PHONE: 1-800-823-9501  EMAIL: rentme@cottageconnection.com

The information on this page will help you become more familiar with vacation home lodging in the Boothbay Harbor Region, Mid Coast Maine and selected inland lakes, answer many of your questions and is the first step in deciding if vacation rentals are right for you and your property!
Cottage Connection of Maine, Inc. In business since 1993, Cottage Connection of Maine is dedicated to taking the worry out of vacation home renting for both the property owner and the vacationer. We want to meet the needs of the guests and exceed their expectations so that they will come back to your home and our area year after year. As members of the Better Business Bureau, we demonstrate honesty and reliability; as members of the national Vacation Rental Managers Association, we have access to the most current information in our industry. We support our small town communities as members of the Boothbay Chamber of Commerce, the Boothbay Harbor Chamber of Commerce and the Southern Mid Coast Chamber of Commerce.

We started with 15 properties in 1993 and now offer between 125 and 150 properties each season. Our homes range from camps to castles, from seasonal cottages to year round homes, from brand-new to rustic, and from remote to local. We currently offer homes in all the towns on the Boothbay peninsula, Edgecomb, Wiscasset, Westport Island, Bath, West Bath, Phippsburg, Waldoboro, Damariscotta, and Newcastle with new properties in more towns being added all the time. We also have lake front properties in the Augusta area (Wayne, Maine) and a log cabin in Vermont (near Killington Mtn).

How Can We Help You Rent Your Property?

We offer many services to the property owners in our program. For the past 15 years we have been working with hundreds of property owners to help them prepare their homes for vacationers to enjoy. We know what makes a vacation home desirable and how to price your home to be competitive and attract the best vacationers. We are here to help. We have developed a formula during the past 10 years that helps us determine the best price for your house in the vacation rental market.

We offer varying levels of property management to our owners who live away.

Testimonial Quotes:
WHAT OUR PROPERTY OWNERS SAY:

"I really feel that our cottage gets better care than if we were trying to do it ourselves. You see what needs to be done and you know how to get it done, while being cost conscious at the same time."
Kathryn I.

"Other companies say they will try. You say you will try and you deliver…"
Louise S.

"After 3 years of utilizing your services for the rental of our property, we want to express to you our gratitude for another year "well done". Your guidance of us in our efforts to make our property more attractive to potential renters has resulted in financial gain for both you and for us. Our follow through with your many suggestions provided us with a 100% increase in our rental activity since the first year of rental."

We have made improvements in the property that were not expensive but did take some energy on our part. It was truly worth it as we now are enjoying a productive rental season. We hope that you will continue to think creatively so that both you and we can benefit from our arrangement.”
Alice and Andy M.

"Being a cottage owner and working for CCM was a real eye opener. I had no idea how much work goes on behind the scenes, before, during and after your clients plan their vacations. From helping a renter find a cottage that best suites their needs and wants, to all the equipment maintenance and small repairs, and all the cleaning that gets done, it is more work than I could have imagined. I now know that I would not rent our cottage to strangers without the knowledge and support from the CCM staff. You dedicated employees go the extra mile to meet or exceed customer expectations."
J. Frazer

WHAT OUR GUESTS HAVE TO SAY:

"Memories of our stay at the cottage will never fade.
Your staff tended to every last detail. It was great. "
John and Mary M. (Sea Hut)

"I just wanted to let you know again how much we appreciated and valued our week at Newagen Cove Cottage. Everything was, in a word, perfect (which is not a word I use lightly). Beginning with the website which was easy to navigate and which accurately depicted the remarkable array of cottages you offer to the warm, competent and accommodating staff who patiently answered all our questions….And a return to Maine, through the kindness of Cottage Connection, will be what keeps us going through the coming year."
Felice K. (Newagen Cove)

"What a wonderful vacation! Your service makes everything so easy that makes it a vacation. I really liked the combination of professionalism with a personal local touch."
Guest Survey (Stone Cottage)

"I really want to thank you again for the high level of service you have provided.
I am a hospital president in a small community hospital, so I really appreciate it when
GREAT customer service is being provided."
Bill C (Island View)

Cottages for rent

What The Guests Are Looking for In A Vacation Home:
For the past 15 years, we have been receiving inquiries from all over the United States and beyond from people looking for the perfect “Maine Vacation Experience”. Many of these people vacationed here as children with their parents and now want to recreate those wonderful memories with their own children. There is something about Maine that is special. We know this; we live here for that reason. We love it here. Can we describe what makes Maine so special????? Perhaps, but what really counts is what do our Guests think makes Maine so special. What is that "Maine Mystic"?

• The first thing many of them want when they look at our area of Maine is to be ON THE OCEAN! Our most desirable properties are on the ocean with access to the water. They want to be able to bring a boat or kayak and go fishing off their dock and just relax looking and smelling and hearing the sounds of life on the sea.
• They want is plenty of activities for their friends and family to enjoy while here. Tops among these things, are EATING LOBSTER, GOING BOATING AND FISHING, MAKING FUN OF THE MAINE ACCENTS WE ALL HAVE, GETTING A GOOD CUP OF COFFEE IN THE MORNING AND HAVING TIME TO ENJOY IT! They want a nice home where family and friends can be together and get reacquainted. Family reunions are prevalent.
• Our Guests want a vacation home that has all the amenities that they have at home. They don’t really want to be inconvenienced too much. Nobody wants to go without the news, TV for the kids, a dishwasher and a washer/dryer. These are all must haves for many people. Having multiple bathrooms is also very important and as we know, very hard to find in the older cottages that sit at water’s edge.
• Next on their list is access to a beach or an easy way for the children to enjoy the water. People that come here are used to properties in other parts of the country that are on different types of water and offer vacationing experiences year round. Because they have vacationed in North Carolina, Florida, Colorado, Hawaii, and the like, they have expectations of what a vacation home should have and how it should be equipped. The most important thing to a vacationer is cleanliness. Comfortable beds and adequate bathrooms are next. They have an expectation that our homes will look like those homes found in Coastal Living and Down East magazines.
• Finally, we want to mention Pets. Today, more and more people are traveling with their pets. The statistics are staggering. 7 out of 10 inquiries we receive are from people who want to bring their 4 legged family members with them. These animals are pampered and loved by their owners. They are well fed and well taken care of. They do no have fleas and they do not do any damage to the properties. We have a very strict pet policy that helps us learn about the pet coming to your home and that guarantees the pet will not have fleas. We urge you to consider permitting pets in your home. Ask our Reservation specialists for more details about this important part of our program.

What Makes A Property A Good Vacation Rental????
1) Waterfront: First, the vast majority of our guests are looking for a waterfront home. Furthermore, since our largest market is family and friends traveling together, we also find that most of them want something with easy water access or a beach area, where everyone can sit, swim and enjoy the water. A dock and float is a great addition as many guests have or like to rent a motorboat, canoes and kayaks. We find that many guests prefer “open ocean” where they have a seemingly endless body of water to look at and explore. Many people do not mind being on a smaller body of water as long as it is a waterfront property, and it is safer for families with small children. Properties with waterfront, but with water access through an association can be very desirable as well. Sailboat in Midcoast Maine

2) Privacy: Most vacationers are coming to this area to “get away from it all,” and are looking for peace and quiet. Therefore, privacy is the second most important feature of a vacation home. We get numerous questions about the closeness of the nearest neighbor? Can you see any other homes from the property itself or the water? Is there protection from the woods and trees?

More About Our Company Services:
Our reservations and front desk services are available year round to maximize phone and internet coverage and to attend to the needs of our guests and owners.

We are committed to offering the highest cleanliness standards in the industry. Our housekeeping staff is trained, insured and bonded. Unlike many other companies we bear the extra cost of employing our housekeeping staff. We choose to employ them so that we can teach them the important differences between ordinary housekeeping and “hospitality” housekeeping. There is no cost to you for our housekeeping and inspection services performed prior to and after each Guest. We also provide you with a complimentary preseason inspection to inventory your standard equipment and ensure that your cottage is clean and ready for the season. Your property will need to have a deep clean performed annually, and we offer this service at competitive rates or can provide you with a detailed deep cleaning (spring cleaning) checklist, if you prefer to perform your own spring cleaning. We also offer a full Linen service. We have a laundry room and employ several people to do nothing but laundry during the season.

Our maintenance team is available 24 hours a day to attend to your needs and protect your property both year round and during Guest occupancy. We offer our services to you to open and close your cottage, general repairs and maintenance, cleaning for you and your relatives and friends, lawn and yard care, snow removal, and house inspections in the winter season. To protect your property and minimize your expenses, we provide a free preventative maintenance inspection prior to the start of the season. There is an optional maintenance program that will cover most Guest service calls throughout the year, and if you are interested in this program we can provide you with details.

Our business is vacation rentals. It’s our chosen profession and we are confident that we can provide you with the advice and quality service you are seeking. We can be reached at 1-800-823-9501, or via email at: rentME@cottageconnection.com

Click here to download our Prospective Owner Brochure in PDF format

Cottage Connection of Maine, Inc. is a proud member of the Vacation Rental Managers Association and the Better Business Bureau and operates according to their rules of ethics and high standards in property management.
Cottage Connection of Maine, inc. | P.O. Box 655, Boothbay, ME 04537
800.823.9501 207.633.6545 | rentme@cottageconnection.com

Can't I Do It Myself?

We sometimes talk to property owners who are considering the tradeoffs between self-management and professional management services. Managers cost money. Do managers earn it? Are they cost effective? Can I do it myself? Here are some thoughts we have shared with owners who are trying to answer these questions.

Owner Who Self-Manage Don’t Save Money. They earn it, doing some of America’s dirtiest work. The challenge is not just finding renters, but fixing things, cleaning the properties, and taking care of less-than-satisfied guests. Examples of how self-managers spend their time earning the commission they would have paid to a professional manager include:

• Responding promptly to emails by impatient renters who are quick to look elsewhere
• Answering (on average) ten inquiries for every confirmed rental
• Negotiating rent with bargain-shopping renters
• Responding to renters who argue that a malfunctioning tub drain justifies a full refund
• Finding a back up cleaner when the regular cleaner doesn’t show up
• Dealing with key code problems at two o’clock in the morning
• Getting a prompt response by an electrician or plumber in the middle of summer.

Self-Managers Must Be Prepared To Deal with Unplanned Problems.
Are problems rare? Work-order statistics commonly reveal as many major problems per home as rentals! Managers are experts in the problems that routinely arise in putting a renter into a home owned by a non-resident. We anticipate and avoid recurring problems through preventive maintenance. We put together networks of service vendors who respond to us faster than they would respond to an individual homeowner because we send them so much business and they know they will get paid promptly. We can keep backup cleaners on call because we have enough homes to keep them busy. Our cleaners and inspectors serve as our eyes and ears for homes they don’t actually clean, helping us keep properties safe from unruly or unauthorized renters.

Self-Managers Create Liability for Themselves. Many self-managers expose their net worth by failing to inform their insurance agency that they are renting without using a professional manager.

Professional property managers minimize a homeowner’s liability by using:

• Bonded workers
• Workers covered by workers’ compensation insurance

Professional Managers are Set Up to Take Credit Cards. We can take credit cards. This virtually guarantees more reservations. This is a credit card society where most renters want to either defer payments or earn miles by paying with credit cards. Most self-managers can’t take credit cards, and PayPal or third-party services are only partial solutions that cost the property owner more than the average property manager pays for those services.

Professional Managers Handle Tax Obligations. Many self-managers are not familiar with the tax laws and simply do not charge tax to the renters or pay tax to the State of Maine. This may appeal to renters as a savings and it is less paperwork for an owner. But local tax authorities are mobilizing and starting to access property owners Federal Tax returns to identify owners who have reported expenses. Professional property managers collect and report the tax on all rentals so the owner doesn’t have to worry about interest, penalties and criminal penalties for not collecting and paying the lodging tax.

Refunds - Who Gets One? Professional managers also earn our keep by relieving homeowners of the infrequent but inevitable nightmares - where heat or water or electricity don't work and the renter won't remain in the home and demand a refund.

Self-Managers Must have a Phone and Computer Readily Accessible. Websites designed for owner-operators make it easy for property owners to market their own properties. But those owners must be willing to make themselves available by phone and have computer access. Aggressive owner-rental websites can get a property rented as easily as a professional manager. but most self-managers lack the time or energy to respond promptly to the many non-renting inquiries. And in the case of vacation rental properties, there is the added challenge of maintaining availability calendars...

Renters Who Go Straight to the Property Owner Expect to Pay Less. Websites that feature listings by owner attract bargain shoppers. Renters assume that a property owner who is not paying for professional management can give the renter a discount over market rates. Professional managers have a large pool of renters who are more interested in getting the home they want than in getting a bargain. Renters who are shopping rent-by-owner websites often send multiple email requests, soliciting discounts, to see who will give them the best price. Professional managers monitor the rental market to determine when and if we need to give discounts. We have a good sense of when to discount and by how much.

To summarize, property management is not a stress-free job. It is not fun for those who do not have the systems in place to make it work smoothly. Self-management can work for a homeowner who is both motivated and willing to do a lot of work. Some who self-manage know what they are getting into. Others don't yet appreciate how much stress is involved. We are equipped to do the heavy work for homeowners. We make rental home ownership a more pleasant experience.