If you are a reader of this blog and you listen to the podcast, it will not have escaped you that I have listed my two river front cottages for sale. I need to sell them before we begin to build on our Bahamas land, so as you can imagine, I’m quite keen to get a buyer.

The dilemma I face is that I haven’t been able to get anyone to value the cottages as ‘income properties’. Local agents are only interested in ‘comps’ – that is, what comparable properties have sold for in the area, and because we are so rural, commercial appraisers show little interest.

I’ve sort of stuck my finger into the wind and come up with a price that seems right to me, given the value I have put on the potential for income generation. I know what the cottages have made over the past 10 and 3 years respectively and understand the market enough to project the potential for growth.

However, creating a way to explain that to a buyer, who will then no doubt be looking for finance and getting an appraisal, is proving a challenge.

Tweet: How to sell your #VacationRental home with @Cottageguru and Rick Oster http://ctt.ec/9qsfZ+ pic.twitter.com/yuBZVwWID6

So, when a similar issue was raised in Matt Landau’s Inner Circle (if you haven’t joined that yet, check it out), and one of the members gave a great answer, I had to talk to him and see if I could get my head around the problem.

Rick Oster is the founder of Oster Golf Houses – a collection of properties he had custom-built to meet the needs of golf-buddies who needed great accommodation.

I love this concept so listen in to find out how Rick got into the vacation rental business and hear his thoughts on the art of selling a vacation home.

Please note that Rick is not a real estate professional, realtor or appraiser. He has an interest in real estate investment, and what he shares in this episode is great information, but does not take the place of professional advice.

In this episode we talk about:

• How Oster Golf Houses came about
• Rick’s marketing strategy and how he fills up his vacation homes
• The value of the Inner Circle
• Why a vacation home should be treated as a commercial venture
• Why you need to know about cap rates, NOI, and valuation calculations
• The sales proforma and what should be on it
• The importance of creating a relationship with a commercial appraiser

And a whole lot more…….

Don’t forget to download Rick’s Proforma Template. Even if you are not thinking of selling now

Links:

Oster Golf Houses

Matt Landau’s Inner Circle

Financial Calculations Explained

How to Calculate Cap Rate