About Carolina Vacation Home Rentals

Carolina Vacation Home Rentals is not a faceless national corporation or a subsidiary of a conglomerate giant. We are local, independently owned and operated, and located right here in North Carolina.

We are committed to providing a way for vacation rental owners throughout North & South Carolina and travelers to connect in a meaningful way that benefits both, without unnecessary restrictions or fees. Through Carolina Vacation Home Rentals, travelers have access to quality vacation homes while avoiding service fees charged by HomeAway, VRBO, AirBNB and other large vacation rental websites.

We connect homeowners and property managers with travelers who want an easy-to-use interface when booking their vacation rental. We are excited to serve the North & South Carolina communities by providing a growing database of homes throughout the Carolinas. We seeks to provide a world-class vacation rental platform without the hassle or fees found in other websites.

Carolina Vacation Home Rentals was formed as a partnership between two experienced entrepreneurs with the experience and knowledge to effectively provide the services both homeowners and renters need, and deserve.

Bob Bourassa

I built my first website in 1998 for a financial services firm. Back then the technology for creating websites was basically in it's infancy and all of the cool stuff available today didn't exist yet. We've come a long way in the past 18 years.

With an educational background in marketing and having worked in advertising, and even having owned several other businesses, including a sign company, the transition to web design was natural.

I am a beach bum at heart. I love the ocean and I love the sand. There is nothing more relaxing, yet invigorating than a walk on the beach. Living just a few miles from the sandy shores is the stuff dreams are made of.

In 2001 I fell in love with Topsail Island, North Carolina. After vacationing with a friend in both Carolinas for a few years, he decided to build a vacation rental house on Topsail Island. The beaches were so inviting and the island was the perfect place to relax.

That's when we learned the complexities of dealing with Rental Agencies. We went through several different real estate rental agencies, before simply coming to rely on them simply for the basics. That first year, there were only two renters the entire summer, and the following year, only half of the prime season was rented. I really didn't understand why until I had some friends call the rental agency to inquire about renting the house and every time the rental agency would try and push them to another house where they made more commission.

So, I looked at other ways to fill the vacancies, creating an exclusive website for the house, which worked extraordinarily well. Coupled with descriptive listings in VRBO, not only was the prime season fully booked every year, but mid-season was fully booked as well. After evaluating how the renters found out about the house, it turned out 90% of the renters came through the website and VRBO, with only 10% brought in directly by the agency. We questioned why he was paying the rental agency for essentially doing nothing.

Fast forward 10 years. Since the challenges my friend and I faced in trying to manage his vacation rental property still exist today for vacation rental property owners and the fact that there is still to this day a lack of any decent property management services for those who do it themselves, I began managing vacation rentals for owners that have foresaken the agencies. For the past two years I have managed multiple vacation rental properties here, and the recent changes to VRBO and HomeAway have brought forth many new challenges to finding renters without it costing an arm and a leg. Hence, Carolina Vacation Home Rentals was born.

Matt Potts

I am an active duty Marine with just over 16 years in the service. My vacation rental beach house is the culmination of a long-term dream funded by the savings of seven deployments spread out between Iraq, Afghanistan, Europe, and Africa. Since the Marine Corps decided that it was time for me to move, I decided to share this amazing house for two reasons:

  • I need to make sure the mortgage is paid, and
  • I want to provide an affordable and amazing vacation spot for as many people as possible.

I believe that providing a high quality space at responsible prices will draw in high quality and responsible vacationers who will enjoy and treat the house with the respect they would if it was their own. Remember, every time you rent from a Marine, a bald eagle gets its wings!!!

After being stationed a Camp Lejeune, which is about 13 miles from the house, I had the opportunity to visit Topsail Island and decided that I wanted to try and build. Knowing that I'd have to move at some point, I set out to build the biggest and best house I could on the best lot I could find. The styling of the inside of the house really feels somewhere between a high end hotel and a well done residence. I used mainly young, masculine colors with dark cabinets, dark furniture, brushed nickel hardware, stainless steel appliances, granite kitchen counters, dark bedroom furniture, and current fashion fabrics. The house really is a huge accomplishment for me and I hope that it will help make vacations enjoyable for anyone who grabs it up for a week or longer.

Bob manages my vacation rental for me and together we have successfully kept it rented where my mortgage and bills have all been easily covered and I can breathe easy. But, now it is more challenging and we have had to explore new ways to do things. When Bob proposed the idea for this site, and a partnership, I didn't hesitate because I knew we could, and would, succeed at providing a great alternative for us, and all other vacation rental owners in the the Carolinas to successfully market our houses and keep them full.