About Second Porch

Vacations are supposed to be relaxing.

Second Porch is all about one thing: making renting a vacation home a process you can enjoy and trust. We give you the social tools you need to get comfortable with the home – and the homeowner. As your trusted network of homes grows, you can travel more carefree, increasing your vacation relaxation by reducing your planning frustration. Head out of town knowing that home you rented is perfect for your vacation.

How is Second Porch different?

Sure, there are other sites that let you search by location, price, bedrooms and availability. And they may show reviews—but are those reviews authentic? There’s just no substitute for knowing the owner, or a friend of the owner, or someone real who has stayed in a house and vouches for it.

Start with who you know.

Before you rent from a complete stranger, shouldn’t you check with your friends? Friends are where you get trustworthy information, and together your friends have rented homes in lots of great places. Some of them actually own homes in cool places. Add in all your friends of friends, and we’re talking about a lot of incredible vacation homes you’re connected to.

Discovery: the modern way to search.

Booking a vacation home the old way involves a ton of work and an incredible amount of blind faith, and it leaves too many questions: Is the home really as nice as the photos make it look? Are those reviews real? Could this be a total scam? It’s time to skip those concerns. Instead of slogging through an old-school search, try discovering properties through your social network—the Second Porch way:

• That incredible beach house your friend stayed at when her co-worker booked it for a week last summer.
• An exclusive loft in Manhattan a former co-worker bought, only available to his friends—which happens to include you!
• The estate in Italy that someone you knew in college just purchased—and offers at a special rate for friends.
• An amazing ski chalet that sleeps 10 and is ski-in and ski-out—and you know this because your spouse’s good friend just posted photos and recommended it.