Owning and renting a property is one of the most reliable ways to earn a secondary income. When run correctly, a profitable vacation company can able to offset the attached mortgage—allowing you to continually keep growing your wealth over time. To maximize the value of your rental property, you will likely need to hire a property manager. Property managers with a focus on short-term rentals can be found in nearly every major vacation destination, such as Arizona. These individuals provide a wide range of available services that can help you maximize your property’s potential.
The vacation rental property manager you choose will be very important. Not only will you need to find a management team that works for a reasonable rate that is within your current budget. You will also need to be sure that the team you do end up choosing can give you each of the specific services that you need.
In this article, we will discuss some of the most common services being offered by today’s top vacation rental property managers. By understanding these individual’s unique role, you will be much more likely to find a manager that is the perfect fit for you.
1. Vacation Property Marketing
In order to get a strong return on your investment, your vacation property will need to be occupied for a significant portion of the calendar year. For people to know that the property exists and is available, you will first need to develop an effective marketing strategy. Your property management team can help promote the property online, post on various websites, and make the place itself much easier to discover.
2. Price Setting
Even in places that are warm throughout the entire year, such as Scottsdale, Arizona, the demand for vacation spaces will vary throughout the year. By using a dynamic pricing model—one which fluctuates with demand—you can earn more income during the busy seasons. After looking at price trends for comparable properties, the management team will make it easy to find the pricing “sweet spot.”
3. Booking and Calendar Management
Keeping a well-organized calendar will be essential to all property operations going smoothly. With the right property management team by your side, you’ll be able to make sure your vacation rental is consistently getting used. You’ll also be able to set aside time for your own personal usage of the property and schedule any maintenance that the property requires.
4. Communicating with Guests
The guests at your vacation rental property will likely have a lot of questions and inquiries. These questions can include things ranging from inquiring about rates to filing a complaint to everything in between. Instead of having to deal with the guests yourself it will likely make much more sense to outsource that responsibility to someone else. Because property management is their full-time job, they’ll also be much more equipped to respond.
5. Taking Care of the Property
Even if your property does not have a yard, it will still require a basic level of maintenance. At the very least, the inside of the property will need to be cleaned and “turned out” between guests. A property management company will be able to care for the property and also repair anything that has been broken. Having these services available will be even more essential for property owners living out of state.
6. Decorating and Interior Design
While the interior décor of your property is likely a bit of an afterthought, it is an important component that should not be overlooked. A well decorated and visually appealing home will be much more likely to inspire the sort of positive reviews you’ve been looking for. Your design team may also be able to help you find creative ways to rearrange the living space (converting a spare room into a bedroom, for example).
7. Emergency Maintenance
When it comes to emergencies, it will be crucial to make an effort to respond as quickly as you possibly can. If a pipe were to burst, for example, waiting until the next guest arrives could be incredibly expensive. The management company will either respond to emergencies themselves or will have the infrastructure needed to assure all events are promptly addressed. This could help save thousands of dollars and help ensure your property is safe to live in.
8. Creating Financial Reports
Though there are some elements of the vacation rental ownership process that are—for the most part—“self-sustaining”, there will still be plenty of decisions that you may need to make along the way. In order to ensure that the decisions you make are ultimately in your financial best interest, you’ll want to have financial reports that are both accurate and easy to interpret. These reports can help you decide whether to invest in upgrades, whether to purchase an additional property, or whether it makes financial sense to make various other moves. Your management team can also help you prepare your property ownership taxes.
9. Payment Processing
Payment processing will help ensure that you are actually getting paid for the people staying on your property. The team will make it easy to create an online payment portal or establish other payment options. They will also help control any required down payments, refunds, or other financial transactions.
10. Following Up
Lastly, no stay is complete without a proper follow-up. After your guests have left, your vacation rental property management partner can ask the guests about their stay and arrange for any future plans. These follow ups will help you learn about possible ways your property can be improved. You can also encourage your guests to leave reviews online, allowing you to help increase your digital visibility.
Conclusion
Successfully running a vacation rental property will require a collective effort from a competent team. Though you will maintain the rights (and benefits) of property ownership, a management team can help you with a variety of different tasks. Because each of the duties mentioned above are unavoidable in today’s vacation property market, you’ll want to be sure to take the time to find a team that can satisfy your needs.
