The answer to “who is” BETTER Vacation Rentals is best told as a story. The story of BETTER Vacation Rentals begins with a family with two small children crowded into a hotel room in downtown Chicago. The parents loved to travel together and thought that the children would lead lives rich with new experiences gained from travel. They had successfully visited many destinations already, though were finding it harder and harder to stay awake while they laid quietly on a hotel bed and tried to sing their toddler to sleep. It doesn’t take much imagination to realize that an infant, a toddler, and two adults might not enjoy their nights in a hotel room the way the couple once did…this night was just one of many that led to a search for something BETTER the next time the family traveled somewhere. The vacation rental experience was born for the DiPerna’s and it wasn’t exactly the same as the cottages they had visited in the New England of their youth, though there were those too. It wasn’t long after several summers of Maine coastal vacation rentals that this family bought their own cottage on Maine’s mid-coast and dreamed of summers spent there with the children and in retirement…problem was: work, school, mortgages. Being former New Englanders, the DiPerna’s quickly set to renting their seasonal coastal cottage as a vacation rental when they couldn’t use it, which turned out to be most of the time. That was May 1999…and the beginning of the vision that would become BETTER Vacation Rentals.

Melinda’s “hobby” soon took on a personality of it’s own: web design, vacation rental advocacy, search engine optimization-Melinda immersed herself in the tools needed to be successful with her own vacation rentals- far more successful than the “average” vacation rental by owner or vacation rental manager, which is renting out only about 35% of the available rental dates. After successfully organizing a grass roots effort to save the right to offer short term rentals at Palm Valley Country Club in Palm Desert, Melinda DiPerna found that there were many owners looking for something BETTER in a property manager, and that she could deliver. BETTER Vacation Rentals was born.

Although BETTER Vacation Rentals property management flourished in Palm Desert CA at Palm Valley Country Club and at the beach in Oceanside CA, in mid 2010, Melinda decided she and her family would be better served if BETTER Vacation Rentals went back to it's roots: managing our own vacation properties. 

We now have 3 vacation rentals available:

• Waterfront cottage in the midcoast of Maine: "Mussel Cove" in Georgetown, ME
• Palm Desert golf & tennis condo at Palm Valley Country Club in Palm Desert, CA "Vista Las Palmas"
• Ocean view beach condo at North Coast Village in Oceanside, CA "Pelican Place C304"

BETTER Vacation Rentals is no longer accepting properties for management, but thank you for looking.  If you are looking for property management in Oceanside CA, we may be able to provide a referral.

If you are a property management company looking for marketing expertise, we do consult. 

If you are a traveler, we'd be happy to host you in any of our vacation home rentals in California or midcoast Maine.

Where does BETTER Vacation Rentals manage?
We manage our own properties which are only located in places where real people would actually choose to vacation. These locations are: Oceanside CA, Palm Desert CA, and Georgetown ME. For more information on any of these locations feel free to visit our BVR blogs by clicking on the towns above.

Why would a guest choose BETTER Vacation Rentals?
We have excellent guest reviews and ratings which are easily found by the public. We are well respected in the community and receive referrals from many former guests as well as repeat guests. We are licensed by the California Department of Real Estate; we are members of the Vacation Rental Managers Association as well as local trade, business, and community groups. All of these associations give guests peace of mind that we are legitimate and that they have avenues to pursue if they were not satisfied with us or the property rented. In addition, guest chose to stay with us because we provide an easy to use web site, detailed information and photos, are knowledgeable and polite, and have 24/7 local coverage in the event of an emergency. Guests also choose BETTER Vacation Rentals because we insist upon clean, well maintained, and well appointed vacation properties on their behalf. In a nutshell people choose to spend their precious time at our vacation rentals because:

• Location, location, location
• Integrity-we are real people with real ethics & values-integrity is everything
• Verified Guest Reviews-via FlipKey
• Experienced-over 10 years in vacation rentals
• Licensed-CA RE Broker, means more training & accountability
• Testimonials-from guests, owners, and community members
  
• Cleaning-long term relationship with cleaning company and clear & specific standards
• For Guest by Guest-our founder's family are frequent vacation rental guests
• Personalized service

Who is Melinda? Here's my bio:

Melinda DiPerna, Founder, Broker, REALTOR®

BS Chemistry, University of NH, 1985
MBA, Northeastern University, 1993- Concentration in Marketing

Continuing Education Includes:
Baxter Management Institute: Profession courses in Marketing, Sales, Management, Relations

Saddleback College: Web Design I/II, Advanced Web Graphics, Property Management, Real Estate Principals, Real Estate Law, Real Estate Appraisal, Real Estate Finance GNC 

Web Creations: Search Engine Optimization

Vacation Rental Managers Association: Guest Relations, Accounting for Vacation Rental Managers

CA Department of Real Estate Broker’s License # 01809497

In Which organizations are BETTER Vacation Rentals Active?

• Vacation Rentals Managers Association(VRMA)
• Oceanside Chamber of Commerce
• Visit Oceanside: Executive Board: Vice Chairperson