Non-specific rental enquiries such as those generated by membership of a generic vacation home promotion web site will have been sent to many homeowners. They need to be handled in a specific way. The need to establish yourself as a real and trustworthy individual rental home owner is important. The renter has no information about your home, what it looks like, where it is, what it contains, or what your rental charges are.

Provide enough information in the email to encourage the enquirer to look further. Remember that these people have not seen your web site and know nothing about your rental home at this stage. So, "Our villa is situated at Creekside. It has four bedrooms and a private, heated pool", etc." You can see a full description and photos at http://www - - -".

Offer a rental rate in your email. State what is included, and what is not, especially taxes and pool heating. If your rates are higher than average, perhaps because you are offering an executive quality home or inclusive pool heating, free golf, or a top of the range location, make sure the renter is aware of this - 'sell' your advantages.

If it is important that a booking is confirmed quickly, perhaps because you have other enquiries for the same period, or if it is a late availability booking, then say so, but otherwise do not try to hurry the renter along too much. Give them a little time to think it over now, and they will be more likely to follow up with a booking.

Do not provide more information than necessary at this stage. There is plenty of time to describe booking requirements, payment options and other technicalities later. Keep your reply as short as you can, but without compromising any of the areas I have listed above.

Everyone is nervous these days of computer viruses. For this reason, it is not a good idea to send your response as an attachment rather than as a simple text message. Many people will not open email attachments unless they are confident that they are from a safe source.

If you elect to send photos via your email reply rather than direct the enquirer to a source of them elsewhere, make sure that you keep them small and that you format them to download quickly.