Help for Owners

Currently we are only accepting waterfront homes/condos or homes/condos with access to water and/or fishing facilities. Because of our unique niche market of “fishing getaways” we rent these types of properties well. While we do occasionally accept off water properties, these homes do not rent well for us. We do not accept mobile homes or trailers into our program. We expect homes to be in good condition and nicely furnished and decorated.  

Call us 361-727-0312 and we can give you a complimentary rental revenue and assessment of your property.

We provide you with an owner’s packet that has a check list and all the paperwork we need. We walk the property with you to go over anything that you may need to do to ready your home for rentals.

Owners are encouraged to regularly update their property. With these changes, owners may wish to expand or sometimes limit certain amenities offered. While expansion is never a problem, restricting or limiting certain amenities could affect existing reservations.

If an owner wishes to restrict or eliminate certain amenities, VTrips will enact these changes for all new reservations going forward. Please note that before making changes that could affect existing reservations, you must contact VTrips and verify the reservations in place that this change could affect. Your local office will work with you to ensure these changes are made to your satisfaction without compromising the guests currently booked at your property.

When listing your property for rent, it is important to offer all the comforts of home your family would expect. This includes providing many of the basic amenities that you would have within your own home such as a fully equipped kitchen with cookware, dishware, silverware, appliances, etc. You must have cable or satellite TV and internet service as many guests expect these features.

A detailed list of all the items and amenities will be provided for you. If there are items that you are missing and need assistance in stocking, your dedicated local rental manager can coordinate the purchase and stocking to have your home guest-ready.

We provide you a unique owner dashboard so you can review results from your properties, any day, anytime. We send you a monthly report to your email and to the owner portal.

Reviews are monitored on a per unit level and managed on many platforms including social media, Google, Yelp, BBB, airbnb and VRBO. Our team stays responsive and addresses the concerns of guests and owners as needed.

Guests have a 48-hour window in which they are able to cancel a reservation without penalty. They also have the optional ability to cancel 21 days out on reservations for stays less than 30 days with our Peace of Mind policy. If you notice in your owner’s portal that an upcoming reservation has cancelled please let us know. If the time frame does not get rebooked and the guest canceled outside of their 48-hour window, we will pay you cancellation income based on what the guest has paid toward their reservation.

Owners can use their homes whenever they like. We provide an owner’s portal that you can log into and block dates for personal use. You are required to block dates ahead of time as we will not cancel a reservation that is already in place. While we do not limit how often the owners can use the home (even weeks or months at a time), we do require that the home is a year-round rental.

Guests will book your unit with the understanding the property will be available. To preserve owner, property and company integrity we are not able to relocate guests to accommodate owner stays. For this reason it is important to book owner reservations as soon as possible. The owner’s calendar is open for approximately two (2) future years. Owner reservations can be booked via the owner portal.

This would be classified as an owner referral reservation. When you have an owner referral, please send an email to OwnerAccount@vtrips.com. Include the guest contact information in the email along with the following details:

• Guest First and Last Name
• Phone Number
• Email Address
• Arrival and Departure Date
• Price for Rent that you Quoted

Please remember, there are additional taxes and fees when quoting your potential guests. This is important to avoid lost bookings due to a difference in quotes.

We are proud to offer keyless entry to eliminate keys to guests, increase security, and improve overall guest experience. The electronic lock eliminates the need for mechanical keys greatly increasing guest/homeowner security. Guests love the convenience of going straight to the property and not having to worry about losing a key or needing multiple keys. Guests are issued a PIN (personal identification number) that is active only for the period of their reservation. You will be issued a homeowner access code that will be active for each period you are at your property. Security and accountability are also increased by recording each property access by person, date, and time and can be viewed online by one of our staff. We will be able to control access by issuing codes that are good for a specific period (guest reservation period, contractor access for 4 hours) or for an unlimited period. We will be able to authorize-deny user access wirelessly within 60 seconds.

Miss Kitty’s collects and files all hotel and venue taxes for you.  

If a guest stay covers more than one calendar month you will be paid based on the actual days stayed during each calendar month. For a reservation that checks in on 1/28 and checks out on 2/13, owners are paid for 1/28-1/31 on January’s statement and 2/1-2/13 on February’s statement.

No. Miss Kitty’s operates a commercial laundry service, and we provide sheets, towels, bathmats, kitchen towels, and fishing towels for your property. Your home will be equipped with high quality, properly sanitized linens that create a quality experience for guests.

We bill the guest for housekeeping, so this does not come out of your rental income. When you or your personal guests stay at the house, we will also arrange for cleaning and bill you on your monthly statement.

Please contact our local office for any housekeeping or maintenance issues.

Miss Kitty’s has an in-house maintenance department and offers an inclusive monthly maintenance program to help maintain your home. Our policy is “zero-based work orders” meaning we strive to complete each work order the day it comes in. We work closely with local HVAC companies, electricians, plumbers, and other contractors for maintenance issues that need to be outsourced. We can also help you arrange and monitor remodeling and upgrades to your home. We have 24/7 on-call maintenance.

Miss Kitty’s offers a damage waiver program in which the guest pays a nonrefundable damage waiver that covers them for up to $2000 worth of accidental damage to your home. This program works better for guests and homeowners.

VTrips has a robust marketing team with the support of marketing experts in each destination.  

• Social Media Promotions
• Marketing Email Campaigns
• Brand Messaging
• Event Sponsorships
• Print Advertising
• Partnering with Destination Marketing Organizations
• Third Party Partnerships 

Our revenue management team and our local area experts manually review rates through a customized and personalized process, using the latest technology software to help determine the best rates in the market to maximize profits.