JERSEY SHORE – The summer season is upon us, and that means rental units in the area will soon be populated by vacationers from the northern end of the state, New York, Philadelphia and beyond.
Duane Watlington, founder of Vacation Rentals Jersey Shore LLC, who has rental sites in Long Beach Island, Ocean City and the Wildwoods, provided Jersey Shore Online with his thoughts concerning summer season 2024.
Watlington said, “the Jersey Shore is always popular. It’s a great vacation destination. It’s affordable. There are all different ranges from $1,000 a week cottages all the way up to $50,000 a week luxury ocean front homes with pools and everything in between.”
He also noted, “there are all different types of experiences too. The Jersey Shore has so many unique things and every town has its own flavor that brings out rentals to the shore. Our company is engaged in connecting renters and owners in the three markets we serve.”
“We want to keep vacations affordable for families. With inflation, it is ever so important to save every penny you can, and so our website has no booking fees for the vacationers when they connect to an owner through our website. We call that renting direct,” Watlington explained. He urged renters to be aware of booking fee inclusion and to avoid that added expenditure.
“When you rent direct, with an owner, you don’t pay any fees and most likely you won’t pay any taxes either. When you stay at a hotel or when you rent through Vrbo (a rental booking agency) or a bed and breakfast, you must pay a short-term rental tax. If you go direct, with an owner or realtor you save that tax and you don’t pay any booking fees as well to the platform,” Watlington added.
He noted that his websites are a “virtual classified advertising listing website that connects owners and vacationers to rent at the shore. I think a great tip for anybody whose budget might be tight because of inflation and what we are going through right now and who wants an affordable vacation they can find it at the Jersey Shore.”
“When you add up those two fees it averages up to 25% to the cost of your vacation. Imagine a family of four that is going to spend $3,000 to rent a home for the week at the shore, they are going to pay an extra $750 in taxes and fees,” Watlington said.
Watlington added, “that $750 can go a long way. That is over $100 a night for a week’s vacation. Right there, that covers a reasonable dinner or a night out for every night of the week for that family. That would be spending money for every night.”
When asked if he was seeing the impact of the economy causing some vacationers to reconsider going away or reducing the number of days they escape from their regular life routine, Watlington replied, “there is a much bigger demand for smaller stays. The economy has something to do with that, but so does the generational shift in preferences for vacations.”
“Your younger people – 35 and under – they would rather do a couple of long weekend vacations instead of a week-long vacation. However, at the Jersey Shore there are not a lot of opportunities for that in July and August. It is pretty much weekly rentals during those months,” he added.
“Families this year are thinking about whether they can afford a vacation or not, and my answer to that is yes, go to the shore. For one, you don’t have to pay for airline tickets or travel. It’s a tank of gas maybe to get there. You can rent a house and be at the shore. You don’t have to go out to dinner every night. You can cook in the house because it is fully equipped,” he said.
Watlington said, “there are fun things to do that don’t cost a lot of money. You can go out and play mini-golf. You can go to an arcade. You can go to some of the more reasonable places to eat. There are plenty of burger joints and not so expensive places to eat. You can enjoy the boardwalk.”
“If you go to every shore town, they are all different for their own reasons. I think it is a great option for people to consider to vacation at the shore,” he added.
