So, you've taken the leap of faith to manage your own vacation rental property- good on you! If you happen to live in the same town as the property, you'll have a major proximity factor working in your favor. But for most people who don't live nearby and have to manage everything remotely, it can be a bit overwhelming and somewhat challenging, at least in the beginning. Since you won't be there all the time to deal with things, you'll need boots on the ground. You'll need to assemble a team. In this post, I'll provide a short list of service providers as well as tips and tricks to help you assemble your very own DIY vacation rental management team.
The first step is to create an exhaustive list of everything that could possibly go wrong and find people to take care of all those things. That's it! Just kidding. It's actually much easier than that. In the beginning, you'll need just a few partners to fill key roles on your DIY team. As your business matures and your property ages, the list may grow. But for now, let's look at who you should have onboard before you hang up the "for rent" sign starting with the most important hire you'll ever make- the housekeeper.
Find a housekeeper who specializes in vacation rentals.
Over the past few years I've learned a lot about housekeeping and why caring for vacation rentals is a whole different animal. We've also gone through a few different housekeepers- our first, Pati, was one of the best and was the person who taught us how it's all done. There are plenty of maid services out there who can do a great job cleaning your primary home. They can probably also do a great job "cleaning" your vacation home. So what's the difference?
When it comes to a vacation home and turnovers in between guests, "housekeeping" means a whole lot more than simply making sure the home is clean. That's actually just the beginning. Think about all the additional stuff that has to be done after one guest checks out and before the next one checks in. Often times these are same-day turnovers that have to be done within a window of just a few hours. The home needs to be surveyed for damage and missing items. All of the beds used during the stay need to be stripped, sheets washed, and then the beds have to be remade. We supply one towel for each potential guest- that means as many as 14 bath towels plus hand towels, wash cloths, and kitchen towels have to be washed and then replenished. In addition to simply cleaning the kitchen, the refrigerator also needs to be emptied and cleaned. There are many more nuance things that have to get done that make this a much bigger job than just cleaning.
Supplies also need to be restocked in between guests. We supply two rolls of toilet paper for each toilet, one roll of paper towels, shampoo and conditioner, laundry detergent, trash bags, dish soap, and cleaning supplies. We also leave a bottle of wine and a "welcome" card for each guest- also managed by the housekeeper. But someone has to replenish supply of these items. We found a housekeeper who manages several other properties and has a stock of everything at her home so she includes this with her service. When we run out of wine, our housekeeper goes to the store and restocks it. She has an inventory system in place so I never have to worry about running out. I get a detailed invoice about every other month for the items she replaces and I just cut her a check. This has made life so much easier for me.
Quite frankly, the housekeeper is the backbone of the whole operation. He or she touches the house more than anyone else and it's vital that you have a good one. The housekeeper is responsible for keeping everything in order and sets the property up for the guests' first impression when they arrive. The best advice I can give you is to interview several housekeepers and get a feel for their style and work ethic. It's very important that you set expectations up front for how you want things done. You also need to convey how important the housekeeping role is to your operation. Treat them very well and they will treat you well. Housekeeping will become one of your largest cost centers and you'll be tempted to pay as little as possible. This is not the area you want to cut corners. Don't be afraid to pay your housekeepers well- your guests will cover the cost, anyway. And don't forget to express your appreciation sincerely and often for their services.
You'll need a handyman/maintenance guy.
Let's talk about the second-most important person on your team (could even be a tie for first). Finding your handyman and maintenance guy may be a little tougher than finding housekeeping. But I promise you they're out there. If your property is in a larger metropolitan area, this will be easy. Small towns will be tougher. However, most realtors will have a name of somebody that does this sort of stuff so that's a good place to start your search. So, what sort of "stuff" are we looking for somebody to do?
Dennis is my handyman/maintenance guy. He's a retired gentleman that lives in our area and is one of the nicest, most honest, and genuine guys I've ever met. He also happens to be extremely good at making my problems go away. Although he can fix most of the things we ask of him, certain things may be beyond his scope. Thankfully, he's been in the area for a long time and has lots of relationships with people who can take care of out of scope work like major plumbing, appliance repair, etc. So, what sort of "problems" do we see? Nothing really major, but I'll give you a few examples of when Dennis has come to the rescue.
Last year we had a guest arrive during the winter after an unexpected snowfall and they couldn't get down the driveway. You see, I live in Florida and am not in snow-mode ever and it didn't even hit my radar that our upcoming guest may have trouble. Dennis was Johnny on the spot and got the driveway shoveled enough so their vehicle could pass.
This past summer, we had a guest arrive at TOP OF THE ROCK in the early evening. They called me right away to tell me that one of the smoke detectors had a low battery and was chirping. We've all been there- it usually happens in the middle of the night so I feel lucky it wasn't that late. This smoke detector happened to be mounted near the top of the cathedral ceiling in the great-room and way out of reach. Obviously the guest wouldn't be able to get to it. I called Dennis and he willingly left his family dinner to come bail me out with his 12-foot ladder. Problem solved in less than an hour.
Here are a few more examples of Dennis saving the day during some recent guest stays. Dennis replaced the keyless entry lockset on the front door when it failed and the door couldn't be locked or unlocked. He replaced a propane tank for the gas grill that I forgot to have replaced (the guest was very annoyed that the grill didn't have any gas). Dennis fixed the locks on the bear-proof trash can shed which somehow got messed up- the guests were not able to dispose of trash. He fixed an annoying toilet that wouldn't stop running and wasting water. And my personal favorite, Dennis fixed one of the log bunk bed rails that was split and had become a safety hazard. While these things may sound minor, they can have a big impact on the overall guest experience and could have adversely affected our reviews. Thanks to Dennis, we were able to mitigate the inconvenience and avoid any negative reviews.
In some cases, these minor guest inconveniences can provide an opportunity for us to demonstrate top-tier customer service. Remember the guest who didn't have gas for the grill? Well that's not all they were missing. Apparently, my housekeeper forgot to replenish the shampoo and conditioner. Dennis was there within 30 minute with more shampoo and picked up the empty gas tank to swap for a full one. The guests were apparently pleased with their overall stay and our efforts to please them. Within a week of leaving our home, they booked another full week a year in advance- paid in full.
Dennis has been such an amazing addition to our team. I'm really not sure how we survived before having him. In addition to having Dennis as our on-call guy to make problems go away, we have a home-check service agreement with him as well. He proactively comes by and checks on each house every other week. This is especially important in the slower winter months when we don't have frequent guest and housekeeping traffic through the homes.
Build a relationship with an HVAC specialist.
There's never a good time for your air conditioning to go out. But its's bound to happen at some point and most likely in the hottest part of the summer. When it happens at your own home and inconveniences you and your family, that's one thing. But when it happens at your vacation home that someone is paying lots of money to stay in, that's a much bigger problem. Guests expect for everything to be in good working condition and to have a trip free of any inconveniences whatsoever. So being able to address the problem quickly is very important.
In small-town Sapphire, NC, there is but one "major" HVAC company to my knowledge. Last time I called them, it was the middle of the summer and we had a guest in the home with the A/C out. The company representative said they could get to me in about two weeks. Now granted, we are in the mountains so the room temperature without the A/C was bearable (unlike Florida), but that's just ridiculous to have to wait two weeks to have someone come fix it. When I questioned the person on the phone and told her I found that unacceptable, she said they just can't find anyone that wants to work. This is a big problem in our area.
Your vacation rental may also be in a small town and you may face this problem as well. I've learned a very important lesson over the past few years and that is to look outside the area for good help. Within an hour's drive of Sapphire, are a few other mountain towns that are much bigger and have many more service providers. Most of them think nothing of an hour commute and generally already have folks servicing our area anyway. I've built a pretty good relationship with an HVAC company in nearby Brevard, NC and they have yet to let me down when I need them.
Here's a few tips- be extra polite and kind to the person whom you're working with to get a job done. Kill them with kindness. Let them know that you are a small business owner, too, and are looking to build a long-term relationship. If they offer an HVAC "maintenance contract", you should buy it because in most cases, that put's you to the front of the line for service calls. It's all about building the relationship and that's a great way to start.
At some point you will need a plumber!
Whether it's a clogged toilet or a slow drain, there will come a time when a plumber has to be called. You're not going to need him often, but when you do you, you'll need him to get there quickly. That's why it's a good thing to get to know a reputable and dependable plumber before you actually need him in an emergency.
We've gotten to know our plumber through some renovation projects we've done over the years so this relationship was built over time. David is generally pretty responsive when I need him, but at times he's not. Again, we are in a small mountain town and good help is often hard to find as they say. Sometimes the best plumbers and service providers are not widely known to the general public, but more like a secret society in the local community. This is where it helps to ask around and get creative. If you have neighbors that live in the area full time, ask them who they use? If you used a realtor to help buy your home, ask her. And when you find your "Dennis", chances are that he will know the best plumber around and will have an inside track to getting him on the job quickly. Such has been the case for us.
One day your water heater will fail, and you'll need a plumber to fix it. A guest will accidentally lose a wedding ring down the drain. You will get a call about a backed-up shower drain. You may even have a pipe burst in the winter because you forgot to winterize the house. You may not need him today, but its's a good idea to find a plumber today so that he'll be there when you do need him.
Be prepared for the unexpected.
Are you prepared? Do you have a plan for when unexpected things happen? This is by no means an exhaustive list of people you will eventually have on your team. Rather, these are the four most critical roles that you'll need to fill based on my experience. While the need for the housekeeping job is pretty obvious, the others are important as well. It's better to have and not need, than to need and not have. If you fail to prepare, then you are preparing to fail. Okay enough of the cliches. Just get out there and start building your team! I wish you great success in your vacation rental journey. As always, I welcome your comments and questions below.
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