The vacation rental business has seen many, many changes in the last two decades. The industry has grown from an alternative vacation option, made up exclusively of small “mom and pop” operations in one location to a behemoth of multi-million-dollar companies who manage thousands of properties all around the world. Coastal Carolina has certainly seen a similar evolution.
We’ve gone from basic, simply furnished beach houses where guests had to provide their own bedding…to massive, luxury villas with every bell and whistle, including luxury 600-thread count Egyptian cotton sheets, pools, hot tubs, tiki bars, and home theaters. As properties have grown more sophisticated, so have guests’ expectations. Garage sale furniture and chipped dishes no longer cut it. That’s the way it should be. Today’s guests are smart and savvy, and their vacation rental choices reflect that. We’ve seen similar
Carolina Retreats is the premier property management company here in Coastal North Carolina. As a property owner’s advocate, we take real responsibility when it comes to all facets of vacation rental property management.
There is reward…and risk in owning a vacation rental property. It’s unfortunate, but these risks are almost endless, from breakage to damage, to vandalism, to theft. Naturally, prospective owners are concerned with how their professional property manager can help mitigate that damage. We at Carolina Retreats have a three-tiered structure for addressing these potential issues before they become problems.
Our first tier is our eagle-eyed professional housekeeping staff. We purposely assign the same housekeepers to the same properties, so they become accustomed to how everything looks and how everything works in each home. They are typically the first to notice if anything is amiss.
The second ti
As a professional property management company, Carolina Retreats takes nearly every burden away from the property owner. During hurricane season, the saying goes, “It’s hard to fight Mother Nature.” So, we don’t fight it, we manage it.
Here on the coast of North Carolina, we are famous (maybe infamous is a better word) for our legendary hurricanes. Here’s a brief overview of how we care for your property before and after these mighty displays of nature:
Before the storm:
As we approach hurricane season, which begins each year on June first, the Carolina Retreats maintenance staff kicks into high gear. And as that first storm of the season gets on the radar, the work begins. As soon as we’re aware of an impending storm, we visit every property (yes, every single one). We make sure each home has the following:
● all electronics unplugged
Mike Harrington is the CEO & Owner of Carolina Retreats, a specialty lodging and vacation rental management firm serving more than 300 vacation property owners throughout the Cape Fear region. Before founding Carolina Retreats in 2015, Mike spent 10 years on the Outer Banks as CEO and General Manager of Resort Realty, a high end real estate sales and vacation rental company with 600 properties under management, five offices, and more than 100 full-time employees and real estate agents. Mike is a Past-President and Board Member of the Vacation Rental Manager s Association (VRMA), the largest international trade association for the vacation rental industry, as well as Past-President for the North Carolina Vacation Rental Manager s Association (NCVRMA). He is frequently asked to speak at seminars and trade conferences on the latest vacation rental management trends in marketing, operations, and strategy. Mike holds a MBA from East Carolina University, as well as a Bachelor s Degree in Bus