Management Company Experiences

[Mermaid]

For those of you that use a local management company and also advertise on VRBO or findvacationrentals.com, do you post the same rental rates on your individual sites that your management company charges? Or do you have a discounted rate because your management company takes less of a cut when you bring in the rental--realizing that their cut may be a % of their posted rate?

We plan on advertising ourselves and keeping the rates the same. I think many people cross-reference, and it would be a source of irritation if they found out after the fact that they could have booked more cheaply had they found the owner's site(s) first. So we're keeping everything uniform. However, I should add that we do not plan on making our own bookings--we're letting our rental company handle all the particulars. Our main goal in using other advertising is simply to increase our visibility and to answer any extra inquiries before handing our guests over to the management company.

 

[Diane4145]

Hmm... Denial ain't just a river, in Egypt! There is NO justification, for the Rivard owner's response(or should I say, lack there of), period! You're right gl, there's always the chance of a situation like this, but it's how it's handled, that matters! :roll: I'll bet that the negative word of mouth here, will be much more damaging than ANY face to face confrontation, that he ran from! :clap_1: :clap_1: :clap_1: Personally, I wouldn't want to give him or his company any business, or even a referral!

I am very familiar with Rivard. We have repeat renters year after year, and they are all satisified with Rivards service. I don't care who is manageing your property, from time to time there will be issues, it simply cannot be avoided. The gentleman who posted his experience with the man in the red corvette, may have used a tone of voice that sounded threatening or harsh, or just plain irate. It sounds to me that the man in the red corvette was simply trying to avoid what could have been a very unpleasant exchange. It certainly sounds out of character from the man I have known for such a long time.

 

[Jennifer Steele]

I am very familiar with Rivard. We have repeat renters year after year, and they are all satisified with Rivards service. I don't care who is manageing your property, from time to time there will be issues, it simply cannot be avoided. The gentleman who posted his experience with the man in the red corvette, may have used a tone of voice that sounded threatening or harsh, or just plain irate. It sounds to me that the man in the red corvette was simply trying to avoid what could have been a very unpleasant exchange. It certainly sounds out of character from the man I have known for such a long time.

Well, I have rented from them, and I am also a life-time Grayton local who has always recommended Rivard to my friends who visit SoWal, and I have always been very satisfied with the customer service at Rivard. Those who actually answer the phones and handle my reservations are friendly and professional.

I can't imagine the man in the red corvette felt in any way threatened by me (a female, actually) since he is twice my size and age. I got the impression that he was trying to avoid me because he simply didn't care.

 

[Lois]

Hi Beach Runner -

We used VRBO last year and booked up the summer pretty quickly so we're pretty happy with that. The management company managed to rent it 10 days total... and we rented it for about 12 weeks. We paid them 20% for the weeks that we rented it... and I'm okay with that... but we weren't happy with a lot of things including once when we arrived at our unit (after it had been rented but had been vacant for about a week) and it had not been cleaned.

A few of you have mentioned you do your own self-rentals but still use a property management company and pay them ~20%. That seems like an awfully large chunk to hand over each week just to basically pay for cleaning (e.g., if you charge $3000/week, that's $600!). Why don't property owners use House Watch type companies to occasionally oversee their properties and ensure that the cleaning is being performed properly by a cleaner the owner has hired or the House Watch company has recommended? I did a search and found "Spouses Watching Houses" at http://homewatch.info/contact.htm, I assume there are others, and they apparently charge $350-$400 per quarter + $35 an hour for additional services. That's a HUGE savings. Are the property management companies providing other valuable services? I feel like I'm missing something here.

 

[Unplugged]

Lois, we secure approx 50% of our bookings and our management company books the other half. Their fee is 30% unless I refer the guests to them, in which case they handle check-in/ check-out and any CS issues that arise during the rental for just 10%. Cleaning is a separate line item charge.

______________________________________________

 

[Wastin Away]

A few of you have mentioned you do your own self-rentals but still use a property management company and pay them ~20%. That seems like an awfully large chunk to hand over each week just to basically pay for cleaning (e.g., if you charge $3000/week, that's $600!). Why don't property owners use House Watch type companies to occasionally oversee their properties and ensure that the cleaning is being performed properly by a cleaner the owner has hired or the House Watch company has recommended? I did a search and found "Spouses Watching Houses" at http://homewatch.info/contact.htm, I assume there are others, and they apparently charge $350-$400 per quarter + $35 an hour for additional services. That's a HUGE savings. Are the property management companies providing other valuable services? I feel like I'm missing something here.

I have been doing both and in my case, my rental company does not handle anything for me. I have my own housekeeper, and maintenance person and all bills are sent directly to my home for the other things. I told my husband that I feel sometimes it is that security to know that there is someone out there also working to rent your home but I have found that I have kept my home booked throughout the last 2 years, with the exception of 3 bookings from the management company in 2005, myself. Granted I love to do it and you have to have time to run it properly but the savings is great. I have just decided in the past week or so that I would like to try and only list off-season with the rental company because I have already had 2 booking conflicts and it is only January. My idea of a good mangement company is not one that can book during the prime season but one that can bring guests to my home during the off-season.

 

[Paula]

A few of you have mentioned you do your own self-rentals but still use a property management company and pay them ~20%. That seems like an awfully large chunk to hand over each week just to basically pay for cleaning (e.g., if you charge $3000/week, that's $600!). Why don't property owners use House Watch type companies to occasionally oversee their properties and ensure that the cleaning is being performed properly by a cleaner the owner has hired or the House Watch company has recommended? I did a search and found "Spouses Watching Houses" at http://homewatch.info/contact.htm, I assume there are others, and they apparently charge $350-$400 per quarter + $35 an hour for additional services. That's a HUGE savings. Are the property management companies providing other valuable services? I feel like I'm missing something here.

As a far-away owner, I feel much better having a management company around to give keys, take payments, handle problems (e.g., maintenance that may come up), changes due to hurricanes, get some bookings (I get many on my own as well but they've gotten me some very good ones), etc. I can give the personal touch through my response emails on VRBO and by calling people after they check in to see if all is OK. I'm sure they take care of many problems that I don't even hear about, so I get to sleep well at night. I definitely have to go to the cottages every few months to check on things (darn it! ) and do some extra maintenance/cleaning/etc., but that's fine with me. And I could pay someone to do these things, but I'd rather get a trip to SoWal out of it and do them myself.

 

[Shutters]

do you post the same rental rates on your individual sites that your management company charges? Or do you have a discounted rate because your management company takes less of a cut when you bring in the rental--realizing that their cut may be a % of their posted rate?

STL Don had this great question about 20 threads ago. I just found it and have some thoughts. I have always felt the relationship between the owner and property management company is a partnership. If you undercut your property management you're no longer a partner but a competitor. I do feel strongly that your property management company should get one percentage if they book it and another if you take the booking. My experience is 20% and 10% is a standard rate. I know that 10% no way covers the extra time and effort I put into booking and managing the property. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't spend answering an email or talking on the phone, or running a Visa charge, or sending back a security deposit, or paying the sales tax etc. etc. (speaking of that, it's the 17th, I've got to get those sales taxes off for the last Q.)

Mermaid also pointed out how frustrating it would be for a guest to find out they could have gotten a better price by booking with the owner. I agree.

Ultimately what I look for in a Property Management company is someone who treats me as a partner, and is just as concerned about my house as I am. It's there for both of us to make money. We use Royal Beach Resorts and couldn't be happier. Denise and Mark are the best! They may be one of the smaller companies but I never have to worry if things actually got done.
They take care of business just like I do. We are partners.

 

[Mermaid]

STL Don had this great question about 20 threads ago. I just found it and have some thoughts. I have always felt the relationship between the owner and property management company is a partnership. If you undercut your property management you're no longer a partner but a competitor. I do feel strongly that your property management company should get one percentage if they book it and another if you take the booking. My experience is 20% and 10% is a standard rate. I know that 10% no way covers the extra time and effort I put into booking and managing the property. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't spend answering an email or talking on the phone, or running a Visa charge, or sending back a security deposit, or paying the sales tax etc. etc. (speaking of that, it's the 17th, I've got to get those sales taxes off for the last Q.)

Mermaid also pointed out how frustrating it would be for a guest to find out they could have gotten a better price by booking with the owner. I agree.

Ultimately what I look for in a Property Management company is someone who treats me as a partner, and is just as concerned about my house as I am. It's there for both of us to make money. We use Royal Beach Resorts and couldn't be happier. Denise and Mark are the best! They may be one of the smaller companies but I never have to worry if things actually got done.
They take care of business just like I do. We are partners.

I believe gotothebeachmom uses Royal as well, and shares your experience with them. She's very happy with their performance.

 

[Sheila]

I believe gotothebeachmom uses Royal as well, and shares your experience with them. She's very happy with their performance.

I do indeed use Royal Beach. They have been wonderful to work with. Shutter's is right Denise and Mark are great to work with. My guests have been very pleased as well. :clap_1: