The short term rental home market is a specialist area that demands specialist experience. Most real estate brokers and agents work in the general residential market, and they are not aware of the particular needs of the rental home owner.

These needs include how to make sure that advance rental bookings are handled properly, the significance of furniture and furnishings to the property's value, and the importance of effective communication and support to sellers who are not 'local'. You need someone who:

• will ensure that your interests will be fully represented at every stage.
  
  
• understands the special requirements of the short term rental market.
  
  
• appreciates that non-resident and overseas sellers need to be kept more fully informed.
  
  
• can be trusted to respond reliably and rapidly to email and phone calls.

If you are a seller, ask about how your home will be marketed and promoted to potential buyers. Don't accept a listing contract from an agent who will just put your home into the Multiple Listing System (MLS) and sit back to wait for other agents to sell it for him.

Hightower Realty will promote your home extensively in a multi-media approach to reach potential buyers both throughout the USA and in the UK. My marketing program is probably the most far-reaching of any real estate brokerage.

I only accept a small number of listings at any time. You will find my listings featuring prominently as virtual tour enhanced showcase homes on major public access websites like www.realtor.com in the US and also on www.findaproperty.com in the UK.

Before you sign a listing agreement you should make sure that you are going to get the support you will need to take a sale smoothly through to closing and beyond. Ask about your agent's experience of the STR market.

My background is in short term rentals. I have been the owner of an STR home on Creekside since 1998, and I have been running eVilla Rentals in support of several hundred other owners for several years. Since I have been in real estate I have worked solely in the STR re-sale market, and have concluded many successful transactions on behalf of both buyers and sellers.

I am very aware that for owners who have no experience of the way things are done in Florida, selling your home can be a stressful and confusing process. Because I work alone, you will know that you can check directly with me at any time if you need more information or explanation. Larger real estate companies use their brokers to negotiate listings, and after that they pass them on to administrative staff to handle. These staff are in many cases not interested in keeping the client in touch with what is happening, they just want to get the paperwork done.

Because I work from a home office, you will be able to reach me 16 hours a day, 7 days a week. Even when I am on the road I pick up my calls at frequent intervals, so I can respond to any question or concern as quickly as circumstances require. Having sat around for days waiting for other agents to respond to my answer phone messages requesting showings for my buyers, I can promise you that effective communication is far from common among real estate agents!

Most important of all - make sure that your REALTOR is just that - a member of the National Association of Realtors, and who abides by the NAR's strict Code of Ethics.