Scottsdale Vacation Rental Homes Soar in Popularity

Scottsdale, AZ (Vocus) February 8, 2008 -- As the Super Bowl crowd quietly exits Scottsdale, extra attention has been placed on the homeowners who rented out their home for huge sums of money. Celebrities have paid up to $250,000.00 to rent a Paradise Valley home for a single week, and many more modest homes around The Valley of the Sun are renting for $10,000 to $20,000. When the Super Bowl partygoers have come and gone, the Scottsdale vacation home rental business will remain, and for good reason.

"Staying in a hotel is simply not the world's best experience. Even in the nicest hotels, most rooms are small and stuffy, there is a cramped feel, and you are surrounded by strangers, from other hotel guests to the lobby staff. If you travel with your family, you are separated into various rooms, based on availability. On the other hand, renting a house offers you all of the comforts of a hotel, along with privacy and the ability to fit your entire family into one nice living space." says Shelly Hein, a Washington, DC native who visits Scottsdale every winter.

Scottsdale's real estate boom and the following crash has helped propel the vacation rental market for investors who are buying up foreclosures on the cheap have turned to vacation rentals as a way to make extra money on their properties. On the other hand, some homeowners have been renting their home for years. Clair Green is a Scottsdale resident who has rented an extra property since 2003 via her website, http://www.scottsdalevacationrental.org

"I rent my second home every winter, and it works out pretty well for everyone. I provide a daily maid service so that my guests feel pampered. When you look at the price of a hotel for an extended family of 8-10, versus renting a nice home in Scottsdale, the economics just work out. My house costs $3000 for a week and it comes with some things that even hotels don't provide: a bathroom with a Wasauna Steam Shower and Bathtub (http://www.wasauna.com/steam-shower.html), a saltwater swimming pool, and all the privacy you could possibly want," says Clair.

Historically, hotels have had a huge advantage in the ability to market across the country. When someone was traveling to another part of the country, it was difficult for them to locate individual homeowners for had homes for rent, and so travelers would stay at a hotel by default. The Internet has changed that permanently, allowing homeowners to easily share pictures and information about the places they have available for weekly rental. With this fundamental change in information exchange, the vacation home business is here to stay.

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