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Beach house rentals at America's top coastal resorts, such as Texas' port of Galveston, make planning and enjoying a small family reunion easy and fun.

If your family members are scattered between Portand, Maine and Portland, Oregon, as well as points in between, you may be planning a get-together at one convenient location to commemorate that special birthday or anniversary. Renting a house that will accommodate several generations under one roof is not only economical, it enables your extended family to spend time together and have privacy as well.

Tips for Planning Your House Rental

Once you've reviewed the "virtues" of each of my favorite destinations, discuss them with other family members, determine how convenient they will be for all parties, and decide whether you're heading East or West. Then you can determine with other family members how many bedrooms and bathrooms everyone will need. (Most rental vacation homes have one or more sofabeds and roll-aways for extra kids.) Allow as much flexibility in your rental dates as possible.

Several real estate agents I interviewed for this story mentioned that since large rental homes (5-6 bedrooms) are rare, they are often booked far in advance. However, they also mentioned that many families register their homes for rental only after the January 1st deadline each year. That means you'll have the most choices of rental homes if you call the recommended agents early in the year.