Chances are that you purchased your vacation home first and foremost for personal use. Converting it to a vacation rental may have been an afterthought or at least a secondary priority. Now that it functions as both, you may be wondering how you can store your personal property at your vacation home safely while renters are staying there in your absence.

The easiest solution is to designate one or more locked areas that store your personal belongings as an owner's closet so you don't have to transport them back and forth during each visit. Most renters will understand and respect these personal areas, and you can rest assured that the items you want to share and the items you don't want to share remain separate.

Items To Secure

Although the list of possible items that an owner will want to secure will vary widely, here are some general categories:

Clothing. You may want to keep a second wardrobe at your vacation home that contains both warm-weather and cold-weather outfits as well as coats, shoes and other outerwear. Hall closets or an extra closet in the bedroom are the best places to store your clothing.

Toys. If you have children, you may want to have a supply of vacation toys, pool or playground toys, and other special and potentially bulky items for them. You may want to obtain a locked storage unit in your garage or basement to keep these items.

Sports Equipment. Depending on the location of your vacation home, you may want to keep bikes, ATVs, ski equipment or boating equipment at your vacation home. For these large items, you may want to have a special outdoor locked shed.

Food and Supplies. It's great to have a ready-supply stash of non-perishable snacks on hand when you arrive after a day of traveling. You can store these in a locked cabinet in the kitchen or in a box in a locked closet. You may also want to keep a supply of cleaning items, toiletries and paper products for your personal use.

Bedding, Towels, and Linen. You probably have special sheets, comforters and towels for guest usage, but you might want to keep your personal bedding and towels separate. These can also be stored in the owner's closet in the hall or bedroom.

Providing Access To Your Property Manager

If you have an Airbnb property manager, you may want to provide that individual with a key or combination. Here are some reasons why that might be a good idea:

Spoilage or rodent problems. Occasionally, you might find that a rodent finds its way into a garage or even an indoor closet causing potential damage and odor. An onsite Airbnb property manager can more quickly solve the problem with access to your locked areas.

Backup access for you. Just like keeping a key at the neighbor's can be a good idea, having someone else in the area who has access to your locked belongings can be important in emergency or unforeseen circumstances.

Insurance backup. In the case that a renter has broken into a locked area or caused other damage, your property manager will be able to better assess what has been taken or damaged if the individual has access as well as a complete inventory list.

Air Concierge is a California-based airbnb management company specializing in handling every aspect of your vacation rental - from optimizing your listing to interacting with your guests and overseeing turnover cleanings after guests depart, reviews, damages, maintenance. If you want to learn more about our services: