How to Rent Out Your Vacation Home

When Danielle Marquis began renting out her family’s vacation home on Tupper Lake in upstate New York last year, she didn’t bargain that the one-bathroom house would become wedding party central for eight recent college grads. “They left lots of garbage under the couch, scratched our newly painted dining room table and left a big gouge in our brand-new hardwood floors,” says Marquis. “Everything was fixable, just annoying.”

Marquis subsequently reduced the occupancy limit to four adults and added a clause to the rental agreement that failure to notify the homeowners of any damage would trigger a $20-per-incident penalty fee. “We haven’t had any problems since,” she says.