Sometimes life gets the best of us. We get wrapped up in decorating the house, cooking for the holidays, and coordinating school vacation schedules and forget to take care of a few important details — like our family’s holiday travel plans!  The majority of our news is focused around our current and future homeowner clients and their real estate question, but this week, we’re going to help you take advantage of someone else’s real estate to meet your holiday travel needs.

No matter where you’re headed, you might find yourself in need of vacation accommodations for you and your family. So where do you stay if you’re not staying at a family member’s or a friend’s house? You can skip the hotel and stay in someone else’s home by using a vacation rental.

If you’ve never used a vacation rental when you travel, you’re missing out! All of the creature comforts of home and available in a wide variety of price ranges, nearly every real estate market in the world has a certain supply of these gems. We’ll give you four tools for finding them so you can see what it’s like to enjoy a home away from home and maybe skip the single-room family living routine this holiday season if your travels demand that you find other accommodations.

HomeAway: One of the largest vacation rental by owner sites in the world, properties are available everywhere from Peoria, Illinois to Paris, France. All communications are directly with the homeowners or property management companies.

VRBO: Owned by HomeAway, their worldwide reach is just as extensive.  While you might find many of the same properties on the two sites, you might find that you prefer one website’s experience to the other. All communications are directly with the property owners — no middle men here!

TripAdvisor: While you might be familiar with this site for reading hotel and other travel-type reviews, they’ve recently started offering vacation rentals. See what it’s like to have a Christmas tree in your living room at a home away from home by using their search engine to find your ideal nest for the winter holidays.

Evolve Vacation Rental: They’re just starting up and adding new properties each day, but search by map and find the perfect place to call home for your winter travels. They have every type of property, from stunning estates to suburban single-family retreats and condos. Keep them on your radar and enjoy the gorgeous property photos in their listings.

We’ll see you next week for a pre-Christmas wish. Until then – happy holidays.

The Staff at San Juan Realty, Inc.