Steamboat Springs, CO Real Estate and Community Blog

How to Maximize the Rental Income of your Steamboat Springs Ski Condo

Many people who buy Steamboat Springs vacation homes want to rent their place to help cover expenses. Here are tips to help get the most rental income out of your investment property.

· Buy on the mountain. People coming to Steamboat to ski want to be where the action is. If you buy off the mountain, it limits the people who want to rent your place (and they’ll be the ones interested in the lowest price and not your great value.)

· Be sure your place has what visitors want when they come to Steamboat Springs. People want nicely furnished places with a fireplace, an open living area, plenty of parking, roomy bedrooms, more than one bath, and a well-stocked kitchen.

· Decorate it with a mountain casual style. Nothing is worse than walking into your ski condo and seeing southwest peach decor or Grandma’s hand-me-down Early American furniture. Spring for leather, high-thread count sheets, and fluffy towels.

· Get a spa (if the Steamboat condo complex doesn’t have one and if your deck will support one). People love soaking their worn-out muscles in hot water. Get a good sound system and a flat-screen TV.

· If you use a Steamboat property management company, check all costs and fees. Some add additional cleaning fees, yearly walk-through fees, carpet cleaning, tile cleaning, and other hidden costs. Read the fine print!

· If you decide to rent your Steamboat Springs condo yourself, it can save you the 50% +/- you’ll pay to a management company. Consider vrbo.com, create your own website, and treat it like a business and you’ll be rewarded with a Steamboat rental property that gets pretty darn close to cash-flowing.

· Treat your customers right, and they’ll come back to your Steamboat condo again and again.