it out to friends and friends of friends to start. Most companies charge anywhere from 25-35% which is a waste and from what I hear from others that they do not protect you as much as one thinks from damage. Also remember the tax structure on a vacation home. If you use it for your use of 15 days or less a year and only rent it out for under 15 days a year you do not claim any money made from the 15 days and can only write off your interest and taxes but no repairs. Thats how I did it last year and I think we really were there under 15 days in 09 lol. I am only renting it during the winter season. I did rent it out to people I know last winter and it worked out great for me but I am only 40 minutes away from my primary so you need to look at how far away you are to the property to take it on yourelf for cleaning, initial set up, and closeing up. I plan to get one of those electric deadbolts so they will just have a code to get in only with a lower lock where I will only have the key. This way each time you can change the code for each person and I back it up with Brinks and a monitored smoke detector which saves me on my insurance also.
Anyone interested in the SB mountains with views to Catalina Island on a clear day let me know lol. You can laugh at all the people in the turn outs taking photos as that is the view from the deck.
