Do you own a rental home in a vacation hot spot? Do you want to rent out your home as a vacation rental? If you do, you should hire a property management company. But be warned, not all property management companies are created equal. Below is a list of five services that the property management company you hire should have. I am going to use a vacation home in Spain as an example but you can apply these same concepts to anywhere in the world your vacation home is located.
1. It Is All About Customer Service
The people who stay in your rental home, villa, or apartment need to have the best customer service while they are there. The property management company you select needs to offer prompt and courteous customer service. You need to get references or at the very least testimonials from other satisfied property owners. Your tenants should arrive to a super clean home, villa, or apartment.
The property management company should provide your renters with a welcome packet that includes directions to your rental property as well as helpful information about the surrounding area. Collecting the rent, handling maintenance requests, and help in dealing with the local utility company should be provided with friendly professionalism.
2. Cleaning Management
A property rental service should provide reliable cleaning management. You might live too far away to handle cleaning or manage a maid service. If you live in England or the U.S., but your vacation rental or apartment for rent is located in Fuengirola, Mijas, Puerto Banus, or Elviria of Spain, then you’ll need a property rental service that will handle cleaning with care. For holiday rentals and villa rentals, cleaning must be provided between each guests’ stay and sometimes during the week of a stay as well. For vacation homes and villas, the lawn must be maintained as well. Be sure this is included with your service.
3. Items Within Your Vacation Home, Keys
If you live in the U.S. and your vacation home is in Spain, you want to make sure that the rental company you hire will take care of all the legal requirements in the area in which your vacation home or apartment is located. For example, they should take care of paying the property tax on time, paying the cleaning service and other vendors on time, providing you with monthly financial statements and accounting, take care of switching over the utilities, etc.
You need to make sure the company you hire will handle protecting the furniture and other items in your vacation home. They should do an inventory and keep a list and check to make sure that none of your belongings are being stolen each time a guest departs. You want a property rental service that provides these services so you do not have to worry about things being stolen out of your vacation rental.
4. Handling Repairs
Make sure that the rental company you hire has connections with vendors in the area. The reason is that they get volume discount because they provide a lot of business for these vendors. They also know who to trust and who does a good job. You do not want to spend hours on the phone and the Internet trying to find a dependable handyman in another country.
5. Pitching Your Rental Home
Check to be sure the property rental service will promote your apartment for rent or Spain holiday rental. Promotions will increase your number of rentals and profits each year. A property rental service may handle your advertising in local, national and international venues. If they have a website, they may promote your holiday rentals at the site. If you own a vacation rental near golf courses, then make sure they will advertise your rental from the angle of “golf holidays.”
Keep these things in mind when looking to hire a property management company. By picking the right property management company, you will have an enjoyable and profitable owner experience.
