First, the one thing that Rockaway Beach always seemed to be missing was a salt water taffy and candy store. Thankfully, that void has been filled with a new branch of the Cannon Beach favorite Picnic Basket Candy Store. Dana and I highly recommend the funnel cake.

There are also a couple of new antique and thrift store. I finally spent some time in Flamingo Jim’s which has a great assortment of Rockaway Beach clothing. Make sure to stop by and do some shopping here.

On your way to Flamingo Jim’s on the south end of Rockaway Beach, you’ll pass by the new City Hall. The new City Hall hasn’t opened its doors yet, but it looks fantastic, I’m excited to see such growth and construction in the community.

We’re really pleased by the increase in activity in Rockaway Beach. We’ve felt like Rockaway is a hidden gem that most Oregonians aren’t aware of. It seems like development in Rockaway is starting to increase.

However, because this is the first summer we’ve spent time in Rockaway Beach, it is difficult to tell how much of this activity is seasonal versus sustaining. We certainly hope the funnel cake at the Picnic Basket is here to stay. ;-)

• Winter: $169
• Summer and Holidays: $215

The previous rates were $189 for winter and $245 for summer. The rate reductions are based on a better understanding of our costs now that we’ve owned the house for a few months.

If you are interested about how we determine the rates that we charge, we’ve provided a detailed explanation below.

When we bought the beach house, we didn’t know how much it was going to cost and more importantly, how much to charge to rent the house. We analyzed 44 rental houses located in Rockaway Beach or neighboring beach communities.

The most surprising thing we found during this analysis was that there seemed to be little correlation between the features that a rental house offered and the price charged. With few exceptions, the price of the house seemed to be determined by the number of people that the house could accommodate.

It makes a lot of sense that the number of people a house sleeps would determine the price. Usually the owners of the houses are trying to help pay their mortgages and costs. The size of a house has a lot to do with the costs.

The average rental price per person a house could sleep was $17 in the winter and $22 in the summer. After we removed the outliers from the analysis, the price per person was $16 in the winter and $21 in the summer.

Our house can sleep up to 15 people in beds alone. Based on the median price of $16 and $21 per person in winter and summer respectively, the rental price would be $240 per night in the winter and $315 per night during the summer.

Those prices seemed far too expensive so we decided to price our house based on sleeping 12 people which seemed like a very comfortable number of people for the house. Basing the price on 12 people gave us $192 for winter (12*16) and $252 (12*21) in the summer. We adjusted the prices down to $189 and $245.

We felt like those prices were competitive given our research. In fact, we were offering many more ammenties for the price than the other 44 houses in the area.

However, our goal has never been to make a lot of money on the house. We’re merely looking for a way to assist us with our morgage so that we can continue enjoy the house that we have fallen in love with.

We planned to review of our pricing after a few months when we better understood our costs. The current rate reduction is based on this review. We’re not renting the house to become vacation rental mavens so we’re basing the price on our costs not desired profits.

By the same token, we’re new to vacation rentals. It may turn out that our estimates for how often we can rent the house are incorrect. If a few months from now, the new rates aren’t working, we may have to adjust them again.

The new rental rates are a tremendous bargain. The new rate is $11.26 per person in the winter and $14.33 per person in the summer.* Both prices are about 30% less than the market price. And you get all of the great features that our house offers.

So book the house now while it is still available.

NOTES:

Details

• Location: 342 N Pacific, Rockaway Beach, Oregon
• Date: December 18, 2004
• Time: 11:00 am to 5:00 pm

The Cow Belle Cafe has good country food. The biscuits and gravy is the best I’ve found on the coast (Grammy Lucys in Portland has the best in Oregon). The restaurant shares a kitchen with the saloon next door. If you are unaware, you may get startled by the divider opening as the saloon places an order.

Clara’s smoke house has great smoked food. It isn’t a restaurant per say, but you can’t go wrong with their premium smoked salmon.

The Mazatlan is the only Mexican restaurant in town. The food is pretty good, and it seems like half their menu features New York Steak cuts in traditional mexican dishes.

The main thing is to be aware of what your dog is doing and what else is occurring on the beach. If you are too busy watching your pet or watching the tide, your distraction can result in dangerous situations for your pet or other beach users.

Pet Safety

The beach can contain many things that can harm your pet. Be aware of sudden waves and undercurrents. During the summer, the sand may burn the paws of dogs. There are also dangerous sea animals like jellyfish or crabs that the dogs may decide look like food.

During the summer of 2004, there were some dogs who were poisoned in Manzanita. There have been no dogs poisoned at Rockaway Beach.

Because of these dangers, we’ve adopted a practice of keeping the dogs close at all times and watching closely when they start to sniff at things on the beach. We never let them eat anything they find on the beach.

Pet Etiquette

The main reason people take their dogs to the beach is to let them run free. This freedom comes with responsibility.

Keep your dogs on leash in the City of Rockaway and on the beach when around other people. If you see someone else walking a dog on a leash and your dogs are off leash, keep your dog away from the tethered dog. Dogs on leash feel cornered and threatened when confronted with a strange dog.

Clean up after your dog. Keep the beach clean for other visitors.

Honor the ecosystem and native animals. During various seasons, you can find seals, baby birds, and other wild life making nests and relaxing on the beach. During these times, keep your dogs on leash or close by so they do not disturb the wild life.

Your cooperation will help keep Rockaway Beach safe and clean and ensure that it remains a great place for you and your pets to visit.

• Two bunk beds with full beds on the bottom and twins on top.
• A brand new sofa with hide-away bed.
• Big screen television and home theater system.
• A queen-size futon.
• A new kitchen table and chairs.
• New curtains throughout the house.
• And many other minor improvements.

We’ve still got a lot to do on our list before we feel ready to rent
the house, but at the end of the weekend, the house for the first time
felt ready for visitors!

The nice thing about having the receiver, vcr, and dvd player integrated is that it will mean a lot fewer remotes to worry about and less cabling. It will also be the first time that I’ve had a chance to test surround sound on a vhs tape.

Now all we need is a big popcorn maker. :-)

The only remaining items for the entertainment center are a receiver and speakers. We will also need to modify the bookshelf in the living room to allow the big screen television to fit in that space.

I can’t wait to watch a football game on the big screen and then go play football on the beach.