When my family moved to Louisville from Washington, DC, in late 2008, our real estate agent suggested listing our home for rent on Kentucky Derby weekend. When I contacted the local Realtor who seemed to have a monopoly on Derby listings, I was astounded at her cost: 30 percent of the rental fee! While it was too late for me to create a website on my own for Derby 2009 (I picked up some web skills
as part of my job as a freelance writer), I created this site in time to list our home for the 2010 Run for the Roses. Our house rented quickly in 2010, but I kept getting calls and e-mails from both people looking to rent and Louisville homeowners looking to rent out their homes. Our experience renting out our home was a positive one: the renters were excellent and it gave us a good excuse to give the home a thorough spring cleaning. So renting it out again in 2011 was a no-brainer!
2011 worked in a similar fashion to 2010: our home was booked early in the year, but the calls from would-be renters and local homeowners kept coming. That year we decided to retool the site to help other Louisville homeowners rent out their houses for Derby weekend without having to pay a ridiculous percentage to a real estate agent. Travelers to Louisville benefit too: staying in a home when traveling often provides a much better—and affordable—experience than staying in a hotel, especially in Louisville on Derby weekend. And Derby is one of those rare events that’s actually better than expected. In 2013, I incorporated the website under the business name Derby Home Rental, LLC. On April 26, 2013, USA Today’s travel section mentioned this website as a good place to find last-minute Derby accommodations in the article, “At Derby time, Louisville’s hospitality hits its stride.”
For more background, read this article I wrote about my experience renting and advertising homes for Derby in Louisville Magazine‘s April 2012 issue: “What’s Mine Is Theirs.”
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me (Zach Everson) at 502.526.5217 or [email protected]. Happy Derby! (Derby Home Rental LLC is not in anyway affiliated with or endorsed by the Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs, or any of their affiliates.)
