Thinking about renting your vacation home? Before you reach out to high-tech firms located in a San Francisco highrise office building with a view of the wall. Consider a real local property manager. You need boots on the ground. How do they drive by and check your property? Who responds when the police are called because of noise? Locals are best for managing your vacation rental property.
Several tech-based start-ups claim to have a national reach for vacation property management. Why work through a third party? Go directly to a property manager in the area where your property is located.
Regulations in some cities require a property manager to be located in the same city or at least within x miles of the property. Some vacation rentals have created a bit of a negative reputation and some cities even discourage vacation rentals even when they are currently allowed. All good reasons why locals are best for managing your vacation rental property.
I would like a local property manager
I recently spoke with a prospective client who is just completing a renovation on a property he purchased to place on the market as a vacation rental. He called around and we were the first to call him back. He also told me that the others were not located in the area and he wanted to deal with a company that was local to his property. This makes sense for so many reasons, let me illuminate a few.
If the property were to be flooded or damaged in a hurricane, who will advise you? A good local property management company can help you get the property back on the market. We make it our business to know people at city planning and other offices responsible for issuing permits. These relationships are important.
Should the police department call us for one of our clients, they know we will respond without hauling everyone off to jail. Sounds silly but this is true. Some of our principals know many police officers and this allows us to escalate issues with neighbors. Another reason why locals are best for managing your vacation rental property.
Have you obtained your short-term rental license?
Yet another new client contacted Christie’s to discuss a changeover from the big tech company. A large party took place at their new house and after thousands in damages, they decided to make a change. The police were called and there was no property manager to be found.
As it happens this property is located in one of the cities along the Mississippi Gulf Coast that require a property manager to be located in the area. The biggest potential problem was that the big tech property manager failed to tell the owner that they needed a local permit. The permit comes with fees of $750 initially. Failure to obtain the license and pay the fees to subject the property owner to large fines.
Christies stepped in and as part of our management agreement, we help the property owner with the application and submit it for them. The fire department may inspect the property and Christies will be there to let them in and answer questions. This is one area where a property manager is critical. if the fire department finds something wrong, they can suspend the permit days before a guest is to arrive.
Cleaners are not property managers or repair contractors
Many of the companies that operate the boiler rooms and claim to be your property manager find maid services in the area to clean the property after it is vacated. Often these are larger companies hiring lists of people. The same cleaner may not come to the property more than once. Our property manager works with independent contractors who are assigned to the same properties all the time.
Cleaners are not contractors meaning that they do not make repairs. Meaning that the distance property management company will have to find a local maintenance company to make repairs. I can tell you from experience a good handyperson is very difficult to find and keep. Distance companies will have to call larger contractors at more expense to you
Local property managers have their “guys” (no offense to all of the other genders) who are essentially on call when something goes wrong. The AC person we use is extremely reliable and will often be at a property and have it repaired within an hour. This person can diagnose almost any problem and find a cure quickly.
Local relationships
As mentioned above, in our business which is property management along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, we know many elected officials and this is a good thing. The subject of vacation rentals comes up often at the City council and planning department meetings. The local government can either allow your rental property to be there or they can cause you terrible financial harm.
We and other locals keep in touch with decision-makers and staff to be sure our clients are well-represented when the topic of vacation rental comes up. Recently in one city, there was a vote to change some zoning to permit more vacation rentals. The results could have affected our clients. Would your long-distance management company know this?
Managing your property is not just about getting exposure on third-party websites such as Airbnb or VRBO, it’s about many things such as keeping the property well-maintained and providing excellent on-site customer service.
Property owners should have a direct relationship with the local property manager
Our property manager has regular and frequent communication with our property owners. Yes, we offer a turn-key approach so that the owners are not needed on-site. Owners are not involved in disputes or maintenance issues other than to approve expenses. A good property manager can make all of this happen without a hands-on approach by the property owner.
On the other hand, the property owner wants to know the people that are putting their hands on the property. They want to speak to the manager who just checked out a reason for a high water bill for example. Why would you want to call someone in Seattle about your Mississippi Gulf Coast property?
Vacancy rates are up
The economy is slowing and vacancy rates are up particularly in the slow season. High seasons see higher occupancy rares with people coming and going. This keeps the bad element away because the properties appear to be occupied. What happens in the off season when your propery may go for weeks without guests? This is an open invitiation for someone to break in or for someting to fail e.g. water leak.
Who goes by and looks at your property when there are no guests? That corporate computer has no abilty to visit your home. Yes there are security systems but they do not see that rodents are eating inside, wasps are building a large nest or there is a gas or water leak. Only an on sight property manager can do this for you. Something to consider.
If you are not now a rental property owner and are thinking about it, please read some of the relevant articles on the RetireCoast website and the Logan-Anderson, Gulf Coastal Realtors website. You may want to read this article on our Christies website
Contact us if you are interested in property management along the Mississippi Gulf Coast.