Disclosure: Kwikset has provided complementary products to design build team, Adam and Ashley of Hatch Works who have built and own several rental properties in Austin, Texas.

Like many other people who have a vacation home, we usually rent to travelers who are looking for a quick weekend or 10-day getaway, which means we constantly have guests coming in and out.

In our time as renters, we’ve learned several tricks to make the experience easy for us and our guests, like using online short term rental sites. Below are our top 10 tips to help you set up your home as a vacation rental destination:

1. Hire a real estate photographer to take professional photos of your property to help you stand out online. Local real estate photographers are good, fast, and affordable. A professional photographer can capture a creative perspective and find the subtle beauty that your prospective guests can hope to enjoy.

2. Share your expertise of your city with your guests with lists of your favorite restaurants or antique stores. Give your guests the inside scoop on what to do in your city- especially if you have an interesting hobby like rock climbing or barbecue tasting, that they may enjoy.

3. Provide helpful instructions for tricky things around the house, such as remote controls, thermostats or even labeling light switches. Keep the instructions in a guide book for the house so that guests know where to go to get answers, or label them right at the source. For example we have a mysterious switch in the kitchen that oddly turns the dishwasher off.

4. Go big with a few statement furnishings and artwork that guests will enjoy and remember. Invest in a great chandelier, a beautiful tile backsplash or an interesting piece of artwork that will stand out in your property photos. Remember to hang art on the walls, be it a framed city map or a paint-by-number.

5. Speed up your cleaning time with 2 sets of sheets for every bed. When bookings get busy, sometimes you only have 3 hours to clean between one guest’s departure and another’s arrival. Two sets of sheets allows you, or your cleaning crew, to make the beds up right away while you wash the first set.

6. Stock a “goodie” closet of things travelers might need, from shampoo, to toothpaste to ibuprofen. Purchase these items in bulk and keep multiples accessible to guests, especially toilet paper, tissues and paper towels. Guests will be grateful to have a band-aid or tweezers on hand when they need it, instead of running to a store.

7. Have lots of fresh towels available for your guests – you can never have too many! Quantity is especially helpful for big groups or guests on a long stay. Make sure the towels are the same color and the same brand to help it feel like a hotel. We like IKEA towels because we know we can always go back and buy more of the same ones.

9. Install keyless locks to save time and provide ease for both you and your guest. Keyless locks save you the headache of lost keys, accidental lock outs, and make arrival time easy for guests. Also give guests a helpful way to remember the key code such as “What year were donuts invented?” An easy google search reveals 1847. You can also change the code easily and as often as you like.

9. Welcome your guests as you would friends – with a note, a snack, a beverage and the wifi password. After a long day of traveling, there’s nothing better than sitting down to enjoy your new destination with a drink and bite to eat. It’s fun to feature a local food your city is famous for (pecans? cheese curds?).

10. Make it legal with a city permit for your short term rental and remember to pay your Hotel Occupancy Taxes. Check with your city to see if your neighborhood has a cap on the number of short term vacation rentals allowed. If it’s a go, then file for your permit. There will be a cost associated with the permit and expect to renew it every year. Also, you will have to pay a Hotel Occupancy Taxes to the city and file quarterly.