Best Time To Book Your Summer Rental
When is the best time to book your Summer rental?
Fire Island lovers who are looking now to book their Summer rental are certainly not looking too early! The sooner you look & book, the more available inventory there is to choose from, so we recommend you start looking into your summer rental plans now!
Fire Island Sales & Rentals does a very large volume of rental bookings, with 22% of rentals booked before year’s end for the following summer, and 38% of rentals booked between January and March. December is the perfect time to secure your rental in the home that is perfect for your group's needs, before the bulk of the inventory gets scooped up in January, February and March.
As the winter season goes on, more and more available homes get booked up, so right now is the best time to rent because you can get your pick of the most houses. This is especially important if you have very specific dates or if you are looking for a home with specific requirements such as a pool, an oceanfront property, or a pet friendly home. Because inventory of these home types is more limited, it is all the more important to start your search early on in the year. At this point, almost all of our homeowners have figured out their availability for next Summer and are ready to start booking. If you’re looking for a house with a pool, water views, traveling with pets or large groups it is very important to start booking earlier or you will likely have to make significant compromises if you wait to book until closer to the Summer season.
If I wait until the last minute to book, can I score a great deal?
Some clients intentionally wait until the last minute to book their rentals in the hopes that they will find a deeply discounted rate if a home is still available close to their desired travel dates. This strategy can work well, but only if you are very flexible with your needs. If you are looking for a waterfront/water view home, a home with a pool, or a home with a very large sleeping capacity, we would not recommend this strategy, as those houses are in such high demand that they tend to book up completely before we even hit the Spring time. There is a big risk that waiting until the last minute will backfire, as it is not uncommon for the island to book up completely with no available inventory left come June. If you’re okay with taking a chance, you can sometimes find a good deal by holding out until the last minute to book, but there are no guarantees a home that fits your needs will still be available by the time Summer rolls around.
