View Full Version : long term vacation house rental suggestions
I'm looking for suggestions of where to spend a few months this coming late summer and early fall to get out of the SoCal heat. Plan to rent a small vacation house. Someplace cooler and fairly bug free but that is green. Don't want to be in the boonies but close to a small town in OK. Any suggestions of where to start looking? :thankyou:
I don't have ideas as to where physically you might want to consider, but I can tell you that I've rented homes through vrbo.com and homeaway.com for years and had good experiences.
jennipurrr
3-22-11, 4:22pm
Well, don't come to the South East...we are sweltering down here that time of year :) I was just chiming in to suggest vrbo.com - it is where we advertise our short term rentals. VRBO (and homeaway - same parent company) does a very good job ensuring that homeowners are legit. Also, you might want to check out craigslist, but you have to be more careful there...there are some scams floating around.
we have US citizens coming up to Canada to escape the heat now. Try that.
The San Juan Islands :-)
I just looked at a place in Eastsound on Orcas Isl next to the Rosario resort (where ever that is). Looked nice in the pictures! They didn't have Sept available (need all of sept and oct) but I probably couldn't live on any island because of the ferry trips with the dogs - don't know how hard that would be. But maybe somewhere like Anacortes, Bellingham, or someplace near the island ferries. What's the weather like in sept & oct? Lots of bugs? Rain? I have a friend who lives in Bremerton and she said that fall is really nice on Puget Sound.
Everyone else - thanks for the suggestions. I also like Homeaway because I can plug in "pets" and it shows only those places that accept pets. Plus it shows the prices without having to look at everyone seperately.
There are a lot of vacation rentals in our area. We get people from the San Diego area. Big Trees Village is the name of subdivision it is next to Calaveras Big Trees State Park. The temps are nice in the summer. You do not need A/C. There are lots of out door activities. The nearest town is Arnold. It has a population of 4,000. Sonora is about an hours drive and it even has a Walmart.
The following are a couple of links to real estate companies in our area. Click on www.lakealpine.com to get an idea of our area.
http://www.dorringtonproperties.com/homepage.html
http://www.barrywardrealty.com/index.php
Hmmm. Ferry trip with the dogs? We drive up and down here with dogs all the time. Nothing to it. Is there something about your dogs that would make this hard?
Hmmm. Ferry trip with the dogs? We drive up and down here with dogs all the time. Nothing to it. Is there something about your dogs that would make this hard?
Well I usually ride my bike with the dogs in a bike trailer. I had heard that dogs couldn't go on ferries unless they were down below deck in a vehicle or some kind of a container/kennel. I had read somewhere that you can't just walk them aboard on a leash. But maybe that's just for long ferry rides. Anyone know?
There are a lot of vacation rentals in our area. We get people from the San Diego area. Big Trees Village is the name of subdivision it is next to Calaveras Big Trees State Park. The temps are nice in the summer. You do not need A/C. There are lots of out door activities. The nearest town is Arnold. It has a population of 4,000. Sonora is about an hours drive and it even has a Walmart.
The following are a couple of links to real estate companies in our area. Click on www.lakealpine.com to get an idea of our area.
http://www.dorringtonproperties.com/homepage.html
http://www.barrywardrealty.com/index.php
Thanks for the idea and the links. Can you believe that I have lived in Calif for years and have never been to Calavaras Big Trees? Been near there several times though and it's a beautiful area. Love all the towns on Hwy 49!
on our ferries up here people walk their dogs on to the lower deck and sit down there with them. Perhaps a bit chilly, but people do it all the time on these short run ferries.
Part of an issue is you are straddling highest season in many areas I have enjoyed or hurricane peak season (Sept)... though no area is perfect. Outer Banks in Sept/Oct is great but NOT August high season for my anti crowds predilections. Coastal Nova Scotia better odds of fewer crowds and yet... August.
I actually enjoy the Lesser Antilles in Sept but with one eye on the radar as while no direct hits in 10 years at home we did have 7 ... SEVEN direct hits in 5 years our first 5 years... trades never fail then... so cool breezes, empty stretches of beaches, low costs and no bugs until after the rains later on in the fall.
Maybe look at altitude? We did not go to our Santa Fe NM hurricane home until after "season" end on Labor Day but even in August days may get warm but evenings were cool and the stars... and colours. Less crowded is further north in NM and very south CO but can be a long way from "stuff". Santa Fe was small town with EVERYTHING. Would put its cultural offerings up against most cities 10X its size. Interior BC at altitude and foothills/Rockies Alberta I enjoy. If you like mountains and big cities close but not too close (I still have share of place in Canmore AB I really enjoy)... the Elk are not pets even if feeding on your lawn...
I have some other thoughts but more remote (Crestone CO) or distant out of North America. Enjoy your search.
We enjoyed Buena Vista, Colorado late last summer.
We took a trip to California a few years ago and passed through a town/area called "Shaver Lake". I thought if I could ever stay a month in the mountains, this would be a good place.
I have two great suggestions, but you'd have to cross the country--
I'm in the Northeast, on the Jersey Shore (Don't worry, no Snookis or Situations here). I've rented this vacation rental for six weeks, offseason. I pay $950 a month for a small one-bedroom house. September might be more of a transitional rate. Winter rates don't start until October usually.
This town is a Historic Landmark town, so it's filled with Victorian homes (it's not Cape May--it's smaller than that, but closer to NY). It's on the beach, and you can walk to everything! Extremely walkable (it gets a 94/100 on walkscore.com) It's quant and cute and friendly.
Weather-wise, hard to predict. It will be hot in September, but not as hot as Southern California.
My second recommendation, if you want cooler, is go to a ski area before the snow comes in. We spend our summer vacation in VT and it's GREAT. You can rent ski condos very cheap in the summer. I stay in the Stratton/Manchester area, and we rent a big 5 bedroom family home for $3000/month. The only downside of VT is you often need a car to get to basic services. Other ski towns where you could get off-season rentals are Stowe, Ludlow, Killington. September would be a bit cooler in VT.
Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I looked up every place you suggested on www.Homeaway.com and it looks like the ski resorts are the best idea for the time of year I want to go (low season at the ski resorts). The westen ski resorts were still a bit too expensive and often times too remote, but Catherine's suggestion about Vermont is looking really great. I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE New England (lived in Maine a few years) and their low season runs from May to Nov. so I could even stay there in summer if I wanted too. The prices for monthly rentals are pretty low. For instance a place that rents for $1,800/week in winter goes for around $900/month in the low season all inclusive. And most were close to the "big" cities of Burlington, Montpeiler, or Rutland, yet out on the country and near hiking trails (Appalacian and Long Trails). So I think Vermont is the place for me this summer! Thanks!!
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.