My crazy year with a Rental Agency Part 2 … the good
5 PART SERIES
PART 2
The Good:
The rental agency managed everything, every call, every booking
They handled our rentals every refill of propane, toilet paper, soap, and every conversation about pool cleaning with the pool man, every issue with the landscaping they dealt with the gardener directly.
Immediately on site in an emergency
In the aftermath of the 700 hundred year storm and any other emergency that comes up, they get the call first, handle the majority of issues without even involving you.
Taught us pricing – not to haggle.
Apparently there are articles on the web teaching potential renters to haggle for pricing with desperate rental homeowners.
Taught us to get an advance deposit for pool heating
I soooo wish we would have listened better on this one. When we first went on our own we were below industry standards for pool heating – our pool is 40 ft long, BIG. The long term renters negotiated $500 for pool heating, our bill was $1700. I cried, lesson learned.
Taught us not to get excited about long term renters – this is a big one.
Think of it this way – If in peak season you get $2000 per week in rents x 4 weeks is $8000 in rent. But if you rent it long term renters for $5000. Even if it only rents 3 weeks you are still over at $6000 or 2 weeks and 1 weekend = $5000 and less wear and tear on your house.
Taught us how to avoid frauds.
I didn’t even know it was “a thing”.
Taught us minimum day structure and peak season.
They told us to have at least a 3 night minimum for peak season, 4 night for holidays, events and concerts, and 2 night minimum for off peak and slow seasons to attract weekenders. Sound advice we still follow to this day.
Taught us why not to rent to people under 25
I actually had a 21 year old call me asking to rent it for 1 night for her “21st Birthday Bash” and if the $175 cleaning fee included the outside as well as the inside because she wanted to have 100-150 of her friends mostly outside. I thought it was one of my friends pulling my leg.
Taught us minimum standards for luxury homes.
This is important to renters who are in the know, if you have rented a Vacation Rental before, you know how bad it can go if there is one TV to share when traveling with 3-4 kids or trying to cook a meal but there is no small appliances or enough cook, serve or bake ware.
Required us to properly commercially insure the house.
This can be expensive at more than double the price of a Homeowners policy but it is good practice.
Taught us to be legal and do things right.
Get licensed, pay occupancy tax, do it correctly and on the up and up.
Required us to get professional pictures taken
It’s an investment and a must.
Required a rental contract.
for every rental.
We learned basic safety hazards
Like not having real candles in the home – sound silly? I bought LED candles and put them in a few rooms – someone tried to light them. With fire. Really.
No contracted limits on using our home ourselves or for our personal guests.
It was frowned upon it and charged us cleaning fees but were not penalized – does this sound nuts? Some Agencies charge you to use your own home during season or limit how many days you can use your home per year while you are under contract.
Getting this base education was invaluable to have before we went out on our own. From renting Vacation Rentals ourselves over the years I knew what a rental should have to be comfortable, attractive and welcoming –
BUT WHAT WE LEARNED DURING OUR TIME WITH THEM MADE US PROFITABLE.
We will always be grateful for this.
