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How To Rent Out A Holiday Home
By David Stuttard

The important steps involved in renting a holiday home are described in this article; if the advice given is taken and you do the necessary work, (some effort is necessary for what is, after all, a major investment), there will be no problems and you will maximize your marketing potential. However - and this cannot be emphasized too strongly - if you think that good renters are going to rush to book your beautiful villa while you sit waiting for the phone to ring, you will be left with an expensive, empty investment.

The property obviously needs to meet local health and safety regulations, to be clean, well-maintained and furnished/decorated to a standard that fits what you expect to receive in rent (simple and neutral respectively is normally appropriate). It should not be cluttered by lots of personalized artifacts, such as family photos and all kitchen/bathroom utensils, etc. If when guests first arrive they are welcomed by a basket of essentials (tea, coffee, milk, rolls, butter and mineral water, etc) and fresh flowers they are more likely to relax and come again next year. You should also make sure there is an up-to-date and complete file of useful local information for each new visitor.

You need to decide what dates you want to rent it out and then what are the seasonally based rental prices you should set to attract renters - based on researching prices asked for similar properties in similar locations.

Positive consideration of how the property will be maintained is necessary - if you are there, this can be controlled by yourself (covering such things as meeting guests to hand over and collect keys and formally agree the condition/contents of the property before and after and listing who to call on when the air conditioning or plumbing fails), otherwise you need an agent or a reliable person (make it a business, not an informal, arrangement) to take care of these things.

It should go without saying that you need to find out about legal and tax issues in the country where your property is located and, indeed, with your own country's taxes associated with rental income. This means consulting the appropriate departments or professionals.

Then possibly the most challenging job is that of advertising. There are many ways to do this, such as in newspapers, magazines, local agents, and your own website, through relatives and friends and of course via recommendations. None of these ways are likely to generate enough bookings to make it worth your while.

On your website, you should enter your property details. It makes sense to 'sell' your property in the most effective way you can imagine, to attract bookings in what is a very competitive market - good, clear photos of every room, every outside feature and interesting local attractions such as the beach or golf course; a pricing structure; complete and grammatically-correct details of the property and its surrounding areas, including all facilities (air conditioning, TV, internet, kitchen appliances, etc) in the property; what there is to do in the area (horse-riding, sailing, sightseeing - you name it).

You can outline terms and conditions in your advertisement, but you should also have a rental agreement already prepared, so that this can be emailed to a renter. The agreement needs to clearly define the deposit required and when it is due, when the balance is due (before they arrive), what the refund and cancellation policies are, what additional costs there are such as for cleaning after they leave, if smoking or pets are allowed. All of these items must be established before and after the rental (to decide if any damages or losses need to be paid for out of the deposit).

Most importantly, when you receive an inquiry you should respond promptly and in a professional and friendly manner (they won't wait more than 1 day - they're anxious to plan their holiday somewhere now not next week and they will be keen to establish a rapport with the owner - they need to feel they can trust you when they send you a deposit) and be prepared to be flexible and helpful with such things as the price, times of arrival and departure, minimum stays, help with airport transfers, etc - just make sure you get that booking!

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