I think there should be a big difference. I think they are marketing two entirely different products. But if you surf the web, you won't find much difference.

Real estate folks know the type of ads that help sell properties but do the same ads help families have memorable vacations? I don't think so. That's why I have a different set of goal for your site.

On your best day you won't get very many hits. You'll be able to find out from your web host statistics. Certainly in the beginning nobody will even know about it. (You've got to tell folks about it). As you place ads at rental listing sites and as the search engines find it, you'll gradually increase your traffic.

Here are average daily page views for three rental sites on November 30, 2003. All of these sites generate rentals for the owners. None use professional rental agents or property managers.

• 153 page views for a Florida panhandle beach house.
• 48 page views for another Florida beach house.
• 90 page views for a Smoky Mountain cabin.

I hope that's not too disappointing but it is realistic. These sites produce results. Our job is the ensure that when folks do find your site, they'll like it.

It depends, but you don't have to. It's usually something your rental agent /  property manager provides as part of it's services.

Online payments are certainly convenient for owner and renter and it may get you an rental you might otherwise miss. "By-owners" can provide for credit card payments by using a service such as the one provided by Rentors.org. The services do take a cut of your transactions.

Online booking requires software beyond what we can do on an ordinary website. This is usually service of your rental agent(s) who have invested in an expensive online booking service. They may or may not have it. I presume they do. It's not something you can economically do on your website.

My point to you is that we need to tell folks exactly how to book your property. Do they go to your agent's site to do online booking? Can they call to book? Will all bookings and payments go through the agent? This is what the rental agent does for a living, they are good at it and charge you plenty for the service.

Most "by-owner" owners do not use rental agents. They do fine on the web. It's a scary prospect for many owners who live far from their property and would have difficulty managing the property from a distance. (What if the air conditioner breaks?)  But by-owner folks put in the extra effort and accept checks, cash, and money orders.

They can't hurt. But first, what is a virtual tour?

• A page of your pictures - we'll do that on your site for sure.
• A slide show of your pictures - that's possible.
• A panoramic 360 degree picture that scrolls. I can't make these but are generally available from real estate agents. They cost.
• A video - I can't do this either.

Are they worth the costs? If you already own a virtual tour, all we have to do is link to it. If you don't have one, let's think of ways to enhance your site without spending the extra money.

Once we create your site, it's possible for you to update it yourself, but not likely. I encourage you to give it some serious thought. It is very satisfying, you won't need to pay me for updates, and you can keep your site completely up to date.

I will use CityDesk to build your site. It's one of the best and easiest products for managing websites. But you'll have to buy it and take your own time to learn it. If you are comfortable using your PC, I can probably teach to manage your site.  It will take about an hour over the phone.

Of course many folks can do everything by themselves. Many hosts provide site building services and inexpensive software to build and manage pages. If you can do it yourself, by all means do.

If you'd really like to do it yourself, please read my article: "Do a stand-alone web site yourself - cheap! (Or not)"

Yes I can.

It often happens, your original web designer goes out of business, your 15 year-old (who did the site) finds a girlfriend, or you are just tired of doing it yourself.

It really helps if you have the passwords for your Domain name, your web hosting service, and FTP. If you don't, I can still do it but it's a little more trouble.

In any case I will convert your site into a CityDesk site. It takes some work but less work than designing a site from scratch. I do that because it's the product I know and because it makes your site easy to maintain.

Well, I don't plan to go out of business but who can predict the future. The fact is that you may become unsatisfied with my service; your 15-year-old may want to take it over; or I may get hit by a car.

I will try to make such a transition as easy as possible. You will own and control your domain name and the web host. You will have the logon and passwords to pass on to your next web person.

Finally, I will provide you with the files necessary to maintain your site in CityDesk. This is also knows as software escrow.