Today I thought I would update you on the progress of my holiday home renting. You may remember from my post Here that I sacked the agents in Fuerteventura and decided that I would rent my holiday home by myself. Yes, I know it sounded crazy as it was thousands of miles away – but I had, had enough of crap agents and decided that I would do it better!
Well I am pleased to say that I have done it better and thought I would share with you progress so far, so that if you have a holiday home/ are thinking of buying one then just to tell you – you too can manage your holiday home yourself! So my story today is one of encouragement!
I placed my ad for my holiday home rental on www.holidaylettings.co.uk. Click here for the ad
I had to pay upfront for the advertising for the year which cost me c£250. Not a small amount of money, but I decided that it was far cheaper than an agent. I had also manage to source a local cleaner and handyman for the property so that I could ensure that the property was well maintained and cared for. We organised a system which all were happy with (i.e. how they were paid and how I informed them of the bookings) When you are dealing with people in other countries email is a godsend!
I also decided I should use some free advertising and advertised the property on some local postcards in the supermarket and on gumtree (I didn’t put too much effort into this, but I tried it to see if I got any results)
I also made myself a little website one Sunday night – it is not fancy – but I did it so that I could write the address on my free ads: http://www.lasfuentes.biz/
And would you believe it within a short space of time I had taken so many bookings that I am now booked solidly until April 2011!
I am thrilled to say that I have also, at last, enjoyed being in control of my own holiday home! This means I also get to use it! My mum’s gone for a holiday, I’ve been for a hol, I’m going again next year with friends and I’m currently checking out cheap flights for Christmas 2011!
I always try and offer a much more personal service for people booking with me than if they went to an agent. So for example, I will check with anybody booking how they are going to get to the apartment and recommend transfer agents. I also check they have enough info about the area and send them relevant weblinks which they can check through prior to arriving.
I also try and understand why people book my apartment – what is it about the apartment, area, complex so that then I understand more about the sort of people who are my customers. Through doing this “customer research” I can then add other services/ products to the apartment which would make their stay more enjoyable. This could be as simple as having a travel cot available, to having a selection of music CDs for them to play on the stereo. I can’t please everyone – but I can at least try!
When people are booking holidays it’s lovely as they are all so excited (and it rubs off on me!), and that means that emotions are heightened so that if something is not quite right I know that they will feel it is even more not right (if you get my drift). Fortunately, I have not had any problems or complaints – but I still worry! I try and anticipate what issues may arise and either prevent them or manage expectations. This could be things such as – we have free wi-fi – but I know, if lots of people are using the system it can be slow. And so I pre-warn people that while we have free wifi it’s not the broadband speed they are used to, and that because it is a communal system it can be very slow at times. By explaining to people these issues beforehand, it means that if they do encounter an issue (e.g. wifi is slow) then they are prepared and accept this as they have already been told and know what to expect.
While I confess I have been doing this for less than 4 months – it’s a positive “sunny” start!
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Tony van Bergen
Hi Sam
I put our Holiday Cottage in Somerset http://www.sarahandtony.co.uk on holidayslettings.co.uk at the start of the year and had a excellent result too. I cannot recommend the site more highly.
I understand that they are in the process of linking into trip adviser at the moment, which will only add to the good service.
Tony
Sam
Tony love your website – I have much to learn having looked at yours!
Can you tell me how you managed to import the availability calendar? Also – that “also advertised on HL” button?
Also, the links you have to local places – that’s very useful for people – but doesn’t that also help for SEO results?
I love your site name as well – so friendly 🙂
Tony van Bergen
Hi Sam
If you speak to holiday lettings (Their help line is excellent +44 (0)1865 312030 )and ask them for a reciprocal link.
They will then send you a special link address that is unique to you & Icon to paste into your website.
Then they will link their website to yours so its a two way thing. I understand that it helps their search engine rankings the more links to other websites they have.
The calendar is much the same and I am sure they can help you with that too.
Let me know if you need a hand.
Tony
GooKing
Out of interest, how did you go about finding, recruiting and retaining local staff for cleaning and maintenance – my parent have a holiday home and it is one of the most difficult aspects.
There is no established holiday industry in the area, so no agencies or similar, and finding someone reliable locally has been a problem
Sam
Hi, I just spoke to my neighbours and asked who I may be able to use who they knew and trusted. They said about someone who lives across the pool from us, who is known and trusted and wanted a bit more work and money. So I went over and asked! We then negotiated wages/ terms/ payments etc. It has worked very well for me. I would rather take advice/ recommendations from people rather than advertise in a local paper.
Ian Meyer
The system used today by companies that holiday let, such as Holiday lettings UK is an outdated and expensive system. we are working on a new idea for our website where customers who wish to advertise there holiday rentals can do so for free, then we only take a commission once a booking has been paid for and confirmed
Tony van Bergen
Hi Ian. Thanks for the info about your website & method. Could you put a link here so that we can see it in action. Thanks Tony
Holiday Home Rentals Vs. Long Term Rental
[…] Today I decided to work out the difference between renting my house in Fuerteventura as a holiday let vs. a long term rental. I sacked my agents last July which I wrote about here, I also updated you about the joys of holiday home ownership here! […]