This short guide is a digest of our own experiences and observations over the last few years. There may be some rental home owners - both successful and unsuccessful - who would disagree with at least some of our opinions, and they have as much right to disagree with them as we have to express them.

We always welcome feedback, so if you feel that we have not adequately covered a particular area of concern, or that we have expressed our views badly - or just plain got it wrong - please be sure to let us know.

We are Denis and Katie Le Marchant-Smith. We first experienced Florida villa rentals twelve years ago, when we rented a home in Kissimmee for a family vacation. We had stayed in hotels on several previous visits to Florida. We soon realized the extra value that a rental home can offer - so much more space, freedom to prepare meals instead of having to rely on expensive restaurants and coffee shops, and a lot more.

Within a few months we had negotiated the complications of US home ownership and were the very proud owners of our own vacation home. At that time we lived in the lovely island of Guernsey, which is one of the Channel Islands. Guernsey lies close to the Brittany coast of France.

Finally, the attraction of the Florida lifestyle proved too much, and we now live and work in downtown Kissimmee, in a beautiful 1919-built historic home.

Our home, and Hightower Realty's office

Back in those days there were few sources of help for new rental home owners, no online owners forums, no realtor experience or support for overseas buyers - we were on our own! We quickly came to realize that building up a profitable bookings schedule through the year was by no means an easy thing, and that we had a lot to learn. What follows is the result of that learning process, condensed into a few basic guidelines to help you cut some corners on the road to profitability.