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.
If renting for a vacation, golf holiday or some other Spain holiday, each guest should receive a welcome packet including directions to the rental property as well as helpful information about the surrounding area. If you have an apartment for rent, tenants should be treated well. Rental payment collection, service maintenance and assistance with local utility and phone set-ups should be provided with friendliness and thoroughness.
2. Cleaning Management
The property leasing company you hire should handle all the cleaning. If you have a Spain vacation home that you are renting out and you live in the United States, you need to know that the leasing company is scheduling cleaners to clean your home between guests stay. You also need to make sure that they are inspecting the work of the cleaners on a case by case basis. They should also be scheduling gardeners to make sure the yard is well taken care of. You need to know that the property leasing company you hire handles these things.
3. Keys and Other Necessities
If you live in another country, you need to make sure that the property management company you hire is legally licensed to do business in the city of where your vacation home is located. They should take care of handling keys, property tax, building permits, accounting, phone and utility set up and so on.
The company you select should keep an inventory list of all the items in your rental home and check that list each time someone departs to make sure nothing is stolen. This is very important if your rental home or apartment is in another country. You do not want to have to worry about being cleaned out each time your home is rented out. Put your mind at ease by hiring a property management company that takes care of this for you.
4. Building Refurbishing and Major Repairs
You want the property management company you hire to have their own in-house maintenance people. This way you are dealing directly with these people by proxy of the property management company. Any defunct work or work not done falls squarely on the shoulders of the property management company you hire. There is no excuse like we called in the work but the plumbing company is really busy and they said they can not get to the repair until next week. The best and largest property management companies have their own in-house maintenance divisions.
5. Promoting Your Apartment or Spain Holiday Rental
Do not be afraid to ask the company how they intend to market your vacation rental home or apartment. Reaching the right target audience is the key to having a profitable vacation rental. What “in print” publications will they put your rental home in? Do they have a website? Do they do videos of your rental? If your vacation home is near a golf course, what “golf get-a-way” publications will they advertise your home in?
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.
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