renting your holiday home a step by step guide potx

Why Rent Out Your Holiday Home? “At HomeAway, we’ve created one of the world’s largest online marketplaces for holiday rentals. Our mission is to make it easier than ever for owners like you to advertise & profit from your holiday home and let holidaymakers know about the ease & freedom that comes from renting a home on their holiday versus staying in a hotel.” -Brian Sharples, CEO, HomeAway, Inc. You may have thought about renting out your holiday home for a variety of reasons. Perhaps you haven’t used it as much as you planned and don’t want it to sit empty. Maybe you really need to offset the costs of owning it. Or perhaps you simply want to share your amazing holiday home with others. Don’t let any fears about renting it out stop you from this rewarding experience. Common concerns about renting (too much work, could get damaged, no guests will come) are often unfounded. And they’re certainly outweighed by the advantages. Whether you hire a property manager to handle the details or you intend to manage it on your own, start by knowing what to do. This booklet will guide you in creating the right plan so you can enjoy having a successful holiday home rental business. Happy Renting, The HomeAway.co.uk Team 1 Table of Contents Getting Started 3 —Lizzie, Pyrenees Orientales, France 3 Setting Goals 4 Following Regulations 5 Getting Involved 6 Hiring Helping Hands 7 Preparing for Guests 8 Marketing your holiday home 10 –Larry, Florida, USA 10 Finding Guests 11 Targeting Holidaymakers 12 Listing Advert Contents 13 Writing the Headline 15 Describing Your Home 16 Taking Photographs 17 Setting Rental Rates 18 The Rental Process 19 —Tansy, Normandy, France 19 Responding to Enquiries 20 Taking Reservations 22 Collecting Payments 23 Receiving Deposits 25 Handling Keys 26 Leveraging Word-of-Mouth 27 Rental Process Review 28 12 Keys to Success 29 Advertise on HomeAway.co.uk 30 Useful Resources 31 2 Getting Started “I wanted a new life in a wonderful climate, but I needed an income. The south of France beckoned and I discovered my lovely farmhouse with potential for rental units on my second visit. Now I have the sunshine, the quality of life and the income.” —Lizzie, Pyrenees Orientales, France 3 Setting Goals You may not think of your holiday home as a business, but when you set it up as a rental property, you’ve just entered into a potentially profitable business endeavour. As with any kind of business, it’s important to set clear goals. What would you like to accomplish by renting out your holiday home? Your answer might seem simple: Make money by finding guests who will pay you to stay in your home. To succeed in accomplishing this, first spell out your goals in detail and follow this with a plan for achieving them. Following these guidelines will help you get started. Determine Objectives Decide how many weeks in a year you would like to use your home yourself and how many weeks you would like to have it rented out. Next, determine your financial objectives. Do you hope to have your rental revenues pay for all of the expenses associated with owning your holiday home? Do you want to offset a portion of your costs? Do you want to make a profit? If so, how much? Understanding the financials If your goal is for your rental revenue to pay all of the expenses associated with owning your property, including the mortgage and overheads (bills), then the below example may help you to structure your rental rates. Example (based on 12 month period): If you own a villa with a monthly mortgage of £1000 and then rent your villa for £1000 per week, you would only need to rent your property for 12 weeks to break even on your mortgage payments. You may wish to consider the overhead costs such as bills and therefore consider renting the property for more than 12 weeks to absorb such costs. For more information on rental revenue try the HomeAway.co.uk free rental income calculator to see how much income potential your property has. www.HomeAway.co.uk/calculator 4 Following Regulations When starting out with holiday rentals, make sure your second home business complies with the laws and regulations of your city, town, region and country. Rules regarding short-term lets? Before you begin renting, check the law regarding short-term lets that is in force not just for the local area, but also for the building or complex. For example if you own a flat, or have an apartment on a resort or condo-style complex, there could be a ban on short lets. Be sure to also stay up to date with any proposed changes that may affect your business. To research the status of short-term rentals, check your lease if you have one, contact the local town or city hall, or other appropriate governing body for your region or borough, search online for information about your market, and consider contacting other owners renting in your immediate area for advice. Business Licenses and Permits Many areas require holiday rental owners to apply for a business license or permit to rent homes on a short-term basis. Consult the appropriate local officials for clarification and more information. Health and Safety Regulations In some markets, holiday rental homes have to follow the same basic safety requirements as long-term rentals (e.g., sprinkler systems, fire extinguishers, deadbolt locks, pool cover, energy performance certificate, etc.) and may also be required to complete safety inspections. Some areas and countries also have specific rules and regulations around health issues, most commonly involving linen sanitisation, well-water testing, and pool and spa maintenance. 5 Getting Involved After making the decision to rent your home, you must determine how involved you would like to be in the rental process. Renting your holiday home short-term requires time, effort, and dedication to succeed. Luckily, you don’t have to do everything yourself. Most holiday rental owners either choose to employ a property management company or set up a “rent by owner” situation. Tasks Involved in Renting Your Holiday Home  Advertising your home  Responding to enquiries  Taking reservations and payment from guests  Handling guest requests and complaints  Hiring service providers (housekeepers, handymen, etc.)  Scheduling housekeeping before each holiday rental  Ensuring maintenance issues are dealt with When to Use a Property Manager Consider hiring a property management company if you don’t have the time or desire to successfully run your holiday rental yourself. You’ll find property management companies in most holiday rental markets. They can manage every aspect of renting your home, for a commission, of course. When to Rent by Owner Consider managing your rental yourself if you— • want complete control over who rents your property • want complete control over finances and income related to your property • want to avoid paying circa. 20-30% commission to a management company Remember, there’s no right or wrong way to rent your holiday home. Ultimately, your choice to hire a property manager or not is determined by your desired level of involvement. 6 Hiring Helping Hands Property Management Company If you don’t have the time to manage your rental yourself, consider hiring a property management company to handle everything for you. In exchange for their services, they typically charge a commission, which can range from circa. 20% to 30% of the rental income. Before hiring a property manager, verify if the company’s staff will—  Advertise the property both locally and internationally?  Guarantee a minimum level of bookings?  Interview potential guests to make sure they are suitable?  Inspect the property before and after each rental and do an inventory check?  Welcome the guests into your property?  Organise repairs and maintenance, and provide receipts for all expenditures? Housekeeper or Cleaning Service When renting by owner, handling cleaning issues from a distance will likely be your biggest challenge. It’s critical to find a housekeeper or cleaning service you can count on. Start by visiting your holiday home and talking with the housekeepers cleaning your neighbours’ holiday homes. You can always contact other owners in your area who are on our site to find out how they do it. Maintenance Person or Handyman Consider hiring a maintenance person or company to oversee your property on a continual basis. This works particularly well for people who live far from their second home and can’t visit more than once or twice a year. Solicitor Before renting your home for the first time, hire a solicitor familiar with the holiday rental market who can advise you on the laws in the area of your holiday home. Have the solicitor look over all your rental agreements and policies to make sure they comply with local laws. Accountant or Tax Adviser Similarly, hire an accountant who can advise you about bookkeeping procedures and tax implications for holiday rental owners. 7 Preparing for Guests Your holiday home is most likely furnished and decorated. However, when you begin renting it out short term, it’s important to find a balance between your convenience and your guests’ comfort. First, walk through your holiday home and remove any irreplaceable items, for example items with sentimental value, or unique antiques or souvenirs. Then create a lockable closet for storing the personal affects and supplies you want to keep just for your personal use. Make sure the space throughout your home is relatively free of clutter and personal items. The Kitchen When it comes to the kitchen, guests appreciate convenience. Your kitchen should be equipped with enough plates, glasses and cutlery for double the number of people that you sleep. Guests also appreciate conveniences like a kettle, toaster, coffee maker, adequate cooking utensils, and a sufficient dining space. The Bedrooms See that your holiday home has quality, ample bedding: at least two sets of high-quality sheets for each bed, pillows with pillow protectors, extra blankets, and mattress protectors. Also provide an alarm clock and reading lamp on a bedside table in each bedroom. The Living Area Make sure your living area has comfortable seating for at least the number of people that you sleep and a TV large enough for guests to watch from across the room. Provide at least basic channels, a DVD player, and cards and board games for rainy days if you can. The Bathrooms Guests expect the bathrooms to be spotless and demand quality towels. At a minimum, aim to provide:  2 bath towels per guest  2 hand towels per guest  4 washcloths per guest  hair dryer The Extras When equipping your holiday rental, be aware of why guests want to stay in a holiday home instead of a hotel. Consider providing these items:  high-speed wireless Internet  books, games, videos  first aid kit Other facilities that may appeal to guests include:  video game systems  pool or other games tables 8  play areas and/or toys for children  equipment appropriate to your area, e.g. bikes for a country home, inflatables for the beach, a sledge for ski properties  BBQ/outside dining areas  Hot-tub or Jacuzzi bath 9 Marketing your holiday home “Your own web site is not hard to create, but does take much time, effort and expense to promote. A great start to advertising online is an immediate subscription to HomeAway.co.uk.” –Larry, Florida, USA 10 [...]... rental portal websites provide holidaymakers with a clear layout of the information they need to make a selection Each HomeAway.co.uk listing template features a headline, a thumbnail photo, a full description, 24 property photos, a rental rates table, an interactive map, a facilities table, an availability calendar, and guest reviews Headline On HomeAway.co.uk, your headline shows up at the top of your. .. www.HomeAway.co.uk/tellmemore Owner Resources section: www.HomeAway.co.uk/resources HomeAway.co.uk rental income calculator: www.HomeAway.co.uk/calculator Refer a friend and earn scheme: www.HomeAway.co.uk/refer A guide to international property tax for holiday home owners: www.HomeAway.co.uk/info/owner-resources/tax-and-legal /holiday- home- internationalproperty-tax -guide Tips and advice for furnishing your. .. plus add information about other facilities featured in your home Availability Calendar 13 Holidaymakers need to know when your home is available, especially those wanting to book specific dates The easy-to-update availability calendar on HomeAway.co.uk keeps them informed Guest Reviews Your past guests can leave reviews about your home using the HomeAway.co.uk Reviews system Featuring these reviews can... calendar • Use our calendar to organise bookings • Track availability with reserved, tentative, and not available statuses • Store reservations and guest information in a central location • Find reservations faster using filter, sort, and search features • Manage holiday rental availability across multiple listings • Maintain only one calendar with updates sent to listings automatically FREE rental resources... nationalities and English language proficiencies Put your description in clear, complete sentences; avoid obscure abbreviations and local jargon Sell Your Property, Not Your Area By the time holidaymakers find your listing on HomeAway.co.uk, they’ve likely decided to stay in your holiday area It’s your job to convince them to book your holiday home Hint: You can always highlight the area in the “Location”... budget and price range in mind Make sure you state your prices clearly and they’re easy to find in your listing Size of Property Clearly state the size of your property and maximum number of guests it can accommodate Guests specifically want to know about your bed setup, as well as the seating available in your living area and dining room Preferred Dates Many holidaymakers base their holidays around... When holidaymakers find your holiday home on a website like HomeAway.co.uk, they will likely contact you in one of two ways: Email About 90% send enquiries through the form located at the bottom of your listing These enquiries are routed to your email address or can be viewed by logging into your HomeAway.co.uk account Phone About 10% of holidaymakers call to enquire about availability or book your home. .. holiday home: www.HomeAway.co.uk/info/owner-resources/you-and -your- home /holiday- rentalfurnishings-tips-advice Professional marketing techniques to promote your holiday rental: www.HomeAway.co.uk/info/owner-resources/marketing -your- property/professionalmarketing-techniques Downloadable contracts and security resources: www.HomeAway.co.uk/info/owner-resources/tax-and-legal/download-tax-legal Tips & advice... returning calls in a timely manner Make it a priority Follow up via phone Give enquirers a follow-up call a few days after your initial correspondence to see where they stand in their planning This demonstrates a proactive attitude which is a reassuring trait holidaymakers looks for when renting a property privately 20 This can also be the ideal time to negotiate a rental rate that is fair to both you and... they are traceable to an individual.) In order to give holidaymakers confidence you should ask them to send money to an account in the same name as the name on the website AVOID THESE PAYMENT METHODS: Money Orders and Cashiers’ Cheques Beware These are not convenient payment methods for your guests and are favoured by scammers Instant Cash Wire Transfers HomeAway.co.uk advises against sending or accepting . show holidaymakers which facilities you include, plus add information about other facilities featured in your home. Availability Calendar 13 Holidaymakers need to know when your home is available,. living area and dining room. Preferred Dates Many holidaymakers base their holidays around work and school calendars, which can make their timing inflexible. Keep your availability calendar up. advertise & profit from your holiday home and let holidaymakers know about the ease & freedom that comes from renting a home on their holiday versus staying in a hotel.” -Brian Sharples,