When you first begin as a vacation rental host it is often fun, new, and exciting. Overtime though you may start to ask yourself questions such as:
- Is managing the vacation rental the best use of my time?
- Are there other things I would enjoy more than spending time managing my vacation rental property?
- Should I hire a company to manage my vacation rental property?
Quite often vacation rental owners find that there is a better use of their time. They prefer to enjoy passive income from their investment and not have to deal with the headaches of running a vacation rental business.
Let’s compare the different approaches to running a vacation rental.
Self-Managing A Vacation Rental Property
As a self-manager you are required to be a jack-of-all-trades. You need to be an excellent marketer, photographer, customer-service representative, handy person, permit liaison, and a market analyst. You need to stay on top of market trends and rates to maximize the return on your investment. Bottom line is it is a lot of work. Understandably not everyone wants to take on the burden of self-management.
Full-Service Vacation Rental Management
If your objective is to maximize your return on your investment by engaging experienced professionals to operate your vacation rental, then Full-Service Vacation Rental Management is the way to go. Full-service managers such as Haustay maintain a hands-on pricing strategy from their advanced market research. When we are increasing occupancy and revenue in a listing we are looking at everything that is going on the market down to the finest detail. Details such as maintaining a consistent high-quality standard on cleanings, providing amenities, and thoughtful touches. By engaging an active one of a kind vacation rental property management company, you have freed up your time, instead of working for your investment.
Haustay also offers in-house a uniquely curated design service that is unmatched by our competition. Our properties consistently receive five star reviews and the success of each stay leads to higher occupancy which thereby generates more revenue. Where other property managers may fall short in delivering a consistent product, we strive for perfection.
When Should You Absolutely Hire A Vacation Rental Property Manager?
There are some situations where the benefit of a vacation rental property manager greatly exceeds the costs and makes the decision a no-brainer. In the following scenarios a vacation rental property owner should absolutely hire a vacation rental property manager.
- You don’t live close to your vacation rental property. With over 15 years of vacation rental ownership and management experience we have seen it all. Guests lock themselves out of the property, plumbing issues, heaters break, noise violations, evictions, etc. If you are a property owner than cannot physically visit your property promptly when required, it may be time to think about engaging a vacation rental property manager. By not responding to guests needs promptly you risk bad reviews, and even worse potential damage to your property.
- You have more than one vacation rental property. The more rental properties you own the more calendars you have to manager, cleanings you have to coordinate, and the bottom-line – the more time you will have to devote to your properties. A vacation rental property manager is a must for those who own more than one vacation rental.
- You are not interested in handling all the operations of managing a vacation rental. There is a reason why every property is not a vacation rental, and some rental properties, even in vacation areas, have long term tenants. It is because not everyone wants to handle the amount of work that goes into running a vacation rental property. Self-management is not for everyone, which is why AirBnB CEO Brian Chesky recently said that 40% of all their listings are ran by vacation rental property managers.
- Your time is limited. If your time is limited and mostly occupied by your profession, or even if you just want to enjoy your retirement more, then now is the time to engage a vacation rental property manager. To run a business efficiently to maximize your return you need to devote time to the vacation rental business. If you either don’t have the time, or don’t want to devote the time, we are here to help you out.
- You don’t want to be an employer. Every good vacation rental has good cleaning staff and handy people to clean and fix things as needed. If you do not want to clean and fix things in your vacation rental every few days, then you will need to hire people to help you out. This can either be on an as needed basis, or under an employment agreement (which then requires workman’s comp insurance polices, etc.). Haustay has a team of cleaning and handy people to get the property ready for the next guest and back on the market in no time! We do all the heavy lifting for you.
- Your property is under-performing, and you do not know why. Often we find properties are under-performing because they are not correctly being marketed, they are outdated as far as current guests tastes are concerned, or the asking rate is not in line with the market. There are a number of things that can be done to bring your property back into the market, thereby performing at its highest potential. The Haustay team are the professionals you need to make sure your property is performing with the highest occupancy and the best rates possible.
Contact The Property Managers At Haustay For An Evaluation Today
The decision to hire a vacation rental property manager comes down to time and money. If managing your vacation rental property has become too time consuming and you can afford the expense of a property manager, then that may be the best route to take. By engaging a vacation rental property managing you are buying yourself freedom. Freedom to go on vacation, play golf, spend more time with family, and less time managing your vacation rental. You have done a great job in owning a vacation rental property, now you deserve freedom and the best return possible which can be found through engaging Haustay to manage your property.
