The Tribune

Mario Carey Realty has launched a new division aimed specifically at handling vacation home rentals, a market it believes has unlimited growth potential.

“For years, homeowners in the Family Islands have benefited from the desire of visitors to stay in a home rather than a hotel and they have been able to satisfy that demand,” said Mr Carey.

Now, he believes the desire for vacation homes throughout the Bahamas, including New Providence, is increasing and the once-unregulated sector of the tourism industry is gaining official as well as visitor attention.

“With the vacation home market now under Tourism’s mantle, with proper legislation in place and the ability of anyone who owns a private home to make it available for rental once they hold a business license, meet inspection standards and pay the bed tax, we expect the growth rate of home rentals to exceed the growth rate experienced by hotels,” said Mr Carey.

Private rentals, he believes, are attractive to families who are able to cook their own meals when they want, gather in a living room or around a pool, and enjoy a more personal vacation style than they might experience in a resort.

“These visitors are major contributors to a local economy,” Mr Carey explained “They rent cars, buy groceries, eat in local restaurants, often rent boats or go out on fishing charters, doing beach trips.”

With the trend towards private home preference on the increase, Mr Carey said the time was right for a real estate company to step up to a full marketing and management role, something previously shared by property managers who managed a property part-time and homeowners who marketed through personal connections and websites like HomeAwayfromHome and VRBO (Vacation Rentals by Owner).

“Fortunately, for us, we identified an ideal person to head the division, Tina Bain, who is multi-lingual and an international award-winner,” said Mr Carey. “We are very pleased to announce that effective immediately, Mrs Bain is responsible for the Mario Carey Realty Vacation Home Rentals division.”

Mrs Bain holds a Bachelor of Science in Real Estate Management from HFWU Nuertingen-Geinslingen, a real estate business school in Germany. She won the European Real Estate Challenge in the Netherlands and has worked in the commercial real estate field in Atlanta, Georgia, as well as in Germany.

“I am excited about spearheading the vacation home rental division,” said Mrs Bain, who is part of the expanding support staff at Mario Carey Realty.

“I believe we will bring a new level of detail to short-term vacation rentals by finding a home away from home without compromising standard of living. The satisfied, happy client is the loyal client who will return time and again to The Bahamas.”