Travel to Nova Scotia

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White Point Beach Resort continues to be a leader in off-season tourism with a holiday line-up that includes the best in Nova Scotia music and traditions. It’s such a great time that I don’t mind giving them a plug now and then. And the bunnies are everywhere!

So here comes the Holiday Season! Gather the office, clients or family and friends for our fabulous holiday show line-up! We’ve paired our shows with a delicious festive holiday buffet dinner.

Nov. 29 and Dec. 13: “Christmas Ceilidh by the Sea” featuring Troy MacGillivray
Nov. 29th Show Only: $17.95

Dec. 6:
Reality Show Fun Night with Rock’n Rod

Dinner & Show Packages from $44.95 per person* plus tax and grats
Overnight Dinner & Show Packages from $199.95 per couple* plus tax and grats
* Group rates available.
Call 1.800.565.5068 to book today!

Christmas and New Year’s Packages
This Holiday Season, gather up the family and head to the beach to make memories that’ll last a lifetime! See all our Holiday Season Packages now featuring:

Christmas by the Sea
2 night package from $179.95 per person*

Enjoy a magical Christmas by the Sea with your family this year. Our Christmas Package includes 2 nights accommodation (Christmas Eve and Christmas Day), Christmas Eve Dinner Buffet, Christmas Day Festive Buffet and Boxing Day Breakfast Buffet. *plus tax, includes gratuities, based on double occupancy
Book Online Now!

New Year’s by the Sea

2 night package from $199.95 per person*
Ring in 2009 with friends and loved ones at the beach with our New Year’s Package! Includes 2 nights accommodation, New Year’s Eve Dinner Buffet and New Year’s Day Brunch Buffet.
Add our New Year’s Eve Dance with The Aviators to your New Year’s by the Sea Package, from $214.95 per person*
*plus tax, includes gratuities, based on double occupancy

See all their Holiday Season Entertainment Packages

music, tourism, white point beach, white point beach resort

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Ten years ago a vacation home owner would place ads in local, national and even international newspapers. This was a huge expense and still is a part of the marketing strategy. In fact you can look in any large newspaper and there will be a spot for vacation properties.

Around 1999 vacation rental sites began showing up o the internet. For around $150 a year you could get an ad with 2 pictures and a description that was accessible to the whole world. Even if your property was now up against thousands of other properties that was just a drop in the bucket compared to the visibility.

Within the past few years hundreds of sites have sprung up from the free ones (who are basically spam magnets) to those charging $500. The main difference between the cheap ones and the big guys is visibility.

So should you spend the money big ones or spread out the same amount on a pile of small ones? Well, I don’t want to promote any site in particular but do your homework and find out who gets the most bookings for their clients. Free is okay but you mailbox may start filling up with emails from a hundred mortgage companies and other spamming agencies.

One place that works for me is kijiji. It’s free but allows you 4 pictures and a huge description. You can track your hits and change your ad on the run. For my apartment rentals I had 14 replies within 4 days and had them both booked out within the week. Some guys have luck with Craig’s List.

The internet is great but remember one of your greatest markets is word-of-month. I get a lot of clients from local referrals. Other guys I know have brochures and flyers handy for store bulletin boards.

So, you don’t have to blow a wad on advertising your vacation property. There are a lot of cheap ways to get out the news.

apartment rentals, international newspapers, kijiji, marketing strategy, mortgage companies, Vacation Properties

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Not so long ago you could make nice second income by renting out your cottage. It was nice for the mom-and-pop operations who could never go toe-2-toe with the big guys and didn’t want to. They had their clients and the big guys had theirs. They also had lax rules because, let’s face it, renting your cabin was not big business. However now even the part-time rental of your place is deemed in the “big’s”.

Here is what the government has to say:

Fixed Roof and Campground Accommodation Licence

Who Needs This Licence?

1. Anyone that provides one or more rental units in Nova Scotia for the use of the traveling or vacationing public.
2. Anyone in Nova Scotia using, maintaining, operating or managing land as grounds for camping or for the overnight parking of recreational vehicles.

This includes:

• Bed and Breakfasts, Guest Homes
• Cottages/Cabins, Hotels/Motels
• Country Inns, Resorts
• Hunting and Fishing Lodges
• Campgrounds

I can see them wanting to set up a standard for health and safety reasons but the whole thing smacks of the innkeepers trying to control the market. It stems from the downturn in tourism which saw a lot of inns and motels take a drubbing. These operators have to abide by a certain set of rules and they want a level playing field.

However, there is no stipulation on the amount of weeks of rentals there is before you are deemed a business. I think that the guys who want to rent out their place for less than 5 weeks out of a year be given a break from a business license. They should have to get the place inspected – but this is an insurance requirement anyway – but putting a place that rents out for a few weeks every summer in the same class as a hotel is pushing the act a little too far.

And the licence costs: $ 79.88. (I can live with that part)

fishing lodges, insurance requirement, licence costs, motels, nova scotia, recreational vehicles, Vacation Properties

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Depending on where you live your vacation home may be a two-edged sword: fun and profit. If you have it rented out a good portion of the year then there is a good chance that you will have self-funded, profitable money machine in the making – right? Well, maybe there’s something that might have slipped your mind. This is the taxman.

The Tax Man Cometh

In most areas if you make a dime on your vacation home you have to claim it. So if you make $10,000 there’s a good chance that the government is going to want a chunk of that. And if you are in a high tax bracket as it is that $10K may put you into another bracket which could clear away all your glittery profit.

However, here’s where the good part begins again. That’s because your vacation home is a business and a lot of what you pay for to keep it going (See my last posting) may be tax deductible. In fact, if you make your $10K and it cost you $15k in mortgage payments, caretaking expenses, upkeep, a new deck, etc. you may find yourself with a refund come the spring time.

No Fun, No Tax Break

Now here’s some strange but good news: To claim a tax deduction on a second home in the U.S. you must also have enjoyment from it. In other words, for a second property to qualify for the home mortgage interest deduction the owner must use it for personal habitation during the year.

Let’s say you have a second home rent out it out all the time and never use it. If that is the case the property does not qualify as a second home for the purpose of a home mortgage interest deduction. The IRS will see it as rental property if it is rented, or investment property if it isn’t rented. The numbers are like this: You must use it for 14 days or 10% of the time whichever is greater.

If you have a home in Canada you can almost write off the whole amount even though Canadians can’t write off their personal home mortgage. So the second home is actually a tax deduction if used properly.

For the best advice, contact your accountant and he or she will give you the goods on this information. Mine has set up a great strategy for White Point Manor.

home mortgage interest, home mortgage interest deduction, mortgage interest deduction, rental property, Uncategorized, Vacation Properties, vacation home

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Like any other business running a vacation home depends quite a lot upon how it is set up in the beginning. That is, making it a smooth running operation that can switch over occupants, either weekly or monthly, with the expertise of a hotel.

1) Who Are Your Clients?

Your type of guests has a lot to do with how you will set up the infrastructure and the furnishings. For example, if your clients are sea kayakers and hikers you might want to go for a simple set-up. A friend of mine fixed up his place for this type of clientèle. It is finished in knotty pine with a pine floor because the people are active and near a beach and there is always sand in every corner of the home. But because he has wood and tile floors this is easily cleaned up.

Even if you have a more family-oriented property you will want to go with hard flooring such as laminate and wood or tile for the cleanup factor. Carpets tend to get stained while throw rugs are not that expensive.

2) Caretaker

This is a very important find as a good caretaker cleans up after the people leave and checks in the new bunch. This includes washing the linen, cleaning, doing dishes, vacuuming, paint touch ups, cutting the lawn and, in the winter, snow shoveling. In addition the caretaker provides security.

There are services that do this so look around and ask other vacation home owners in the area who they use. If you are a s lucky as me then your guy lives next door. Mine is retired, handy and loves people and the extra income.

3) Maintenance

Most of this will be taken care of by the caretaking service but there are other considerations:

• Automatic fuel filling (if applicable)
• Furnace insurance: A 24/7 number in case your furnace quits. The company will also provide periodic checks on the unit.
• Snow removal service (if applicable): They will come automatically and plow your driveway when it snows.
• Appliances: For the money and headaches you will save in the long-run buy new: stove, fridge, dishwasher and washer/dryer stack. Get long warranties. They will have contracts with local repairmen. (We did this in 2000 and haven’t had a problem with one appliance)
• Roof Inspection: Get a private inspector to check the roof and then follow the recommendations. You don’t want a leaky roof.

In later blogs I will go into furniture and specifics but the main point is to identify your people, set up a caretaker and concentrate on low maintenance upgrades that won’t cost you a fortune.

hikers, hotelier, knotty pine, sea kayakers, Vacation Properties, vacation home owners