An Open Letter to the Owner Who Hasn’t Found Us Yet
Island Vacation Properties — Anna Maria Island
Maybe you bought your Anna Maria Island property at the height of the market and it hasn’t performed the way you hoped. Maybe you signed with a large management company because it felt like the safe choice — and now you can’t get anyone on the phone who has actually been to the island, let alone walked through your home. Maybe you’ve been through the storms, literally and figuratively, and you’re wondering if any of this is worth it.
I hear you. And I want you to know something: what you’re feeling is real, and it matters.
My name is Sara Annis, and I am the owner of Island Vacation Properties. I grew up just over the bridge from Anna Maria Island — spent my childhood and teenage years out here with friends, on the water, learning every corner of this place long before it was ever my career. This island has been part of my life for as long as I can remember.
I didn’t walk into this industry from a business school or a corporate office. I started cleaning vacation rentals on Anna Maria Island in my late teens and early twenties. I know what it takes to turn a home over properly. I know what guests notice when they walk through a door. I know what pride in a property actually looks like — because I’ve been on my hands and knees making sure it was right.
I was here when Island Vacation Properties opened its doors in July of 2000. Our founder, Ann Caron, built this company on a conviction that has never left us: that ethical behavior, genuine service, and trust could fill a void that desperately existed in property management on Anna Maria Island. She was right. I grew with this company, eventually becoming rental manager, and my husband Bill joined the team in 2013. When Ann retired in 2016, Bill and I bought IVP — not because it was a business opportunity, but because we believed in what she had built and were committed to carrying it forward.
I made a commitment when we took over that I’ve kept every day since: I will never ask anyone on my team to do something I haven’t done myself. That’s not a policy. That’s just who I am.
Today we manage 185 properties on Anna Maria Island. The market out here has grown and changed enormously — there are more companies, more platforms, more options than ever before. We have no interest in competing on size. What we are focused on, every single day, is the quality of the relationships we keep — with our owners, with our guests, and with this community.
And those relationships run deep. We still have owners today who followed Ann from her previous company over twenty years ago and have never left. That kind of loyalty doesn’t happen by accident. It happens because this has always been a relationship, not a transaction.
When Covid came, we didn’t let anyone go. When the hurricanes came, Bill and I rebuilt our office, cared for our properties, and did everything in our power to keep our entire team employed and our owners supported — through all of it. It was the hardest season of my professional life. But we showed up, because that’s what you do for the people who trust you.
Here at IVP, we believe in something simple: we were expecting you. Whether you are a guest arriving for a long-awaited family reunion, a couple celebrating something precious, or someone who just needs a few days to breathe — we think about your arrival before you get here. We want you to feel it the moment you walk through the door.
And for our owners, that same philosophy applies. We are not the right fit for everyone, and we say that with respect, not arrogance. We are built for owners who see this as a partnership — who trust us to care for their property the way they would, who value their guests’ experience as much as their revenue, and who want a management team that is here, on this island, invested in this community, and accountable to them by name.
If you’ve been treated like a number, we want to be your antidote.
If you’re ready for a management relationship built on trust, transparency, and genuine care — for your property, your guests, and this island we all love — we’d be honored to talk.
Sara & Bill Annis
Island Vacation Properties
Anna Maria Island
We’ve been here from the beginning. We’re not going anywhere.
