Homeowner FAQ
How do owners and guests save money when using Cape May Vacation Rentals?
Cape May Vacation Rentals does not charge booking fees or taxes. National listing sites do. Guests are now looking locally for rentals instead of using high fee, taxed national listing sites. If you own less than 3 rental units, owners do not charge guests the 11.625% NJ state and lodging tax. Cape May Vacation Rentals does not charge booking fees. These are major cost savings for our guests which can be anywhere from several hundred to several thousand dollars, depending on the rental rate. These savings provide plenty of incentive guests to book directly with our owners.
What is the cost to list a vacation rental on Cape May Vacation Rentals?
Our Standard Listing is 299.00 per year and our Featured Listing is 399.00 per year.
How do guests find your website?
Cape May Vacation Rentals uses Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Google Ads, Facebook and more. With over 25 years of experience in SEO we know how to give all of our listings maximum exposure on the internet. We also review each listing to make sure they are being optimized effectively for search engines.
Do you collect rental payments from guests?
We do not. Owners handle all rental payments from guests. We feel it is best to leave it up to the individual homeowner to determine the best way to accept payments for reservations.
How will an interested renter contact me?
Renters will contact you directly by telephone or email through your listing. We provide a contact form where guests can contact owners directly. You may opt not to post your telephone number, which will leave any contacts going through the website inquiry form to you.
How do I add photos to my listing?
If you would like photos posted with your listing, simply login, got to edit your listing, then click on Photos. There you can select the photos from your local computer you wish to upload and store with your listing. You can change the photos any time you wish, as often as you wish.
What size do my photos need to be?
Potential guests want to see large, high-quality photos. It helps them trust the property description and greatly improves the performance of the listing. The uploaded images should be at least 1132 pixels wide and 768 pixels high.
I'm having difficulty uploading my photos?
If you are currently trying to upload your photos, this is where you select photos that reside on your
computer to be transferred to our web site. This part should NOT be filled in with a web address.
Once you are on the Photos tab for your listing, click on the Browse button for a dialog box and
navigate until you find the image file you want to upload. Click on the file, then click Open. This will
set the path to your image file in the text box. Next, click Upload Photo and wait while the file is
uploaded from your computer to our web site. The screen will not change until the transfer is
complete. If the file is large or your connection is slow, this step could take several minutes.
What if my photos are already somewhere out on the Internet?
If you have no photos on your local computer, but have some on the Internet you will have to go
fetch them first. You can download them to your local computer and then upload them to our site. To
download photos, use your browser to view the photos, and place the mouse pointer over the photo
itself. Click the right mouse button. A menu will appear. Select "Save Picture As" on the menu. This
will bring up a dialog box that will give you a choice of where to save the photo and under what
name. The original name of the photo will appear. You should change it to something simple using
only letters, numbers and dashes. This can be done by clicking in the area with the filename and
changing it. Photos should be saved somewhere on your computer that you will remember, like on
your desktop. Click the "Save" button to transfer the photo. Once downloaded to your local computer
you can upload them to our site using the instructions above.
Important note about thumbnail photos: Often when viewing a web site that contains your photos, a
smaller photo will be displayed and when you click it, a larger copy of the photo will be displayed.
The smaller photo is called a thumbnail. When taking photos from the internet, make sure you do not
save the thumbnail. Click the thumbnail and save the larger photo, as described above. If you submit
the thumbnail to us, it will show up as small and/or blurry on your listing.
Why am I getting plenty of visits/inquiries but no bookings?
Perhaps your rental rate is too high. Compare it with other owners in your area and bedroom size, just as the vacationers do. How good are your photos? Photos are one of the most important aspects of any listing. The better the photos the better the response from guests. Our best photographed listings typically get the most traffic.
Can I include a second or third rental unit on my property listing?
Yes. Homeowners can list multiple properties. If you want to add more than one listing, please contact us at rentals@capemayvacationrentals.com for a customized solution. We would be glad to help! There are no additional fees or commissions charged on any bookings generated from the website.
Do you coordinate cleanings between tenants?
No we do not. We are a vacation listing service. Cleanings and any repairs to arental are coordinated by the owner and the cleaning service or repair contractor.
I received a suspicious email, what do I do?
Usually emails with poor grammar, spelling, odd use of capital letters and/or asking you to wire money or participate in an unusual bank transaction is a scam. The sender is usually attempting to obtain money, personal information or your email address. We recommend that you let us know you received this through our service and delete the message without responding. For further information about internet fraud and fake check scams, see fraud.org
How can I protect myself from potential fraud?
Be sure to provide a property lease/legal agreement, and insist on exact payment. One popular scam is the "Renter Over payment Scam" where a renter will send you an inquiry which may seem legitimate and suggest he sends you more than your rental fees and ask you wire back the difference. The check that he will send is fake (the bank takes several weeks to catch it) and by then you have sent the difference back and will be unable to recover it. We suggest you insist on exact payment or if you do accept an over payment wait at least 30 days before returning any funds. See fraud.org for more information.